A Dangerous Path Read Free Page A

in thought that he hardly realized that Tigerstar had finished addressing the assembled Clans.
    â€œFireheart?” Tallstar meowed. “Do you want to speak now?”
    Fireheart swallowed nervously and padded forward, the rock cool and smooth beneath his paws. Below, he could see Sandstorm and the other ThunderClan cats looking up at him expectantly; the pale ginger she-cat was watching him with a glow of admiration in her eyes.
    Feeling encouraged, Fireheart began to speak. He wasn’t going to pretend that the ThunderClan camp had not been devastated by the recent fire, but he did not want to give the impression that the Clan was weak. Leopardfur, the RiverClan deputy, was listening intently. As Fireheart glanced at her she narrowed her eyes as if she were measuring his words carefully. RiverClan had helped ThunderClan escape from the fire, and no cat knew better than Leopardfur how vulnerable they were.
    â€œA few dawns ago,” Fireheart reported, “fire started in the Treecut place and swept through our camp. Halftail and Patchpelt died, and the Clan honors them. And we especially honor Yellowfang. She went back into the burning camp to rescue Halftail.” He bowed his head, memories of the old medicine cat threatening to overwhelm him. “I found her in her den, and I was with her when she died.”
    Wails of dismay broke out among the listening cats. Not only ThunderClan had reason to grieve for Yellowfang’s death. Fireheart noticed Runningnose sitting erect and gazing upward, his eyes clouded with sorrow. He had been Yellowfang’s apprentice when she was ShadowClan’s medicine cat, before Brokentail drove her out.
    â€œOur new medicine cat will be Cinderpelt,” Fireheart went on. “Bluestar suffered from breathing in smoke, but she is recovering. None of our kits were harmed. We are rebuilding our camp.” He did not mention the shortage of prey in the burned stretch of forest, or the way that the camp was still open to attack in spite of their efforts to rebuild the walls. “We must thank RiverClan,” he added, with a respectful glance at Crookedstar. “They gave us shelter in their camp during the fire. Without their help, more of our cats might have died.”
    As Crookedstar acknowledged his words with a nod, Fireheart couldn’t resist glancing down at Leopardfur again. The RiverClan deputy hadn’t shifted her amber gaze from him.
    Pausing to take a deep breath, Fireheart turned to Tigerstar. “ThunderClan accepts that StarClan has approved your leadership,” he meowed. “As rogues, your followers stole from all four Clans while they roamed the forest, so it is good that they have their own Clan again. We trust that they will be bound by the warrior code and will keep to their own territory.” He thought he could see a gleam of surprise in Tigerstar’s eyes, and continued firmly, “But we will not tolerate any invasions into ThunderClan territory. In spite of the fire, we are strong enough to drive out any cat who sets a paw over our borders. We have no fear of ShadowClan.”
    One or two yowls of agreement rose from his own warriors below. Tigerstar gave a slight dip of his head, and spoke in a low rumble that carried no farther than the other cats ontop of the Great Rock. “Brave words, Fireheart. You have nothing to fear from ShadowClan.”
    Fireheart wished that he could believe him. Bowing his head in acknowledgment, he stepped back again, his fur flattening in relief that his turn to speak was over, and listened while Tallstar and Crookedstar gave the news from their own Clans—word of new apprentices and warriors, and a warning of extra Twolegs by the river.
    When the formal part of the meeting was over, Fireheart sprang down to the group of ThunderClan warriors at the base of the rock.
    â€œYou spoke well,” meowed Whitestorm. Sandstorm’s eyes shone as she looked at Fireheart, and she