Short Story Collection

Claws of Destiny: Part 3

 I woke up to the sound of screeching cats. Suddenly, a soldier cat from Lord Strongpaws' army burst into our sleeping den.

"You have to go, now!"

Graypaws and Orangefur were already dashing out of the den, and I was right on their heels. Outside our living quarters was utter chaos. The Dark One and his soldier fought viciously, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.

While everyone was distracted, we raced towards the deep woods. We almost made it, when two giant soldier cats dove for Graypaws and Orangefur. They held my friends in a tight chokehold, and hissed at me.

"Come back to The Dark One and your friends will live." One of them said.

"Bushytail, don't!" Graypaws managed to say between coughs.

Just when I was about to give up, The Dark One himself came sprinting towards us. His face was contorted with rage, not at me, but at his soldiers.

"What do you think you're doing!?" he demanded, hissing at the soldier cats.

"The kitten was trying to run away." One of them explained.

"That's no excuse for hurting the other kittens. You know very well we need them alive for the feast!"

The soldiers reluctantly let my friends go and we started running again. I was confused about why The Dark One had let us get away, but I was grateful. Now we just had to find the chasm from the prophecy. Piece of cake!

~ ~ ~

We stopped in a clearing to catch our breath, and just when we were about to leave, a tree moved. It was a great big redwood tree, and it stood tall with its branches reaching up to the sky.

We swiveled our heads towards the movement, but nothing happened. When we looked away, the bark shifted again. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a doorway appeared in the tree.

Orangefur was the first to dash inside, but Graypaws and I were more hesitant to do so. Inside, there was a staircase leading up, and we took the steps one at a time. Behind us, the door slid silently shut.

At the top of the stairs, was a castle sized room. There were dozens of cats, obviously demigods from the way they shone with energy. Surprisingly, I was glowing too, and way brighter than all the other cats. There were only two others who glowed as bright as me, and they were standing at the front of the room next to the cat in charge.

"Ah, there he is!" The leader cat meowed.

"The son of Ty has arrived." one of the demigods purred.

"Wait, what?" Orangefur and Graypaws looked at me like I'd been hiding a big secret from them this whole time.

That's when I noticed that my friends were glowing. In fact, they were so bright you could barely look at them without frying your eyes.

"Who are those cats next to you, and why are they glowing like gods?" the other demigod growled.

"Because, they are the Twins of Fate. They are destined to save the world, along with their demigod friend." a deep voice rumbled.

No one seemed to find it strange that the tree was speaking, but my friends and I jumped about a foot in the air.

"The tree has spoken." the leader cat announced.
"But we're the ones who have to save the world with the son of Ty over there." the demigods complained.

"I understand this is confusing, but one of you five is a fake. They will betray the whole world, and drag another cat down with them. It is up to you to single out the traitor and their future accomplice." the tree boomed in a gravelly voice.

Now everyone was hissing at each other suspiciously, and things were just about to escalate into a free-for-all when the leader cat meowed for attention. Everyone stopped and listened, almost immediately.

"I know that we are all eager to discover who the traitor is, but you must all remember that the fate of the world depends on this. The traitor will reveal themselves eventually, but you must trust the process. Be vigilant, brave, and cunning. Notice everything anyone does, as this may help you root out the betrayer." the leader cat said.

"But first, shouldn't we analyze the prophecy?" one of the demigods asked.

"Yes. What do we know so far?"

"Well, we know the first line: The chasm he seeks will succumb to the flames," another demigod answered.

"We know the first stanza." Orangefur mewed tentatively.

"And how exactly do you know that?" the first demigod asked suspiciously.

"We encountered The Dark One. Or rather, he captured us when he and his soldiers invaded us." I said.

"We escaped, but he told us the first stanza. Big mistake." Graypaws grinned nervously.

"No one escapes from The Dark One alive." a demigod said.

"And what does that tell us?" a second demigod smirked.

"I wonder..." a third demigod grinned evilly.

With a mighty battlecry, all the demigods in the room attacked me and my friends.

"TRAITORS!!!" the demigods howled.

Murder glinted in their eyes as they took turns leaping for us. Working on instinct, I pounced at my attacker and slashed my claws across his side. He staggered back half a step, then quickly recovered.

Hissing with fury, he stalked towards me and raked at my underbelly. Anticipating the attack, I dodged and swung my back leg in an arc. I kicked him right in the face, with my claws sheathed though. I didn't really want to hurt him, and the gash across his back was already making him weak and tired.

Just when I thought I had won, three more cats leapt in to take his place. One of them pounced at me from the front, the other from the back. The third circled me like I was prey. They had obviously been trained to fight, and I hadn't. All I'd ever done was watch the soldiers train and playfight with my friends. I quickly abandoned my thought to not hurt my attackers.

I ducked as the cat in front of me leapt forward. She crashed into the cat behind me, who had leapt at the same time. Their extended claws slashed and gashed appeared on their faces. Howling in pain, they staggered off.

The third cat, obviously the smartest, waited until I was basking in my victory. When I was distracted, he pounced. His claws raked my right side and I howled in pain. Unlike the other demigods, I had nowhere to retreat to.
Growling in rage, I leaped at the cat and swept his paws out from under him. He went crashing to the ground, and I took advantage of his unbalanced state. I circled behind him and sank my claws as deep as I could into his flesh. Then I dragged them across his back as he mewled pitifully and dashed off, leaving trails of red behind him.

I collapsed, worn out from the fight. The gash on my side throbbed, and I was starting to lose consciousness. Now that my adrenaline was ebbing, I felt like I could sleep for a thousand years at least.

"Bushytail! Graypaws, help me!" Orangefur cried, but it sounded like she was miles away.

The last thing I saw before I passed out were the glowing forms of Orangefur and Graypaws standing over me. Then everything was black.