Warriors: Power Of Three 1 - Sight (20 page)

Wild with terror, Lionpaw dug his claws in and propelled himself forward.

A fiery flash of fur streaked from the thorn tunnel and flew past Lionpaw.

“I’ll stop him,” Squirrelflight yowled, lunging for the ShadowClan warrior.

The tom let out an agonized shriek. Lionpaw slowed, his breath coming in great gulps. He turned and saw Squirrelflight chasing the ShadowClan warrior up the bank, snarling as if all the warriors of StarClan raced beside her.

Lionpaw hurtled into the camp. “ShadowClan have invaded!”

Firestar was in the clearing with Dustpelt. He bounded to Lionpaw’s side as soon as he saw him. “Dustpelt told me they’ve moved the border,” he meowed.

“Brambleclaw took our hunting patrol to investigate,”

Lionpaw puffed. “But we walked into an ambush.”

Firestar’s eyes widened with alarm. “Are they fighting now?”

Lionpaw nodded, his paws trembling as he thought of Jaypaw and Hollypaw battling experienced ShadowClan warriors.

“Sandstorm, Spiderleg, Whitewing, Stormfur, Brook!”

Firestar called to the warriors who were already pacing around the edge of the clearing, lashing their tails. “ShadowClan have crossed the border. Brambleclaw is holding them off, but they need help.”

“Should I bring Mousepaw?” Spiderleg asked.

“If he’s battle-ready,” Firestar answered.

Squirrelflight raced back through the entrance. “There’s one less ShadowClan warrior to deal with,” she announced.

“He’ll not want to fight again today.”

“Good work. I want you to stay and guard the camp,” Firestar told her.

Squirrelflight nodded. “Yes, Firestar.”

Millie appeared from behind the warriors’ den. “I’m coming with you.”

Lionpaw stared at her in astonishment. She was a kittypet!

“Okay,” Firestar agreed. “But don’t take any risks.”

Lionpaw was still trembling with terror and exhaustion.

Firestar looked at him. “Are you fit to fight?”

Lionpaw nodded.

“Good,” Firestar growled. “Your brother and sister need you.” Then he swept out of the camp, his warriors following.

Lionpaw pelted after the patrol. How dare ShadowClan invade our territory? He would fight tooth and claw to drive those fox-hearted warriors out. His paws stopped shaking and began to itch for battle.

“Always keep an eye out behind you!” Whitewing fell in beside him to give him some breathless advice. “ShadowClan fight dirty. You’re fast and strong, even though you’re small.

You’ll be nimbler than some of their warriors. Use that to your advantage.”

As they neared the border, he heard screeches and yowls.

“This way!” Firestar called. They plunged through the forest until Lionpaw could glimpse teeth and claws flashing in the gaps between the trees ahead.

ShadowClan warriors had surrounded Brambleclaw’s patrol, but the ThunderClan cats were standing their ground, lashing out at every cat within reach.

“Attack!” Firestar cried, and the ThunderClan warriors spread out and launched themselves into the battle.

“Head over there!” Spiderleg called to Lionpaw. He flicked his tail to the edge of the fighting. “Look for Jaypaw first and do what you can to defend him.”

Lionpaw raced forward, scanning the fray for Hollypaw and Jaypaw. He spotted Ashfur and Birchfall fighting side by side with Brightheart, fending off four ShadowClan warriors.

Jaypaw crouched behind them, pelt bristling with rage, slashing and jabbing at any ShadowClan warrior who made it through their defensive line. He didn’t seem to need any help.

Lionpaw’s heart thudded as he searched for Hollypaw’s black pelt. Had she been wounded? Relief glimmered for a moment when he saw her fighting beside Graystripe. The gray warrior, ears flattened, his lips drawn back into a vicious snarl, raked the flank of a dark ginger ShadowClan warrior as it lunged for Hollypaw.

Russetfur! Lionpaw recognized the ShadowClan deputy.

Hollypaw ducked under Graystripe and shot out from beneath him, nipping the ShadowClan deputy on her hind leg with such ferocity that the warrior whipped around, claws flashing, and lunged at Hollypaw. Lionpaw pelted to his sister’s defense, hurling himself at Russetfur and slashing her nose. The ShadowClan deputy howled in pain as crimson blood welled beneath her eyes.

“Nice work!” Graystripe called.

As he spoke, two ShadowClan cats slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. The larger of the pair, a black tom, pressed him to the ground, while the smaller white she-cat reared on her hind legs, flexing her long claws, ready to crash down on Graystripe’s head.

Orange fur blazed past Lionpaw as Firestar flew at the white warrior. He threw the ShadowClan warrior backward and slashed her cheek with a well-aimed blow.

