The Place of No Stars Spoiler Page

Here’s the whole sample:

ALLEGIANCES
THUNDERCLAN
ACTING LEADER   Squirrelflight—dark ginger she-cat with green eyes and one white paw
ACTING DEPUTY   Lionblaze—golden tabby tom with amber eyes

MEDICINE CATS   Jayfeather—gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes
Alderheart—dark ginger tom with amber eyes

WARRIORS  (toms and she-cats without kits)
Thornclaw—golden-brown tabby tom
Whitewing—white she-cat with green eyes
Birchfall—light brown tabby tom
Mousewhisker—gray-and-white tom
Apprentice, Baypaw (golden tabby tom)
Poppyfrost—pale tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat
Bristlefrost—pale gray she-cat
Lilyheart—small, dark tabby she-cat with white patches and blue eyes
Apprentice, Flamepaw (black tom)
Bumblestripe—very pale gray tom with black stripes
Cherryfall—ginger she-cat
Molewhisker—brown-and-cream tom
Cinderheart—gray tabby she-cat
Apprentice, Finchpaw (tortoiseshell she-cat)
Blossomfall—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with petal-shaped white patches
Ivypool—silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes
Eaglewing—ginger she-cat
Apprentice, Myrtlepaw (pale brown she-cat)
Dewnose—gray-and-white tom
Thriftear—dark gray she-cat
Stormcloud—gray tabby tom
Hollytuft—black she-cat
Fernsong—yellow tabby tom
Honeyfur—white she-cat with yellow splotches
Sparkpelt—orange tabby she-cat
Sorrelstripe—dark brown she-cat
Twigbranch—gray she-cat with green eyes
Finleap—brown tom
Shellfur—tortoiseshell tom
Plumstone—black-and-ginger she-cat
Leafshade—tortoiseshell she-cat

QUEENS  (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Daisy—cream long-furred cat from the horseplace
Spotfur—spotted tabby she-cat

ELDERS  (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Graystripe—long-haired gray tom
Cloudtail—long-haired white tom with blue eyes
Brightheart—white she-cat with ginger patches
Brackenfur—golden-brown tabby tom

SHADOWCLAN
LEADER   Tigerstar—dark brown tabby tom

DEPUTY   Cloverfoot—gray tabby she-cat

MEDICINE CATS   Puddleshine—brown tom with white splotches
Shadowsight—gray tabby tom
Mothwing—dappled golden she-cat

WARRIORS       
Tawnypelt—tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
Dovewing—pale gray she-cat with green eyes
Harelight—white tom
Icewing—white she-cat with blue eyes
Stonewing—white tom
Scorchfur—dark gray tom with slashed ears
Flaxfoot—brown tabby tom
Sparrowtail—large brown tabby tom
Snowbird—pure white she-cat with green eyes
Yarrowleaf—ginger she-cat with yellow eyes
Berryheart—black-and-white she-cat
Grassheart—pale brown tabby she-cat
Whorlpelt—gray-and-white tom
Hopwhisker—calico she-cat
Blazefire—white-and-ginger tom
Cinnamontail—brown tabby she-cat with white paws
Flowerstem—silver she-cat
Snaketooth—honey-colored tabby she-cat
Slatefur—sleek gray tom
Pouncestep—gray tabby she-cat
Lghtleap—brown tabby she-cat
Gullswoop—white she-cat
Spireclaw—black-and-white tom
Hollowspring—black tom
Sunbeam—brown-and-white tabby she-cat

ELDERS
Oakfur—small brown tom

SKYCLAN
LEADER   Leafstar—brown-and-cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes

DEPUTY   Hawkwing—dark gray tom with yellow eyes

MEDICINE CATS   Frecklewish—mottled light brown tabby she-cat with spotted legs
Fidgetflake—black-and-white tom

