Crowfeather's Trial

Maps

Prologue

Crowpaw pressed himself back into the crevice. He winced at the sharp points of rock jabbing into his fur; they told him the space was too shallow to shelter him. He let out a cry of terror as he gazed up at the looming head and shoulders of Sharptooth, the huge lion-cat. Sharptooth stooped over him, scraping at the rock with one paw’s massive talons. Moonlight filtering through the waterfall cast a glow on his face, showing Crowpaw lips drawn back in a cruel snarl, curved fangs, and jaws dripping with drool. Sharptooth’s rancid breath swept over Crowpaw, and his eyes glared down, savage with hunger.

I can’t believe I’m going to die like this! Crowpaw thought desperately. Not after all we’ve been through! We’ve left our homes, traveled so far, and faced so many dangers. We met the badger Midnight and discovered a new destiny for our Clans. I want to be part of that… I want to be part of our future! But now it’s over…

Crowpaw could hear the wailing of the Tribe cats and see skinny forms perched on ledges high above the cave floor in shades of gray and brown. His panicked gaze sought out Feathertail, and his heart warmed when he spotted her gray pelt. She was crouching beside her brother, Stormfur, on a ledge just under the roof.

She is so beautiful! I don’t want to die before I have the chance to…

Then, somehow, above the terrified cries of the other cats and the snarling of Sharptooth, Crowpaw heard Feathertail.

“I can hear the voices clearly now,” she meowed. “This is for me to do.”

For a moment Crowpaw’s fear was banished by confusion. What voices?

Silver flashed in the moonlight as Feathertail launched herself from the ledge, hurling herself at one of the pointed stones that hung down from the roof. For a few heartbeats she clung there, digging her claws into the rock.

Crowpaw heard Stormfur yowl, “No!”

He watched in horror, forgetting his own danger, as the stone began to split away from the roof with a sickening crack. It couldn’t support Feathertail’s weight and was about to collapse. “Feathertail!” he yowled. “No! Get down from there!”

But it was impossible for Feathertail to escape. With a dull grinding noise, the stone broke away and plummeted down. Feathertail was still clinging to it, falling straight toward Sharptooth. Crowpaw could hardly bear to watch, yet he couldn’t tear his gaze from the scene.