Lionpaw leaped onto the black tom who was pinning Graystripe to the ground. He dug in his claws and bit hard into the tom’s shoulder. The warrior let go of Graystripe and reared backward. At once Hollypaw darted behind him and knocked the tom’s paws out from under him. Lionpaw leaped off as the warrior crashed down.

“Great move!” Lionpaw called to Hollypaw.

“He’s not finished yet,” she warned.

The black tom was already on his paws, hissing ferociously, but Lionpaw and Hollypaw faced him side by side, and, jabbing and slashing with their forepaws, they drove him back toward the border until he was panting and streaked with blood.

Suddenly Lionpaw spotted Oakfur slinking through the bracken toward Firestar, a fox-length away. The ThunderClan leader still had the white warrior pinned to the ground, unaware of Oakfur’s stealthy approach. Before Lionpaw could warn him, Oakfur had leaped onto Firestar’s back and grabbed the ThunderClan leader’s neck in his jaws.

The white warrior struggled from Firestar’s grip and nipped at his front paws until the ThunderClan leader fell to the ground. He vanished beneath the two snarling ShadowClan warriors.

“Can you manage by yourself?” Lionpaw screeched to Hollypaw.

“I’ll help her,” Graystripe growled, leaping in beside her.

Lionpaw threw himself at Oakfur, clamping his jaws around the ShadowClan warrior’s tail. This is for calling Jaypaw worthless! he thought as he bit down with all his strength.

Oakfur screeched and let go of Firestar. Firestar leaped to his paws and whipped around to grab Oakfur by the scruff. As he held Oakfur in his jaws, he kicked out with his powerful hind legs and sent the white warrior sprawling into the bracken.

Then he flung Oakfur with all his might against a tree.

Oakfur hit it with such force that the branches trembled and he fell to the ground, dazed.

Seeing that Firestar was safe, Lionpaw turned back to Hollypaw. He expected to see her still fighting beside Graystripe, but she stood alone in a space among the battling cats. Graystripe had left her undefended.

“Watch out!” Lionpaw gasped, his heart lurching as he saw Smokefoot rushing up behind his sister. Graystripe was two tail-lengths away, pulling a ShadowClan warrior off Millie.

The former kittypet leaped to her paws.

“Go back and help Hollypaw!” Millie yowled to Graystripe. “I can take care of myself!” She lashed out with her front claws at the ShadowClan warrior and sent him screeching away with a blow that sprayed his blood across the forest floor.

Smokefoot was on top of Hollypaw, raking his claws along her flank, but Graystripe wrestled him to the ground and pummeled his belly with his thorn-sharp hind claws.

Lionpaw darted to Hollypaw’s side as Smokefoot yowled in pain, and Graystripe let the tom flee across the border.

“Drive the rest into the brambles!” Graystripe ordered.

“What?” Spiderleg yowled in disbelief.

“That’ll only make it harder to fight them!” Birchfall called.

“Harder for ShadowClan!” Hollypaw hissed in Lionpaw’s ear. “They don’t have brambles in the pine forest.”

Firestar nodded grimly. “They’re not used to fighting in undergrowth!” he called. “Do as Graystripe says!”

“Everyone, spread out behind me!” Brambleclaw’s order split the air. He had spun around so that his back was to the ShadowClan border.

The ThunderClan cats drew away from their enemy long enough to reposition themselves around their deputy.

Confused, the ShadowClan warriors stared about them.

Suddenly they were trapped on the wrong side of their border. Then Brambleclaw charged forward, his warriors flanking him on either side, and they began to press the ShadowClan warriors deeper into ThunderClan territory, where a tangle of brambles covered the forest floor.

Lionpaw spotted Jaypaw lashing out at Owlpaw. The ShadowClan apprentice was playing with Jaypaw, ducking the blows and teasing him with jabs and taunts.

Lionpaw raced to his brother’s side. “You’re nothing but a coward,” he growled at Owlpaw.

Owlpaw thrashed his tail. “I’ll show you I’m not a coward!” He lashed out and caught Jaypaw’s muzzle with his claw.

Jaypaw gasped with pain, but he didn’t recoil, flailing his unsheathed claws more fiercely than ever.

“He’s ducking,” Lionpaw hissed to his brother.

Jaypaw instantly aimed his blows downward and raked Owlpaw’s ears. Jaypaw gave a yowl of satisfaction.

