Warriors: Omen Of Fire

Chapter 16

Fire! Alarm ripped through Snowblaze's mind. He had never seen fire before, but he knew of its deadly powers to destroy forests, tear cats from their homes, and sometimes from their lives.

Moonbeam whipped around and clawed his way up the Great Maple to their leader's den. Snowblaze felt a chill run down his spine despite the heat slowly pressing in on their camp.

"You heard him too," Cloudwhisker yowled at him, her green eyes were wide with urgency. "Don't stand there, help me!"

Seemingly his paws unstuck from the ground and he turned towards the nursery. Nosing his way in through the prickly wall, he spotted Lizardbelly, Sparklekit, and Shrewkit curled up asleep.

"Lizardbelly, wake up," he meowed loudly. Startled she lifted her head and Sparklekit tumbled out of their nest and a flurry of paws and tail.

"What? You woke me, I don't appreciate that," she scolded as she bundled her kit towards her belly once more. Sparklekit began to suckle sweetly, but Snowblaze needed to get them out of there.

"You need to leave with all of us. Carry Sparklekit and I'll carry Shrewkit and meet the Clan by the entrance tunnel."

"Why?" Panic pricked her mew as she picked up on the urgency in his voice.

"Don't panic, but there's a fire. We don't know how close it is, but we need to get out of here." Snowblaze tried to stay calm. He knew that panic wouldn't help their situation.

Lizardbelly's black and white fur bunched up in fear and she stood abruptly, dislodging both of her kits. Sparklekit huffed and tumbled away out of the nest again.

"Come Sparklekit, I want to take you on an adventure," she chimed calmly. The young kit looked up in excitement, her tiny tail sticking straight up into the air.

"Where are we going mother?"

"Am I coming too?" Shrewkit asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes, you're coming," Snowblaze soothed. "I'll take you with us." He stooped and grabbed the young grey kit's scruff in his mouth.

"You'll see soon enough," her voice faded as they exited the nursery. Snowblaze followed and saw most of his clan gathered together uneasily. Sleetstar stood in front of them urging everyone to stay calm. But suddenly Swiftear burst out from the group.

"We can't stay here, what are we doing standing around?" His voice shook with terror. Snowblaze could see the whites of his eyes, and it unnerved him. He followed the mother and kit towards the group and heard Sleetstar counting.

"...Flameclaw, Littletail, Specklepelt, Eaglepaw, Leafpaw, Emberbreeze, Snowblaze..."

Snowblaze quickly placed Shrewkit down beside his mother. The young ginger and white tom looked around and noticed the group seemed a little thin.

"We're missing warriors," Sleetstar observed. "We are going to gather at the rock where our territory meets SapphireClan's near the lake. Hopefully the fire will stay away from there. Littletail and Badgerclaw, I need you to find Snaketail, Charfur, Mistshade, Flowertail, and Oneclaw."

The senior warriors nodded solemnly.

"Find them and bring them to the lake safely."

They sped off, crashing through the undergrowth in haste.

"The rest of you, follow me. Snowblaze, Emberbreeze, and Robintalon, help the elders. Starnose, help Lizardbelly with her kits." His grey and white pelt gave away his anxiety even though his voice sounded calm. He stood tall and commanding and everyone filed out behind him.