Эрин Хантер - Fading Echoes

He felt a pelt trembling next to his. Dovepaw was beside him, mouth open, eyes so wide he could see their white rims.

“Briarpaw,” she breathed.

Lionblaze charged toward the den, slithering through the tangle of branches, clambering over the ripped wood. He could hardly see the honeysuckle underneath the fallen beech. The tree was half propped against the far side of the hollow, its muddy roots reaching like talons around the nursery. Half the warriors’ den was gone, and branches obscured the entrance to the medicine den.

“Wait!”

Lionblaze halted when he heard Firestar’s yowl. He turned, balancing on the jagged end of a shattered branch.

The ThunderClan leader was clambering after him, Dovepaw following on shaky paws.

“Can you hear anything?” Firestar asked.

“No.” Lionblaze glanced at Dovepaw.

The gray apprentice shook her head. “Nothing.”

“They still might be alive.” Firestar leaped past Lionblaze and began to wriggle through the fluttering golden leaves toward the flattened den. Lionblaze struggled after him, wincing as the jagged wood scraped his pelt.

The tree creaked.

“It’s not safe!” Dovepaw’s wail sounded behind them.

Lionblaze felt the tree move around him.

“It’s slipping down the side of the hollow,” Dovepaw warned.

“I can see a shape,” Firestar called from inside the debris.

Lionblaze squirmed deeper into the snarled branches, feeling a surge of hope as a honeysuckle tendril snaked out, whipping him across the muzzle. “Who is it?”

“I can’t tell,” Firestar called back. “But I think it’s moving.”

“The whole tree’s moving!” Dovepaw shrieked. “Get out of there!”

With a groaning, scraping sigh, the beech began to slide down the wall of the hollow.

“Out!” Firestar ordered sharply.

Lionblaze hesitated. He couldn’t leave his Clanmates! He yelped as teeth clamped around his tail.

“It’s collapsing!” Dovepaw’s mew was muffled by fur as she dragged him backward and the tree shivered beneath his paws. Firestar was scrambling out beside him.

“Jump!” Dovepaw yowled.

The three cats hurled themselves onto an empty patch of ground beside the apprentices’ den. Behind them, the tree groaned and dropped down, its branches caving beneath it as crumpled into the base of the hollow.

Dovepaw let out a whimper.

Lionblaze strained to see the elders’ den. Strands of honeysuckle snaked among the branches. There was still a chance that part of the den wasn’t crushed.

“Firestar?” Brambleclaw was crossing the wreckage toward them. As he jumped down beside them, Lionblaze saw the rest of the Clan streaming back into camp. They barged through the barrier of thorns until it was as tattered and wrecked as the rest of the camp.

“Stop!” Firestar yowled at his Clanmates.

They froze and stared at the ruins of their home. Leafpool closed her eyes, as though praying to StarClan.

“Where’s the camp?” Cherrykit mewled.

Daisy bent to comfort the kit as Poppyfrost stared blankly at the fallen tree. “It’s gone,” she breathed.

“It’s still there,” Firestar growled. “We just need to stay calm.”

“Where’s Longtail?” Purdy asked shakily.

“Briarpaw?” Millie’s mew cracked.

“I’m going to find them!” Lionblaze promised, bracing himself to force his way through the smashed branches. If he thought of the tree as an enemy in battle, would that protect him from getting hurt?

Firestar turned to his deputy. “Brambleclaw, I want a patrol to clear a way to the elders’ den and I want the rest of the Clan outside the hollow and taken care of.”

Brambleclaw studied the tree. “We’ll need to clear the branches we can move and prop up the ones we can’t.” He called to Dustpelt, “How many warriors will you need to do that?”

Dustpelt narrowed his eyes. “Four,” he meowed. “Any more would get in the way.”

Lionblaze remembered how they had destroyed the dam. “We could use logs to lever the heaviest branches out of the way.”

Squirrelflight stepped forward. “I’ll organize a team to find logs and props.” She glanced at her Clanmates. “Millie, Brackenfur, Birchfall, and Thornclaw, you can help me.”

“Sorreltail, Graystripe, Cloudtail, and Berrynose.” Dustpelt nodded to his denmates. “Come with me.”

Lionblaze stiffened as he heard a faint mewl from where the elders’ den had been. “There’s definitely a cat still alive in there.”

Firestar nodded. “Then there’s not a moment to lose.” He flicked his tail at Whitewing. “Get everyone else back to the gully. Jayfeather, do what you can to treat any cat with shock. Daisy, I’m putting you in charge of the elders, queens, and kits. Keep them calm.” He nodded at Brambleclaw. “Work with Dustpelt and Squirrelflight.”

Mousefur paced back and forth, a wail sobbing in her throat. “This is my fault! I should be buried under there, not Longtail!”

Purdy weaved around her, steering her away through the shredded thorns. “They’ll find him,” he promised.

Dovepaw was shaking from nose to tail-tip. “Why didn’t I hear it earlier? I could have stopped this!”

Firestar glanced at the horror-stricken apprentice, then called softly to Whitewing. “Take Dovepaw with you. Make sure she’s okay.”

Gently, the white warrior led her kit out of the camp.

Blood pulsed in Lionblaze’s ears. He wanted to launch himself back among the tangle of branches and haul Longtail and Briarpaw out. But how? Even if he found them, how would he get the two cats past the shattered branches without hurting them?

Dustpelt was already nosing around the edge of the beech. Reaching up with his forepaws, he snapped the first branch out of the way.

Squirrelflight hurried to his side and grabbed the branch in her paws. “We can use this as a prop.”

Dustpelt pushed deeper into the tree, forcing an arching bough up with his back long enough for Squirrelflight to wedge her branch underneath.

“Briarpaw!” Millie wailed into the gap. “Longtail?”

Sorreltail and Thornclaw shoved her away as they squeezed after Dustpelt, snapping branches where they could, propping others out of the way. Graystripe plunged in beside them, claws fraying as he ripped at the mangled beech wood.

“Briarpaw!” Brackenfur rolled a log toward a heavy bough, and while Birchfall and Cloudtail levered it up with a long splinter of wood, he pushed the log underneath. The beech creaked, but stayed still. They were making progress.

“Longtail? Can you hear me?” Lionblaze peered down the tunnel that was beginning to form.

No answer.

Tendrils of honeysuckle shivered tantalizingly beyond the tangle of branches still blocking their way. Lionblaze turned to see his brother behind him, blind blue eyes glittering with worry.

“I need to get to my den,” Jayfeather meowed.

Branches blocked the entrance.

“Poppyfrost’s in shock and Mousefur is beside herself with worry. And if you get Longtail and Briarpaw out alive, I’ll need to treat them.”

“Can’t you gather fresh herbs?” Lionblaze suggested.

Jayfeather’s eyes blazed. “It’s leaf-fall ! There are no fresh herbs!”

Firestar turned away from helping Dustpelt roll a log. “Fetch Rosepetal,” he ordered. “She’s skinny like her father.” It was true. She had the same lithe body as Spiderleg. “She might be able to find a way through.” He cast a glance at the branches blocking the cave. “It’s a mess, but there may be enough gaps.”

Jayfeather turned and hurried away.

“Lionblaze!” Squirrelflight was trying to wedge a forked branch into place.

Lionblaze scooted over and helped her to push. The tree seemed to sigh as they lodged the branch under the trunk.