The Last Hope

Dovewing saw a ginger pelt flash at the top of the hollow. Cherrypaw was peering over the edge. Firestar signaled with his tail and she darted away to get help from any Clan patrol she could find.

Suddenly paws slammed into Dovewing’s ribs. She staggered, turning.

“Why don’t you just give up?” A tortoiseshell lunged at her, grabbing Dovewing’s paw in her teeth.

“Because I’d rather die!” Dovewing hooked the tortoiseshell’s lip with a claw and tugged hard. Squealing, the tortoiseshell raked her muzzle.

Pain seared her nose. Blood flooded her mouth. As Dovewing reared to strike back, claws hooked her neck. A tabby yanked her backward and pinned her to the ground.

“Get off my sister!” Ivypool flashed at the edge of Dovewing’s vision. She sank her teeth deep into the tabby’s shoulder. As he screeched with rage, Dovewing writhed free and sprang to her paws.

Ivypool flung the tabby backward. “We’re outnumbered!”

Cinderheart barged between Ivypool and Dovewing. “Hold your ground!”

“What do we do?” Brambles stabbed Dovewing’s spine. The wall of Dark Forest warriors was pressing them back toward the medicine den.

“Stay close and fight!” Cinderheart lunged forward and tore a lump from a Dark Forest warrior’s cheek, sending blood spraying across his orange-and-black fur. “You fox-hearts killed my best friend!” Her gaze flicked toward Hollyleaf, a huddle of black fur at the edge of the clearing. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”

Ivypool darted low and caught his paw in her teeth. Dovewing jumped and landed square on the warrior’s back. Digging in with her claws, she hung on as he bucked beneath her. She could feel muscle hard as stone beneath his pelt. Hooking a hind leg around his, she managed to unbalance the tom. She let go as the tabby went staggering through the mass of Dark Forest pelts.

“Watch out!” Dovewing heard Cinderheart’s warning but dodged too late. A matted tom lunged from the side and caught her forepaw in his jaws. He bit down hard.

Pain scorched through her. As she flung the tom off, the thorn barrier rattled. Crowfeather leaped into the hollow, Breezepelt on his tail. As they dived into the throng, Dovewing stumbled. A paw was clutching her hind leg, clinging on with thorn-sharp claws. Kicking out, Dovewing knocked it away and turned back to check on Ivypool.

Ivypool was on her hind legs, her tail lashing to balance her. Paws swiping, she drove two toms back into the throng. Cinderheart pinned a tortoiseshell to the ground and paddled her hind paws against his spine. Dovewing caught her breath, scanning the battle for the pelts she recognized. Cloudtail writhed outside the nursery. Squirrelflight shook a warrior from her back while another lunged beneath her belly. Icecloud reared beside the beech tree, encircled by snapping jaws. Desperate shrieks echoed from the stone walls. Every Clan cat was locked in a battle for life.

Suddenly, Lionblaze appeared through the thorns. Graystripe landed a paw step behind him. Dovewing gasped as more cats streamed after them. She recognized none of them, and their pelts were oddly pale—almost transparent, with trees and grass clearly visible through them. These were no living cats; that was for sure. Had a new wave of Dark Forest warriors chased Lionblaze and Graystripe back to camp?

Cinderheart froze beside her. “Who are they?”

Outside the elders’ den, Mousefur’s eyes widened. Icecloud hesitated midblow and was sent reeling by a Dark Forest tom.

“It’s okay!” Lionblaze yowled. “They’re Ancient allies, from before StarClan! They’re on our side!”

A pale she-cat shot past him, her pelt no more than a shadow in the moonlight, and leaped for a Dark Forest tabby. The tabby screeched in surprise as the fading she-cat sent him bowling backward and lunged at him with a flurry of claws. A tom sprang after her, his orange-and-white pelt little more than a blur as he knocked a tattered tom to the ground.

Then a massive shape crashed through the entrance to the hollow.

“Badger!” Blossomfall shrieked.

“Midnight!” Firestar’s eyes lit up. “It’s okay! She’s with us!”

The badger lumbered through the clearing. Cats scattered before her.

A snarl sounded in Dovewing’s ear. “A badger and a bunch of fading elders won’t save you.” Thistleclaw loomed over her. Fast as a mouse, Dovewing slammed a paw into his swollen eye. Yowling, he spun away and Dovewing dodged around the edge of the clearing. She tripped over the orange-and-white tom as he whipped past and skidded to a halt beside Hollyleaf Dovewing watched as the ghostly cat crouched beside the dead warrior.

“Fallen Leaves!” Another Ancient rushed to join him. “There’s no time to grieve now.”

Fallen Leaves lifted his head, his eyes filled with sadness. “She wasn’t meant to die here, Broken Shadow. I… I promised I’d see her again.”

“She died defending her Clan.” Broken Shadow nudged the tom away. “Honor her memory by helping.”