Tallstar’s Revenge

BRIGHTSKY—nimble ginger-and-white she-cat

PIKETOOTH—skinny brown tabby tom with narrow face and protruding canine teeth

LAKESHINE—long-haired gray-and-white she-cat

SHIMMERPELT—night-black she-cat with glossy pelt

FALLOWTAIL—light brown she-cat with blue eyes

APPRENTICE, SOFTPAW

QUEENS

ECHOMIST—long-haired gray she-cat

LILYSTEM—pale gray she-cat

ELDERS

TROUTCLAW—gray tabby tom

TANGLEFUR—long-haired tabby with thick knotted pelt

BIRDSONG—tabby-and-white she-cat with ginger patches around her muzzle, flecked with gray

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS

SPARROW—dark brown tom

BESS—black she-cat with white paws

MOLE—dark gray tom

ALGERNON—creamy-brown tom

REENA—ginger she-cat

JAKE—ginger tom

QUINCE—gray she-cat

JAY—black-and-white she-cat

PIXIE—fluffy white she-cat

MARMALADE—large ginger tom

RED—orange she-cat

NUTMEG—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Maps

Prologue

The dark moor rose to meet the night-black sky. Starry pelts sparked like flint against the trembling heather. Grass streamed around the paws of WindClan’s former warriors as they sat, whiskers stiff, unbowed by the wind.

“Welcome to StarClan, Heatherstar.” A sleek tom with starshine glowing in his pelt faced the young WindClan leader. “I have watched you serve your Clanmates with bravery and loyalty as their deputy, and now I am honored to give you a life as their leader.”

Heatherstar dipped her head. “Thank you, Thrushpelt.”

“I died a medicine cat,” the tom reminded her. “But before that, I was a warrior. I never hesitated to fight for what I knew to be right, however hard that seemed. I give you your eighth life and, with it, the courage to trust your instincts. When your heart speaks, listen.” Leaning forward, he touched his nose to Heatherstar’s head.

As the new life pulsed through her, the gray cat groaned through clenched jaws.

Thrushpelt stepped back and glanced over his shoulder. “Daisytail?”

A light brown she-cat with ginger patches padded from among her Clanmates, her fur blazing with silver light. “Do you know me?” she gently asked Heatherstar.

Heatherstar lifted her head and drew in a shuddering breath. “Yes! I have heard your name many times. You refused to let your kits fight against ShadowClan, and your insistence was so strong, it became part of the Clan code.”

Daisytail nodded. “From then on, no kit was allowed to train for battle before they were six moons old. I would have taken on each of those ShadowClan warriors myself before I let my little ones suffer a single blow. Even though you do not have kits of your own, Heatherstar, I want you to share the strength of my conviction. For your ninth life I give you the force of a mother’s love. Use it to protect your Clan.” She pressed her muzzle to Heatherstar’s head. “It is stronger than the wind and outlasts life itself.”

Heatherstar rocked as a spasm gripped her. She lurched forward and stumbled onto her knees.

A mottled gray-brown tom stepped forward. “Heatherstar?” He leaned down to the new WindClan leader. “Are you okay?”

Daisytail flicked her tail. “She is strong, Hawkheart. I can feel it.”

Heatherstar straightened up. “I’m fine,” she told the tom. Trembling, she faced StarClan. “I promise that I will make WindClan a force to be respected among all the Clans of the forest. I will lead them well through my nine lives. And when I join you, I hope you will welcome me with pride at what I have achieved.”

Murmurs of approval rose among the ranks of starry pelts.

“Remember,” Daisytail called, “there is no power stronger than love!” As she spoke, StarClan blurred and began to spiral upward like a comet’s tail, into the midnight sky.

“We should return to the Moonstone,” Hawkheart murmured in Heatherstar’s ear.

Heatherstar shook her head. “I’m not ready to leave StarClan.”

Hawkheart watched the glimmering pelts fade. “But they’ve gone.”

“Their scent remains.” Heatherstar swished her tail stubbornly.

“Then I’ll meet you at Mothermouth when you wake.” Turning, Hawkheart padded down the slope, his pelt melting into the shadows until he was hardly visible against the heather. “The Clan will be waiting for us at home.”

“I won’t be long.” Heatherstar watched the medicine cat vanish. Still unsteady, she climbed the moor, moving slowly at first but growing stronger with each step as the new lives throbbed beneath her fur. She broke into a run, charging across the windswept grass, her whiskers flattened against her face. She stopped suddenly as the moor dropped away. Balancing at the edge of the sandy precipice, Heatherstar gazed across woods and meadows stretching into darkness.

Paw steps sounded behind her. “Why do you linger here?” The mew was soft.