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COPYRIGHT
HarperCollins Children’s Books An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2011
First published in the USA by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2005
Copyright © Working Partners Limited 2005
Series created by Working Partners Limited.
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Source ISBN: 9780007419227
Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780007551040
Version: 2016-09-22
DEDICATION
For Chris, Janet, and Louisa Haslum Special thanks to Cherith Baldry
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Allegiances
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Keep Reading
Also by Author
About the Publisher
ALLEGIANCES
THUNDERCLAN LEADER FIRESTAR—ginger tom with a flame-coloured pelt DEPUTY GREYSTRIPE—long-haired grey tom MEDICINE CAT CINDERPELT—dark grey she-cat APPRENTICE, LEAFPAW WARRIORS (toms, and she-cats without kits) MOUSEFUR—small dusky brown she-cat APPRENTICE, SPIDERPAW DUSTPELT—dark brown tabby tom APPRENTICE, SQUIRRELPAW SANDSTORM—pale ginger she-cat APPRENTICE, SORRELPAW CLOUDTAIL—long-haired white tom BRACKENFUR—golden brown tabby tom APPRENTICE, WHITEPAW THORNCLAW—golden brown tabby tom APPRENTICE, SHREWPAW BRIGHTHEART—white she-cat with ginger patches BRAMBLECLAW—dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes ASHFUR—pale grey (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes RAINWHISKER—dark grey tom with blue eyes SOOTFUR—lighter grey tom with amber eyes APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors) SORRELPAW—tortoiseshell and white she–cat with amber eyes SQUIRRELPAW—dark ginger she-cat with green eyes LEAFPAW—light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes and white paws SPIDERPAW—long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes SHREWPAW—small dark brown tom with amber eyes WHITEPAW—white she-cat with green eyes QUEENS (she-cats expecting or nursing kits) GOLDENFLOWER—pale ginger coat, the oldest nursery queen FERNCLOUD—pale grey (with darker flecks) she-cat, green eyes ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired) FROSTFUR—beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes DAPPLETAIL—once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat, the oldest cat in ThunderClan SPECKLETAIL—pale tabby she-cat LONGTAIL—pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight SHADOWCLAN LEADER BLACKSTAR—large white tom with huge jet black paws DEPUTY RUSSETFUR—dark ginger she-cat MEDICINE CAT LITTLECLOUD—very small tabby tom WARRIORS OAKFUR—small brown tom APPRENTICE, SMOKEPAW TAWNYPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes CEDARHEART—dark grey tom ROWANCLAW—ginger she-cat APPRENTICE, TALONPAW TALLPOPPY—long-legged light brown tabby she-cat ELDERS RUNNINGNOSE—small grey-and-white tom, formerly the medicine cat WINDCLAN LEADER TALLSTAR—elderly black-and-white tom with a very long tail DEPUTY MUDCLAW—mottled dark brown tom APPRENTICE, CROWPAW—dark smoky grey, almost black, tom with blue eyes MEDICINE CAT BARKFACE—short-tailed brown tom WARRIORS ONEWHISKER—brown tabby tom WEBFOOT—dark grey tabby tom TORNEAR—tabby tom WHITETAIL—small white she-cat ELDERS MORNINGFLOWER—tortoiseshell she-cat RIVERCLAN LEADER LEOPARDSTAR—unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat DEPUTY MISTYFOOT—grey she-cat with blue eyes MEDICINE CAT MUDFUR—long-haired light brown tom APPRENTICE, MOTHWING—beautiful golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes WARRIORS BLACKCLAW—smoky black tom HEAVYSTEP—thickset tabby tom STORMFUR—dark grey tom with amber eyes FEATHERTAIL—light grey she-cat with blue eyes HAWKFROST—broad-shouldered dark brown tom MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat QUEENS DAWNFLOWER—pale grey she-cat ELDERS SHADEPELT—very dark grey she-cat LOUDBELLY—dark brown tom CATS OUTSIDE CLANS BARLEY—black-and-white tom that lives on a farm close to the forest RAVENPAW—sleek black cat that lives on the farm with Barley PURDY—elderly tabby tom that lives in woods near the seaMAPS
PROLOGUE
Night lay upon the forest. There was no moon, but the stars of Silverpelt shed their frosty glitter over the trees. At the bottom of a rocky hollow, a pool reflected the starshine. The air was heavy with the scents of late greenleaf.
Wind sighed softly through the trees and ruffled the quiet surface of the pool. At the top of the hollow, the fronds of bracken parted to reveal a cat; her bluish grey fur glimmered as she stepped delicately from rock to rock, down to the water’s edge.
Sitting on a flat stone that jutted out over the pool, she raised her head to look around. As if at a signal, more cats began to appear, slipping into the hollow from every direction. They padded down to sit as close to the water as they could, until the lower slopes were filled with lithe shapes gazing down into the pool.
The cat who had appeared first rose to her paws. “A new prophecy has come!” she meowed. “A doom that will change everything has been foretold in the stars.”