MEDIATOR   Tree—yellow tom with amber eyes

WARRIORS  
Sparrowpelt—dark brown tabby tom
Macgyver—black-and-white tom
Dewspring—sturdy gray tom
Rootspring—yellow tom
Needleclaw—black-and-white she-cat
Plumwillow—dark gray she-cat
Sagenose—pale gray tom
Kitescratch—reddish-brown tom
Harrybrook—gray tom
Cherrytail—fluffy tortoiseshell and white she-cat
Cloudmist—white she-cat with yellow eyes
Blossomheart—ginger-and-white she-cat
Turtlecrawl—tortoiseshell she-cat
Rabbitleap—brown tom
Apprentice, Wrenpaw (golden tabby she-cat)
Reedclaw—small pale tabby she-cat
Mintfur—gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Nettlesplash—pale brown tom
Tinycloud—small white she-cat
Palesky—black-and-white she-cat
Violetshine—black-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes
Bellaleaf—pale orange she-cat with green eyes
Quailfeather—white tom with crow-black ears
Pigeonfoot—gray-and-white she-cat
Fringewhisker—white she-cat with brown splotches
Gravelnose—tan tom
Sunnypelt—ginger she-cat

QUEENS
Nectarsong—brown she-cat (mother to Beekit, a white-and-tabby she-cat, and Beetlekitt, a tabby tom)

ELDERS
Fallowfern—pale brown she-cat who has lost her hearing

WINDCLAN
LEADER   Harestar—brown-and-white tom

DEPUTY   Crowfeather—dark gray tom

MEDICINE CAT   Kestrelflight—mottled gray tom with white splotches like kestrel
feathers

WARRIORS  
Nightcloud—black she-cat
Brindlewing—mottled brown she-cat
Appleshine—yellow tabby she-cat
Leaftail—dark tabby tom with amber eyes
Woodsong—brown she-cat
Emberfoot—gray tom with two dark paws
Breezepelt—black tom with amber eyes
Heathertail—light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Featherpelt—gray tabby she-cat
Crouchfoot—ginger tom
Apprentice, Songpaw (tortoiseshell she-cat)
Larkwing—pale brown tabby she-cat
Sedgewhisker—light brown tabby she-cat
Apprentice, Flutterpaw (brown-and-white tom)
Slightfoot—black tom with white flash on his chest
Oatclaw—pale brown tabby tom
Hootwhisker—dark gray tom
Apprentice, Whistlepaw (gray tabby she-cat)
Fernstripe—gray tabby she-cat
ELDERS
Whiskernose—light brown tom
Gorsetail—very pale gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

RIVERCLAN
LEADER   Mistystar—gray she-cat with blue eyes

DEPUTY   Reedwhisker—black tom

MEDICINE CATS   Willowshine—gray tabby she-cat

WARRIORS  
Duskfur—brown tabby she-cat
Minnowtail—dark gray-and-white she-cat
Apprentice, Splashpaw (brown tabby tom)
Mallownose—light brown tabby tom
Havenpelt—black-and-white she-cat
Podlight—gray-and-white tom
Shimmerpelt—silver she-cat
Lizardtail—light brown tom
Apprentice, Fogpaw (gray-and-white she-cat)
Sneezecloud—gray-and-white tom
Brackenpelt—tortoiseshell she-cat
Jayclaw—gray tom
Owlnose—brown tabby tom
Gorseclaw—white tom with gray ears
Nightsky—dark gray she-cat with blue eyes
Breezeheart—brown-and-white she-cat

QUEENS
Curlfeather—pale brown she-cat (mother to Frostkit, a she-kit; Mistkit, a she-kit; and Graykit, a tom)

