The Lost Prophecy: Book 2: Broken Destinies

Chapter 15

Ravenpaw poked his nose into the entrance of the cavern. He squinted but was unable to make out any features or pathways through the darkness. Slipping inside, he began to walk into the shadows. Within moments he was swallowed by darkness, unable to see his own paws.

The blackness permeated the air like a thick fog. As Ravenpaw hurried through the tunnel, he forced himself to move quickly, knowing that if he didn't he would hesitate and turn back, and then all the trouble he was in would be for nothing.

But then he realized that the tunnel was twisting. It curved right and up and then right some more . . . Ravenpaw let out a slow breath as his nose grazed a wall. It was a dead end. He must have passed a fork in the cave without knowing it.

Padding back the way he came, Ravenpaw allowed his fur to brush the side of the tunnel. Eventually he found where the path split off, and this time he took the other fork.

He followed the path. There was another fork, and another, and then another- or at least Ravenpaw thought there had been; he wasn't sure if he had somehow circled around or not. But now the tunnel was getting smaller, the stone scraping at his pelt as he moved farther and farther down. As skinny as he was, Ravenpaw had to crouch to keep going. Soon he realized that if he went much farther he would get stuck.

This can't be right. Leaders and medicine cats have to reach the Moonstone; how would they be able to get there if the tunnel is too small for even me?

He wriggled back awkwardly.

A breeze twitched his whiskers, and he padded with renewed optimism through the cave until he walked head first into a rocky wall.

Another dead end. Mousedung! Ravenpaw backed away, reeling from the pain. Aside from the stars he was seeing as an aftereffect of the collision, it was pitch black. Night vision didn't help him here; there was absolutely no light at all.

Setting off at a run, he made it a few tail-lengths before his whiskers touched a wall. He was starting to panic. He couldn't die in here, not like this! The medicine cats will probably find my body at the next half-moon!

Ravenpaw halted. Wait, I can follow the medicine cats' scent! With a fresh sense of hope, Ravenpaw brushed his nose against the stone wall, but the air was so cold it burned the roof of his mouth. There was nothing for cat scent to cling to, he realized with a pang of despair; the medicine cats' trail would be gone by now. Pushing on, he sniffed the air every few pawsteps, praying that he would detect anything besides salty rock.

Ravenpaw wandered for what felt like days. He knew now that it had been a mistake to wait until after the medicine cats visited the Moonstone. If he had gone before the half-moon at least the medicine cats might have had a chance of finding him before he died.

Paws shaking, he continued onward. The path sloped and twisted, and Ravenpaw began to come to terms with the fact that his life could end inside a dark never ending cave.

He was about to give up hope when he realized that he could see. The pathway was just barely visible but it was enough. He followed the tunnel by sight now, and it grew brighter and brighter until he emerged into a cavern illuminated with blinding white light, and he found himself flinching away from it, closing his eyes.

The light seared even through his eyelids; he had gone from the pitch black tunnel to a place so immersed in light that he couldn't see a thing. After a short time, Ravenpaw dared to open his eyes. This must be the Moonstone. Surveying the bright stone, Ravenpaw warily circled his way around it. The Moonstone was three tail-lengths high, and two wide. It seemed to bleach the entire cave silver; even Ravenpaw's own black fur looked dark gray.