On the opposite side of the pool, another cat bowed his tawny, bracken-coloured head. “I have seen this too. There will be doubt, and a great challenge,” he agreed.
“Darkness, air, water, and sky will come together, and shake the forest to its roots,” the first cat went on. “Nothing will be as it is now, nor as it has been before.”
“A great storm is coming,” meowed another voice, and the word storm was taken up, repeated and passed around the circle until it seemed that thunder rumbled through the ranks of watching cats.
As the murmur died away a lean cat with a glossy black pelt spoke from near the water’s edge. “Can nothing change what is about to happen? Not even the courage and spirit of the greatest warrior?”
“The doom will come,” the blue-grey cat replied. “But if the Clans meet it like warriors, they may survive.” Lifting her head, she let her luminous gaze travel around the hollow. “You have all seen what must befall,” she meowed. “And you know what must be done. Four cats must be chosen to hold the fate of their Clans in their paws. Are you ready to make your choices before all of StarClan?”
As she finished speaking, the surface of the pool shivered, though there was no wind to disturb it, then was still again.
The bracken-coloured tom rose to his paws, starlight turning the fur on his broad shoulders to silver. “I will begin,” he meowed. He glanced sideways to meet the gaze of a light-coloured tabby with a twisted jaw. “Crookedstar, do I have your permission to speak for RiverClan?” The tabby bowed his head in agreement, and the first cat went on, “Then I invite you all to see and approve my choice.”
He stared down into the water, as motionless as the rocks around him. A pale grey blur appeared on the surface of the pool, and all the cats craned forward to see it more clearly.
“That one?” murmured the blue-grey cat, staring at the shape in the water. “Are you sure, Oakheart?”
The tip of the bracken-coloured tom’s tail flicked back and forth. “I thought that choice would please you, Bluestar,” he meowed, amusement in his tone. “Do you not think she was well mentored?”
“She was excellently mentored.” Bluestar’s neck fur rose as if he had said something to challenge her, then lay flat again. “Does the rest of StarClan agree?” she asked.
A murmur of assent rose from the watching cats, and the pale grey shape thinned and vanished from the water, leaving it clear and empty again.
Now the black cat stood up and padded to the very edge of the pool. “Here is my choice,” he announced. “See and approve it.”
This time the shape in the pool was tawny-coloured and lean, with strong, well-muscled shoulders. Bluestar gazed down at the image for some moments before nodding. “She has strength and courage,” she agreed.
“But Nightstar—does she have loyalty?” called another cat.
The black cat’s head whipped around and his claws dug into the ground in front of him. “Are you calling her disloyal?”
“If I do, there’s reason for it.” The answer was shot back. “She was not born in ShadowClan, was she?”
“Then that could make her a good choice,” Bluestar meowed calmly. “If the Clans cannot work together now, they will all be destroyed. Maybe it will take cats with a paw in two Clans to understand what has to be done.” She paused for a moment, but no other objections were forthcoming. “Do StarClan approve?”
There was some hesitation, but it was not too long before soft meows of agreement came from all the assembled cats. The surface of the pool rippled briefly, and when it stilled again the tawny shape had gone.
Another black cat got up and approached the water’s edge, limping on one stubby, twisted paw. “My turn, I think,” he rasped. “See and approve my choice.”
The grey-black shape that formed in the pool was hard to see against the reflection of the night sky, and the cats peered at it for some time before anyone spoke.
“What?” the bracken-coloured cat exclaimed at last. “That’s an apprentice!”
“I had noticed, thank you, Oakheart,” the black tom meowed dryly.
“Deadfoot, you can’t send an apprentice into danger such as this,” another cat called from the back of the crowd.
“Apprentice he may be,” Deadfoot retorted, “but he has courage and skill to match many warriors. One day he might make a fine leader of WindClan.”
“One day is not now,” Bluestar pointed out. “And the qualities of a leader are not necessarily those that the Clans need to save them now. Do you wish to make another choice?”
Deadfoot’s tail lashed furiously and his neck fur bristled as he glared at Bluestar. “This is my choice,” he insisted. “Do you—or any other cat—dare to say he is not worthy?”
“What do you say?” Her gaze went around the circle. “Do StarClan approve? Remember that every Clan will be lost if one of our chosen cats should weaken or fail.”
Instead of a murmur of approval, the cats muttered at each other in small groups, casting uneasy glances at the shape in the pool and at the cat beside it. Deadfoot stared back with fury in his eyes, his fur fluffed up so that he looked twice his size. He was obviously ready to take on any cat who challenged him.
At length the muttering died away and Bluestar asked once again, “Does the Clan approve?” The assent came, but it was low and reluctant, and a few cats did not speak at all. Deadfoot let out an ill-tempered growl as he turned and limped back to his place.
When the water was clear again Oakheart meowed, “You have not yet made your choice for ThunderClan, Bluestar.”
“No—but I am ready now,” she replied. “See and approve my choice.” She gazed down proudly as a dark tabby shape formed in the depths of the pool.
Oakheart stared at it, and stretched his jaws wide in a soundless mew of laughter. “That one! Bluestar, you never cease to surprise me.”