ELDERS
Mosspelt—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

PROLOGUE
Squirrelflight flailed her legs frantically as the water of the Moonpool surged around her. Ashfur’s grip on her scruff was dragging her down, far away from the warmth and light at the surface. The icy water penetrated her pelt; sodden fur hindered her as she tried to struggle. Her chest ached with her need for air, but she dared not open her jaws. She knew that she was growing weaker; with the last of her ebbing strength she tried to lash out at Ashfur, but her claws met nothing except the swirling water.
He’s drowning me! she thought, panic gripping her like a massive claw. She’d known that Ashfur was dangerous, even if he wore the pelt of her mate, Bramblestar. But Ashfur had come to the Clans to trick her, and when she’d made clear she didn’t believe him, he’d decided to make her suffer. Would he kill me, though? Her heart ached at the thought of dying without ever seeing the true Bramblestar again.
Her senses were spiraling into darkness when she felt herself thump down onto a hard surface. She heard a drip and looked down to find water slipping from her pelt to drop onto the dry ground. It isn’t wet here. But where . . . ? Her head was beginning to clear, but her shoulder, throat and cheek were still in pain from her fight with Ashfur beside the Moonpool. Exhausted, she lay where she had fallen, her chest heaving as she drew in great gulps of air, which felt like thorns tearing deep inside her.
From somewhere above her, a familiar voice meowed, “Welcome to my territory, Squirrelflight.”
Staggering to her paws, Squirrelflight shook the remaining water out of her fur and looked around. Standing nearby was the muscular form and dark tabby pelt of her mate and Clan leader, Bramblestar. His amber eyes were gleaming in triumph.
But Squirrelflight knew that this was still Ashfur, the former ThunderClan warrior. He had gone to hunt with StarClan moons ago, but now he had somehow managed to return to the living world by taking over Bramblestar’s body. His leadership of ThunderClan had ended in bloodshed and chaos. Renewed guilt and anger flooded through Squirrelflight at the thought that he had done it all “for her.”
He was always obsessed with me, she thought. Even when he was alive. All of this—taking over Bramblestar’s body, making himself leader of ThunderClan—he did it all so that he could have me for himself. I should have known . . . oh, I should have known right from the beginning that he wasn’t my mate! But now, when she looked at this cat’s covetous gaze, Squirrelflight’s guilt hardened into disgust and anger. Ashfur tricked me, she reminded herself, and that’s no cat’s fault but his own. He tried to murder my adopted kits when we were Clanmates, and even after moons in StarClan, he hasn’t changed at all. He’s an evil cat!
The false Bramblestar took a pace toward her. Squirrelflight recoiled, baring her teeth in a threatening snarl. “Stay out of my fur,” she warned him. “What is this place? Where have you brought me?”
“Can’t you guess?” the impostor asked.
As he finished speaking, Bramblestar’s body slumped to the ground. Squirrelflight watched in horror as a faint mist rose from it, gradually solidifying into the form of a different cat: a tom whose pale gray fur was flecked with darker spots, and whose malignant eyes were dark blue. The frosty light of StarClan glimmered at his paws and around his ears.
She had known that the impostor was Ashfur. But it still raked icy claws of terror through her pelt, seeing him as he had been when he was alive.

“It’s good that I’m finally able to be myself with you,” he purred.

All Squirrelflight wanted was to escape. But how? She spun around, her muscles bunched and ready to flee, but before she could run she got her first good look at her surroundings. Her body froze as she gazed at the trees that stretched away in every direction. They looked sickly, with drooping leaves; and instead of lush undergrowth, the spaces between them were bare, except for the occasional clump of bracken, brown and brittle. She could not see where the pallid light was coming from. When she looked up, the sky was dark, and there were no stars. Terror seemed to freeze every drop of blood in her body as she realized at last where Ashfur had brought her.

“This is the Dark Forest!” she rasped.

Squirrelflight had never visited the Dark Forest in dreams, but she had heard about it from Ivypool and the other cats who had trained there before the Great Battle. She cast a nervous glance around, half expecting to see a crowd of the worst cats who ever lived just waiting to attack her. But the forest was silent, and felt even more desolate than she had imagined: a barren wasteland. Were she and Ashfur truly the only cats there?

