Erin Hunter - Path of Stars

His campmates streaked ahead, their dark shapes showing against the snow as they pelted uphill.

They disappeared into heather, then broke from the far side.

Frustration pulsed through Gray Wing. “Faster!” he gasped.

Pebble Heart’s shoulder pressed harder against his. Owl Eyes leaned closer on his other side.

Lifting him between them, they carried him over the snow. Gray Wing’s paws churned helplessly beneath him as they whisked him toward the camp.

By the time they reached the gorse entrance, the others had disappeared inside.

Gray Wing smelled blood. Heart quickening, he pricked his ears and listened for the sound of fighting. But he heard no battle cries. Only the eerie moaning of the wind over the moonlit moor.

He shook free of Pebble Heart and Owl Eyes and staggered through the entrance. Stumbling over the tussocks, he saw blood staining the snow.

Wind Runner and the others were circling around two shapes on the ground.

Hardly breathing, Gray Wing barged past his campmates and stopped.

Spotted Fur and Slate were lying like abandoned prey in the snow, their pelts glistening with blood.

Are they dead? Gray Wing’s heart seemed to stop as he stared.

Then Spotted Fur groaned and pushed himself heavily to his paws. “I tried to save them,” he croaked. With a gasp, he began to collapse as his hind legs buckled beneath him.

Pebble Heart dashed to the golden tom’s side and began sniffing his pelt anxiously.

Gray Wing hardly noticed. His gaze was fixed on Slate.

She lay unmoving while her campmates stared in horror.

Reed Tail crouched beside her and was lapping her bloody neck with urgent strokes.

Gray Wing stumbled closer. “Slate—” Her name seemed to stick in his throat. Above, the silent stars glittered. Don’t take her, he silently begged his ancestors. Were they watching? The ground swayed beneath him. Grief spread barbed claws around his heart. Not again. Wasn’t it enough he’d lost Turtle Tail?

Slate stirred. “Gray Wing?” Her mew was barely a whisper.

Gray Wing dropped to his belly beside her. As he struggled for breath, Slate opened her eyes. She stared at him blankly for a moment; then terror shot through her amber gaze. “The kits!” Fighting to stand up, she yowled across the clearing. “Silver Stripe! Black Ear! White Tail!”

Gray Wing jerked his muzzle around. Where were they?

Slate’s gaze was frantic. “We fought for them!” she gasped. “Slash came with his cats after you’d all left. We tried to drive them out of the camp. But there were too many of them.” She darted forward, scrambling this way and that across the clearing, her pelt bristling. “White Tail! Black Ear!”

“Slate?” A frightened mew sounded from the gorse wall of the camp. The branches trembled and snow showered down as a tiny dark gray tom-kit slid out. A pale gray tabby she-kit followed him, sprigs of gorse sticking out of her fur.

“Silver Stripe!” Slate ran toward them, her bloody paws staining the snow. “White Tail!”

Relief washed Gray Wing’s pelt. Two of his kits were safe.

Silver Stripe blinked at her mother as Slate stopped beside them. “We hid like you told us.”

“We hardly breathed,” White Tail whispered. Trembling, he dived beneath Slate’s belly and crouched there.

“We thought they’d killed you,” Silver Stripe wailed.

White Tail shrank deeper under his mother’s fur as Slate scooped Silver Stripe close. “You were very brave to hide when we told you to.”

“Black Ear wasn’t quick enough,” White Tail sobbed. “They saw him and grabbed him.”

Slate swung her gaze toward Gray Wing. Horror froze her face. “Black Ear!”

“I’ll find him.” Gray Wing tried to straighten, but his breath was so shallow, darkness threatened to overwhelm him.

Thunder padded to his side. “Stay here, Gray Wing. I’ll find him for you.” Determination hardened his mew.

Gray Wing gazed at him helplessly, frustration throbbing in his paws. “But they’re my kits!” he wheezed.

Thunder gazed at him solemnly. “You have done so much for me, Gray Wing. Let me do this for you.”

Gray Wing held his gaze for a moment, touched by Thunder’s warmth. “Thank you.”

Wind Runner lashed her tail. “We don’t know which way they’re headed. Thunder, Sparrow Fur, and Owl Eyes! Head toward the pines. Slash might be taking Black Ear to his old camp. Swift Minnow, you take Reed Tail and Dust Muzzle toward the river. Check the gorge and the reed beds.

I’ll take Sun Shadow, Gorse Fur, and Moth Flight to the oak forest. We’ll search the woods.”

Willow Tail lifted her chin. “I’m coming with you,” she told Wind Runner.

“And me.” Fern Leaf stood next to her friend.

Wind Runner eyed them doubtfully.

Gray Wing tensed. Surely she couldn’t reject their help?

Wind Runner flicked her tail. “You’re still recovering from your wounds, Fern Leaf,” she meowed briskly. “Stay here in camp and help Pebble Heart. Willow Tail.” She dipped her head to the pale tabby. “You can join my patrol. You know the routes the rogues use. And you’re smart and strong. We’ll need you.”

Willow Tail puffed out her chest. “I won’t let you down.”

Gray Wing tried to stand again, but his paws buckled. Rage flared through him. I can’t even save my own kit!

Pebble Heart pressed against him and nodded to Fern Leaf. “Do you know what coltsfoot looks like?” he asked the young she-cat.

Fern Leaf nodded.

“It’ll be wilted by the cold,” Pebble Heart warned her. “But you should be able to find stems.

Frost-burned ones will do. Bring them here. They’ll help Gray Wing’s breathing.” He turned to Slate.

“Get the kits into your den and keep them warm. I’ll check on your wounds when I’ve seen to Spotted Fur.”

The world swam around Gray Wing. Paws thrummed on every side. His campmates were heading for the entrance.

Thunder’s mew sounded fiercely in his ear. “I’m going to find Black Ear,” he promised. “And I’ll bring him home safe.”

Darkness closed in as Gray Wing felt the last of his strength seep into the snowy earth.

Thunder’s thoughts whirled as he watched Gray Wing collapse. He’s so ill! Black Ear’s missing!

Everything’s gone wrong! Above, the moon shone bright in the midnight sky. It was the same moon that had shone on the naming ceremony not long before. How had so much changed so fast?

His gaze darted to the entrance. Wind Runner, Moth Flight, Gorse Fur, and Willow Tail were already haring after Reed Tail and Dust Muzzle. Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes were waiting for him, their tails flicking impatiently.

“Go!” Pebble Heart nudged Thunder with his muzzle. “I’ll make sure Gray Wing’s okay. Just find

Black Ear.”

Thunder blinked at the young tom, then bounded across the tussocks. Racing past Owl Eyes and Sparrow Fur, he led the way out of camp. Wind Runner’s brown tabby pelt showed against the snow as she headed for the oak forest. Swift Minnow charged toward the gorge.

“Can you see any tracks?” Thunder called to Sparrow Fur as the tortoiseshell caught up to him.

Had the rogues left a trail?

“Here!” Owl Eyes’s yowl sounded behind him.

Thunder spun, skidding to a halt.

Owl Eyes was sniffing churned-up snow. Tracks led over a ridge and down into a dip. Thunder hurried to Owl Eyes’s side. Sniffing the tracks, he smelled rogue stench. He scrambled clumsily to the bottom of the dip.