CHAPTER THIRTY
Toklo
A cold nose was poking into Toklo’s fur. Toklo growled and opened his eyes.
“You came back!” Ujurak cried. The sun was pouring through the leaves and sparkling off the bubbles in the river beside them.
“Yeah, I did,” Toklo said. “But promise me you’ll try really hard to stay a bear from now on. I don’t want any more flat-faces or salmon or birds to deal with.”
Ujurak bounced on his paws. “I’ll work on that,” he promised.
I hope so, Toklo thought.
They climbed out of the forest into another meadow, dotted with flowers nodding in the rustling grass. The mountain loomed above them. There was hardly any snow left now, even at the top. As he stepped out of the trees, Toklo caught the smell of something musty. He glanced around and spotted a tuft of white hair snagged on a bush. He trotted over to examine it more closely. It smelled like mountain goat, and his mouth watered at the thought of fresh prey.
“Ujurak,” he hissed. “This way.”
The cub stopped digging for worms and followed him, scrambling over the scattered rocks that had tumbled into the meadow from farther up the mountain. Toklo sniffed carefully, tracking the scent he had found on the hair. It led in a winding path around some bushes, where Toklo found scraps of leaves that had been ripped off as the goat grazed. These signs led him up a steep trail to the base of the rocky peak.
Toklo paused, looking around. The mountain soared into the sky, sharp-edged against the bright blue sky. Far above, Toklo could see small clouds floating past, as white and fluffy as the goat hair. He focused his gaze back on the mountain, following the rocks down and down, looking for movement.
“There!” he whispered to Ujurak. A black-and-white shape flickered among the rocks not far above them. It was the mountain goat…and it hadn’t noticed them. It was grazing peacefully on the stubby grasses that sprouted between the boulders.
Toklo edged along the rocky path, his claws slipping on loose stones. It was impossible to hide the sound of his approach. The mountain goat’s head popped up. It stared straight at him with its beady black eyes, chewing thoughtfully. And then, with a startling burst of energy, it leaped away, bouncing over the rocks like a leaf on the wind. Toklo growled.
“Let’s get it!” Ujurak cried.
Toklo dug his paws in and chased after the goat, determined not to let it get away. This was the first live prey they’d seen in days, and he was getting very bored with eating roots and berries. He raced after the goat, ignoring the flashes of pain as rocks stabbed the pads of his paws. Ujurak wasn’t behind him anymore, and he wondered where the other cub had gone. Well, he’d look for him after he’d caught the goat.
The mountain goat sprang over a boulder and darted around a narrow ridge of stone. When Toklo followed it, he saw the goat standing at the edge of a cliff. The meadow was a long way below them, so far that the flowers and the grass blurred together in a hazy green mist. He hadn’t realized they were up so high. It would be a long way to fall if he slipped, and he shuddered, thinking about the grisly result at the bottom.
He skidded to a halt about three bearlengths from the goat, his paws kicking up a cloud of tiny stones. The goat eyed him warily, its hooves scrabbling close to the edge. Surely it’s not crazy enough to jump, Toklo thought. The goat was so close, he could smell the blood pumping in its neck. It would be so easy to sink his teeth in and rip the life out of the goat, feasting enough to keep him strong for days.
But he couldn’t risk it. The goat was more sure-footed up here than he was. If he tried to lunge at it, it could easily sidestep and send him plummeting over the edge. Toklo glared at the goat. He was exhausted, hungry, and frustrated, and there was nothing he could do but walk away from the only meal they’d seen in days.
There was a piercing shriek from the sky. Toklo looked up and saw a huge golden eagle swooping down, aiming straight for the goat. It sank its claws into the goat’s back and dragged the animal off the cliff. With a bray of terror, the goat toppled over the edge, bounced off a couple of large rocks, and crashed to the side of the mountain below, on a gentle slope that led into the meadow.
Toklo sprinted down the mountain toward the fallen goat, leaping from boulder to boulder. As he got closer, the eagle swooped in and landed on the goat, digging its talons into its flesh. With a caw of triumph, the eagle stabbed at the prey with its beak and tore off a strip of meat.
“Hey!” Toklo shouted. “That’s my prey! Get away from it!” He galloped up to the goat and stood up on his hind legs, roaring.
The eagle shook itself, and suddenly there was a shower of golden feathers onto the ground at Toklo’s paws. Black fur sprouted along the eagle’s back and down its legs as its wings shrank into sturdy round paws. And then Ujurak was standing there, panting and looking very pleased with himself.
