Hollyleaf stayed where she was, hardly daring to breathe. The bracken had been crushed in the fight, and there was barely enough left standing to keep her hidden. During the scuffle, Cherrypaw and Molepaw had fled to the shelter of a bramble thicket on the far side of the clearing. Hollyleaf could just see them in the shadows, crouching in a three-colored huddle. At least they were safe. She had to get out of here before the warriors came back and picked up her scent on top of the fox’s.
Just as she turned to leave, the bracken rattled and the fox leaped back into the clearing. Drool spilled from its jaws and its yellow eyes gleamed with fury and determination. Hollyleaf stared at it in dismay. It must have doubled back and lost its pursuers! The fox lowered its head and sniffed at the patch of grass where the apprentices had been training. Then it looked toward the bramble thicket, its ears flattening. There was a tiny squeak from the thorns, cut off abruptly as if Cherrypaw had whimpered and Molepaw had stuffed his paw in her mouth.
Hollyleaf gathered her haunches beneath her and sprang out of her hiding place. “Get away from those kits!” she hissed. “Or you’ll have me to deal with!” She reared up on her hind paws and raked her claws down the fox’s blood-spattered muzzle.
The fox glared at her, curling its lip to reveal sharp, stained teeth. Hollyleaf held her ground. “Get out of here!” she spat, feeling the fury of a whole Clan of queens ready to defend their kits.
In the distance, she could hear the warriors returning, pounding through the trees with calls of alarm. The fox ducked to one side, then turned and fled. Hollyleaf followed, relief making her ears ring. She dived into the undergrowth and kept on running, flattening one ear back for signs of pursuit. But the warriors had stayed with Cherrypaw and Molepaw and didn’t come after the fox again. For a moment Hollyleaf wondered how much Cherrypaw and Molepaw had seen from underneath the thicket; would they tell their Clanmates about the strange cat that had chased off the fox? Hollyleaf knew she had taken a big risk, but she had had no choice. She had saved the lives of those kits, and that was all that mattered.
CHAPTER 10
Hollyleaf gave up trying to sleep and hauled herself out of the crumpled feathers. She couldn’t remember the last time her eyes had stayed closed all night. When she had drifted off earlier, she dreamed she was back in the hollow, defending her Clanmates from foxes, helping them gather herbs, watching kits play in the sunshine. It only took moments before she jerked awake in the lonely dark, with a sharp pain inside her that memories would never ease.
She padded along the tunnel to the river-cave with a strange feeling of calm. Fallen Leaves was sitting in his usual place beside the water. Hollyleaf settled down next to him and waited until he met her gaze. “I’m sorry,” she began. “I will never forget how you saved my life and gave me somewhere to stay when I thought I had lost everything. You have been a true friend, and I will always be grateful for that. But I don’t belong here.”
“I know,” Fallen Leaves meowed. “I always hoped you would stay. I... I never had someone to share my home before. But your Clan needs you more than I do. You must realize that by now.”
Hollyleaf nodded, looking down at her paws. “And I need them. But I don’t know how to go back! So much has happened!”
“When the time comes, you will know,” whispered Fallen Leaves, and when Hollyleaf lifted her head, he had vanished and she was alone by the rippling water.
A moon passed. Hollyleaf was even more restless than usual, creeping into ThunderClan’s territory every day before dawn but always shying away from presenting herself in the hollow. She couldn’t imagine what she would say, or how the cats would react. On the night of the full moon she climbed the ridge and looked down at the island in the lake, picturing the four Clans gathered there. Did they even remember her? Suddenly filled with doubt, Hollyleaf went back to the tunnels and curled into her nest, only to dream that she was at a Gathering surrounded by scornful, jeering cats who wanted to know why a loner was asking to join the Clans. Hollyleaf woke with a start, shivering. She was still a warrior, wasn’t she?
After that she stayed inside the tunnels for several days, eating fish and patrolling endless stone passages until her paws were as rough as tree bark. Fallen Leaves had told her she would know when it was time for her to go back. She hoped he was right, and that the chance hadn’t already passed her by.