The silence was almost creepier than seeing a horde of evil cats. She remembered what StarClan had told her when she’d walked among them after she and Leafpool were gravely injured: The Dark Forest was nearly empty. But it was much stranger to see than to imagine.

“I know you were accepted into StarClan,” she told Ashfur. “I saw you there. So what are you doing here? And where are all the others?”

“Life after death is more complicated than that,” Ashfur replied, an answer that told her nothing.

Fresh horror thrilled through every hair on Squirrelflight’s pelt. “Am I dead?” she choked out, wondering whether she had drowned in the Moonpool after all.

Ashfur shook his head. “No. I have brought you here so that we can be together.”

The gray tom’s eyes were full of adoration. Squirrelflight found that more terrifying than open menace would have been. Slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on him, she began to back away.

But before she had taken more than a couple of paw steps, she stumbled over something soft and yielding, lost her balance, and crumpled to the ground. Her vision swam for a heartbeat; when it cleared, she saw that she had fallen beside a painfully familiar form.

“Bramblestar!” she gasped. Even though she knew it was hopeless, she stretched out a paw and shook her mate by the shoulder. “Wake up . . . please wake up, please!” There was no response to her anguished cry. Squirrelflight drew back. “He’s dead,” she whispered.

She suspected that Ashfur had stolen one of Bramblestar’s nine lives to take over his body when he died. Bramblestar’s spirit had been spotted among the living Clans, and later Shadowsight, the young ShadowClan medicine cat, claimed he had released the spirit from where Ashfur had imprisoned it in the Dark Forest. But that was the last time any cat had seen Bramblestar. Now, looking down at his lifeless form, Squirrelflight’s whole being ached with the fear that her mate was gone forever.

“A body without a spirit does not last very long,” Ashfur told her, his voice unemotional. “Bramblestar has served his purpose.”

Squirrelflight wanted to leap at this cruel, arrogant cat with all her claws unsheathed and her teeth bared, ready to sink into his throat. She wanted to let out all her revulsion in a screech of pure hatred. Instead she forced herself to stand still and think.

Everything she had done, every plan she had made since she realized that an impostor had taken over Bramblestar’s body, had been to save her mate and her Clan. Now she faced her most dangerous opponent. Ashfur would do anything to keep her here, or to make her suffer if she refused him. And we’re in the Place of No Stars, she reminded herself with a shudder—a place of terror and desolation, where Ashfur knew the rules and she didn’t. How could all her years as a warrior and ThunderClan’s deputy prepare her for this?

But I’m going to figure out what to do, she resolved. I’m going to get out of here, and back to my Clan—and when I do, I’m going to bring the real Bramblestar with me. Flexing her claws, she braced herself and summoned every scrap of her courage. Whatever it takes.

