Erin Hunter - Path of Stars

Thunder backed away as it scrambled to its paws. Flashing a terrified glance at the cats, it turned and fled across the hillside.

“Clear Sky!” Catching his breath, Thunder stared at his father. “Why did you come?”

Clear Sly was panting, his thick gray pelt ruffled. Starlight glittered in his eyes. “When I reached camp and found Star Flower safe, I guessed.” He blinked at Thunder. “Slash attacked Gray Wing’s camp, didn’t he?”

Thunder nodded. “He’s taken Black Ear.”

“Are the others okay?” Clear Sky didn’t flinch, his gaze sharp.

“Silver Stripe and White Tail are safe. Slate and Spotted Fur were wounded trying to protect them, but Pebble Heart’s with them.”

“Good.” Clear Sky turned his head, scanning the moor. “Do you know which way Slash went?”

Sparrow Fur shook out her ruffled pelt. “We were following their tracks.”

Owl Eyes darted toward the churned snow leading away from the outcrop. “Swallow hid Black

Ear here while Slash went to the gathering,” he explained. “Slash and the others came to fetch them afterward.”

Clear Sky hurried to the trail and sniffed it. “It’s still fresh.”

“They can’t be far ahead. We were—”

Before Thunder could finish, Clear Sky bounded away, kicking up snow. Thunder leaped after him. They chased across the moonlit hillside, following the rogues’ trail. Owl Eyes veered downslope, his gaze flicking one way, then the other. Sparrow Fur raced fast over the snow, hardly denting it.

The moor sloped out of the moonlight and into shadow. Heather and pine stretched ahead. The trail veered around it. Sparrow Fur headed between the bushes, chasing her brother as Owl Eyes plunged through them. Thunder stayed at Clear Sky’s heels, the cold air burning his chest. Heat pulsed from his pelt. As they rounded the heather, Owl Eyes burst from the bushes ahead of them.

The gray tom stopped. His gaze followed the trail as it straightened and led toward Tall Shadow’s territory. “They’re heading for the pines.”

Thunder scrambled to a halt.

The heather trembled as Sparrow Fur darted out. She followed her brother’s gaze toward the dark wood below. “They must be trying to get to their old camp.”

“They’ll have to cross the Thunderpath.” Thunder’s pelt prickled with fear as he saw it cutting between the moor and the pines. The snow there had been churned into filthy sludge by monster paws.

He scanned the trail, searching for the rogues. But shadow hid the verges. He flattened his ears as a monster screamed past, spraying slush from its paws.

“They might not cross the Thunderpath,” Sparrow Fur mewed hopefully. “Perhaps they’ll just follow it as far as the oak forest. The woods there are thick. It would make a good place to hide.”

“Let’s find out.” Clear Sky leaped down the slope.

Thunder bounded after him, his paws sinking into the snow as he reached the bottom. The rogues’ trail turned and followed the verge. The scents were fresh. Even as the stench of the Thunderpath soured his nostrils, Thunder could smell warmth in the rogues’ tracks. They’d passed here very recently. He narrowed his eyes, straining to see through the darkness. Where are they?

Monster eyes flashed toward him, dazzling him for a moment. Frowning, he made out dark shapes on the verge a few tree-lengths away, silhouetted against the blinding light. The rogues were beside the Thunderpath. A small shape dangled from the jaws of one.

“Black Ear!” Thunder gasped.

Clear Sky halted and followed his gaze, flinching as the monster pounded past. “I see him!”

Thunder flattened his ears against the monster’s deafening roar. Squinting, Sparrow Fur and Owl

Eyes pushed between them and stared along the verge.

The rogues clustered at the edge, clearly waiting to cross, their pelts dripping from the monster’s spray. Slash circled them, tail lashing, then halted as his gaze fixed on Thunder.

“He’s seen us.” Thunder shuddered.

Light flashed in the distance. Another monster was bearing down the Thunderpath.

“We can’t attack here,” Sparrow Fur growled. “It’s too dangerous.”

“We can let them cross, then follow them into the pines,” Owl Eyes suggested.

Clear Sky frowned. “There’ll be no snow under the pines. It’ll be harder to follow their trail. We might lose them.”

Thunder agreed. “We have to stop them from getting to the trees.” He began to pad along the verge. Dread hollowed his belly. They were outnumbered. Snake, Slash, Splinter, Ember, and Beetle were facing them now, hackles high. Swallow padded closer to the edge of the road. Black Ear dangled from her jaws, his legs churning as he twisted in the air. The monster rolled toward them, its eyes lighting its path.

“Wait.” Sparrow Fur’s mew was sharp with fear. “Wait for the monster to pass.”

“Then what?” Owl Eyes asked.

“We attack,” Clear Sky growled.

Thunder met Slash’s gaze. The rogue’s eyes glittered with delight for a moment; then, with a wild yowl, he hared across the Thunderpath. His campmates followed, streaming across the wet stone.

Their pelts lit up in the flaming gaze of the monster as it thundered toward them.

Thunder’s heart seemed to burst in his chest. “They’re getting away!”

As he spoke, Swallow stumbled. Her paws slipped in the slush and she dropped to her belly. Her gaze jerked toward the monster. It hurtled closer, letting out a scream. Scrambling to her paws, Swallow fled, chasing her campmates to the verge at the far side. In a moment they’d disappeared into the trees.

“Black Ear!” Sparrow Fur’s terrified yowl drowned the roar of the monster.

Thunder followed her horrified gaze.

The kit stood in the middle of the Thunderpath as the blazing light of the monster raced toward him. Like a terrified rabbit, he stared, his pelt bushed.

Owl Eyes opened his mouth, gasping in disbelief. “The monster’s going to kill him!”

Clear Sky stared at Black Ear, half dazzled by the glare of the monster’s eyes as it bore down on the tiny kit. The world grew silent. Time slowed. Bounding forward, Clear Sky moved as though invisible paws carried him. The verge blurred as he raced onto the Thunderpath. Slush splashed beneath his pads, but he hardly felt its wet chill. His gaze was fixed on Black Ear, blind to the monster thundering closer with every moment. Skimming the filthy snow, he grabbed Black Ear’s scruff without stopping.

Wind slammed him like stone. It sent him tumbling toward the far edge of the Thunderpath. The monster screamed past, its paws whisking so close that grit strafed his flank. Pain shrilled through his tail and scorched his fur. Rolling onto the sludge-covered grass, he felt the tug of Black Ear’s scruff between his jaws. I got him. Clear Sky hardly dared open his eyes. The kit wasn’t moving. Clear Sky gently let go and curled himself around the tiny kit.

“Clear Sky!” Thunder’s mew sounded in his ear.

Paws squelched around him. Teeth dug into his scruff, and he felt himself being dragged clear of the verge. He wrapped his paws around Black Ear, holding him close to his belly, and opened his eyes as they reached the shadow of the pines.

“Clear Sky?” Thunder’s frightened mew sounded again.

The teeth let go of his scruff. Blinking, he looked up to see Thunder, Owl Eyes, and Sparrow Fur crowding around him.

“We thought you’d been killed!” Owl Eyes stared at him, pelt bristling.