Hunter, Erin - Warriors: Dawn of the Clans 03 - The First Battle by Hunter Erin

Author:Hunter, Erin [Hunter, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00DB2WPF2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-04-08T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Thunder’s throat tightened.

Lightning Tail crouched over the she-cat, desperately lapping her cheek. “Wake up, Turtle Tail. It’s us! We’re here!”

Thunder crept closer. Turtle Tail lay on the hard stone ground, her body strangely twisted. Her claw-tips were frayed and blood stained her mouth. Her eyes stared, dull and unseeing.

“It looks like a monster got her.” River Ripple stopped behind Thunder.

“How do you know?” Thunder stared at the rogue.

“I’ve seen it before. Look at her claws. She’d have unsheathed them when the monster hit her, then shredded them as she skidded across the stone.” River Ripple gazed sadly at Turtle Tail’s body.

“Come on, Turtle Tail!” Lightning Tail shook her with his forepaws. He glanced over his shoulder at Thunder. “We have to warm her up. Quickly!”

Thunder crouched beside him. There was little heat left in Turtle Tail’s body. He could see that there was nothing to do. “She’s dead, Lightning Tail.” He felt distant, numb with shock, his words sounding in his ears like someone else’s.

“No!” Lightning Tail nudged her shoulder with his nose. “She’s hurt, that’s all. Cloud Spots will be able to make her better. If we get her home, she’ll be okay.”

The ground seemed to sway beneath Thunder’s paws as his thoughts swirled back to the camp. He remembered the time when he’d pressed against Turtle Tail and watched Wind Runner’s kits take their first gulps of air. Now she was dead. She’d never see the kits grow. She’d never see her own kits become full-grown cats. Grief swamped him until he could hardly breathe. “Turtle Tail.” The name came as a sob.

As he spoke, a monster hared around a corner toward them. Terror flaring, Thunder leaped back, dragging Lightning Tail by the scruff. The black tom froze in his jaws as the monster swept past. Twoleg faces peered from inside, eyes wide, mouths moving as they pointed their paws at the cats. The monster’s stinking wind tugged Turtle’s Tail’s fur, so that for a moment she seemed to be moving. But as it disappeared into the distance, she lay still once more.

“Let’s get her away from the Thunderpath.” River Ripple’s mew sounded softly in Thunder’s ear. The rogue pushed his muzzle beneath Turtle Tail’s flank. “Haul her onto my shoulders.”

Lightning Tail backed away, eyes wide with disbelief.

Numbly, Thunder nudged Turtle Tail’s body onto River Ripple’s back. As she hung there limply, he pressed his cheek to her flank, holding her clumsily in place while River Ripple staggered toward the bush outside the Twoleg nest.

The rogue dipped his head and let her slip from his shoulders. She slumped onto the earth beside the bright pink flowers.

Lightning Tail stared bleakly at her body. “She’s not going to wake up, is she?”

Thunder pressed his muzzle to Lightning Tail’s cheek. Pain seared his heart so ferociously he could hardly breathe. They had known Turtle Tail since they were tiny kits, just a few moons old. And now she was dead.

“No,” he whispered.

“Help me push her out of sight,” River Ripple murmured.

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