Night Whispers

Shock pulsed through her. He could have blinded me! As she dropped, trembling, onto four paws, Shredtail’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and he collapsed onto his belly as his hind legs were yanked out from under him. Ivypaw looked up to see Sparrowfeather hauling the young warrior from the rock, her teeth sunk deep into his flesh. Shredtail wailed in agony, his claws scraping over rock as he fought to cling on.

“No!” Thistleclaw roared, and swung a paw that knocked Sparrowfeather off her feet. With a yowl she crashed, sprawling onto the grass.

Ivypaw gasped. She’s not moving!

The gray-and-white warrior swung his head around, his gaze swooping over the trembling cats. “I told you to knock him off.” His voice was terrifyingly soft. “Not drag him.” He glanced at Sparrowfeather. The small brown cat twitched and lifted her head. “You cheated,” Thistleclaw hissed.

“Sorry.” Sparrowfeather’s mew was little more than a croak.

Thistleclaw circled her slowly, then jabbed her with a paw. “Get up,” he growled. “It’s your turn.” He watched as she dragged herself to her paws and began to haul herself up onto the rock.

“And this time, don’t cheat.”

Chapter 8

Flametail was bone tired.

Clumsily he hauled himself over the lip of the hollow and followed the dimpled rock path that curved down to the Moonpool. He hadn’t slept in two days, and he flopped like a defeated warrior beside the water, his paws frozen and raw.

The stone walls of the hollow glittered with ice. A sharp wind made the star-flecked pool shiver. Closing his eyes, Flametail rested his chin on his paws and let the tip of his nose touch the water. At once flames burst around him. The ice on the rock walls hissed and spat as the fire hit it.

Flametail shot to his paws, spinning in panic. A sheet of dazzling orange flames blocked the path that led up from the pool. He cringed away, heart pounding, ears flattened. StarClan, help me! Blindly, he raced for the pool.

“No, you fool!” A yowl made him halt.

He turned, squinting as he spotted a feline shape, dark against the wall of fire. “Who are you?” As the cat approached, Flametail could make out the gray tabby pelt of a tom. It wasn’t any cat that he knew, though his fur smelled faintly of ShadowClan pines.

“Stay away from the water,” the gray cat growled.

“Don’t be afraid. Palefoot only wants to help.” Now a she-cat shimmered into view. The flames threw flickering shadows over her snowy pelt. Flametail recognized Sagewhisker, the ancient ShadowClan medicine cat.

The StarClan warriors gazed at him calmly.

“Can’t you see the flames?” Flametail wailed.

“Look around you,” Sagewhisker murmured.

Flametail stared around the fiery hollow. And gasped.

Star-pelted cats lined the ledges and stone shelves of the hollow walls. Fire encircled them, making their fur shimmer, but not a flame touched them. Flametail tasted the air. Frost nipped his tongue. The air was cold. His pelt felt nothing but the icy night breeze. The fire was nothing more than a vision. It flamed silently around him, no more than cold light, illuminating the hollow.

Fear drained from him. Breathing deeply with relief, Flametail scanned the ranks of his ancestors and recognized Runningnose, Nightpelt, and Fernshade. With a rush of joy he saw Russetfur. She looked young and strong, as she must have before he’d been born, her dark red fur sleek, her tail curled neatly over her paws. The light of the flames reflected in her dark, steady gaze.

“Who do you see?” Sagewhisker prompted gently.

“Runningnose, Fernshade…” he began. Why is she asking? She can see for herself. “Russetfur, Crowtail…” He began to recognize more pelts. “Stonetooth, Foxheart…” All long-dead ShadowClan warriors he’d met beside the Moonpool. “Just our ancestors.” Why was Sagewhisker staring at him so intently?

“Anyone else?”

Flametail scanned the ranks again. “Hollyflower, Flintfang…” He frowned. “All our ancestors,” he repeated. His pelt pricked. There were only ShadowClan cats here. “Is ShadowClan going to die in a fire?” His heart leaped in his throat. “Is this your warning?”

Sagewhisker shook her head. “Our message isn’t that simple, I’m afraid.”

“Where is the rest of StarClan?” Flametail shifted his paws.

“They are with their own Clans.”

“But in death you are all one Clan.” Flametail tipped his head to one side, puzzled. “The borders between the Clans disappear.”

A dark pelt flashed through the flames as a large tabby tom jumped down onto the flattened stone. It was Raggedstar, the noble leader of ShadowClan many moons ago.

“There used to be no borders in StarClan.” His deep, rich mew rang around the hollow. “But times have changed.”

Flametail’s claws twitched within their sheaths. “What change? Why?”

“The battle with ThunderClan was unjust and unprovoked. But ThunderClan’s ancestors did nothing to stop it, and Russetfur died.” He nodded respectfully to the ShadowClan deputy.