“He’s trying to get behind you now,” Lionpaw warned as Owlpaw scooted past Jaypaw and balanced himself, ready to leap at the tabby apprentice. Lionpaw spun around, every instinct crying out to take Owlpaw on himself. But he knew Jaypaw would never forgive him for fighting his battle for him, and besides, Jaypaw had already turned nimbly around and was pummeling Owlpaw with his forepaws. Owlpaw tried to duck, but Jaypaw had learned that trick, and the instant Owlpaw lowered his head, Jaypaw leaped on top of him and rolled the ShadowClan apprentice onto his back. He clung to his fur and raked his hind claws along Owlpaw’s spine until the ShadowClan apprentice begged for mercy.

“Get off!” he shrieked, and Jaypaw let go.

Owlpaw scrambled to his feet and spat at Jaypaw, ready to attack again, but Lionpaw fixed him with a threatening stare, and Owlpaw, faced by the pair of them, backed away, snarling.

The ShadowClan warriors were beginning to trip on the brambles, struggling as much against the thorns that clawed their pelts as against the ThunderClan warriors who were forcing them farther and farther into the bush. Sandstorm’s tail lashed triumphantly as a ShadowClan warrior cowered beneath her blows. Beside her, Whitewing nipped at a mottled apprentice as he tried to battle past her out of the clinging thorns. Brook and Stormfur worked together, jabbing at Smokefoot with merciless claws as he struggled farther into the brambles to escape them.

Russetfur stared in dismay at her warriors thrashing helplessly in the undergrowth. “Retreat!” she yowled.

The ShadowClan cats scrambled out of the brambles, leaving clumps of fur behind as they pelted past the ThunderClan warriors and fled back into their own territory.

Lionpaw scanned the battered ThunderClan cats. “Hollypaw!”

“I’m over here!” Hollypaw squirmed backward out of the undergrowth, her bushy tail pricked with thorns.

“Is everyone okay?” Firestar staggered out, his muzzle crimson with blood.

“Sandstorm’s twisted her paw.” Brambleclaw was standing beside the ginger-colored warrior as she licked at a forepaw.

“It’s just a sprain,” she reassured him.

“Stormfur?” Firestar looked at the gray warrior. “That looks like a bad cut on your shoulder.”

“It’ll heal,” Stormfur replied.

“I’ve lost a chunk of fur from my tail,” Spiderleg spat. “But it was worth it if ShadowClan thinks twice before trying to steal our territory again.”

“We need to make sure they’re all gone,” Firestar meowed.

“I’ll check,” Brook offered.

“Are you injured?”

“Just a torn ear.”

“Then take Spiderleg with you and search beyond the brambles,” Firestar ordered. “Make sure no cat went farther into our territory.”

Spiderleg and Brook hared away through the trees.

Ashfur flicked Lionpaw’s shoulder with his tail. “Thank StarClan you got help so quickly.”

“You held out well till we came,” Firestar praised him.

“Hollypaw fought like a warrior!” Birchfall commented.

“And Jaypaw never gave ground,” Brightheart added.

“We couldn’t let ShadowClan drive us from our own territory!” Graystripe growled.

Brambleclaw gazed across the clearing where the ShadowClan cats had fled. “We’re going to have to do something about ShadowClan before the next Gathering,” he vowed.

“Let’s start by remarking the correct boundary,” Firestar ordered. “Brambleclaw, you stay here with Ashfur and Birchfall and mark every tree twice along the border.”

Brambleclaw nodded.

“I’ll take the rest back to camp.”

“Can’t I stay with Ashfur?” Lionpaw begged.

Ashfur shook his head. “Go back to camp and get some ointment on those scratches. I want you back in training as soon as possible.”

Reluctantly, Lionpaw turned and followed his Clanmates.

Sandstorm was limping, and Stormfur kept stopping to lick at the blood welling from the wound on his shoulder. Millie’s pelt was missing clumps of fur along her flank, but she was buzzing with the excitement that came from winning a battle, her ears pricked and her tail twitching.

Lionpaw caught up with Jaypaw and Hollypaw. “Did you see me jump on Oakfur?” he mewed proudly.

“I wish I had!” Hollypaw sounded even more excited than he felt. “I was too busy seeing to that tabby warrior.” Her eyes were glowing. “I used a move Cinderpaw taught me the other day. It was brilliant doing it for real!”

“And you showed Owlpaw that he’s no match for a ThunderClan apprentice,” Lionpaw mewed to Jaypaw. The mottled apprentice was padding along quietly, tail down.

“Yeah, right,” he muttered.

“Hollypaw!” Leafpool had come out to meet the returning warriors. “Are there any serious injuries?”

Hollypaw blinked. “S-Stormfur has a scratch . . .” she stammered.

“Haven’t you checked?” Leafpool asked anxiously.

“Everyone can still walk,” Hollypaw offered.

“What about the tansy?” Leafpool pursued. “Did you find any?”

“Oh, yes,” Hollypaw mewed.