CHAPTER ONE
The moon had slipped down behind the trees at the top of the ThunderClan camp; Bristlefrost guessed that dawn could not be far off. She paced restlessly around the edge of the stone hollow, so tired that every paw step was an effort, yet something inside her wouldn’t let her keep still. And she was not alone. No cat was sleeping: Her Clanmates were also padding to and fro, exchanging nervous glances as their tails and whiskers twitched. Bristlefrost could feel their tension like strands of cobweb clinging to their fur, stretching from one cat to another until they enveloped the whole Clan.
Lionblaze and a few others were gone, and none of the remaining cats seemed to know what to do. Because they’re prob­ ably killing Ashfur in Bramblestar’s body right now, Bristlefrost mused. How are we supposed to feel about that?
Her heart lurched in her chest, as though buckling under the weight of the grief and fear flowing through her. She could not imagine ThunderClan without their wise and brave leader. Squirrelflight would be a most worthy successor, but without the guidance of their spirit ancestors, could she ever truly lead her Clan? Some of Bristlefrost’s Clanmates had already left. Were the rest of them doomed to split up and become no better than rogues, without the warrior code to guide them?
How can ThunderClan ever come back from this?
At last she detected the sky beginning to grow pale, so that she could see the outline of the trees above her head. Dawn was breaking. The long and weary night was finally coming to an end.
At the same moment, she spotted movement at the opening of the thorn tunnel. Twigbranch, who was on watch, sprang to her paws, and Bristlefrost, thankful for something to do at last, raced across the camp to her side. She was ready for an invasion, or for the return of Lionblaze and his patrol, but instead it was a single cat who stepped into the clearing.
“Flipclaw!” Bristlefrost’s joyful cry echoed around the camp.
Her brother had been one of the cats who had left the Clan for a “wander”—as he and some of the other cats had explained it, a “wander” was the chance to think things over in peace. None of the cats had been sure they would return to the changed Clan, so she had resigned herself to never seeing him again. Yet here he was, looking strong and vigorous, with a surprised expression as he gazed around the camp and saw every cat out of their den. Nuzzling his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent, Bristlefrost felt a stab of hope that life would not always be dark and full of grief—that there might be a time when ThunderClan would live, and thrive, again.
More welcoming yowls broke out behind Bristlefrost as the rest of the Clan bounded up to greet Flipclaw. Their sister, Thriftear, and their parents, Ivypool and Fernsong, thrust their way to the front of the crowd, almost overwhelming the young tom as they brushed their pelts against his, twined tails with him, and covered his ears with licks.
“Hey, give me room to breathe!” he exclaimed happily. “I’m so glad you’ve come back to us!” Ivypool’s purr was full of joy as she pressed herself against the kit she’d thought she might have lost forever. “It’s been nearly a moon, so I was worried you wouldn’t come home.”
Bristlefrost stepped forward and met her littermate’s eyes, hoping that he could see how pleased she was. Squirrelflight had told all the cats who’d gone on the “wander” to return to ThunderClan within a moon or they wouldn’t be welcomed back. None of the others had returned except Thornclaw, an older cat who’d wandered home within a quarter moon, musing that he wasn’t young enough to start over.
“I’m glad to be back,” Flipclaw responded. “I faced so many dangers out there, it made me realize that if there has to be danger, I wanted to face it with my Clan by my side. I know now that ThunderClan is the right place for me. But . . . what’s happening?” he went on, gazing at the cats swarming around him. “Why are you all up and about so early?”
A chorus of voices began to answer his question, but Flipclaw fixed his attention on Bristlefrost. “Tell me,” he meowed. “It’s bad, Flipclaw,” Bristlefrost replied. “The leaders have agreed to kill Ashfur, and it’s happening now—or maybe it’s already happened.”
Flipclaw’s happy expression faded; his jaws gaped and his eyes stretched wide in a look of shock and devastation. “But that means . . .” His voice died away as if he couldn’t bear to speak the words.
