Lost Stars

The meeting over, Rootpaw didn’t return to the camp. Instead he headed out into the forest. Even though he knew he was due to meet Dewspring for hunting practice, he needed some time alone to clear his head.

Snow still covered the forest floor, and icicles hung from the trees. Rootpaw was so used to his paws being numb from cold and the chilly wind that probed into his fur that he had almost forgotten what it was like to be warm. But he still loved the forest, liked to feel that he was learning every paw step of it. He didn’t feel that anywhere else could really be his home.

My apprenticeship is going really well now, he thought. He was eager for the day when Dewspring would decide that he was ready for his assessment. Why would I want to leave? I might never become a warrior. Seriously, what’s wrong with Tree?

Rootpaw wondered what it would be like to have normal parents. Violetshine was pretty normal, he supposed, always calm and collected—except over Needletail. What was all that about? When Tree had mentioned that name, Violetshine had reacted as if he had clawed out her heart.

Lost in his thoughts, Rootpaw jumped, startled, when he spotted a dark brown tabby tom standing at the other side of a clearing. “Oh—sorry!” he gasped, hoping that he hadn’t disturbed him.

The tabby tom looked up when he heard Rootpaw, angling his ears toward him. Rootpaw let out a gasp as he recognized him. “Bramblestar!” But what is he doing on SkyClan territory? And why didn’t I scent him?

Rootpaw opened his jaws to taste the air, but he still couldn’t pick up the least trace of ThunderClan. What kind of cat has no scent?

Bramblestar began to pad toward Rootpaw, who let out another gasp of mingled disbelief and terror. Rootpaw could see the trees at the other side of the clearing through Bramblestar’s body. It reminded Rootpaw of all his father’s stories of seeing dead cats.

But I don’t have that power. And Bramblestar isn’t dead!

Whatever the Bramblestar thing was, it was still coming toward Rootpaw. Gripped by claws of pure panic, Rootpaw whipped around and raced back to the camp, his belly fur brushing the snow and his tail streaming out in the wind of his passing.

Behind him, he could hear a fading voice, calling out to him. “Wait! You have to help me! Please!”

About the Author

ERIN HUNTER is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior. She is also the author of the Seekers, Survivors, and Bravelands series.

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Books by Erin Hunter

THE BROKEN CODE

Book One: Lost Stars

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Copyright

WARRIORS: THE BROKEN CODE #1: LOST STARS. Copyright © 2019 by Working Partners Limited. Series created by Working Partners Limited. Map art © 2019 by Dave Stevenson. Interior art © 2019 by Owen Richardson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Cover art © 2019 by Owen Richardson

Series cover design by Ellice M. Lee

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hunter, Erin, author.

Title: Lost stars / Erin Hunter.

Description: New York, NY : HarperCollins, 2019. | Series: Warriors: the broken code ; [1] |

Summary: “In the midst of the coldest leaf-bare any warrior can remember, the Clans have lost their connection with their warrior ancestors, and only one ShadowClan apprentice can still hear their voices--or their warning about the new shadow rising within the warrior Clans”--Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018055864 | ISBN 978-0-06-282351-9 (hardback) | ISBN 978-0-06-282352-6 (library)

Subjects: | CYAC: Cats--Fiction. | Fantasy. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Cats. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic.

Classification: LCC PZ7.H916625 Los 2019 | DDC [Fic]--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018055864

Digital Edition APRIL 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-282354-0

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-282351-9