Rising from the Ground/Fifteen

FIFTEEN. STORMSHADOW

 Go run, run, run

I’m not surprised to see Enero return with no Gwyn in tow. I narrow my blue eyes at him but he just disposes of Gwyn’s brambles and begins to stalk back outside without another word. “What did you do to her?” I hiss.

The huge brute of a tom turns his nose down on me. “None of your business,” he flicks his ear, “You can forget about her.”

I struggle to my paws. “What did you do to her.”

Enero only sneers before disappearing out the entrance. I sink my claws into the dirt in frustration.

Where could Gwyn have gone?

She seemed generally upset when she had woken up this morning and she seemed to rush off to speak with Enero. My mind travels back to when Enero had given Gwyn the offer. My blood runs cold. Was Enero preparing her to kill me?

Would Gwyn really do that?

~

“Stormshadow,” Artic’s voice fills the air. I glance up from my dream and notice the white tom standing - or leaning - against a tree. “You must understand the direness of this situation.”

“What happened?” I scramble over instantly, “Is this about Gwyn?”

The thought of the gray she-cat getting hurt, the fire in her eyes dying out, made me flinch. Artic winces too. He must have understood my panic. “Gwyn let her guard down for a moment and I managed to talk to her. I made a mistake, thinking I could tell her how to think and try to make her understand that she needs to accept her mistakes. But she refused and so she wants to weave her back into the Raiders’ ranks once more.”

I freeze. “So she’s coming to kill me,” I conclude.

“No,” Artic lets out a gusty sigh, “She made a promise to Enero that she would kill someone else - anyone he named - in exchange for taking your life.”

I feel a sick sense of relief. The cat I loved wasn’t going to kill me. But she would be killing someone else just to return to the simplicity of a Raider.

“Who?”

Artic has a grim look on his face. “You must escape, Stormshadow. You have to go back to IceClan and save Gwyn from despair. If she succeeds in her mission, I’m afraid IceClan will surely lose to the Raiders.”

“Who is it?” I repeat, but Artic shakes his head.

“Tell her exactly how you feel,” his whisper floats in the air, leaving an ominous chill, “break her down and build her up again.”

I stand there for a long time, trying to understand Artic’s words before realizing what Gwyn is doing.

She must be aiming to kill one of the fly warriors.

~

I wake instantly. I peer outside and spot my one Raider guard outside. The night is inky black with a plethora of stars dotting the skies. I begin to unravel my brambles, hoping this movement would not alert the guards.

When I have my paws free, I crouch down and focus on the guard. I draw up behind him and when I have him alone, I knock him out hard.

His body lands with a soft thump and I hurry through the prison camp. There’s bound to be more guards at the entrance, I realize, and aim to burrow through the fortified walls of the camp.

It takes awhile, with thorns stabbing my from all sides, but I manage to pop out undiscovered. That’s when the first shout sounds from the camp and I begin to run.

I can hear the pounding of Raider guards chasing me and in my weaker form, I can barely stay ahead. Some of my wounds start to sting and my sight begins to blur. I cannot faint now.

I have to get back.

I don’t know when the pounding goes away but I sink to the ground, my head swimming with pain and slight fear.

“Stormshadow!” I hear someone scream, but I can’t decipher the voice.

Everything turns a blinding white color and I try to blink it away. Someone is helping me up but the white turns to black and I don’t know where I am anymore.

~

“Stormshadow,” someone is sobbing.

I manage to open my eyes and spot Gwyn staring at me with desperate green eyes. “Gwyn,” I croak, “you’re okay.”

“You weren’t supposed to do that,” she whispers fiercely, “I was going to get you out safely. Enero promised not to harm you-”

“What did you promise Enero?” I return, “You never came back.”

Gwyn hesitates. “I can’t tell you that, Stormshadow.”

“Gwyn,” I tell her, “Artic told me what you two talked about. How you wanted to go back to the Raiders so you promised Enero something else.”

“Anything to save you,” she has tears in her eyes and she stands, “anything.”

She’s gone before I can say anything else. I can’t let her do whatever she’s going to do. I struggle to my paws. Pineshadow spots me getting up and ushers me to sit back down. “No,” I spit out, “I need to go after Gwyn. I have to stop her.”

Pineshadow frowns at me but I push past him and stumble out into the camp. Gwyn is urgently telling Ravenflight something. The black she-cat nods once and pads out of camp with Gwyn in tow.

They’re going to the Pit. I groan. I’ll use the tunnels.

Several of the IceClan guards tell me to go back to Pineshadow’s den but I ignore them. Gwyn is going to make her move and if I’m too late, she’ll kill Ravenflight.

I can’t let her succumb to her dark side.

I find their scent and follow it through the forest. Finally, I hear their chatter and the sudden silence. No! I lunge forward, knocking Gwyn back. She has her claws pointed for Ravenflight’s throat. The black she-cat’s eyes are wide as she realized what Gwyn has attempted to do.

“Gwyn!” I regretfully pin her to the floor. “Stop!”

“No!” She shrieks, “I want to go back!” She throws me off easily and I land hard, my vision going blank for a second. When I get it back, I get back on my paws. There’s a scream but Ravenflight has Gwyn successfully restrained.

The other fly warriors come crashing through the forest to see the scene. Someone helps me up and Gwyn is crying.

I know she wants to talk to me but I just stand and try to find my way to the IceClan camp.

 I'm gonna stay right here,

 Watch you disappear