https://img.warriorcats.com/e6507650-442e-45f8-a780-015d8d9835cc.png
“Yes, Bramblestar’s body will have to die,” Bristlefrost finished for him, her voice steady though her heart was wailing in grief and fear.
For a moment, every cat was silent, until Twigbranch spoke, clearly just trying to break the tension and move on. “Flipclaw, where are the other cats who left camp with you? Thornclaw has returned, but will the others come home?”
Flipclaw shook his head sadly. “We split up, a couple of days after we left camp. Graystripe and I went to the mountains to visit the Tribe of Rushing Water, where Graystripe’s son Stormfur lives.” His voice grew livelier as he continued. “It was great! I made friends with Stormfur’s son, Feather of Flying Hawk, and he taught me how the Tribe cats hunt in the mountains, and then a whole bunch of rocks fell on me and I hurt my leg, but—”
“Wait,” his mother Ivypool interrupted. “Did you say that rocks fell on you?”
“Yes, but it was okay.” Flipclaw waved his tail dismissively. “But then—”
“You hurt your leg?” This time the interruption came from Jayfeather, pushing his way forward until he stood beside Flipclaw. “Which leg?”
“This one.” Flipclaw lifted one hind leg, then, remembering that Jayfeather couldn’t see what he was doing, gave him a prod with it. “Stoneteller healed my injury. I had to rest it for a few days, but it’s fine now.”
“It’s not fine until I say it is,” Jayfeather grumbled. “You’d better come to my den and let me check it out.”
“Okay.” Flipclaw sounded quite cheerful, and Bristlefrost reflected that if his leg had carried him all the way back from the mountains, there couldn’t be very much wrong with it. “Anyway,” he went on, “living with the Tribe made me realize that I wanted to come home and work to make ThunderClan as strong as it used to be. But Graystripe—”
“Yes, where is Graystripe?” some cat asked from the back of the crowd.
“I can’t tell you where he is right now,” Flipclaw replied, as other cats echoed the question. “All I know is that when he left the Tribe, he said he was going back to the old forest territories.”
“What?” Cloudtail exclaimed, his eyes stretching wide and his tail flicking straight up in the air. “But that . . . that’s mouse-brained! We left the old forest because Twolegs were tearing it down. There’ll be nothing left!”
“There might be something,” his mate, Brightheart, murmured. She rubbed her muzzle against Cloudtail’s ear. “I’d like to go back and see it again.”
“So would I,” Birchfall agreed. “I was only a kit when we left, but I can remember our old camp very clearly.”
Cloudtail snorted. “Even if it is still there,” he meowed, “I can’t understand what good Graystripe thought it would do, trekking all that way.”
“He wanted to see if he could make contact with StarClan through the Moonstone,” Flipclaw explained.
Murmurs of amazement rose from the cats gathered around him.
“Oh, if only he could!” Alderheart exclaimed fervently.
“I think he might,” Flipclaw responded, his eyes bright with hope. “Graystripe’s a clever cat, and if he thought it was worth making that long journey, then surely there’s a good chance it will work.”
Every hair on Bristlefrost’s pelt prickled with reviving hope. If Graystripe can get through to StarClan there, then maybe he can bring them back here, too. Maybe everything can get back to normal— at last! More than that, Bristlefrost couldn’t help wondering whether, if StarClan could return, they would be able to send Bramblestar back with a new life. Maybe our leader will be himself again.
“But Graystripe is going to come back, after he visits the old territory?” Fernsong asked.
Flipclaw nodded. “I think so.”
“And what about Flywhisker and Snaptooth?” Cinderheart asked, slipping through a gap in the crowd to stand in front of Flipclaw. Her blue eyes were filled with anxiety. “As Ivypool said, it’s been nearly a moon, and we’ve had no contact. Do you have any news of them?”
Bristlefrost could understand why the gray she-cat was so desperate to hear what had happened to her kits. No cat had seen or scented them since they had left, and most of the Clan—except for Cinderheart and her mate, Lionblaze—had been far too preoccupied with the Clan’s troubles to give much thought to them. But Squirrelflight’s deadline was approaching, and if they came back after that—if Squirrelflight held to her word—they would be turned away.
“They’re okay,” Flipclaw reassured Cinderheart. “But you probably won’t like what I’m going to tell you.”
Cinderheart blinked in confusion. “Why not?”