She was finishing a late meal of minnow when there were soft paw steps behind her and she turned to see Fallen Leaves entering the river-cave. Hollyleaf hadn’t seen him for a while, and she jumped to her paws with excitement. “Hey! Where have you been?”
Fallen Leaves held up his tail to silence her. “There are cats in the tunnels. Something bad is happening.” He whipped around and headed into the tunnel that led eventually to the moor. Hollyleaf followed him, running to keep up. They had hardly left the faint light of the river-cave when she heard voices echoing through the darkness. Not ThunderClan cats this time but WindClan—and another voice she recognized, a tom who spoke louder than the others in a deep rumble that sounded like thunder as it rang off the stone. Sol! In a flash Hollyleaf remembered the tortoiseshell-and-white cat who had caused such trouble before, predicting the vanishing of the sun and trying to persuade Blackstar to turn his back on his warrior ancestors. What’s he doing back here?
In front of her, Fallen Leaves stopped. The conversation traveled clearly along the tunnel.
“This is your chance for true glory!” Sol was saying. “Onestar may want peace, but that is a sign of weakness! Attack ThunderClan through the tunnels, and victory will be easy over those mouse-munching idiots!”
“Sol’s right!” called another cat; Hollyleaf was sure it was Owlwhisker. “We’ve listened to Onestar for too long. He should let us fight now, do what we’ve trained for, and teach those ThunderClan cats that we’re stronger than they think!”
There was a chorus of yowls in agreement. Hollyleaf’s fur stood on end. Her Clanmates were going to be attacked! She couldn’t let this happen! Beside her, Fallen Leaves stiffened. “There are other cats down here,” he breathed into Hollyleaf’s ear.
Very carefully, she turned and sniffed the air. Two ThunderClan cats were standing in a side tunnel, just around the corner. Hollyleaf inhaled again until she could identify the scents: Ivypool and her sister, Dovewing. She started to pad toward them, then stopped as there was a hiss from the WindClan cats.
“Did anyone hear a noise?” growled a warrior.
Fallen Leaves put his mouth close to Hollyleaf’s ear. “You have to get them out of here. Your whole Clan needs you now. If WindClan is going to attack through the tunnels, you are the only one who can help them.”
Hollyleaf looked at her friend. “It’s time, isn’t it?” she meowed softly.
Fallen Leaves nodded. “Go well,” he murmured. “I will never forget you, Hollyleaf.”
At that moment, there was a cracking noise from the side tunnel, nothing more than a pebble slipping underneath a paw, but echoed and magnified by the stone walls until it sounded as loud as thunder.
“What was that?” Owlwhisker growled. “Is some cat eavesdropping on us?”
Hollyleaf began to creep toward the thicker shadows where her Clanmates were hiding.
“Get us out of here!” she heard Ivypool whisper.
“I followed the voices to get here,” Dovewing replied. “I’m not sure of the way out.”
Behind her, Hollyleaf heard the WindClan cats stirring. It sounded as if more than one was coming to investigate.
Ivypool had heard them too. “They’re coming to look for us! We have to go.”
There wasn’t time to lead these cats out from the safety of the shadows. Hollyleaf would have to show herself to them, let them know that she was a cat who could be trusted. She took a deep breath. All the moons of hiding, trying to forget she had ever belonged to a Clan, seemed to vanish in a single heartbeat. The blood of a warrior flowed through her veins. Nothing was more important than loyalty to her Clan.
> She walked into the side tunnel and felt the air tingle as Dovewing and Ivypool tensed, ready to defend themselves.
“Come with me,” she ordered into the darkness. “Quick!”
“No way!” Ivypool hissed. “You could be with them.”
“I’m not,” Hollyleaf mewed, trying to keep her voice calm.
“Prove it,” Dovewing challenged.
“I shouldn’t have to,” Hollyleaf snapped. Didn’t these cats recognize ThunderClan scent when it was in front of them? “For StarClan’s sake, let’s go.”
In the faintest gleam of starlight filtering from the river-cave, Hollyleaf saw Ivypool’s eyes widen as she exchanged a glance with her sister. “StarClan?” Ivypool echoed. “Then you—”
“Do you want to get out of here or not?” Hollyleaf interrupted.
“Yes, we do,” Ivypool snapped back. “But how do we know you won’t lead us farther in?”
