“No!” Brambleclaw screeched. “Stop! Thunderpath!”

Lionblaze slammed to a halt as yellow beams sliced through the flurries of snow. A monster with glaring eyes swept past, buffeting Lionblaze’s fur and soaking his paws with a wave of dirty snowmelt. He and his Clanmates shrank back; Lionblaze’s heart was pounding with fear as he waited for Birchfall, Brackenfur, and Brambleclaw to join them.

“You call yourselves warriors?” Brambleclaw’s voice was scathing. “That was pure panic. The horses were inside their nests. There was no danger until you decided to hurl yourselves into the path of a monster.”

“Sorry,” Lionblaze muttered. Searing shame swept over him, hot as a forest fire. Brambleclaw’s harsh words stung all the more painfully because he knew the deputy was right. They had acted like apprentices on their first venture out of the camp.

Hazeltail’s head was hanging in shame, and Hollyleaf had turned away, lifting each paw in turn to shake the dirty water off her fur. Lionblaze knew how much it meant to her to uphold the warrior code; she must be furious with herself for being spooked like that. And what about you? he demanded silently. The bravest warrior in ThunderClan, scared of a horse that isn’t even loose?

Brambleclaw let out a long sigh and relaxed. “All right. Let’s see about getting across here.”

Lionblaze heard the roar of another monster as the Clan deputy padded forward cautiously to the edge of the Thunderpath. The gleaming creature leaped past in a blaze of light; from the other direction, an even bigger monster came barreling along with a throaty growl, its round black paws as big as boulders.

How are we ever going to cross? We’ll be squashed flat!

He could see that Hazeltail and Hollyleaf were still scared, their fur on end and their eyes wide with alarm. He knew he must look just the same. He braced himself to force his paws to carry him across the hard, black surface of the Thunderpath.

“Come up here beside me,” Brambleclaw directed them calmly. “We’ll cross one at a time. Brackenfur, you can go first, to show them how it’s done.”

Brackenfur twitched his ears in acknowledgment. “It’s not so bad,” he told the younger cats kindly. “The Thunderpath in the old forest was much bigger than this.”

Birchfall’s fur bristled. “Then I’m glad we don’t live there anymore!”

Brackenfur padded up beside Brambleclaw and waited for another monster to sweep past. Its roar died away in the distance.

“Okay, go,” mewed Brambleclaw.

Brackenfur leaped forward, his golden brown pelt almost vanishing in the swirling snow. When he reached the other side, everything was still quiet.

“Hollyleaf, go!”

Taking a gulp of air, Hollyleaf hurled herself across the Thunderpath. Lionblaze dug his claws into the ground, trying to stop himself from shaking, until he saw her reach Brackenfur’s side safely.

The growling of another monster was approaching through the snow. Lionblaze flinched back as it came into sight: a huge creature in glaring colors. His heart raced even faster when he saw several Twolegs in its belly as it flashed past.