Narrator Passage:

Wind rattled the branches of the willow trees and tore the reeds from their beds. Thick storm clouds swirled across the night-dark sky. Rain battered the tightly woven dens where the RiverClan warriors had been sleeping.

The RiverClan leader flattened his ears as he heard his mate’s terrified cry. He dug his claws into the mud, steadying himself against the water that swirled around his legs. The river had broken its banks and was streaming into camp. He twisted his head around, searching the shadows.

As she talked, the medicine cat pulled moss around him until he felt warm and cozy. Her words drifted into a low murmur until the green clearing and the sharp scents of herbs faded into darkness.

Hailstar scanned the camp. Gleaming pelts darted in the darkness like panicked fish. A lithe ginger- and-white she-cat was clinging on to the remains of the warriors’ den, trying to claw together its fast- fraying walls. A stout tabby tom tried to block the foaming channel where nests swirled out into the river. The sky lit up with a white flare as lightning blazed. Thunder crashed and the wind hardened. A new wave of water surged through the camp.