Read Online Path of Stars by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

Gray Wing yowled. “We can hold them off!”
    She stared at him for a moment, then turned and fled for the pines.
    Reed struggled from beneath the tortoiseshell. “Is Star Flower hurt?”
    â€œGo with her!” Gray Wing ordered. He reached out a paw and swiped at the tortoiseshell’s tail.
    The tortoiseshell turned on him as Reed raced away, but Gray Wing hardly saw her. The ginger tom had found his paws. He dived for Gray Wing, knocking him down. As the rogue spun to chase after Star Flower, Gray Wing hooked a paw around his leg. Sinking in his claws, he held on tight, the claws of his other paw holding fast to the tortoiseshell’s tail. “Lightning Tail!” Panic flared through Gray Wing. The rogues were struggling from his grip.
    Lightning Tail was driving the gray tom back with a flurry of blows. He turned just as the ginger tom broke free and chased after Star Flower and Reed.
    Lightning Tail pelted after the rogue.
    Gray Wing twisted around and slammed a paw into the tortoiseshell’s flank. He dug in his claws and scrambled up. Pinning her with one paw, he slashed her nose with the other. Terror shone in her eyes. She fell limp beneath his grip.
    â€œIf I let you go, will you leave Star Flower alone?” he hissed.
    The tortoiseshell blinked at him desperately. “Yes!”
    Backing off, he let her go. She scrambled to her paws, her pelt bushed. Her gaze flitted from him to the others. Lightning Tail writhed on the ground, the ginger tom in his grasp. Leaf battered the tabby’s muzzle as he cowered against the earth. The tortoiseshell blinked at Gray Wing in disbelief.
    â€œGo home,” he snarled.
    Her gaze lingered on him for a moment; then she turned and fled toward the carrion place.
    Gray fur flashed at the edge of Gray Wing’s vision. The gray tom was zigzagging between the bushes, heading for the pines.
    Gray Wing plunged after him, his lungs screaming as his chest tightened. The world seemed to close around him, but he pushed onward, his vision narrowed to a tunnel, fixed only on the gray tom.
    The tom slowed as he reached the pines, stumbling on the brambles that snaked between the trees. Gray Wing began to catch up. He raced into the shadow of the trees, leaping easily between the brambles. He’d spent too much time in forest to let them trip him. The tom raced on, but Gray Wing was gaining. As the trees opened into a clearing, Gray Wing flung himself forward. Stretching his claws, he dug them deep and dragged the tom to a screeching halt. Blood roared in his ears, but he kept his claws curled deep into the gray tom’s pelt. The tom shrieked and tried to struggle free, but Gray Wing held him hard.
    Closing his eyes, he fought to breathe, the tom writhing in his claws. I mustn’t let go. The single thought throbbed in his mind.
    Then the tom stopped struggling.
    Gray Wing opened his eyes and peered at the rogue. The tom was lying on the ground, as still as dead prey.
    Slowly, Gray Wing released him and stepped away.
    The tom grunted. Then, pelt rippling, he staggered to his paws and glared reproachfully at Gray Wing.
    â€œYou’re wasting your time,” Gray Wing puffed. “I won’t let you get her.”
    The gray tom growled. His tail dragging, he limped away between the pines.
    Gray Wing drew in a shuddering breath. In the distance he heard Lightning Tail screech.
    Then another yowl cut through his ear fur.
    He stiffened.
    The cry was filled with pain. Not the furious pain of battle, but a deep and frightened yowl.
    Star Flower!
    Something was wrong.
    He forced himself to run, his lungs aching with every step. Swerving out of the trees, he broke onto the verge of the Thunderpath. A monster thundered past, and he flattened his ears against the wind as it whipped by his face.
    Its roar faded and he heard the desperate yowl again.
    Ahead, on the grass, he saw Reed crouching over a fallen body.
    Had Star Flower been hit by a