Flipclaw paused before continuing. “When Graystripe and I left, Snaptooth and Flywhisker were talking about trying out life as kittypets. So when I was on my way home, I detoured around our territory and headed for the Twolegplace, to see if I could find them. And I did—they’re both living with a Twoleg now. I stayed—”
Flipclaw broke off as yowls and hisses of shock burst out from the cats around him. Spotfur hung her head, and Bristlefrost’s heart ached with sympathy. She’s about to bear the kits of her dead mate, and now she’s lost her littermates too. She tried to give the queen an encouraging look, but Spotfur wouldn’t meet her eye.
“Traitors!” Hollytuft growled.
Cinderheart whirled around to confront her daughter, her neck fur beginning to bristle. “How dare you!” she snarled. “Can you tell me that you haven’t—that any cat hasn’t—thought about finding some way of escaping from this awful mess that we’re in? If you do, I won’t believe you!”
Bristlefrost noticed Twigbranch and Finleap exchanging troubled glances. They were Snaptooth’s and Flywhisker’s mentors, she recalled. I hope they’re not blaming themselves.
Alderheart rested his tail on Cinderheart’s shoulder in a calming gesture. “Accusing your kin of treason doesn’t help,” he told Hollytuft. Turning to Flipclaw, he asked, “Didn’t you try to persuade them to come home?”
“Of course I did!” Flipclaw retorted. “I stayed in the Twolegplace for days, catching the odd mouse or snatching bites of that terrible yuck the Twolegs feed their kittypets. I did my best to convince Snaptooth and Flywhisker to return to the Clan, but they wouldn’t. Do you think I should have picked them up by their scruffs and brought them back as if they were kits?”
“No cat is blaming you,” Ivypool told her son. “We just wish that—”
Whatever she might have said next was lost in the sudden noise of pounding paw steps coming from the thorn tunnel. Lionblaze burst into the camp with Bumblestripe hard on his paws. Both cats’ pelts were bushed up, their ears flat and their eyes glaring with wild fury.
What now? Bristlefrost asked herself, her belly beginning to churn with apprehension. They did not look like cats who had just killed their leader’s body; she would have expected sorrow, or even guilt, not this uncontrolled rage.
But as he took in the crowd of his Clanmates, Lionblaze came sharply to a halt. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Flipclaw is back!” Fernsong announced.
Lionblaze’s gaze swept almost indifferently over the young tom. “Oh, hi, Flipclaw,” he meowed. For a moment he gazed around with a hopeful look in his eyes; Bristlefrost guessed he was looking for Snaptooth and Flywhisker. When he found no sign of them, the hope in his eyes died; he didn’t ask about them, even though Bristlefrost knew he had been worried about his kits. He’ll question Flipclaw later, she told herself. Right now, he has more pressing matters on his mind.
“What’s happened?” Jayfeather asked. “I can scent your anger. Did something go wrong?”
“It couldn’t have gone more wrong,” Lionblaze replied, his voice a rumble deep in his chest. “Ashfur has escaped his prison in ShadowClan.”
A stunned silence met Lionblaze’s announcement. Bristlefrost thought that the Clan must be so numb from the shocks they’d received over the past moon that they hardly knew how to react anymore. She herself didn’t know what to think. Ashfur was free again to carry out whatever destruction he had planned next—but at least that meant Bramblestar’s body still lived. Their leader might yet return.
“Weren’t those ShadowClan mange-pelts guarding him?” Cloudtail demanded with a flick of his ears.
“Shadowsight helped him get away,” Lionblaze explained. “And . . .” He glanced at Bumblestripe. “We think he was conspiring with Squirrelflight.”
Bristlefrost stared at the golden tabby warrior, her whiskers twitching in confusion. At an emergency Gathering the day before, she and Rootspring had watched Squirrelflight beg the other leaders to have mercy on Ashfur to save Bramblestar’s body. But the other leaders were sure that killing Bramblestar’s body was the only way to get rid of Ashfur’s spirit. When they’d left to carry out the grim task, Squirrelflight had snuck off—and Bristlefrost and Rootspring had intercepted her just in time to talk her out of freeing her mate’s body. At least, that was what Bristlefrost had understood. Bristlefrost had come back to ThunderClan, but Rootspring had meant to follow Squirrelflight, to comfort her in her grief.
