"Certainly," agreed Fritti. "Do you see it, Pounce? Think of it! Trees to scratch, Squeakers to hunt- everything!"
Pouncequick gave him a weak grin, and murmured: "Thank you, Tailchaser. I will be all right." They continued on.
Toward the end of Smaller Shadows a clutch of large, dark birds flew overhead. One of their number peeled off from the others and swooped down to circle over the cats. He had a bright eye, and feathers of glossy black. He hovered lazily for a few moments quite close above their heads; then, uttering a shrill cry of derision, he soared up to meet his fellows. Croaking, they disappeared from sight.
By the dwindling away of Stretching Sun they had come near enough to Ratleaf Forest to distinguish the spires of individual trees protruding above the edge of the valley. With the night fast approaching, the sensation of malevolence coming from the shadowy hump on the valley floor seemed to increase.
Tailchaser felt the throbbing deep inside himself, and only by repeating the First-walkers' prayer over and over mindlessly was he able to stifle his urge to bolt and run until he would fall down exhausted. "Tangaloor, fire-bright," he muttered to himself, "flame-foot, farthest walker…" Pouncequick and Roofshadow did not seem to be feeling it quite as strongly as he, but they looked strained and worn. The forest was now completely visible, stretching for leagues beyond the bowl-shaped valley. It looked very warm and inviting.
When the sun finally began to set, limning the tips of the trees with golden light, they quickened their pace, pressing their bodies to still greater efforts. As the sun dipped below the farthest horizon of the forest, only its red corona left pressed against the sky, a bitterly cold wind sprang up; it bit at their noses and flattened their fur.
Tailchaser, with Pouncequick and Roofshadow struggling gamely behind him, increased his speed. The buzzing sensation was mounting; he felt quite ill. A vast, formless panic seemed to snap at their heels. One after another, the trio broke into a run.
Up the steep outer slope of the valley wall they galloped, topping it at last to look down on the edge of Ratleaf. Heedless now of anything but the gathering oppressiveness behind them they tumbled down the short rise and dashed across the rocky flat, to vanish at last under the eaves of the forest.
Ratleaf Forest slumbered… or seemed to. A murky, stagnant calm hung in the air. As Tailchaser and his companions slunk wearily through the trees the forest's silence weighed as heavily on them as their own fatigue.
Once into the woods, Fritti and Pouncequick were quite ready to collapse where they stood, but Roof-shadow pointed out the importance of finding a site that was better protected against cold and discovery. Although the mound was now out of sight, it had not disappeared from their memories: with groans of weariness they acceded to the fela's suggestion and continued deeper into the forest.
Picking their way across the damp loam, past moss and mushrooms, the cats found themselves imitating the silence of their surroundings. Heads down, moving slowly, they stopped frequently to wrinkle their noses at the unfamiliar scents of Ratleaf. Moisture pervaded everything, earth and bark sodden and dripping-the whole forest smelled of tree roots in still water deep underground. The air was steaming-breath cold.
It took the travelers until the end of Unfolding Dark to find shelter: a windbreak provided by a standing granite boulder and the roots of a toppled tree. They promptly fell down to sleep. Nothing disturbed them, but when they woke near the middle of Deepest Quiet-sore and hungry-they did not feel particularly rested.
There were still no signs of any creatures bigger than insects. After a period of fruitless search the cats were forced to settle for a supper of grubs and beetles.
Although they were all feeling poorly, Tailchaser felt especially on edge and upset. The throbbing of the mound, despite its having decreased noticeably when they passed into Ratleaf, still dug at him. Also, unlike his two friends, he had not shared Fence-walker's squirrel and had now gone two full days without any type of meal he would call satisfactory.
As he swallowed his last grub, he snapped: "Well, here we are, and no mistake about it. I have brought us right to the brink, no question. I hope you are both pleased about following me while I made a complete M'an of myself! Perhaps you'd like to follow me into the mound so we can all be hideously slaughtered." He swatted an oak boll with his paw and watched it carom away.
"Don't say such things, Tailchaser," said Pounce-quick. "That's not true, any of it."
"It is true, Pounce," said Fritti bitterly. "The great hunter Tailchaser has come to the limit of his quest."
"The only thing you have said that is true, Tail-chaser," said Roofshadow with surprising vehemence, "is that we have found what we were looking for. That is something that Fencewalker, Squeakerbane and the others cannot say. We have found the source of the terror."
"Apparently Thane Brushstalker found it, too-and you heard what happened to him! Meerclar protect us!" Tailchaser was a little mollified, though. He looked up from his sulk to face his comrades. "All right. The question still remains. What do we do?"
Pouncequick looked at the two elder cats, then said quietly, as if ashamed: "I think we should go back to the Prince and tell him. He'll know what to do."
Fritti was about to object when Roofshadow cut in: "Pouncequick's right. We felt the os in that place. We three are too few and too small. To think that it is our place alone to deal with this is an arrogance surpassing Ninebirds'." The fela shook her head, green eyes thoughtful. "If we bring others here they cannot fail to discover what we have. Perhaps then the weight of the Court of Harar will be put to some use." She stood, another shadow in the dark forest. "Come, let's return to the tree roots until the sun is out. I am certainly not going anywhere tonight."
Tailchaser stared at the gray fela, admiring her. "As usual, you speak with quite a bit more reason than I have been using. You too, Pounce." He smiled at his young friend. "Harar! I'm glad that you two didn't let me go off by my stupid self."
In the Hour before dawn Fritti was unable to sleep. Roofshadow and Pouncequick tossed fitfully and muttered, but Tailchaser lay between them and stared up into the dark treetops, nerves as taut as a bent branch. From time to time he would drift off into a brief, dreamy near-sleep, only to find himself suddenly wide awake again, feeling trapped and exposed, his heart pounding.
The night wore on. The forest remained as still as stone.
Tailchaser was wandering along the dream threshold when he heard a noise. He lay listening distractedly for a moment as it grew louder; suddenly he realized that something was charging rapidly toward them through the underbrush. He leaped onto his paws, jarring his friends into groggy wakefulness.
"Something's coming!" he hissed, fur bristling. The din increased. Time seemed to slow, each moment expanding into a smothering eternity. A shape burst out of the undergrowth only a few jumps away.
Spiky and tattered, eyes starting from its head, the apparition crashed out into the open. Highlighted by the Eye beaming down through the trees, it seemed to take forever to reach the companions. Tailchaser, rigid with panic, felt as though he were under deep water.
The bizarre figure skidded to a halt. The Eye-light was full in its face for a moment-full in the face of Eatbugs.
Before Fritti, shocked and startled, could move or say a word, Eatbugs threw back his head and howled like the bitterest winter storm.
"Run! Run!" cried the mad cat. "They're coming! RUN!"
Pouncequick and Roofshadow were bolt upright now. As if to emphasize Eatbugs' cry, a terrible choking scream welled up from the darkness of the woods beyond. With a bound, Eatbugs was past Tailchaser and his companions and gone. Another horrible moan split the air. With unconscious noises of terror, the trio was after him, running headlong into the forest, away from the hideous sound.