“Right,” Bramblestar mewed when every cat was crouched around him; his amber eyes glowed in the near darkness. “Remember, as much as we want Darktail’s group out, our goal tonight is to free the prisoners.”
“And any ShadowClan warriors who are regretting the choice they made to stay with Darktail,” Rowanstar reminded him. The ShadowClan leader’s tone was faintly resentful; Alderheart guessed he was annoyed that Bramblestar had taken the lead.
Bramblestar dipped his head; if he had noticed the edge to the ShadowClan leader’s voice, he gave no sign of it. “Of course,” he responded. “The point is, we have come to bring all those cats to safety in the ThunderClan camp. Don’t get distracted by the fighting; it’s a means to an end. We’ll deal with Darktail later. It’s a long walk back through ShadowClan territory, so every cat will need their full strength.”
“Curse WindClan for closing their borders,” Mallownose of RiverClan grumbled. “If they were still talking to us, we could use their camp—it’s closer than ThunderClan’s.”
Alderheart saw Bramblestar’s jaws tighten as if he was biting back a sharp retort, and he heard Cloudtail, who was sitting near him, mutter, “Mouse-brain,” under his breath.
“There’s no point in going over all that again,” Mistystar told her warrior with an irritated twitch of her whiskers. “It’s just wasting time.”
“Besides,” Bramblestar added, “it’s not too much farther to ThunderClan. And whichever direction we go, we will have to cross a stream.”
“I guess so,” Mallownose mumbled, giving his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks.
“So,” Bramblestar continued briskly, “we only fight if the rogues resist. I’m hoping that the ShadowClan cats will join us, and without Darktail and his most loyal fighters, the rogues will be outnumbered.”
There was a snort of amusement from Cloudtail. “Wouldn’t that be lovely,” he commented. “But things haven’t exactly gone the easy way since Darktail showed up.”
Alderheart tended to agree with the senior warrior. Everything he had heard about Darktail—everything he had seen for himself—told him that the rogue leader and his Kin were relentless. We might pull this off, he told himself, but it won’t be easy.
The one thing he was looking forward to was seeing Needletail again. I hope she’s coping okay with being a prisoner.
“Any questions?” Bramblestar asked, rising to his paws, ready to lead his cats into enemy territory.
Before any cat could reply, a fierce commotion ripped through the quiet of the night. Alderheart could hear yowls, shrieks, and hisses, as if a fight had suddenly broken out. Angling his ears, he could tell that it was coming from the direction of the RiverClan camp.
All the cats sprang up, exchanging startled glances, their neck fur beginning to rise.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Lionblaze said.
“They shouldn’t be fighting yet,” Tigerheart meowed. “They were supposed to wait for our move. Something’s gone wrong!”
Bramblestar flattened his ears and let out a growl. “Then we need to go!”
Plunging out of the bushes, the attacking cats raced along the lakeshore, then veered inland toward the RiverClan camp. Alderheart grabbed his leaf wrap of herbs and followed.
The cats splashed through the stream that bordered the camp and thrust their way through the fringe of reeds at the water’s edge. Scrambling up the slope into the camp, Alderheart spotted the four RiverClan prisoners locked in furious combat with some of Darktail’s rogues. A small tabby she-cat was fighting alongside them.
They’ve risen up! he thought, his heart pounding with excitement. They weren’t meant to fight before we got here—but maybe they’re stronger than we thought! Then he looked more closely and realized that one particular cat was missing from the fight. Wait—where’s Violetpaw?
He felt a prickle of unease beneath his pelt.
The prisoners were fighting hard, though. They looked desperately skinny and frail, but their eyes glared and their fur was bristling; all their rage against the rogues was pouring out in well-trained Clan battle moves. With a fearsome yowl, the rest of the Clan cats hurled themselves to fight by their side.
As Alderheart hovered at the edge of the fray, ready to drag out any cat too badly wounded to go on fighting, he was pleased to see that Darktail’s forces seemed smaller—just as they’d planned. But then he spotted Nettle and one or two others of Darktail’s closest Kin, and his excitement ebbed away, to be replaced by bewilderment.
Why are they awake? he asked himself. They were supposed to get poppy seeds. But Darktail is missing. And so is Violetpaw.
Had her attempt to drug the cats failed? He searched the screeching crowd of battling cats but couldn’t see the young she-cat anywhere. Needletail was missing, too—and she was one of the prisoners. Darktail must have taken her somewhere. Fear weighed Alderheart’s belly down like a heavy stone. Does that mean…? He felt himself tremble as he wondered what would happen if Darktail had caught Violetpaw trying to sneak the poppy seeds into his food. But he forced himself to shake off the fear. No—I won’t believe it. I’ve lost Twigpaw. I can’t bear to lose Violetpaw as well!
A heartbeat later, Roach and Sleekwhisker appeared from outside the camp and flung themselves into the battle with shrieks of fury. More of the former ShadowClan cats had joined in the fight, too, but Alderheart noticed they were fighting on the side of the prisoners and the other Clan cats. He spotted Scorchfur and a young black tom that he didn’t recognize, and Puddleshine hovering behind them, waiting to deal with injuries just as he was.
The rogues are outnumbered, Alderheart thought, his heart racing again. We’re going to win!
Already the battle was beginning to wane, some of the rogues breaking away and fleeing out of the camp. But Roach, Sleekwhisker, and Nettle kept on fighting furiously, and then at last Darktail appeared, racing up from the direction of the lake.
Alderheart stared at him incredulously. Deep scratches furrowed Darktail’s fur, and his white pelt was heavy with water and dotted with blood.
What in the name of StarClan happened to him?
As soon as Darktail appeared, several Clan cats broke away from the main battle to pile on top of the rogue leader, striking out with teeth and claws. For a few moments, Darktail fought back, but he was too badly outnumbered. Struggling free, he yowled, “Kin! Retreat!” and fled out of the camp in the direction of the border with ShadowClan.
His Kin streamed after him. Bramblestar followed at the head of the Clan cats, only to halt at the edge of the camp.
“Let them go,” he panted. “They won’t be back in a hurry.”
“No, those maggot-ridden excuses for cats will be infesting my territory,” Rowanstar growled.
“We’ll clear them out soon,” Bramblestar asserted confidently. “After all, you’ve got most of your warriors back now.”
“That’s if I let them come back.” Rowanstar turned to stare balefully at the former ShadowClan warriors, who were clustered together a couple of tail-lengths away, gazing uncertainly at their Clan leader.
“We’re sorry, Rowanstar,” Scorchfur meowed. “Most of us have wanted to come back for a long time, but Darktail wouldn’t let us leave.”
“Mouse-hearts!” Rowanstar snorted.