Tigerheart’s Shadow

“Blaze.” Tigerheart held the tom back with a paw. “Do you think we’re making a mistake, letting Spire lead?”

Blaze avoided his gaze for a moment, as though he was thinking. Then he blinked at Tigerheart. “I trust him.”

Tigerheart dipped his head. They had come this far because of Spire’s vision. They might as well keep going. What else could they do?

He followed Blaze and Spire to the edge of the wood and waited there while they carried on, crossing the wide field beyond. Spire veered to one corner of the field, heading for a dip that curved around the foot of the hill. Sparrowtail and Rippletail caught up with Tigerheart and paused beside him. They stared across the field at Spire.

“Where’s he heading now?” Rippletail asked.

“He says there’s a river ahead,” Tigerheart told him.

“I don’t see any river.” Rippletail grunted.

Sparrowtail glanced back into the woods. “Let’s wait for the others.”

As Berryheart padded heavily from between the trunks, Sparrowtail hurried to meet her and fell in beside her. Dovewing, Ant, Spire, and the kits followed, Cloverfoot close behind.

“Can we rest soon?” Dovewing asked as she saw Tigerheart.

Tigerheart glanced at the sky. The sun was sliding toward the horizon, but there was still a way to go until sunset. “There’s still plenty of traveling time left before dark.”

“The kits are tired.” Dovewing glanced across the field toward Spire and Blaze. “They need to rest.”

“I’m not tired!” Pouncekit lifted her chin, but Tigerheart could see weariness in her face.

“Do you want a badger ride?” he asked.

Her eyes shone. “Yes, please!”

“I’ll carry Lightkit,” Cloverfoot offered.

Dovewing looked gratefully at the she-cat.

Ant stooped beside Shadowkit. “Do you want to ride on my back?” he asked.

Shadowkit scrambled onto the tom’s shoulders and snuggled against his fur.

Tigerheart crouched so that Pouncekit could climb onto his back.

“How many more days do you think we’ll be traveling?” Dovewing mewed softly to Tigerheart.

“I don’t know.” Tigerheart shifted his weight as he walked so that Pouncekit was balanced comfortably between his shoulder blades. “I lost track of where we were as soon as we left the Silverpath. But Spire seems to be in a hurry to get to the lake.”

“Do you think he really knows the way?” Dovewing asked.

“I hope so.” Tigerheart gazed at the horizon, hoping to recognize the shape of a distant hill. But nothing seemed familiar. He had to believe Spire would find the way.

They trekked on, and as they rounded the curve of the hill, Tigerheart saw a river meandering along a wide valley floor. Relief washed his pelt. “Spire said a river lay ahead,” he told Dovewing. “He must know where we’re going.” Crossing will be dangerous. He didn’t dwell on the healer’s words.

The river was almost as wide as a lake. It flowed smoothly between tree-lined banks, brown and muddy. The water swirled, streams and eddies betraying the powerful currents that churned beneath the surface.

“Look!” Pouncekit squeaked from his shoulders. “A floating monster!” A large, pawless monster chugged upstream, sending wide ripples in its wake. Twolegs moved around near the top.

Dovewing looked at the river. “Is Spire planning to find a way around it?” The healer was heading downstream along the bank.

Tigerheart glanced at her. “He said we had to cross it.” He didn’t tell her the healer’s warning.

“Can we cross it in a floating monster?” Pouncekit asked excitedly.

“No.” Tigerheart never wanted to be in the belly of another Twoleg monster. He glanced beyond Spire and saw a large Twoleg bridge spanning the river. Monsters prowled over it. “I think he’s planning to use that.” It must be a Thunderpath, like the one that arced over the herb patch in the city.

Spire was already climbing the slope that reached toward the end of the bridge. At the top, the healer stopped and turned to watch the rest of the party. His tail flicked impatiently as he saw them trailing behind.

Dovewing’s gaze was fixed on the bridge. “How will we get past all those monsters?”

Tigerheart let his flank brush hers. “We survived monsters in the city,” he meowed encouragingly. “We can survive these.”

Rippletail, Berryheart, Sparrowtail, and Cloverfoot were already beside Spire when Tigerheart and Dovewing reached them. Ant and Cinnamon caught up a few moments later.

The healer was sitting on the grass that edged the Thunderpath. As Tigerheart eased Pouncekit from his shoulders, he glanced along the line of monsters flowing across the bridge in both directions. They lurched, growling as they sped up; fumes billowed from their tails as they slowed down. Tigerheart slid in front of Pouncekit protectively. He could see that a narrow walkway edged the Thunderpath as it crossed the bridge, but a high fence hemmed it in. His pelt prickled nervously at the thought of being trapped between monsters and a wall. “We should wait till sundown,” he suggested. “There may be fewer monsters then.”