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

Chapter 26

 The fox stomped into the camp, its yellow eyes bloodthirsty as it eyed the gathered Clan. It growled and screeched, launching itself at the nearest cat: Nettlestep. The brown she-cat yowled in alarm and went down under a pile of rusty red fur. Teeth snapped as the fox's muzzle nearly closed around her throat. In an instant Twigtail leaped, bowling the fox off of her and attacking it.

"Defend the nursery!" Ashstar yowled. Cherryheart was racing back towards her kits, followed by Cloudsplash and Maplenose. Cinderfrost and Poppywhisker went straight for the elders' den, where Troutleap and Blacktail were standing, looking ready to fight. Pebblenose and Ashflower stood outside the medicine den, tails fluffed as they prepared to defend the medicine cats. The sounds of growling, hissing, and screeching were deafening to Minnowpaw's ears. Nettlestep had retreated, dripping blood, to the medicine den, and Birchclaw had joined Twigtail, and both toms battled on their hind legs.

Minnowpaw never knew a fox could be so vicious; it was attacking faster than any cat, nipping and lashing out with its claws, striking true every time. Minnowpaw couldn't stand by and watch her Clanmates get hurt, and after a pained yowl from Twigtail, she pushed off the ground and leaped into the fight.

Her claws met the fox's muzzle and it howled in pain and anger, eyes narrowing at her. Its breath was putrid. It raked her chest with its claws and she growled, biting at its neck. Blood filled her mouth but the fox kept fighting. Birchclaw dropped onto four paws and bit at the fox's hind legs, and Twigtail aimed at its belly with his forepaws. Blood dripped onto the ground from the fox and all three cats. Something was driving this fox to fight so hard, something more than hunger, Minnowpaw realized.

The fox turned its head and closed its jaws on the side of Twigtail's face, then it dropped and dug its claws into Birchclaw's back. Both toms screeched and retreated. Terrified, Minnowpaw faced it alone. It bore down on her with a ferocity she'd never seen in any living beast, and it tackled her to the ground, intent on killing her. Fear pulsed through her as its teeth came unnervingly close to her throat, and panicking, she kicked out with her hind paws and threw the fox off of her; right into Flamepelt.

The ginger tom yowled in shock as the fox began to rip at him with teeth and claws. Blood poured onto the ground, and with a sickening snap, the fox dropped Flamepelt's neck from its jaws, and his limp body fell to the ground.

"Flamepelt! No!" Minnowpaw screeched. The world around her fell silent, and suddenly the only thing she could see was the fox. Paws pounding on the earth, she flew at it, scratching and biting with everything she had in her. She was only vaguely aware of the pain in her own wounds, and felt little else besides the fox's fur in her teeth and its blood on her claws. She writhed on the ground, tearing at the fox and snarling like a LionClan warrior. Fur and blood flew everywhere and Minnowpaw's gaze was clouded by fury.

Suddenly a voice broke through to her. "Minnowpaw! Stop!" Panting and shaking, Minnowpaw stopped fighting. "It's dead!" Standing, Minnowpaw gazed at the fox's shredded body before her. It was hardly recognizable, its fur and flesh torn and bloodied, its now-clouded eyes staring at nothing. Its teeth were still bared in one final snarl, but it was dead.

She looked up to see who had spoken; it was Tawnyclaw. He was watching her with a horror in his eyes Minnowpaw had never seen before. But she understood why; she'd gone crazy. She'd never felt such anger before, or such a battle rush. And all because...

Turning quickly, Minnowpaw's heart dropped at the sight of Flamepelt's body on the ground. His throat was torn open, and his face lay in a pool of his own blood. She rushed to him, burying her nose in his fur. "No, no, Flamepelt, no," she sobbed. It couldn't be true! He couldn't be dead!

But he was.

The Clan was silent, but all eyes were on the bloody scene in the middle of the camp. Minnowpaw was dripping with blood, not all of it hers, and the fox and Flamepelt both lay dead in the clearing.