The Apprentice's Curse (A Shrouded Path book 1) {COMPLETE}

Chapter 14

Watery morning light filtered into the medicine den as Minnowpaw awoke again. Had she slept all through yesterday and the night? At last her head was clear and she was fully aware of her surroundings. The aches in her body were mild, but her pelt felt hotter than fire. She did have a fever. But she felt better, less weak, and she could at last lift her body off of the ground.

    Sitting up, she called, "Silverheart? Are you there?" Her throat was dry and her words were little more than a whisper.

    A dark head poked into the medicine den. "She's out right now," Nightwhisper said, entering. "Good to see you're awake." The black tom padded up to Minnowpaw and touched his nose to Minnowpaw's head. "You still have a strong fever," he mewed, "but other than that, how are you feeling?"

    "Thirsty," Minnowpaw rasped, "and hungry." She was finally aware of how hollow her stomach felt, and of its rumbling. How long had it been since she'd eaten, she wondered? How long had it been since she'd fallen into the river?

    Since she'd died. Darkness seemed to engulf Minnowpaw as Silverheart's words came back to her. Had she really died? If so, how was she even here now? If she was dead, she would have been in StarClan, not back in RiverClan. None of it made any sense to her.

    Minnowpaw wasn't aware that Nightwhisper had left until he returned then, bringing another water-soaked ball of moss. "Here's some water," he said softly. "I'll have one of the other apprentices bring you some fresh-kill in a bit. How does your body feel? Are you in pain?"

    Minnowpaw slurped at the moss. When she was finished drinking, she said, "I don't hurt like I did before. My muscles are sore and I feel bruised all over, but it's bearable."

    Nightwhisper nodded solemnly. "Well, you are bruised all over. Your body was really beat up from the rocks in the gorge. You were a mess when Tawnyclaw brought you back." He didn't meet Minnowpaw's gaze, and his eyes were instead focused on something distant. "You really don't remember anything?" he whispered.

    "No," Minnowpaw replied. She desperately wanted to remember something, anything, that could help her piece together what had happened to her. But all she could remember was falling in the river, and Tawnyclaw's and Silverheart's haunted expressions as they told her that she'd died. "I couldn't have died, could I?" she voiced her thoughts to the medicine cat, hoping to find comfort in his answer. "Cats don't just come back from the dead. I'm not like a Clan leader with nine lives. If I had died, I'd be in StarClan right now."

    "Did you see StarClan?" Nightwhisper asked her, suddenly looking eager.

    Minnowpaw shook her head. "No. If I did, I don't remember it. I don't really remember much after I fell in the river. Please tell me: did I actually die?" Her voice had risen to a shout.

    Slowly, Nightwhisper nodded. "Yes," he said firmly. "You were dead, Minnowpaw. I know death when I see it, and when I smell it. Tawnyclaw dragged your body out of the gorge and brought you home. I wish I could explain it to you, but I don't understand any of it myself."

    The more Minnowpaw thought, the more she came to understand that no cat was lying to her. She had smelled death, too, and now she realized it had been on her. Without a doubt, she had been dead. But now she wasn't. How could anyone explain that?

    As if he knew what she was thinking, Nightwhisper said, "I've had no signs or dreams from StarClan. I haven't spoken to our ancestors at all, and neither has Silverheart. I'm afraid they've left us in the dark for now."

    Minnowpaw clawed at the ground. Her emotions jumbled together; anger, confusion, fear. "Can't you go to the Moonstone or something?" she asked through gritted teeth. She knew Clan leaders and medicine cats often made the journey to Highstones at the far end of the Clan territories to speak to their warrior ancestors.