The leaves of Red Star Glade were especially crunchy this time of year. They fell from the tallest trees in all of Skygon, blanketing the forest floor in many layers of red, gold and orange.

"Look out below!" shouted Slyclaw as she hurled herself from the top of a rock into a pile of leaves. Her red fur glistened orange when the sunlight hit it just right, a trait of the Wayfinder Fox pack.

"Ahhh!" laughed a little blue fluffball with a Star on his head as he ran from the leaf pile. This was Trench, Slyclaw's playmate and official leaf mound builder of Red Star Glade, according to Slyclaw anyway.

CRUNCH! "Hahaha! that was the loudest crunch yet! Let's do it again!" laughed Slyclaw. 

"Slyclaw, I have gathered every crunchy leaf I could find, let's take a break and eat some lunch," said the little starmole. 

"Great idea, I am starving!" Slyclaw rolled out of the leaves and padded over to the rock where she had put a juicy rabbit she had hunted earlier. 

Trench preferred berries and twigs and only looked mildly disgusted as Slyclaw tore into her meal.

"You know Sly, maybe we should get back to work after we eat. Maplewhisper said she needed that map completed by the day's end. You have the most steady paw of all the foxes so she expects precise and clear work!"

"Oh, -e -have pl'enny uf -ime," said Slyclaw between chews. She gave a mighty swallow. "Besides, prophesies happen no matter what, that's what makes it a prophecy. If the wolf is to make it to New Moon Woodlands, then she will, whether we complete the map or not."

"Shhh!!!" urged Trench. "We shouldn't be saying the 'P' word out loud. If Dragarha hears about...what was said, we are all in more trouble than we could ever dream! There hasn't been a, uh, thingy, for over 200 years!!!"

"Yeah yeah, since back when the evil Dragarha outlawed prophesies-" "Shhhhh!!!" "-and vowed to kill anyone who made one," she yawned. She took her final bite of rabbit and sat back on her haunches, content and unconcerned with all this talk of prophecies and the she-wolf who was on her way to end the reign of the evil dragon. After all, so long as everyone stayed out of Grim Rock Woods, Dragarha's home, there would be no danger. Or so she assumed.

Suddenly, everything around the young fox and her friend went up in flames! The suffocating smell of burning trees and the terrified howls and squeals of the forest creatures filled Slyclaw's ears. There was a strong gust of wind and the flames rushed towards the leaf pile, where minutes ago Slyclaw and Trench were playing. The leaves were sent spiraling into the air as nothing more than ash. Slyclaw ran for it while Trench dove deep underground.

Dragarha is burning the land!

She's trying to stop the she-wolf!

The dragon is angered!

Voices filled the meeting den where Slyclaw had run, seeking shelter from the fire. Wounded foxes that were burned in the fires were being tended to by medicine foxes. Other foxes were howling orders and darting back and forth, scared and worried and trying to ease the pain of the injured and dying.

"Be calm my pack! The Wayfinders need to organize to help the creatures of the glade find their way to safety. Nobody knows these lands better than we do. With the charring of the pathways, we must use our gifts to find new routes to safer lands!" Northern Star was the leader of the Wayfinder pack. She sat regal and firm as she gave out orders.