Dovewing’s Silence

She nodded vigorously. “It would be an honor to patrol with any of you.”

Dovewing let out a sigh of relief.

“I still don’t know exactly what’s gone on, but whatever you’ve done, thank you,” Bumblestripe murmured. “This means so much to me.” He gazed warmly at his sister, who was surrounded by warriors asking if she was okay after the fight with the fox.

“I know it does,” Dovewing whispered. She pricked her ears as she spotted Lionblaze padding to his den. “Excuse me,” she mewed to Bumblestripe. She trotted after the golden tabby and stopped him at the entrance to the warriors’ den. “Lionblaze, we need to talk,” she announced. “Now.”

The warrior blinked once, then nodded. “I know. Come on, let’s find Jayfeather.”

The medicine cat was waiting outside the cave. He didn’t give them a chance to speak, instead turning his sightless blue gaze to meet them and saying, “It’s time. Let’s talk outside the camp.”

The three cats padded across the clearing and out through the thorns. Jayfeather led them a little way into the trees and jumped onto a fallen tree.

“Our powers have gone,” he mewed. “I have not been able to visit other cats’ dreams since the Great Battle, nor can I see into their minds when they are awake.”

“I can be injured,” Lionblaze meowed, sounding as confused as if he had only just noticed.

“And I can’t hear or see anything,” Dovewing admitted. She raised her head to look at her Clanmates. “Why has this happened?” she wailed. “Are we being punished because the Clan didn’t unite again after the battle? Or because too many cats died? Are we still the Three described in the prophecy?”

Jayfeather flicked his tail. “I don’t know,” he growled. “But I think there is somewhere we can find an answer. Are you two fit enough for a journey?”

“Of course,” Lionblaze replied, and Dovewing mewed, “I think so.”

Jayfeather jumped down from the tree trunk. “Follow me.”

Chapter 10

The Moonpool gleamed like a single silver eye, reflecting starlight and the empty night sky. Dovewing caught her breath as she padded down the spiraling path, feeling her paws slot into the impressions left by cats from countless moons before. “It’s beautiful!” she breathed.

Lionblaze shivered. “It’s creepy.”

Jayfeather led them to the edge of the water, as still as polished stone. “Lie down and close your eyes,” he meowed.

“What’s going to happen?” Lionblaze asked warily.

“StarClan will come to us,” Jayfeather answered. “They alone know why we have lost our powers, and what this means for the prophecy.” He settled himself on the smooth stone and tucked his paws underneath him.

Dovewing lay down beside him, then Lionblaze on his other side. Dovewing took one last look at the starlit water and closed her eyes. Her pelt prickled with excitement. StarClan, are you there?

The sound of rushing wind filled her ears, and she opened her eyes with a start. She was standing on top of a mountain surrounded by dark, starless sky. The wind tugged at her fur and cold seeped into her paws from the hard stone. Lionblaze and Jayfeather were beside her, leaning into the gale to keep their balance.

“Is this StarClan?” Dovewing yowled above the wind. Somehow she had expected it to be more… peaceful.

“No!” Jayfeather yowled back. “I don’t know where we are!”

Great StarClan! This isn’t the Dark Forest, is it? Dovewing thought in alarm.

Lionblaze pointed with his tail to the edge of the rocky plateau. “Look!”

Two figures were walking toward them out of the darkness. Not ancient cats lit with the light of stars, but mismatched, lumpen figures, unsteady in their gait and with fierce glowing eyes. One shape loomed over the other, broad-shouldered and narrow-snouted. The other lurched over the stony ground, its hairless skin gleaming in the half-light.

“Midnight and Rock!” Dovewing whispered. She felt the fur along her spine lie down. Not the Dark Forest, then.

The badger and the blind, bald cat stopped in front of them. Midnight dipped her head. “Welcome you are,” she barked. “Come far you have, after difficult time. Something to ask, I think?”

“Why can’t I hear anymore?” Dovewing blurted out. “Or see?”

Rock turned his cloudy blue gaze on her. “Oh, I think you can still see,” he murmured softly.

Dovewing felt hot with embarrassment. “Yes, of course, but it’s not the same. I used to be able to see everything! Now I can only see what’s right in front of me. And it’s the same with my hearing.”

“We’ve lost our powers,” Jayfeather put in. “The powers given to the cats in the prophecy. There will be Three, kin of your kin, who will hold the power of the stars in their paws.”

“Jayfeather thought StarClan might know why we’ve changed,” Lionblaze meowed.