“Recovering.” Rowanclaw blocked Lionblaze’s way. “He’s not on his last life but he’ll be weak for a while.” His eyes flashed defensively. “ShadowClan’s not beaten yet. We’ll be fighting again in a heartbeat.”
“Good.” Lionblaze weaved around the ShadowClan deputy and crouched beside Blackstar. “We’ve come to help.”
The ShadowClan leader’s eyes were glazed, but his breathing was steady.
Rowanclaw leaned down and sniffed his leader. “He’ll be on his paws soon.” Blackstar’s tail twitched as breath stirred his fur. “Where did these rogues come from?” Ratscar whispered. “I’ve seen cats I thought were dead!”
“Evil lives forever,” Lionblaze murmured. “We were wrong to think that only StarClan could survive death. The Dark—”
A shriek from the clearing cut him off.
“Get him up!” Lionblaze ordered Rowanclaw. But the ShadowClan deputy was already nosing Blackstar onto his paws.
Lionblaze raced from the den. Dark Forest warriors streamed through the gaps at one side of the camp. “Ratscar! Get your warriors into groups. Try to force the enemy apart. Don’t let them form a line!” He raced to Littlecloud. “We need to get the injured to shelter.”
“Underneath the camp wall should do.” Littlecloud flicked his tail toward the drooping brambles at the edge of the clearing. “Kinkfur! Whitewater! Help me!” He grabbed the scruff of an unconscious tom in his teeth and started to haul him toward the brambles.
“Tallpoppy!” Lionblaze beckoned the ShadowClan elder.
The long-legged she-cat raced across the clearing, dodging past a Dark Forest warrior, and picked the dead kit up in her jaws. Nudging Pinenose ahead of her, she bundled the grieving queen behind the trailing brambles and laid her kit at her paws. Emberfoot, Robinwing, and Ferretclaw clustered in the middle of the clearing, pressing their spines together and lashing out at the onslaught of Dark Forest warriors. Dawnpelt and Starlingwing stood side by side, keeping tight and slashing furiously against a river of stinking pelts.
“Hold your positions!” Lionblaze yowled.
Emberfoot’s patrol disappeared beneath a wave of bristling warriors. Lionblaze leaped forward and started lashing out on all sides, feeling his paws connect with flesh and fur. It seemed as if there were no ShadowClan cats left on their feet. Was this the end for the proud, battle-skilled Clan?
“They’re overrunning us!” Graystripe shouldered past Lionblaze, throwing warriors aside with mighty swipes. He reached Emberfoot’s patrol and hauled a matted tortoiseshell from the WindClan warrior’s back.
Suddenly paw steps sounded beyond the camp wall. Lionblaze stiffened. Another attack? The camp was already overwhelmed.
The brambles trembled and collapsed as a patrol of bristling warriors burst through. Lionblaze stared at the newcomers. Their pelts were transparent, moving like shadows into battle. He could see trees and grass behind them, where he should only have seen fur and solid muscle. But when he looked closer, he knew he had seen these cats before. The Ancient cats from the Cave!
The ghostly warriors streamed among the Dark Forest cats. Eyes narrow, ears flat, they began to lunge with outstretched claws and snapping teeth, landing blows as real as any forest cat.
Rowanclaw darted to his side. “Who in the name of StarClan are they?”
A faded, mottled she-cat paused in front of the ShadowClan deputy. “We were here before StarClan, youngster!” She glanced at Lionblaze. “We meet again.”
“Owl Feather!” A pale, ancient warrior called to her. “Help me finish this one off.” The warrior was driving a Dark Forest tabby backward across the clearing.
“I’m coming, Half Moon!”
As Owl Feather darted away, a massive creature crashed through the remains of the camp wall. Its white, striped muzzle was as big as a dog’s, its gray shoulders huge beside the battling cats.