“Did you see that?” he cried. “I chose what I wanted to turn into! And it was something useful! And I killed some prey for us!”
“Hmm,” Toklo grunted. “Yes, all right, well done.”
Ujurak turned back to the goat, using his claws to peel off the skin. “I can’t believe I did that!” he babbled. “I was chasing after you, and then I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could turn into something that could catch this goat easily, and then I did! It was amazing!”
Toklo eyed Ujurak warily. “I still like you better as a bear.” It all seemed very unnatural to him, but he was too hungry to care how they’d caught their first real meal in days. He crouched beside Ujurak and tucked in.
A cool wind trailed through the dense forest, making the trees murmur and the leaves dance. It was late in the day, close to sunrest, and the air was heavy with the possibility of rain. Toklo’s skin prickled under his fur, as if the fire from the sky was skittering along his whiskers. He kept his nose low to the ground as he led Ujurak through the woods, searching for food with half his attention while looking for shelter with the other half. They would need a warm, dry place to spend the night if a storm was coming.
He could smell something strange not far off, like burned trees and wood ash. Luckily their path led away from the scent; he didn’t want to get closer to it unless he had to.
A small shape darted out from under a bush, and both bears jumped. Toklo realized it was a hare as it raced away. Ujurak let out a startled yelp, and Toklo turned around. Long ears were sprouting from the top of Ujurak’s head as the cub shrank and his hind legs stretched and got skinnier, folding under his body.
“No, no!” Toklo yelled, but it was too late. Ujurak had turned into a hare—and not on purpose, Toklo was sure.
“Wait, stay there!” he commanded, but Ujurak-hare was already off and running in the direction the first hare had gone. Toklo sighed, watching him disappear into the shadows. Now he wouldn’t be able to kill and eat any hares, just in case it was that butterfly-brained cub.
A roar sounded from somewhere close by, and Toklo’s fur stood on end. There was another bear in the woods!
Toklo leaped to his paws and started running. He burst into a clearing and saw a hare trapped against a stand of thick bushes. Facing it, claws outstretched, was a scrawny black bear cub about half Toklo’s size. Her fur was thin and her roar was weak from hunger. She was clearly starving—and ready to eat anything, including the Ujurak-hare.
“NO!” Toklo bellowed, launching himself across the clearing. He bundled into the black bear, knocking her over and pinning her to the ground. She fought back, biting and scratching more fiercely than he had expected. For such a skinny bear, she had surprising strength.
“You can’t eat that hare!” Toklo roared at her.
“Yes I can!” she yelped. “I caught it!” One of her paws swiped his nose, leaving a stinging claw-scratch on his muzzle.
“Ow!” he growled. He shoved her paws down and held her in place with his weight.
“Wait! Stop!”
Toklo glanced over his shoulder and saw that the hare ha
d changed back into a bear cub. Ujurak was standing on his hind legs, waving his paws at the fighting cubs.
“Don’t hurt her,” Ujurak pleaded. “Look at her. She’s half starved—she’s no threat to us. Let her go, Toklo.”
The black bear stopped struggling. Toklo looked back down at her. She was staring at him with enormous eyes.
“You’re Toklo?” she said.
“Y-yes,” he said.
The black bear scrambled out from underneath him and got to her paws. “I’m Lusa,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you.”
About the Author
ERIN HUNTER is inspired by a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astrology and standing stones. She is also the author of the Warriors series.
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Also by ERIN HUNTER
WARRIORS
Book One: Into the Wild
Book Two: Fire and Ice
Book Three: Forest of Secrets
Book Four: Rising Storm
Book Five: A Dangerous Path
Book Six: The Darkest Hour
WARRIORS: THE NEW PROPHECY
Book One: Midnight
Book Two: Moonrise
Book Three: Dawn
Book Four: Starlight
Book Five: Twilight
Book Six: Sunset
WARRIORS: POWER OF THREE
Book One: The Sight
Book Two: Dark River
Book Three: Outcast
WARRIORS MANGA
Book One: The Lost Warrior
Book Two: Warrior’s Refuge
Book Three: Warrior’s Return
The Rise of Scourge
WARRIORS SPECIALS
Warriors Super Edition: Firestar’s Quest
Warriors Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans
Warriors: Cats of the Clans
Credits
Jacket art © 2008 by Wayne McLoughlin
Jacket design by Hilary Zarycky
Copyright
SEEKERS: THE QUEST BEGINS. Copyright © 2008 by Working Partners Limited. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition APRIL 2008 ISBN: 9780061973642
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Erin Hunter, The Quest Begins
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