As the kits clustered together, Berryheart padded closer. Ant and Cinnamon sat beside Cloverfoot and blinked at Tigerheart.
“Shadowkit dreamed of the lake,” Tigerheart began.
Rippletail pricked his ears. “Are you sure it was the lake?”
“He described it exactly,” Tigerheart told him. “He saw the route we must take to get there and says he can lead us to it.”
Shadowkit huddled closer to his sisters as the warriors turned to look at him.
“Does he have visions like Spire?” Ant asked.
“I guess he does.” Tigerheart felt a rush of pride.
Cloverfoot tipped her head questioningly. “Do you really think a kit can lead us home?”
“I think StarClan has chosen to share with us through him,” Tigerheart meowed. “We need to know how to get home. Now we have been shown a way. It isn’t far. Only a day or two.” He looked at Berryheart. “Do you think your kits are ready to make the journey?” Hope rose in his chest as Berryheart’s gaze flicked toward her kits. I’m coming, ShadowClan. I’ll be there soon.
Berryheart shifted her paws uneasily. “Not yet,” she meowed. “They’re barely weaned.”
Shadowkit stiffened, his pelt pricking. “But—”
Tigerheart spoke over him. “The journey is not long.” His Clan was so near; and in need of his help. The tug of home felt like a thorn in his heart. “We can carry them most of the way.”
“If you must go now, you can leave without us,” Berryheart offered.
“No,” Tigerheart meowed firmly. “We leave together or not at all.”
Dovewing blinked softly at Berryheart. “Will they be ready in a quarter moon?”
Shadowkit flicked his tail. “We must leave before that!”
Dovewing silenced him with a look. “I said no interrupting.”
“But it was my dream—”
Dovewing cut him off. “You are too young to be telling warriors what to do.”
Shadowkit tucked his tail around his paws and stared at the ground.
Dovewing turned back to Berryheart. “A quarter moon?”
“Yes.” Berryheart gazed anxiously at her kits. “But only if the weather is fine.”
Tigerheart flicked his tail eagerly. “Then it’s settled. In a quarter moon, we’ll go home.”
Dusk turned the thin clouds above the forest pink. A fresh wind stirred the branches. Tigerheart gazed at the moon as the sky darkened around it. The quarter moon had passed. They would leave at dawn. Anxiety fluttered in his belly. What would he find when he reached the lake? The shadows are fading. He can’t keep them together. He couldn’t believe Rowanstar had let ShadowClan fall apart. They must be waiting for him. A forest without ShadowClan would be like a forest without trees.
Dovewing gazed across the camp wall, scanning the woods. “The hunting patrol will be back soon,” she meowed. Cloverfoot and Sparrowtail had gone to find prey with Rippletail and Ant. Tigerheart had told them to catch as much as they could; he wanted the party to start their journey with full bellies.
Blaze had left the camp with Cinnamon to hunt for herbs to give them strength. Berryheart was purring as she played moss-ball with Spirekit. Hollowkit and Sunkit were exploring beyond the camp wall. Dovewing could see them now, sniffing at the roots of a beech while Pouncekit and Lightkit bounced around them, trying to catch the moths flitting around the bracken.
“Why don’t you go and play with the other kits?” Tigerheart glanced at Shadowkit. The young tom was crouching in the shadow of the brambles, his eyes dark with worry.
Shadowkit ignored his question. “We should leave tonight.” His gaze flashed toward the sky. “Tomorrow will be too late.”
Tigerheart’s belly tightened. “Has StarClan shared something with you?”
Shadowkit looked away. “I wish they had,” he murmured. “Then I could explain.”
“Explain what?”
“This feeling.” Shadowkit shifted his paws beneath him. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“We leave in the morning,” Tigerheart soothed. Sharing a dream world with StarClan must be hard for a kit who was too young to understand even the real world. And yet he couldn’t resist probing. “In your vision,” he mewed softly, “have you seen a ginger tom?”
Shadowkit glanced at him sharply. “No? Was I meant to?”
“No.” Tigerheart shook out his pelt. He was putting too much pressure on the young tom. It wasn’t fair to ask him if StarClan had shared any news about Rowanstar. Shadowkit would have told me if he knew anything. Why would there be news of his father? Rowanstar had probably solved ShadowClan’s problems by now.
“Tigerheart!” Dovewing’s mew was taut. He looked at her. She was still watching the kits. Had she spotted the hunting patrol?
“What is it?” He followed her gaze as she raised her eyes to the canopy.
A dark shadow flitted between the branches. Tigerheart’s pelt spiked with alarm.
Owl.
It was gliding silently above the kits. His heart lurched as he saw it swoop. With a gasp, he leaped the camp wall and pelted toward Pouncekit. “Hide!” Lightkit and Pouncekit scattered into the bracken. Sunkit stared at him, her eyes wide. Hollowkit seemed rooted to the spot. Tigerheart looked up as he felt the wind from the owl’s wings. The owl was so huge it blocked out the sky. Pelt bushing, he saw its talons reach for Hollowkit. He lunged forward and pushed the kit clear, then reared to beat away the owl.
Gray fur flashed at the corner of his eye. Dovewing leaped for the owl, her claws outstretched. With a screech, she tore at its wing as it began to lift. Tigerheart glimpsed its beady eye. It flapped its giant wing, knocking Dovewing away. Tigerheart slashed at its chest, blinded by a flurry of feathers. Then pain pierced his flanks. Talons clutched him as hard as stone. Shock pulsed in his chest as he felt himself lifted. The owl had caught him. He thrashed helplessly in its grip as the earth fell away from his paws. Wind rushed around him as the owl rose among the trees and glided between the branches. A moment later the trees were below him. Tigerheart struggled for breath as air rushed around him. Dizzy with terror, he stared as the ground disappeared into shadow.
Dovewing and Berryheart were screeching. Their cries echoed far below. The kits mewled in terror. Panic shrilled beneath his pelt. Numb with fear, Tigerheart twisted between the owl’s talons and swung his paws around. Claws stretched out, he sliced at the owl’s belly. The owl screeched in pain and loosened its grip.
Tigerheart felt himself slipping from its talons. His heart leaped to his throat. Wind battered his pelt as he fell, his thoughts reeling. He flailed, grasping at nothing. Then branches whipped his face and battered his flanks as he dropped through the canopy. He saw tree trunks blur around him, and then he hit the ground.
The thump of earth against his chest knocked the breath from him.
Then everything went dark.
Chapter 34
Blazing pain dragged Tigerheart into consciousness. Agony seared in his chest and seemed to reach through his body to the tip of each hair on his pelt. He wanted to hide in sleep, but pain forced him awake. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes. He was lying on his side, paws stretched in front of him. Around him, night had swallowed the forest.
“Tigerheart.” Relief throbbed in Dovewing’s mew. He felt her muzzle sink into his neck fur, and he groaned at the weight of it. She jerked away. “Can you move?”
Fighting pain, Tigerheart rolled onto his paws and forced himself up. The world spun as he fought for breath. Stone seemed to grip his chest, while rats gnawed inside his belly. He collapsed.
“Are his legs broken?” Rippletail thrust his muzzle close. He sounded scared.