Fading Echoes

Ivypaw caught her breath as Blackstar padded out of the forest, flanked by Russetfur and Rowanclaw. His pelt glowed white in the half-light. He looked far more powerful than he did at Gatherings, his hackles raised, eyes glittering with anger. Ivypaw fought the urge to back away. Hawkfrost has trained me! She grasped the thought and hung on to it.

Courage began to seep back into her paws as Blackstar halted and wrinkled his nose. The clearing was drenched in ThunderClan scent.

“You have made your choice,” he snarled to Firestar. “You gave us this territory. It’s not yours to take back.”

Firestar lifted his chin. “We have given you a chance to avoid fighting. Even now, no blood needs to be shed.”

Blackstar curled his lip. “Blood will fall, and every drop of it will be on your conscience.” He flicked his tail.

From the shadows and mist of the forest ShadowClan warriors leaped out with their claws unsheathed, their teeth bared. The muted dawn was ripped apart by screeches.

Ivypaw froze. The warriors were huge! Then she felt the warm bulk of Hawkfrost pressing against her flank. She knew that if she turned her head, she would be unable to see him, but he was there, all the same.

“Defend what is yours,” he growled. “You know how.”

The first wave of warriors hit.

A dark tabby tom lunged toward her. Ivypaw was ready. She turned and flicked out her hind legs, catching him on the cheek and sending him reeling backward, a yowl of surprise choking in his throat.

Hawkfrost’s breath stirred her pelt. “Don’t spill all their blood at once, little one.”

“Okay.” Ivypaw swerved away from the fallen warrior and reared to meet a ShadowClan tom twice her size.

Ratscar!

Undaunted, she raked claws across his nose, drawing blood.

His eyes lit with surprise. “Don’t think I’ll go easy on you”—he batted her back with a hefty blow—“just because you’re an apprentice.”

Dizzy from the clout, she rolled sideways. His forepaws split the grass a whisker from her ear. She leaped to her paws and reared again.

Blossomfall appeared. “Want some help?”

“Yes, please,” Ivypaw grunted. She began swiping with her forepaws and, as Blossomfall joined in, ducked and scooted behind Ratscar and crouched beneath his legs. Blossomfall drove him backward and, as he tripped, Ivypaw pushed herself up in a surging jump that sent him spinning away, shocked and unbalanced. Before he could find his paws she was clinging to his back, churning her hind paws mercilessly.

“Get underneath him!” she snapped at Blossomfall.

The young warrior obeyed and slid beneath the raging ShadowClan tom, unbalancing him again. Ivypaw let go before Ratscar tumbled onto his back, then plunged her forepaws down hard onto his belly. The breath huffed from his mouth and he lay stunned for a moment before scrabbling up clumsily, shaking his head as if trying to clear it.

“Wow!” Blossomfall breathed. “Cinderheart must be an awesome mentor!”

Ivypaw glanced at the young warrior, her mind fizzing. I have a better mentor than you could ever imagine!

Ratscar was snaking away into the writhing mass of pelts. Ivypaw searched the battlefield. ShadowClan had spilled over the new border and was pressing ThunderClan back into the long grass.

Dovepaw? She searched for her sister.

In the swirl of pelts and mist, Ivypaw couldn’t pick her out. She plunged into the fray, shouldering her way between the wrestling bodies. The fighting was vicious. Dovepaw hadn’t been trained by Hawkfrost. She must need help.

Chapter 23

Dovepaw dug her paws deeper into the grass as Blackstar strode from the trees, flanked by Russetfur and Rowanclaw. She would not give way, no matter what. Ivypaw was pressing against her flank. Dovepaw was aware of her sister’s stillness beside her own trembling body. Wasn’t Ivypaw scared?

She could hear ShadowClan coming, stalking through their territory, their paws scuffing the needle-strewn forest floor, their pelts brushing against pine trunks, their breath coming short and fast. She could picture them slicing through the sparse undergrowth, scoring marks on the ground with unsheathed claws. Their stench rolled over her, choking her until she felt as if she could no longer breathe.

Blackstar was challenging Firestar.

Blood roared in her ears. She could see her leader’s mouth moving but heard nothing but her own blood pulsing through her.

Then ShadowClan warriors erupted like a flock of ravens from the misty pine forest.

“Make every blow count!” Dovepaw hardly heard Lionblaze’s order before he leaped away.

Crouching low, she fought to remember her battle moves as her mind emptied of everything except panic. Cats lunged on either side of her and she shrank back, staring wildly around her.