Treacherous Skies

Chapter 9

Echoheart hunched over and panted, and she felt as if she was going to throw up from that sprint. Her flanks heaved, but she managed to get out, "What... what in the... name of StarClan... was that... all about?"

Whispersong didn't seem to hear her. She was looking around wildly for a way down the cliff. Echoheart jerked her head as a chorus of growls filled the air. Echoheart gazed at the bottom of the hollow for the first time and saw two foxes circling a large gorse bush just at the base of the stone wall. Then a low growl came from the bush; a cat's growl.

Then it struck Echoheart. Bumblefrost was inside the bush.

"We've got to get down there!" Whispersong yowled. Echoheart nodded urgently. Even though Bumblefrost was a DayClan cat, she wouldn't let him be torn apart by the foxes. They had to help him.

A sharp bark sounded behind Echoheart and she whipped her head around; another fox was at the top of the hill behind them, its dark red eyes narrowed angrily and its thick bushy tail lashing. It drew back its lips in a snarl, revealing its sharp fangs, then charged.

Echoheart turned to Whispersong. "Run!" she shrieked, her fur rising in fear. She raced to the left, her paws slipping in the snow. Not a heartbeat later, Echoheart noticed that no one was behind her. She turned around and saw Whispersong, staring at the bottom of the wall. "Whispersong! Move!" she yowled as the fox closed in.

But Whispersong didn't hear her.

Echoheart sprang just as the fox jumped for Whispersong. Echoheart leapt at it, claws unsheathed and teeth bared. She knocked it aside, and briefly saw Whisersong cowered in fear before Echoheart was lost in a mass of red fur. She bit and clawed, but the fox retaliated. They rolled on top of each other, biting and clawing and hissing, until she finally got free. She turned to face the fox again, but barely stood for a heartbeat before she was tossed aside again. She rolled in the snow, down the hill, and towards the cliff. Echoheart scrambled to her paws, but the fox was already in top of her, driving her toward the sheer drop-off.

Echoheart looked around frantically. Where was Whispersong? Just as Echoheart spotted her, staring at Echoheart wide-eyed, the fox slammed its claws on her back, and she collapsed under the weight and pain. She growled in agony, and felt the cold air sting her cut and blood run down her side. She quickly scrambled to her feet and dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding a claw-swipe to the face.

She backed away, hissing and spitting. But the fox closed in. Echoheart's back paws slipped. She whipped her head around in fear and saw loose pebbles flinging down the cliff as her paws dislodged them. She turned and faced the fox, eyes widened in terror. She took another pawstep backwards and felt her paw meet empty air. She slipped, claws wrenching into the stone as she tried to pull herself upwards. Echoheart clawed furiously, hanging over the cliff. The fox was racing toward her, and Echoheart screeched at Whispersong desperately. "Help!"

But Whispersong was frozen in fear, her brown eyes as round as the moon.

Echoheart's paws suddenly slipped. Time seemed to slow down. Her eyes flew open wildly. Whispersong was running along the edge of the cliff, leaping down the ledges. The fox stopped at the edge of the cliff, spraying snow and pebbles into the air. The stone wall was growing higher above her head, and the ground was growing larger beneath her. She rotated in the air, her paws ready for impact.

Echoheart slammed into stone. She let out a yowl. She'd landed on one of the stone ledges, barely big enough for her. Echoheart stood up, but dizziness engulfed her and she felt herself falling over. Suddenly Echoheart felt a hard tug on her neck. She screeched in pain, and her eyes flew open.

Echoheart turned around. Whispersong was standing on the ledge, holding Echoheart from the scruff of the neck. Her claws were digging into the gray stone, but she was sliding. They were still several fox-lengths above the ground, where the other two foxes were waiting below. Echoheart heard Whispersong whimper in terror through a mouth full of Echoheart's fur, but she heaved, and soon Echoheart's claws found a grip beside her sister. Before Echoheart could say anything her, Whispersong leapt down onto another ledge, then sprang to the ground, landing on top of a fox, which barked in surprise. Echoheart raced to her sister's help, launching herself at the other one.