Warriors; Roar of the River

Chapter 17

 Chapter 17

Emberleaf shook Shadefall, but to no avail. He was growing colder by the second, and his breathing was shallow. “What did you do to him?” She whirled to where Splashpelt was standing, frozen in shock. Paleleaf and Thistlepaw were staring at her as well, their hostility overt.

“I- I didn’t d-do anything!” Splashpelt spluttered. Emberleaf flexed her claws in the dirt.

“Liar!” She spat.

Emberleaf gasped as deep claw marks appeared across Shadefall’s flank, as though inflicted by invisible claws. Sticky blood spilled from his side and dripped onto the dusty ground. Splashpelt let out a shriek, and Emberleaf shook Shadefall’s shoulder fiercely.

“He must be in the Dark Forest,” she growled. “We have to wake him up!” She cuffed his ear and grabbed his shoulders, desperately trying to get him to open his eyes. A gash opened up above his eye, and blood ran down to his ear. Emberleaf hit him hard with a paw. “Snap out of it!”

Suddenly, he bolted upright, throwing Emberleaf backwards. She stared at him hesitantly as he panted and looked around, his eyes wide with terror.

“Great StarClan,” he panted. There was a thud behind them, and Emberleaf turned to see Blackfeather sprinting over to them. Emberleaf gawked at his wounds, bleeding heavily.

“What happened?” She demanded.

“It was Tigerstar,” Shadefall explained, struggling to his paws. “Blackfeather, I thought… I thought you were killed!”

“He looks like he’s about to bleed to death,” Paleleaf snarled. “C’mon, let’s get them back to camp. They can explain later.”

Emberleaf nodded in compliance and went to Blackfeather’s side, supporting him back to camp. Paleleaf was right; his breath was coming out in scratchy gasps, and he was swaying with each step he took, as if he was on the verge of collapsing. Emberleaf was relieved when Tigerlily burst from the undergrowth, holding an abundance of cobwebs and a leafy plant that Emberleaf thought might be comfrey. The orange tabby forced Blackfeather to lie down and began to chew up the leaves. Another cat burst from the ferns to help, a handsome dark gray tom carrying more herbs, and he set to help Shadefall.

“Emberleaf,” Blackfeather hissed through gritted teeth, “find Stormstar, and tell her the prophecy’s fake.”

Emberleaf, confused, started to ask if that was true, but stopped and raced back to ThunderClan camp. If it were true… it would mean that every suspicion her Clanmates had about her was for nothing. They never trusted her, because of her heritage, and especially the way Darkstar treated her as though she needed special guidance…

Lost in thought, she ran directly into another cat. The cat grabbed her scruff and pulled her to her paws, and she glanced up to see Sparrowstripe, looking worried. “Emberleaf, did you see Blackfeather?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she panted. “He’s being helped. So is Shadefall.”