Tigerheart’s Shadow

Releasing Juniperclaw, the badger spun heavily beneath him. It lifted its snout and glanced over its shoulder at Tigerheart. Rage sparked in its eyes. With a growl, it threw itself onto its side and rolled. Tigerheart squawked as the badger’s weight fell on top of him. “Get its belly!” he puffed at Scorchfur. But the gray tom had already flung himself, claws slashing, at the badger’s exposed underside. With a roar, the badger’s limbs closed around Scorchfur.

It heaved itself upright. Tigerheart still clung to its back. Scorchfur wailed, trapped beneath it, his muzzle dangerously exposed to the badger’s snarling jaws.

Juniperclaw slashed at its nose. The badger threw its head up, howling with pain as claws sliced its snout. Tigerheart thrust his muzzle forward and snapped at one of the badger’s ears, sinking his teeth into the leathery flesh. The badger jerked as though hit by lightning. Rearing, it threw Tigerheart from its back with a desperate howl of pain.

Tigerheart hit a tree with a thump that sent the forest spinning around him. His head cracked against the bark with such force that for a moment he thought his skull had split. White pain flared behind his eyes. Tree roots jabbed his ribs as he dropped like dead prey. Dazed, he glimpsed a flash of black-and-white fur at the edge of his vision. He felt the ground shake.

“Tigerheart!”

He heard Juniperclaw’s panicked cry and felt a tug of loyalty. His Clanmates were in danger. Blindly he staggered to his paws and shook out his fur. Juniperclaw and Scorchfur were dodging around the badger, lashing out in turns at its hefty flanks. The badger spun and snapped at them, its eyes frenzied.

Struggling from his stupor, Tigerheart smelled its fetid stench once more and felt heat pulsing from its pelt. This badger was sick. He could hear it wheezing. Was this why it was foraging so far from its home? Had its denmates driven it away?

The badger staggered as Scorchfur struggled from beneath it and leaped, quick as a squirrel, to Juniperclaw’s side. The black tom’s paw was oozing blood where the badger had bit it, but he was still standing. The warriors faced the badger as it eyed them murderously.

“It’s sick!” Tigerheart yowled, ignoring the throbbing behind his eyes. “We can win if we work together!” He scrambled past the flailing badger and slid between his Clanmates. They lined up beside him and faced the stinking creature, ears flat. Tigerheart dug his claws into the earth. Juniperclaw bared his teeth. Scorchfur lowered his head, eyes like slits. Slowly, they crept forward, hissing together like snakes.

Confusion glistened suddenly in the badger’s eyes, and it froze. The heat from its stinking fur rolled over Tigerheart. For a moment he remembered the stench of Puddleshine’s medicine den when yellowcough had gripped the Clan.

Scorchfur lifted his head and snarled menacingly.

Confusion turned to fear in the badger’s fevered gaze. With a grunt, it backed away. It knows it’s beaten. Triumph surged in Tigerheart’s chest as the badger turned and lumbered heavily in the opposite direction. It stumbled into the ditch and floundered there for a moment.

“Let’s give it some scars to take away,” Scorchfur growled.

Tigerheart blocked him with a paw. “It’s already sick,” he meowed. “Let it go. We can send out a patrol later to check that it’s left our land for good.” Actually, you can send out a patrol,

he thought. I won’t be here.

The badger hauled itself from the ditch and shambled through the bracken, disappearing into the shadowy pines.

Tigerheart looked at the sky and realized with a jolt how late it was. Sunset had passed and left the forest in darkness. Dovewing! She might be gone already! The thumping in his head made him wince. He flicked his tail toward Juniperclaw. “How’s your paw?”

Juniperclaw was licking his wound gingerly. Pain sparked in his eyes as he met Tigerheart’s gaze. “No bones broken, but the wound’s deep.”

“Get him to the medicine den,” Tigerheart ordered Scorchfur. “Tell Puddleshine the badger was sick. The bite might be infected.”

Scorchfur blinked at him. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“There’s something I need to do.” Tigerheart turned and leaped the ditch, heading toward the meeting place. He had to do it now. Before Dovewing left. Before he lost his nerve.

Juniperclaw looked puzzled. “I thought you hit your head.”

“It was nothing.” Tigerheart’s head was throbbing, but he tried to ignore it.

“Will you be gone long?” Scorchfur called after him.

Tigerheart didn’t answer. He didn’t even look back. He didn’t want to see the Clanmates he was leaving. He didn’t want to think about them. But he could feel their surprised gazes burning his pelt.