Free Island of Shadows by Erin Hunter

door snapping shut behind them.
    Lusa took a deep breath. Now or never , she told herself.
    Leaving the shelter of the pathway, she scurried across the open space. Her heart began to pound again from fear of being in the open. It felt like a long, long way to the safety of the paths on the other side. Before she reached them, she heard the roar of an approaching firebeast. The glaring beams of its eyes swept across her and swiveled back, fixing her in the harsh light. A flat-face shouted something.
    Lusa was frozen with fear. Then, as she heard the thump of flat-face paws hitting the ground, she forced herself to run. More shouting broke out behind her. The mouth of the nearest pathway was just in front of her. But as she plunged into the darkness between the dens, she caught a glimpse of a black shape flying in the air over her head. The next moment, something tangled in her paws and she crashed to the ground.
    When Lusa tried to get up, she found herself caught in some sort of mesh made out of tough strands like twisted vines. She struggled wildly but only managed to tangle herself further. Frantic to escape, she bit through one of the strands. It gave way, but two flat-faces were already bending over her, one on each side.
    â€œHelp!” she squealed. “Toklo! Kallik! Help me!”

CHAPTER EIGHT
Toklo
    Toklo had fled when the metal bird had come shrieking out of the sky. He had lost sight of his companions, but when the bird swooped out of sight over the rooftops of the flat-face dens, there was no struggling bear shape in its claws. He realized that they had all escaped.
    Now all I have to do is find them.
    His injured shoulder was stinging, but the wound hadn’t stopped him from moving fast when he’d needed to. Looking around, he saw he was standing on a BlackPath in the depths of the denning area. Snow was piled in huge mounds on either side, leaving the black surface clear for firebeasts. Toklo scrambled over the nearest heap and took cover in the shadow of an overhanging den roof.
    When he looked up, he could see the line of the hills beyond the jumble of dens, and he realized roughly the direction he would need to take. I suppose the best thing to do is go back to the place where we split up. I bet the others will do the same. His belly lurched with fear. If they can.
    He was turning to pad alongside the BlackPath when he heard a high-pitched squeal of terror. “Help me!”
    Lusa!
    Toklo froze, trying to work out where the cry had come from. A narrow pathway gaped in front of him, and darting down it, he spotted Lusa at the far end. She was on the ground, struggling; two flat-faces wearing thick pelts were bending over her. Toklo let out a roar and charged toward them.
    The two flat-faces straightened up, then backed away. To Toklo’s relief, neither of them was carrying a firestick. They shouted something; then one of them turned and ran toward a firebeast crouching at the far end of the pathway.
    â€œLusa!” Toklo bellowed.
    Lusa was still struggling. As he reached her side, Toklo saw that she was tangled in some kind of mesh made out of twisted vines. She was biting through it, but the hole she had made was still too small to crawl through.
    Toklo thrust his muzzle close to hers and began tearing through the mesh. “Hurry!” he growled. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the flat-faces came back with firesticks.
    Suddenly the mesh ripped open in their teeth, and Lusa scrambled free. “Thanks, Toklo!” she gasped.
    â€œDon’t talk—run!”
    Toklo turned and bounded toward the end of the pathway, with Lusa scurrying behind him. He heard more shouting from the flat-faces, and the pounding of their paws, but not the crack of firesticks. Emerging from the end of the pathway, Toklo shoved Lusa behind one of the mounds of snow. “Keep still!” he ordered.
    Peering around the snow heap, he saw the two flat-faces appear from the end of the