The Clash of Stars Book 1: The Key

Chapter 22: Mantispaw

"Sorry, Mantispaw," Wildpaw said, blinking apologetically. "I'll see you later."

"Um, okay!" Mantispaw replied, though he felt confusion swimming in his head like a raft of otters. He glanced at Thornpaw, who was firmly staring at him through eyes that burned like fire.

Okay — no answers from them, I guess. "See you!" he called to Wildpaw. The two EchoClan cats ducked into the tunnel Thornpaw had emerged from, the cleric's thick tail twitching with irritation. What an arrogant bee-brain! Of course he was only friends with Wildpaw, what else would he be? Did no cat trust him with anything?

What was Thornpaw taking Wildpaw away for, anyways? Just because they were a cleric didn't mean they could boss her around. Or tackle me, Mantispaw added, fuming.

He took a deep breath and tried to figure out the situation. Based on how skittish Thornpaw had been, Mantispaw could guess that they weren't heading back to camp — they were probably going somewhere they weren't supposed to be. The fact that Thornpaw had never come to fetch Wildpaw any other time didn't help.

Regardless of where the two were heading, Mantispaw knew that in order to leave the mountain through the tunnels, they'd need to pass through the Hearth. And if they were planning to go along the route the couriers took on their rounds, which EchoClan and FlashClan shared a portion of, they wouldn't have gone in the tunnels to begin with. The courier's path wound towards the main cave entrance to EchoClan.

Obviously he couldn't go through the tunnels after them; he didn't know the first thing about navigating in the caves. Plus, they'd scent him right away in such a small space, even if he were twenty fox-lengths behind them and around a corner.

He certainly couldn't fly, either. He wasn't exactly supposed to be here, and if a FlashClan patrol saw him flying around the peaks, he'd be crowfood. And that was only if an EchoClan patrol didn't catch him first.

He'd simply have to climb down the mountain by foot, make his way to the Hearth's entrance, and wait to see where they went. His wings weren't prehensile like Wildpaw's, but they'd at least provide enough balance.

He gazed around self-consciously, gazing at the strip of dark gray on the other side of the Starlit Cape, running alongside AmberClan and BlossomClan's far borders. He'd seen it before, but it was far enough out of the way that cats seldom approached it. Something moved along it, like a beetle climbing a branch. He couldn't tell how big it was from here, though he didn't quite care to.

Mantispaw eased himself down one of the rocky ledges and began to make his way down. The mountainside was very uneven and sharp, and even at a first glance, he could tell that no cat was using this as a means of getting down, regardless of if they were FlashClan or EchoClan. As he moved, the sky steadily became darker, obscuring his vision. He hissed in annoyance, remembering that it was the new moon; he wouldn't be having this much difficulty if there were any moonlight to see by.

He continued climbing down, and his hind paw scraped against a level, flat spot. He tried not to jump in surprise and lowered himself to crouch on it, spreading his wings for balance. The pathway seemed to be cut off by a rockfall to his right, but to his left it went on farther. Hobbling like an awkward pigeon, he adjusted to follow that direction.

In the limited light he could make out the shape of the pathway — it was very narrow. Looking over the edge, the cliff cut away sharply, but this pathway seemed to wind around the mountain towards the Hearth, offering him a safe passage.

He looked over the edge again with a twinge of morbid curiosity. Even after all of the way he'd climbed down, the distance from here to the rocky, sandy ground was staggering. He'd only been about three moons old when Gorsetalon had fallen from an even greater height than this. Mantispaw figured that if he were to fall from here, he'd definitely have plenty of time to open his wings and catch himself — how had a cat like Gorsetalon died from it?