Warriors: Rise of the Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter Nine

Icepaw opened his eyes, the pale dawn sky signaling him that the dawn patrol was about to leave without him. Shooting out of the den after a quick wash, Icepaw caught up with Bramblestorm before they left.

"Someone slept in again," teased Fallowhawk, Whiskerpaw's mentor. "Perhaps you don't want to go with us if you sleep in so much, Icepaw."

Browntail, who had almost completely healed from her wounds, shook her head in amusement. "Aren't we going on a patrol?" She asked.

Bramblestorm nodded and led the four cats out of the camp, tail flicking. A thin layer of snow barely covered the forest ground as the patrol began the trek around the territory and border.

Icepaw let out a sigh and saw his breath in front of his muzzle. The freezing wind picked up, pushing his fur the opposite way and making Icepaw shiver.

His thoughts began to wander as the patrol traveled in comfortable silence. Icepaw's thoughts shifted to the dream he'd had during the night with Kinkpaw of DuskClan.

'I wonder why we shared a dream when we don't know each other in the waking world.' Thought Icepaw, his ear twitching in wonder. 'Perhaps StarClan messed up the dreams they send us and mine and her dream was mixed.'

"Wait," warned Browntail, cutting into the apprentice's thoughts as she held up her tail with the tip flicking back in forth slowly to show her wariness.

"What do you have, Browntail?" Bramblestorm asked, looking at the she-cat. The sun was peaking up the horizon and hills and the sky turned from pale to blue.

Suddenly, the calico she-cat let out a sharp warning hiss. "Run!" She ordered, spun around, and sprinted away without the patrol.

"What's the matter?" Called Fallowhawk after the fleeing she-cat, her whiskers twitching in confusion. At once, the she-cat sniffed the air and her claws slid out of their sheaths. "Run!"

"What is it, for StarClan's sake?" Demanded Bramblestorm, neck fur bristling.

Icepaw could smell the fear coming from the brown tabby and he tensed. 'What's going on?'

To answer his question, the reek of dogs filled Icepaw's nose and he shrieked in fear. "Browntail and Browntail were right!" He squeaked, seeing the foamy maws of the three dogs running towards them. "Bramblestorm, run!"

As he turned to flee after his Clanmates, teeth sank into his tail and Icepaw cried out in pain. Turning his body, the apprentice raised a paw and unsheathed his claws and struck the dog on the nose.

The dog released his tail and snapped at his paw, to which he pulled away. Icepaw turned his head to run, only for another dog to block his way out with the third on the right. 'I'm trapped!' He realized, fear consuming his body. 'I'm going to die!'

The snarling dog in front of him sprang first, teeth sinking into Icepaw's back and stomach as he was tossed around like a squirrel. 'StarClan, help me!' He wailed silently as he feebly flailed his paws.

Pain shot through his hind leg as one of the other two dogs bit down hard into the flesh to the point where Icepaw heard a crunch.

Letting himself go limp and accepting his fate, Icepaw closed his eyes and stopped fighting back. 'Goodbye, Wolffur and Softpaw.' He thought just as teeth pierced his neck.

A cats' yowl sounded far away to the apprentice as the dogs continued to bite and snarl. Icepaw saw a calico she-cat and many other cats racing towards him as his eyes closed and everything went black.