Erin Hunter - The First Battle

“Thunder!” Jackdaw’s Cry exclaimed. The tom’s gaze lit with hope.

“Get to the rock!” Thunder ordered.

Tall Shadow jerked her head around, catching Thunder’s eye.

“Watch out!” Thunder’s heart lurched as he saw Fircone lunge for her.

Tall Shadow spun and met the tom’s attack with an outstretched paw. She raked his muzzle, then threw her full weight against him, sending him staggering back against Quick Water and Leaf.

Pain seared Thunder’s flank. He turned as Snake sunk his claws deep. Fury rose in his belly. He dragged himself free and snapped at the rogue’s throat. Snake dodged away. Thunder leaped after him, grabbed his scruff between his teeth and shook him hard.

Claws hooked his shoulders and dragged him backward.

“Did you really think this battle could be avoided?” Clear Sky hissed in his ear.

“This isn’t a battle!” Thunder grunted with pain as Clear Sky pinned him to the ground with outstretched claws. “It’s slaughter.” Thrashing desperately, he spotted Gray Wing dragging Jackdaw’s Cry free of Fircone and pushing him toward the rock.

“Use the ledge to jump to the top!” Gray Wing ordered. He turned back for Tall Shadow.

Thunder writhed in Clear Sky’s grip. “We’re not going to make it easy!” As fast as a rabbit, he tucked his hind paws under his father’s belly and thrust him backward. Clear Sky’s eyes lit in surprise as he staggered backward and tripped over Snake.

Thunder leaped to his paws.

Tall Shadow streaked past him.

Gray Wing was on her tail. “Come on.” He paused to nose Thunder toward the rock.

Thunder ran, following Tall Shadow as she leaped onto the ledge. He scrambled to the top of the great rock a moment after her. Jackdaw’s Cry was trembling at the top. Gray Wing landed beside him.

“Now what?” Tall Shadow’s eyes were wide.

A hiss sounded from the ledge. Thunder looked down and saw Snake, halfway up. The rogue jumped. But Thunder was quick. He lashed out and sent him sprawling to the ground. Scrambling to his paws, Snake threw a menacing look to the top of the rock. Around him, the forest cats circled, low growls rumbling in their throats.

“We’re trapped!” Jackdaw’s Cry blinked at Gray Wing.

“They can’t keep us here forever,” Gray Wing reasoned.

Clear Sky padded to the center of the clearing and called up. “What’s your plan now, Gray Wing?” he snarled triumphantly. “Are you going to let us watch you starve up there? Or are you going to come down and fight like real cats?”

Thunder glanced up at the oak branch swaying a tail-length above their heads. “We need help,” he said.

Jackdaw’s Cry followed his gaze. “Do you think the birds are going to come and teach us to fly away?”

“If I could just get back to camp, I could fetch more cats.” Thunder murmured.

“You’ll never get past them.” Tall Shadow nodded toward the cats below.

Gray Wing narrowed his eyes. “Are you thinking about climbing out of here?”

Thunder met his gaze. “If I could get into the tree and climb along that branch.” He nodded toward a bough stretching toward the slope. The moor rose beyond. “I might make it to the camp for help.”

“It’s dangerous.” Tall Shadow’s eyes darkened. “They’ll try and stop you.”

“We’ll distract them,” Gray Wing promised.

Thunder peered down at the circling cats. “Stay up here,” he warned. “I want you safe when I return with the others.”

“Will they come?” Jackdaw’s Cry stared at him anxiously.

Thunder straightened. “Do you think Acorn Fur, Lightning Tail, and Hawk Swoop would leave you here?”

Jackdaw’s Cry lifted his tail. “Never!”

“Be careful,” Tall Shadow warned, her eyes glistening with fear.

Thunder dipped his head. “I’ll do my best.”

Gray Wing padded to the edge of the rock and called down to the forest cats. “Look at your leader,” he growled. Clear Sky was in the middle of the clearing, his eyes gleaming. “Does he make you proud? Watching while you fight his battle for him.”

“How dare you?” Clear Sky lashed his tail.

As every cat’s gaze flicked toward Clear Sky, Thunder leaped for the branch. He hooked it with his forepaws, his hind paws churning the air desperately. Panic flashed though him. He had to make it before the cats noticed. Leaves showered around him as the branch shook under his weight. Swinging his haunches, he hooked a hind paw onto a jutting twig. Growling under his breath, he heaved himself upward, gasping as he dragged himself onto the branch.

He peered through the leaves.

Clear Sky was padding toward his cats. “Why are you even listening to a cat who only left the mountains because he was following his littermate? He was born to follow. I was born to lead!”

Thunder growled. Arrogant fox-heart!

He crept along the ancient branch, the bark rough beneath his pads. It thickened as he neared the trunk. He paused at the crook, relieved to see another branch jutting half a tail-length away. He leaped onto it, following the branches around the wide trunk like crossing stones in a river. Before he knew it, he was balancing on the branch that stretched toward the slope. He padded along it, his heart pounding, hoping that the leaves would conceal him. As he neared the end, his paws spilled over the sides of the branch—it was growing thinner. He unsheathed his claws, curling them into the thick bark as it quivered beneath his weight. He dropped to his belly and slithered forward. Gazing down, he saw the slope several tail-lengths below. Could he risk jumping down yet? He pulled himself farther along the fast-thinning branch. Suddenly, it dipped. His chest tightened in terror. I’m too heavy! With a crack, it snapped, sending him hurtling him toward the ground. He twisted clumsily, sucking in a yowl of alarm, and landed with a thump on his side.

Am I hurt? Fear pulsed through him as he lay winded, checking for pain. Nothing. Just the dull shock of landing. He drew in a shuddering breath.

“Where’s Thunder?” Clear Sky’s alarmed mew sounded from the clearing.

“He’s gone!”

“Where is he?”

He glanced down into the clearing. The forest cats were scanning the hollow, ears pricked.

Thunder leaped to his paws and raced uphill.

“He’s heading for the moor!” Nettle’s cry ripped through the night air.

Thunder ran harder, cresting the top of the slope, and hared onto the moor. Angry yowls rose from the hollow. He tore over the grass. Glancing back, he saw two shapes appear at the hollow’s rim. The moonlight glinted off sleek pelts. Snake and Petal. Their eyes flashed as they saw him. More cats loomed behind them.

Panic raging, Thunder fled. He could hear the yowls of the cats behind him as they gave chase. Gulping air, he looked back.

Snake was gaining on him. Small and wiry, the rogue moved fast over the grass. Thunder would never outrun him as far as the camp.

If they catch me, the others are lost! Scanning the moorside, he spotted a dip in the grass. A burrow?

I can use the tunnels!

Gray Wing had shown him the maze beneath the moor when he was younger and told him how to tell a good tunnel from a bad. Would a forest cat dare follow him into the darkness?

I hope not. Chest burning, pelt on end, Thunder skidded to a halt beside the dip and dived into the tunnel.

Earth scraped his flanks, soil crumbled beneath his paws. Scrambling inside, his nose wrinkled at the rank air. As moonlight faded behind him, the tunnel grew damp. Where am I heading? Slick mud walls slid past his pelt. Just keep going! He wasn’t even sure where the tunnel led. You have to save Gray Wing and the others!