“Midnight!” Graystripe called to the badger as she lumbered across the clearing. Dark Forest cats and ShadowClan warriors fled from her path, terror lighting their eyes. “It’s okay!” he yowled. “The badger is an ally!”
With a roar, Midnight plucked a Dark Forest warrior by the back of his neck and lifted him high, then tossed him away like a piece of prey. Hope flaring, Lionblaze grabbed the nearest stinking tom and pinned him to the ground. He slashed his cheek and raked his flank, then kicked him away.
“Nice move.” Half Moon fell in beside him, her pelt as pale as mist.
A Dark Forest tom lunged at her. She ripped her claws across his cheek. The tom snapped at her legs. Quick as a fox, Lionblaze slid under the tom and thrust upward, sending him flying. Half Moon leaped up and snatched him from the air as though she were plucking a bird from the sky.
“Help!”
Lionblaze jerked around as a shriek sounded beyond the brambles. He jumped over the remains of the camp wall and raced through the trees.
“You’ll die like a traitor!” A vicious Dark Forest tom was pinning Ratscar between the roots of a pine.
“No, Shredtail! Please!” Ratscar struggled in terror as Shredtail curled his claws tighter around his throat.
Lionblaze skidded to a halt. “Let him go!”
Shredtail lifted his head. “Let him go?” He stared scornfully at Lionblaze. “But he betrayed his Dark Forest Clanmates.”
Lionblaze stared at Ratscar. “Clanmates?”
“They never told me they were training me to destroy my own Clan!” Ratscar croaked.
Shredtail tightened his grip, making Ratscar’s eyes bulge. “You knew what would happen if you disobeyed me!” He lifted a paw, claws flashing.
Ratscar writhed desperately.
“Get off him!” White fur streaked past Lionblaze and knocked Shredtail sideways. Snowbird landed hard on all four paws, back arched and spitting with fury. “Ratscar’s my littermate!” she hissed as Shredtail recovered his balance. “He’d never betray his Clan.” Behind her, Ratscar scrambled to his feet.
Shredtail glared at Snowbird. “Oh, really?” he sneered. “Then why has he been training in the Dark Forest?” He flicked his muzzle toward the camp. “And he’s not the only one.” His gaze fixed on a dappled ginger tom who was dragging Dawnpelt across the clearing by her scruff.
“Redwillow?” Snowbird stared in disbelief.
“Yes,” Shredtail snarled. “Redwillow.”
Redwillow spun around as he heard his name and let go of Dawnpelt.
The ShadowClan warrior leaped to her paws, eyes wild with fury. “What are you doing, mouse-brain? I’m not the enemy!”
“Come here, Redwillow!” Shredtail called.
“What is it?” Redwillow raced toward Shredtail, his eyes glittering with excitement.
“How’s the battle going?” Shredtail tipped his head.
“Great!” The treacherous warrior glanced hungrily back at the action. “At last I can fight properly. You’re right about the Clans being weak and lazy. This is easy. They’re so obsessed with being honorable and sticking to the warrior code, I can pick them off like mice!”
Snowbird lunged at him. “The warrior code is more important than any cat’s life!” She flung him backward and dug her claws into his throat. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Stop, Snowbird.” A voice trembled behind Lionblaze.
Blackstar was limping toward them, the scent of death still on him.
Snowbird backed away. “But he’s a traitor!”
“I’m loyal to my new Clan!” Redwillow jumped to his paws and stood beside Shredtail. He glared at Blackstar. “Your time is over,” he snarled. “You’re nothing but an elder growing old over and over. Why don’t you just give up and die?”
Blackstar padded closer to the young warrior. “I am still leader of this Clan,” he growled. “And you have betrayed us all.” Fast as a bird, his paw flew out and slashed deep into Redwillow’s chest. Blood gushed from the wound, pulsing onto the forest floor. Redwillow stared in astonishment, then glanced down at the gash. Legs buckling, he collapsed. As his head thumped onto the pine needles, his eyes rolled and turned dull.