Hollyleaf let out a hiss of frustration. Couldn’t these questions have waited? And yet perhaps it wasn’t surprising that these young cats had no idea who she was. She was going to be a stranger to many of her Clanmates after being away for so long.
“Because I’m a ThunderClan cat like you,” she meowed, raising her voice over the pounding of her heart. “My name is Hollyleaf.”
COMING APRIL 2012
OMEN OF THE STARS
WARRIORS
THE LAST HOPE
After countless moons of treachery, Tigerstar’s Dark Forest apprentices are ready to lay siege upon the warrior Clans. As the Clan cats seek out their allies and enemies, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing search desperately for the fourth cat who is prophesied to lead the Clans to victory—and who may be their only hope for survival.
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PROLOGUE
A jagged ridge sliced across the horizon, piercing the black sky with its peaks. Four shapes, their pelts flecked by starlight, crouched on the silvered granite where the highest summit pushed into ice-cold wind.
“We have come.” The white she-cat hunched down harder against the chill reaching for her bones. “Just as you asked us to.”
Her companion dipped his head to the cats who had been waiting for them. “Greetings, Owl Feather, Broken Shadow.”
“Greetings, Slant.” Broken Shadow spiked her thick fur, muffling the stone-cold air. Her eyes reflected the rushing stars as she met the white cat’s gaze. “It is good to meet you again, Half Moon.” As she spoke, two more pelts moved like shadow over the stone.
“Bluestar, Spottedleaf, I’m glad to see you.” Half Moon welcomed the StarClan warriors as they settled beside the four Ancients.
Bluestar curled her tail over her paws. “We have come to prepare for the end,” she meowed solemnly.
Owl Feather narrowed her yellow eyes. “And to believe what we have to tell you?”
Spottedleaf let out a low growl. “Bluestar has always believed! It is the others we need to convince.”
“We’re running out of time!” Slant snapped.
The sky spun around them, its stars racing until they blurred into silver streaks—but the mountaintop seemed caught in stillness, like a warrior before the final pounce.
Bluestar’s eyes glistened. “The Clans will make their own choices. I can do no more.”
Slant leaned closer. “But the prophecies helped, didn’t they?”
“Yes.” Bluestar glanced at her medicine cat. “Spottedleaf recognized the flaming star that led me to Firestar.”
Owl Feather acknowledged Spottedleaf with a blink. “She used her gift well. All along, it has been Firestar’s kin who hold the last hope of the Clans in their paws.”
“What about the fourth?” Slant leaned forward, anxiety pricking his gaze. “When will they find the fourth cat?”
“The fourth must be found soon,” fretted Broken Shadow. “There is so little time left.”
Owl Feather’s tail twitched. “Are you sure we’ve done enough?”
“We have done everything we could.” Half Moon’s amber gaze flicked toward two figures clambering over the rocks toward them. “Midnight, is that you?”
“I come with Rock.” The great she-badger lumbered onto the smooth granite. Rock stepped out behind her, his furless body pale in the moonlight.
Broken Shadow shifted her paws. “Greetings, Midnight. I . . . I didn’t realize that you knew Rock.”
“Since the dawn of your time, we have known each other,” Midnight rumbled, turning her wide, striped head. “Since first cat put paw beside water.”
Rock sat down on the cold stone. His blind blue eyes were round and white as moons. “We watched the first sunrise over the lake.”
“It burst water into flame,” Midnight recalled. “And in fiery reflection we see future of all cats: Tribe of Rushing Water, five Clan, four Clan, forest, and lake.”
“We saw your whole journey, from lake to forest and back.” Rock tipped his head as if watching the cats process in front of him. “The prophecies all came from that first reflected sunrise—the cat with a pelt of flame that would save the Clans, the silver cat who would save the Tribe of Rushing Water, and finally the four who would carry the last hope, not just of the Clans, but of light itself.”
Midnight’s claws scratched the granite. “Now we fear we see a final sunset that ends your story.”
Half Moon stepped forward. “But the four? They will save us, surely?”
“They came as we saw they would and, when they came, they lit the darkest fires.” Midnight gazed at the Ancient cats, her beady black eyes intent. “So you and all long-dead cats burn like stars once more.”
