The Last Hope

Ivypool swung around as Molepaw interrupted them. “Soon.” She turned back to Dovewing. “Surely it’s Hollyleaf?”

“What’s Hollyleaf?” Cherrypaw padded toward them.

“Practice your leap,” Ivypool ordered.

“But Molepaw’s taking up the whole clearing!” Cherrypaw complained.

Ivypool glanced at the brown-and-white apprentice. “Molepaw! Keep to the edge and let your sister use the middle.”

“But that’s not fair—”

Ivypool growled. “Are you training to be a warrior or a kit?”

Muttering, Molepaw trailed to the edge of the clearing and hunkered down, ready to leap again. Cherrypaw lifted her tail defiantly and marched to the middle of the hollow.

Ivypool turned back to Dovewing. “Why else would Hollyleaf come back now?”

“If she was part of the prophecy, she wouldn’t have gone away,” Dovewing argued. “It has to be you!”

“I don’t have any special power,” Ivypool pointed out.

“You have courage,” Dovewing mewed fiercely. “You spy every night on our greatest enemies. It must be you!”

A squawk made Ivypool spin around. Molepaw and Cherrypaw were fighting in the center of the clearing. Ivypool darted toward them and hauled Molepaw away. “What in the name of StarClan are you doing?”

“He kept jumping into my space!” Cherrypaw hissed.

“You’re Clanmates!” Ivypool snapped. “What use will you be in battle if you end up fighting each other?” As she spoke, a well of despair seemed to open up in her chest. What horrors and betrayal lay ahead for her innocent Clanmates?

As the sun peaked over the camp, Ivypool padded to a pool of light beside the fallen beech and lay down. Her belly was full and her pelt was warm. Weary from the morning’s training, she closed her eyes. Am I really the fourth cat? Dovewing’s words echoed in her head. You spy every night on our greatest enemies. It must be you! Ivypool tried to push her sister’s voice away. I’d know if I was the fourth! I’d have a special power, wouldn’t I?

“Ivypool!” Birchfall’s hiss jerked her from her doze.

She sat up. “What?”

Her father was a dark shadow against the blazing sunlight. She blinked, adjusting to the brightness, and made out Mousewhisker standing beside him. Ivypool’s shoulders drooped. This was going to be about their Dark Forest training.

“We need to talk.” Birchfall twitched his nose toward the camp entrance. “In private.”

Ivypool gazed across the sunny camp. Poppyfrost and Leafpool were sharing a mouse outside the elders’ den. Beside them, Mousefur rested her nose on her front paws, her eyes shut while Purdy washed her pelt with long strokes of his tongue. Cherrypaw and Molepaw were trying to outdistance each other, practicing their attack leaps beside the nursery.

“Come on, then.” Wearily, Ivypool padded toward the entrance. She didn’t meet Mousewhisker’s eye in case he spotted her reluctance. She had never imagined that so many of her Clanmates would be taken in by Hawkfrost’s lies.

I was. She’d been so eager to learn new battle techniques that she didn’t care who taught her. And Hawkfrost had been so convincing, charming her into believing he was helping her to become the best warrior she could be. Why would Mousewhisker be any wiser?

The forest was cool outside the hollow, shaded by leaves that swished in the soft breeze. Ivypool led Birchfall and Mousewhisker along the trail and stopped at the edge of the training hollow.

“We’re going to meet up with the Dark Forest cats from the other Clans.”

Birchfall’s confession made Ivypool stiffen. “When?”

“Now.”

Ivypool swallowed. “Why?”

“We need to practice fighting in daylight,” Mousewhisker added.

Birchfall leaned forward, eyes bright. “If we can practice what we’re learning in the Dark Forest, we can improve our skills.”

“And we’ve got to think of a way for the Dark Forest warriors to get to our territory if we need their help.”

Ivypool stifled a gasp. “Why would we need their help?” The thought of Hawkfrost and Tigerstar running freely beside the lake made her feel sick.

Birchfall blinked at her. “That way, if one Clan’s threatened, we can all help them.”

Do they really believe that? Ivypool stared at her Clanmates. Their eyes were wide and clear. Everything’s upside down! The Clans were on edge, threatening one another’s borders as their fear rose, while the warriors training in the Dark Forest grew closer and closer. She searched her father’s gaze, desperate to confess what she knew and warn him that he was stalking wolves, not mice.

Her heart quickened. She couldn’t tell them she was a spy. What if they betrayed her?

A sharp wind whisked through the branches overhead.

“So?” Mousewhisker demanded. “Are you coming?”

Ivypool shifted her paws. “Where?”

Birchfall flicked his tail excitedly. “We’ve arranged to meet Sunstrike at the border.”

“She’s bringing Larkpaw and Harespring,” Mousewhisker added.