Underhowl- Rise of the Pures

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

“Quick, we might be able to catch him before he gets too far away!” Jeda said. Buster began charging for the hole in the wall, but Jeda charged in front of him.

    “What? Let’s go!” Buster said, attempting to jump around him.

    “What if we sneak up on him instead of making enough noise to send a herd of elephants running?”

    Buster thought for a moment.

    “Good idea.” He noted.

    They peered around the corner, and then silently sprinted up the corridor. The tunnel was small, the roof closer to the ground. Around the corner, Nedan wasn’t there. Around the next corner, Nedan still wasn’t there. Around one more corner, and he still wasn’t there. He had disappeared.

    “Oh no…” moaned Buster, “We’ll never find him!”

    “Don’t think like that- hey, let’s follow the footsteps in the dust from the entrance and then find out where he went.” Jeda said, trying not to lose hope.

     They ran back up the corridor, and were back at the doorway in no time. They followed the skid mark where the sack had dragged along the ground, but soon lost it in the tangle of footsteps from the Warriors paws.

    “Now what are we gonna do?” Buster wailed. “My sister is good as dead!” He threw his head back against the wall of the corridor in despair.

    There was a small click, and a door slid open beside him.

    Buster and Jeda looked at it in shock.

    “Buster, you genius!” Jeda exclaimed. “Let’s go!”

    They barged through and ran around a corner, about to cry in happiness, when they both skidded to a halt.

    The path lost its walls, and suddenly they were looking over a huge lake of bubbling, red lava. The heat that blew up at them was so hot Jeda was scared that his fur would singe off.  The path they were standing on ended like a diving board, a few pebbles fell off as Jeda touched them.

    “This has to be a short cut to Might Coven. Nedan must’ve taken it to get there before the Warriors do.” Jeda said. “We can’t go this way, by the time we find out how to get over this lake to the other side…” He looked at where the other side of the path was- a very long way away at the other end of the lake. “Your sister might not be able to be saved.”

    Buster looked at Jeda, denial on his expression.

    “We can’t go the long way, it’ll be too long.”

    “It’s the only way we’ve got. If the Warriors can do it, why can’t we?”

    Buster thought for a moment. He was beginning to realise that this was the only way to save his sister. He took a deep breath, and then held his head high.

    “This is the only way. You’re right. If we’re going to save her, this is it. Let’s go while we can.” He said at last.

    They ran out of the secret passageway, and galloped down the corridor as fast as they had seen Sihren with the Warriors. They ran flat out for twenty minutes, and then exhaustion settled in.

    “Come on, we have to keep moving!” Jeda cried as Buster fell behind.

    “I…can’t!” He gasped.

    They were both struggling to keep their legs moving, their strides getting shorter and shorter. The passage way was just too long.

    “If this is Might Coven, I’d hate to go to Snarl Coven!”