The landscape on the far side of Slenderleap was undistinguished and lonely. From the canyon's rim a jumble of rocks and hummocks of earth spotted with brush and clinging shrubbery stretched before them. As they moved away from the tapering span and the rushing of the Caterwaul subsided behind, the cold silence of the land rose around them like a fog.
Except for birds, which from time to time passed silently overhead, there were no signs of animal life. The breeze that whispered past Tailchaser's face and whiskers brought nothing but chill air and faint mist-traces of the river.
Pouncequick also sniffed the wind curiously, then turned to Fritti for confirmation of his senses. "I don't smell any other Folk, Tailchaser. I don't sense much of anything."
"I know, Pounce." Tailchaser looked around. "It's not the most hospitable place I've ever seen."
Roofshadow gave Fritti a significant stare and said: "I am sure we will find life in Ratleaf Forest, if only in the deeper places." Fritti pondered the look.
I suppose she doesn't want me to frighten Pounce, he guessed.
As they walked, Fritti became aware of a slight feeling of irritation, something unsettling at the very rim of his consciousness. He felt a faint buzzing, or humming-but it was as thin and insubstantial as the noise of a brzz-hive a hundred leagues away. But it was there-and very subtly, it was getting stronger.
When they stopped to rest in the wind-damping shelter of a standing stone, he asked his companions if they had sensed it, too.
"Not yet," said Roofshadow, "but I expected you would first. It's a good thing you can."
"What do you mean?" asked Fritti, mystified.
"You heard Squeakerbane. You heard Fencewalker. There's something happening in these wilds, and that's why we're here. Better that we sense it before it senses us."
"What kind of something?" Pouncequick's eyes were bright and curious.
"I don't know," said Roofshadow, "but it is bad. It is 05 in a way that I have not sensed before. I knew that when I found the home of my Folk. If we are going to walk into its territory-and here we are- then we should at least not deceive ourselves on that account."
As Roofshadow spoke, eyes clear and spine straight, Fritti could not help wondering what she had been like before the death of her tribe. She was a hunter, no doubt of that, but the hard-edged look that she wore seemed to be more from sorrow than other causes. Would she ever dance or laugh? It seemed odd to try to picture it, but he had seen her play with little Pouncequick. Maybe someday she would be happier. He hoped so.
They walked for a while into the evening, and when Meerclar's Eye was high above them, stopped to rest.
The humming that was not quite a sound seemed closer, more pervasive now, and even Pouncequick and Roofshadow felt something-a current, just below the surface. After hunting for some time without success the three cats conceded victory to the desolate wilderness and curled themselves up together in a furry pile to sleep.
Tailchaser wiggled his nose free from Pouncequick's hind leg and sniffed the air groggily. The Eye had slipped below the horizon, and the dew of Final Dancing was wet on his muzzle. Something had awakened him, but what?
Trying not to arouse his sleeping comrades, he craned his head up from the knot of warm bodies like a hlizza rising up on its coils.
The humming, the strange pulsing that he felt bone-deep, had changed pitch. It was more vibrant somehow-not closer, but sharper.
He felt a strong, piercing sensation. In the darkness outside the circle of warmth something was watching them. Tailchaser froze, holding his head motionless, aware even in his fear that it was an uncomfortable position.
Suddenly, as if he had fallen into cold water, a great wash of loneliness flowed over and through him-it was not his own. Something, some being, was wearing this hideous isolation like a skin-he could sense it as strongly as if the tortured creature were right beside him. He remembered the cat of his dream, spinning forever through the darkness, radiating cold despair. Was this the same feeling?
Even as he thought of the catmint nightmare the feeling was gone. The hum had become a low throb again, and the wilderness around them was empty. Fritti could feel, although he could not say how, that the watcher was gone. When he woke the others they listened blearily to his excited story, but after some time had passed it became obvious that whatever it had been would not return that night. They returned to uneasy sleep.
After marching for a short time in the sunlight of the following morning, they sighted the mound.
They were descending down a rocky plain into a wide, shallow valley. It stretched away before them to the foothills of a range of tall mountains, so far away they seemed only dim shapes against the sky. The snow had begun to fall again, and as it fluttered down to land and cling on their coats they looked across the cracked, gray valley floor to the mushrooming bulge in its center. The mound, low and massive, thrust up from the cold ground like the shell of an enormous dun-colored beetle.
Coming over the low rim of the valley the travelers felt the pulling sensation suddenly increase. Fritti shied back, hackles raised, and Pouncequick and Roofshadow shook their heads as if beset by an unpleasant noise.
"That's it!" hissed Tailchaser, feeling panicky and short of breath.
"It is," Roofshadow agreed. "We have found the source of many problems."
Pouncequick had retreated several steps, and now crouched, eyes wide and small body shivering. "It's a nest," he said quietly. "It's a nest, and the things in it will sting us and sting us!" He began sniffling quietly. Roofshadow, walking a little unsteadily herself, went to his side and nuzzled him comfortingly behind the ear. She looked up from the kitten inquiringly.
"What do we do now, Tailchaser?" she asked.
Fritti shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't have the slightest idea. I hadn't ever expected… this. I'm… I'm frightened." He looked down at the huge, silent mound and shuddered.
"So am I, Tailchaser," said Roofshadow, and the tone of her voice drew his gaze. She met his eyes, and the shadow of a smile passed across her face, the merest twitch of her whiskers. Something else passed between them. Fritti, feeling awkward, padded over to Pouncequick.
"It's all right, little friend," he said, sniffing Pouncequick's nose. The small cat smelled of terror, his body trembling, his bushy tail curled up between his legs. "It's all right, Pounce, we won't let anything happen to you." Fritti was not even listening to his own words-he was staring off again, across the valley.
"Well, whatever we will do, now we must move," Roofshadow pointed out. "The winds are rising again, and we are completely exposed. And not only to the weather."
Fritti realized that she was right. They were as naked and unprotected in this spot as a bug on a flat rock. He nodded in agreement, and they coaxed their young comrade to his paws.
"Come on, now, Pounce, let's find a better place to lie up for a while, and then we'll have a bit of a think."
Roofshadow, too, moved to reassure the youngling. "We will not go any closer, Pouncequick… not now. I don't want to spend the Hours of Darkness very close to that os-mound in any case." The youngling, persuaded into movement, walked quietly between them as they began a long march around the outside rim of the valley.
Along the valley edge, circling the mound like small planets orbiting a gray, dead sun, the companions paced quietly and kept close together. As the sun rose into the sky, bringing a sickly light to the valley, stands of trees became visible over the far rim of the great bowl. A vast sea of woodlands reached into the distance.
"That must be Ratleaf," Roofshadow said. Tailchaser was startled at how loud her voice sounded after their long silence. "It looks to be quite a long walk," she continued, "but it will certainly provide shelter."