“But evil is coming,” Rock warned.
Midnight cut in. “Darkness we saw born like littermate alongside the light. Now all must stand and fight.”
As the other cats shivered, Rock moved his blind gaze over them. “Thank you for safeguarding the prophecies for so long, and for passing them down from cats forgotten now and vanished.”
Broken Shadow sighed. “So many lives lost.”
“All lives are brief,” Rock reminded her.
“My son’s was too brief!” Her eyes flashed accusingly. “Why couldn’t you save Fallen Leaves?”
“It was never my duty to save anyone!” Rock flashed back at her. “What is the point of a life held in the paws of another? There must be choice. There must be freedom. I can point the way but every cat walks on its own paws.”
Slant narrowed his eyes. “Do the Clans walk alone into the final battle?”
Half Moon flattened her ears. “Never alone!” She lifted her chin. “I will fight alongside Jayfeather.”
Broken Shadow unsheathed her claws. “And I will fight alongside my son.”
“I will fight beside Jagged Lightning and my kits to defeat this darkness.” Owl Feather’s eyes sparked.
Bluestar thrashed her tail. “And I will die a tenth time to defend ThunderClan!”
“These cats will never stand alone,” Half Moon declared. “We are with them just as we have always been.”
“Light against dark,” Midnight growled. “This is the end of all things—this is the last sunrise.”
Rock touched her flank lightly with the tip of his tail. “It is what we have been waiting for, my friend.”
CHAPTER 1
Someone’s bleeding!
Ivypool stiffened as the memory of Antpelt’s death flooded her mind, just as it always did when the scent of blood hit her. She could still feel his flesh tearing beneath her claws, still see his final agonized spasm before he stopped moving forever. She’d been forced to kill the WindClan warrior to convince Tigerstar of her loyalty. It had earned her the grim honor of training Dark Forest warriors, but she knew she would never wash the scent of his blood from her paws.
“Stop!” she yowled.
Birchfall froze mid-lunge and stared at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I smell blood,” she snapped. “We’re only training. I don’t want any injuries.??
?
Birchfall blinked at her, puzzled.
Redwillow scrambled up from underneath Birchfall’s paws. “It’s just a nick,” the ShadowClan warrior meowed. He showed Ivypool his ear. Blood welled from a thin scratch at the tip.
“Just be careful,” Ivypool cautioned.
“Be careful?” Hawkfrost’s snarl made her spin around. “There’s a war coming and it won’t be won with sheathed claws.” Hawkfrost curled his lip and stared at Ivypool. “I thought you were helping to train our recruits to fight like real warriors, not soft Clan cats.”
Birchfall bristled. “Clan cats aren’t soft!”
“Then why do you come here?” Hawkfrost challenged.
Redwillow whisked his tail. “Our Clans need us to be the best warriors we can be. You told us that, remember?”
Hawkfrost nodded slowly. “And you can only learn the skills you need here.” He flicked his nose toward Birchfall. “Attack Redwillow again,” he ordered. “This time don’t stop at the first scent of blood.” He narrowed his eyes at Ivypool.
Ivypool swallowed, terrified she’d given herself away. No Dark Forest cat could ever know that she came here to spy for Dovewing, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze. Growling, she lifted her chin and barged past Birchfall. “Do it like this,” she told him. With a hiss she hurled herself at Redwillow, ducking away from his claws, and grasped his forepaw between her jaws. Using his weight to unbalance him, she snapped her head around and twisted him deftly onto his back. He landed with a thump, which she knew sounded more painful than it felt. She’d hardly pierced his fur with her teeth and her jerk was so well-timed it had knocked him off his feet without wrenching his leg.
She glanced back at Hawkfrost, relieved to see approval glinting in his eyes. He’d only seen the flash of fur and claw and heard the smack of muscle against the slippery earth.
“Hawkfrost!”
Birchfall and Redwillow stared wide-eyed as Applefur appeared from the mist. The ShadowClan she-cat’s eyes were bright, her mottled brown pelt pulsing with heat from training. “Blossomfall and Hollowflight want to fight Dark Forest warriors.”