The Beginning Prophecy: Firestarter

Chapter Twenty Four

The WindClan refugees were the first to react to the attack, springing to their paws in an instant. "ShadowClan!" Yowled Stagleap.

A shrill squeal of terrified kits rose up in the air as ThunderClan cats spilled out of the dens with tails bushed out to twice their usual size and tossed themselves into battle. The WindClan warriors stood still for a moment before they too joined the fray. Pigeonflight grappled with a black-and-ginger tabby she-cat, and Spottedleaf knew he wasn't fighting in defense of ThunderClan. He was fighting for revenge for his fallen clanmates and exiled Clan.

Spottedleaf caught the amber eyes of a light brown ShadowClan warrior as he surged toward her. The two cats leapt at one another and clashed in midair. She quickly gained the upperpaw against the older warrior, slamming his back into the hard-baked earth with claws tightly gripping his shoulders. She delivered a hard bite to his shoulder, tasting the iron tang of blood as he howled.

Her enemy churned his hindpaws against her white belly, and she sprung away with a hiss. Pain seared up from her wounds, but she was ready to meet the intruder when he charged at the tortoiseshell again. Spottedleaf dodged a swipe and dove forth to sink her teeth into his foreleg. Snarling with rage, the tom drove her chin into the ground with a forepaw on her neck. She was temporarily blind as dust clouded in her face, coughing and sneezing.

The brown cat climbed onto her back, sinking sharp teeth into her neck and wetting her fur with blood. She shot up and threw off her attacker. With burning eyes, she spun and lashed out to rake her claws across the ShadowClan warrior's muzzle.

Tinyice flung himself onto the back of the intruder from the crowd, no more than a black smear in the mess of fighting cats. He clawed at his enemy's back until he broke free and bolted into the thick undergrowth around camp.

The mates shared a brief nod before Tinyice disappeared. Spottedleaf stiffened as the gorse at the camp entrance rustled, expecting more ShadowClan cats. Instead came the ThunderClan patrol. She could easily make out Tigerclaw's large frame as he hurled himself at the closest enemy.

Now confident that they could drive out ShadowClan, Spottedleaf surveyed the camp. It was a frenzy of fighting as ThunderClan cats furiously battled ShadowClan warriors. Every corner seemed to be alive with wrestling felines. She saw Frostfur and Goldenflower clawing and biting a gray tom with a torn ear. Even Brindleface, belly swollen with kits ready to be born, was fighting. Darkstripe was locked in a fierce tussle with a black-and-white warrior. Halftail, Patchpelt, and Dappletail, three elders, were bravely nipping at a brown-and-cream she-cat who fought with twice their speed and ferocity.

Spottedleaf guessed the weaker elders were sheltering inside the hollow trunk of their fallen tree. All kits were out of sight, hopefully safely hidden in the nursery.

She caught a flash of flaming ginger. Firepaw! The apprentice grabbed hold of a pale gray she-cat, much larger than himself, and bit into her leg. She yowled in pain and turned on him, lashing out with unsheathed claws and lunging at his neck with bared teeth. He ducked and twisted to avoid her bite. She failed to match the young cat's speed, and Firepaw managed to grasp her from behind and pull her down into the dust. His claws tore at her pelt until she squealed and struggled out of camp.

Spottedleaf saw Bluestar had arrived. She was fighting another gray cat, this one darker than the one Firepaw had battled, and a tom. ThunderClan's leader was a powerful opponent. Her victim failed to escape as she tightly held him and clawed him so fiercely that Spottedleaf was confident he would bear scars from this fight for moons to come.