Bravelands: Oathkeeper by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2020-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

There was nothing Fearless could do. He felt like a helpless cub again himself as he watched the two little lions swirl in the current. He willed them to catch hold of something—anything—that would save them, but whenever a branch swirled by or they were swept past a jutting boulder, they would snatch for it, only to lose their grip straightaway. They simply did not have the strength in their small paws to save themselves.

My sister can’t lose her cubs, too. She can’t!

“More wolves!” Keen’s roar of warning came from behind him, but Fearless didn’t glance back. He saw immediately where the danger lay. Three wolves had padded out onto the trunk of a fallen tree, downstream, and they waited there, shoulders hunched in expectation. They grinned, licking their drooling jaws. The rushing water crashed into the tree, mounting up in a constant foaming wave, as the cubs were swept closer.

Fearless’s heart lurched. It would be the work of a moment for the waiting wolves to snatch the cubs from the water. He pounded faster, his paws raising clouds of dust.

And then, miraculously, one of the little lions snatched at a tangle of sodden branches in the stream and kept his grip. His foreleg stretched and stretched, but his claws dug desperately into the mass of floating wood. He hauled himself, dripping and shaking, onto the raft of branches.

The brave cub hadn’t abandoned his sibling, though. As the second cub drifted close, mewling in terror, he managed to lunge down and grab one paw with his tiny teeth and claws. There was turmoil for a moment, as the cub who was still in the water flailed and splashed and squealed. But with a massive tug, his brother pulled him onto the branches beside him.

The ramshackle island was buffeted by the current, but it didn’t float downstream. Fearless realized it must be caught on a root or a rock underwater. But how long could it stay there in this torrent? The two cubs were only a couple of leaps away from the slavering wolves on the log—and both little ones looked very unsteady on their paws.

“Hold on!” Fearless roared. “Keep as still as you can!”

A great yipping and howling rose from the excited wolves on the dead tree. One of them slammed both his forepaws in frustration against the wet bark; his neighbor, unable to contain herself, made a sudden leap toward the island of branches.

She fell well short. In less than a moment, the current had caught her and she was whirled downstream, vanishing under the surface with a snuffed-out yelp.

But her companions were not dissuaded. A second, male wolf tried to make the jump to the cubs. This one hooked his front claws into the tangled twigs. The river yanked at him, but he held on, grinning, his tongue lolling as foam splashed up into his face.

The wolf wasn’t letting go, Fearless realized, and at any moment he could pull himself up onto the island and take the cubs.

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