“Why?” Bluestar’s tone showed she was nettled. “He is a noble young cat, fit for the challenges this prophecy will bring.”
Oakheart’s ears twitched. “Did I say he was not?”
Bluestar held his gaze, not looking at the other cats as she demanded, “Does the Clan approve?” When the agreement came, strong and certain, she gave Oakheart a contemptuous flick of her tail and looked away.
“Cats of StarClan,” she meowed, raising her voice. “Your choices have been made. Soon the journey must begin, to meet the terrible storm that will be released on the forest. Go to your Clans, and make sure each cat is ready.”
She paused, and her eyes blazed with a fierce silver light. “We can choose a warrior to save each Clan, but beyond that we cannot help them. May the spirits of all our warrior ancestors go with these cats, wherever the stars may lead them.”
CHAPTER 1
Leaves rustled as the young tabby cat slid through a gap between two bushes, his jaws wide open to drink in the scent of prey. On this warm night in late greenleaf, the forest was full of the scuffles of tiny creatures. Movements twitched endlessly at the edge of his vision, but when he turned his head he could see nothing but thick clumps of fern and bramble, dappled with moonlight.
Suddenly he stepped out into a wide clearing and gazed around in confusion. He could not remember being in this part of the forest before. Smooth-cropped grass, glowing silver in a cold wash of moonlight, stretched in front of him as far as a softly rounded rock where another cat was sitting. Starlight sparkled in her fur, and her eyes were two small moons.
The young tabby’s bewilderment increased as he recognised her. “Bluestar?” he meowed, his voice shrill with disbelief.
He had been an apprentice when the great leader of ThunderClan had died, four seasons ago, leaping into the gorge with a pack of blood-hungry dogs after her. Like all her Clan, he had grieved for her and honoured her for the way she had given up her life to save them. He had never thought to see her again, and he realised for the first time that he must be dreaming.
“Come closer, young warrior,” Bluestar meowed. “I have a message for you.”
Shivering with awe, the tabby tom crept across the shining stretch of turf until he crouched below the rock and could look up into Bluestar’s eyes.
“I’m listening, Bluestar,” he mewed.
“A time of trouble is coming to the forest,” she told him. “A new prophecy must be fulfilled if the Clans are to survive. You have been chosen to meet with three other cats at the new moon, and you must listen to what midnight tells you.”
“What do you mean?” The young cat felt a prickle of dread, cold as snowmelt, creep down his spine. “What kind of trouble? And how can midnight tell us anything?”
“All will be made clear to you,” Bluestar replied.
Her voice faded, echoing strangely as if she were speaking from a cavern far beneath the earth. The moonlight also began to grow dim, leaving thick black shadows to creep out of the trees around them.
“No, wait!” the tabby cat cried out. “Don’t go!”
He let out a terrified yowl, thrashing his paws and tail, as darkness rose up and engulfed him. Something poked him in the side and his eyes flew open to see Greystripe, the ThunderClan deputy, standing over him with one paw raised to prod him again. He was scuffling among the moss in the warriors’ den, with the golden sunlight leaking through the branches above his head.
“Brambleclaw, you crazy furball!” the deputy meowed. “What’s all the noise about? You’ll scare off all the prey from here to Fourtrees.”
“Sorry.” Brambleclaw sat up and began picking scraps of moss from his dark fur. “I was just dreaming.”
“Dreaming!” grunted a new voice.
Brambleclaw turned his head to see the white warrior Cloudtail heave himself out of a mossy nest nearby and give a long stretch. “Honestly, you’re as bad as Firestar,” Cloudtail went on. “When he slept in here he was always muttering and twitching in his sleep. A cat couldn’t get a good night’s rest for all the prey in the forest.”
Brambleclaw twitched his ears to hear how disrespectfully the white warrior spoke about the Clan leader. Then he reminded himself that this was Cloudtail, Firestar’s kin and former apprentice, well known for his barbed tongue and ready scorn. His impudent talk didn’t stop him from being a loyal warrior to his Clan.
Cloudtail gave his long-furred white coat a shake and slipped out of the den, flicking the end of his tail at Brambleclaw in a friendly way to take the sting out of his words as he went by.
“Come on, you lot,” meowed Greystripe. “It’s time you were moving.” He picked his way through the moss on the floor of the den to prod Ashfur awake. “Hunting patrols will be going out soon. Brackenfur is organising them.”
“Right,” Brambleclaw mewed. His vision of Bluestar was fading, though her ominous message echoed in his ears. Could it really be true that there was a new prophecy from StarClan? It seemed fairly unlikely. For a start, Brambleclaw could not imagine why she would choose to give it to him, of all the cats in ThunderClan. Medicine cats frequently received signs from StarClan, and ThunderClan’s leader, Firestar, had often been guided by his dreams. But they were not for ordinary warriors. Trying to blame his wild imaginings on too much fresh-kill the night before, Brambleclaw gave his shoulder one last lick and followed Cloudtail out through the trailing branches.