Warriors 04 - Rising Storm by Erin Hunter Page B

down. Littlecloud and Whitethroat nodded farewell and disappeared into the ferns.
    â€œAre we going to—” began Sandstorm.
    â€œFollow them?” Fireheart guessed what she was going to say. “I suppose we should.”
    They waited a few moments for the sound of the ShadowClan cats to fade into the bushes, and then began to track them through the forest.
    â€œThis isn’t the way to the Thunderpath,” Sandstorm whispered as the trail veered toward Fourtrees.
    â€œPerhaps they’re following the route they came by,” Fireheart suggested, touching his nose to the tip of a bramble stem. The fresh stench of the sick cats made his lip curl. “Come on,” he meowed. “Let’s catch up with them.” Anxiety flashed through him. Had he been wrong about the ShadowClan cats? Were they heading back into ThunderClan territory in spite of their promise to leave? He quickened his pace and Sandstorm ran silently at his heels.
    The noise of the Thunderpath hummed like sleepy bees in the distance. The ShadowClan cats seemed to be following a trail that ran parallel with the stinking stone path. Their scent led Fireheart and Sandstorm out of the cover of the forest ferns and onto a bare patch of ground. Just ahead, the ShadowClan cats had crossed the scentline that marked the border between the two territories and were ducking into a clump of brambles, unaware of their ThunderClan shadows.
    Sandstorm narrowed her eyes. “Why are they going in there?”
    â€œLet’s find out,” Fireheart replied. He hurried forward, swallowing a prickle of fear as he crossed the scentline. The rumble of the Thunderpath had grown much louder, and his ears twitched uncomfortably at the bruising din.
    The ThunderClan warriors picked their way through the barbed stems. Fireheart was painfully aware they were on hostile territory now, but he had to be sure that the ShadowClan cats were returning to their camp. By the sound of it, the Thunderpath was only a few foxlengths in front of them now, and the scent of the sick cats was almost drowned by its fumes.
    Suddenly the brambles ended and Fireheart found himself stepping out onto the filthy grass that edged the Thunderpath. “Careful!” he warned Sandstorm as she hopped out beside him. The hard gray path lay right in front of them, shimmering in the heat, and the ginger she-cat shrank back as a monster roared past.
    â€œWhere are the ShadowClan cats?” she asked.
    Fireheart stared across the Thunderpath, screwing his eyes up and flattening his ears as more monsters screamed past, their bitter wind dragging at his fur and whiskers. The sick cats were nowhere to be seen, but they couldn’t possibly have crossed already.
    â€œLook,” Sandstorm hissed. She pointed with her nose. Fireheart followed her wide-eyed stare along the dusty strip of grass. It was empty apart from a tiny flicker of movement where the tip of Whitethroat’s tail was disappearing into the ground, underneath the stinking flat stone of the Thunderpath.
    Fireheart’s eyes grew round with disbelief. It was as if the Thunderpath had opened its mouth and swallowed the ShadowClan cats whole.

CHAPTER 9
    â€œWhere have they gone?” Fireheart gasped.
    â€œLet’s have a closer look,” suggested Sandstorm, already trotting toward the place where the ShadowClan cats had disappeared.
    Fireheart hurried after her. As they neared the patch of grass that had swallowed up the black tail, he noticed a shadow where the earth dipped away sharply into a hollow beside the Thunderpath. It was the entrance to a stone tunnel that led under the Thunderpath, like the one he’d used with Graystripe on their journey to find WindClan. Sandstorm’s pelt brushed against him as they crept down the slope and cautiously sniffed the gloomy entrance. Fireheart felt the rush of wind on his ears from the monsters roaring past above, but as well as the stench of the