Read Online Island of Shadows by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

“We’d better go on,” she said. “Maybe Ujurak’s spirit will find a way to tell us where he is.”
    Toklo snorted but didn’t protest, and took the lead as they set out again toward the snow-covered ridge. Before they had gone very much farther, they came to a swathe of level ground cutting across the rocky landscape, with deep furrows running along it through the dirty snow. Lusa sniffed the air and picked up the faint tang of oil.
    â€œI think this is a BlackPath,” she said. “That means there are flat-faces somewhere nearby.”
    â€œOh, seal rot!” Yakone exclaimed. “Can’t we ever get away from no-claws?”
    â€œI think you’re right,” Kallik told Lusa. “Those furrows could be the marks of firebeast paws.”
    Lusa dug down into the snow until her claws scraped the hard surface of the BlackPath. “Let’s follow it,” she suggested.
    â€œFollow it?” Toklo stared at her. “Now I know your brain is full of cloudfluff!”
    â€œNo, it’s not,” Lusa responded. “Don’t you see? If we follow the BlackPath, we’ll get to the flat-face dens, and then we can find some food.”
    â€œNo-claw food again ?” Yakone asked disapprovingly.
    Kallik blinked. “Lusa, I really don’t want to do that.”
    â€œWe have to eat something,” Lusa pointed out. “And if we find flat-face food, at least we can be sure that it’s not Ujurak. It has to be better than starving.”
    â€œWell … okay,” Kallik conceded. “What do you think, Toklo?”
    â€œI think bears and flat-faces don’t mix,” Toklo replied, then added reluctantly, “but it might be the best plan, for now.”
    â€œOkay,” Kallik agreed.
    Yakone shrugged, but Lusa could tell he was still uneasy.
    Cautiously the bears began to pad along the edge of the BlackPath. Lusa kept her ears pricked for the sound of firebeasts, but the only things she heard were the whisper of wind over the snow and the distant cries of seabirds high above. They were still heading for the range of hills, though not by the most direct route. The BlackPath curved around a wide, flat space that Lusa guessed was a frozen lake, then up a shallow slope and more steeply down into a valley beyond.
    â€œThere!” Kallik called out as they reached the top of the slope. “I can see the no-claw dens.”
    Lusa plodded up beside her and looked out across the valley. On the opposite side she could just make out a large flat-face denning area; it was hard to see, because most of the dens had white walls, and snow covered the roofs.
    â€œThat’s a lot of no-claws,” Yakone commented; Lusa thought he sounded nervous. “I’ve never seen so many dens all in one place.”
    There weren’t many flat-faces on Star Island , Lusa recalled. “We’ll only go to the edge of them,” she told him. “Just as far as it takes to find something to eat.”
    Yakone only grunted.
    As they drew closer to the denning place, another, wider BlackPath joined the one they were following. Not far past the junction, Lusa heard the roar of a firebeast coming up from behind, and she leaped to one side as it plowed past through the snow, spattering her fur with filthy snowmelt.
    â€œThat was huge!” Yakone exclaimed, staring at the firebeast as it growled away toward the denning place.
    â€œAt least it didn’t take any notice of us,” Kallik said.
    â€œLet’s get away from here,” Toklo growled as the roar of yet another firebeast sounded in the distance. “Now that we can see the flat-face dens, we don’t need to follow the BlackPath.”
    Without waiting to see if the others agreed, he headed down into the valley, cutting across the open ground toward the nearest dens. Lusa followed, slipping and stumbling down the snow-covered slope, while Kallik and Yakone brought up