I wonder what happened, Bristlefrost asked herself. Did Squirrel­ flight change her mind?
“Yeah, ShadowClan is holding Shadowsight prisoner now,” Bumblestripe put in.
“Their own medicine cat?” Cinderheart exclaimed. “Tigerstar’s son?”
Lionblaze nodded. “Even Tigerstar can’t protect him if he’s acted against the Clans to save our enemies.”
Bristlefrost found it hard to believe that the young medicine cat would choose Ashfur over the Clans, not after the way Ashfur had deceived him and tried to kill him.
“Shadowsight would never act against the Clans,” Alderheart meowed, echoing Bristlefrost’s thought. “If he really did help Ashfur escape, he must have had a good reason.” His voice shook as he added, “I’m sure of it.”
Bristlefrost could almost see the conflict churning through Alderheart as he spoke. It was hard to imagine how he could bear the stress: His father had been driven out of his body, and that body had been condemned to death, while his mother was suspected of defying the Clans in a desperate attempt to save him. Her heart ached for Alderheart. Another cat might have crumpled under the strain, but he still carried on, doing his duty.
“We’ll soon know,” Lionblaze meowed in reply to the young medicine cat, “because all the Clan leaders, including me, are gathering our strongest warriors. We’ll question Shadowsight, and then hunt down Ashfur—and Squirrelflight, if the two of them are together.”
“Squirrelflight would never help that vile excuse for a cat.” Sparkpelt moved up to stand beside Alderheart, her orange tabby fur bristling in defense of their mother. She glared at Lionblaze, the cat Squirrelflight had chosen to be deputy while she acted as leader.
“That’s true.” Birchfall backed her up, while his mate, Whitewing added, “Do you have even the slightest scrap of proof that Squirrelflight had anything to do with Ashfur’s escape?”
“Actually,” Bristlefrost mewed, “Rootspring and I saw Squirrelflight in the forest after the Gathering, and she agreed then that she would let the death sentence on Ashfur be carried out. I’m not saying she was happy about it, but she accepted the Clans’ decision.”
“But don’t you think Squirrelflight was just telling you what you wanted to hear?” Bumblestripe asked. “She’s argued for so long against allowing Bramblestar’s body to be killed— does any cat really believe she just had a change of heart?” Bristlefrost’s head whipped around as she glared at him, but Bumblestripe ignored her. His tail twitched menacingly back and forth. “She’s a traitor to ThunderClan!” he finished.
“Yeah,” Thriftear agreed. “She only cares about Bramblestar, not our Clan.”
At her words, the whole Clan broke into a chorus of yowls and caterwauls.
“That’s mouse-brained!” Sparkpelt snapped. “My mother has been a loyal ThunderClan warrior since before most of us were kitted!”
“That hasn’t stopped her from betraying us now,” Leafshade snarled back at her.
“She would never do that!”
“She would. I say we should banish her!”
“It’s the only way!”
Bristlefrost stood silent in the midst of the uproar, her eyes shut tight, asking herself how her beloved ThunderClan could possibly have come to this. They were talking about banishing the Clan’s deputy!
Finally, as the noise died down a little, Ivypool managed to make herself heard. “I believe Squirrelflight must have helped Ashfur escape,” she declared. “But she would only have done it to keep Bramblestar’s body safe, so that he can return to it. And it’s not just because he’s her mate. Doesn’t every cat want our leader back?”
“I do, for one,” Finleap meowed.
“And me,” Twigbranch agreed. “I don’t agree with Squirrelflight’s actions, but I can understand how she feels. It would be wonderful if Bramblestar came back.”
“But is that even possible?” Whitewing asked, her tail drooping sorrowfully. “Bramblestar has been outside his body for so long. Jayfeather, Alderheart—what do you think?”
Alderheart simply shook his head; Bristlefrost could see he was still struggling with conflicting emotions, his claws flexing and retracting, digging into the earth of the camp floor.
“I don’t know,” Jayfeather growled, his blind blue eyes shining with sorrow. “Nothing like this has ever happened in the Clans before. And since we don’t have Bramblestar’s body, or his spirit, there’s not much use in all of us arguing about it.” He hesitated, then added, “But I have to be honest . . . I’m not hopeful.”
The Clan was quieter now, despair rolling over every cat like a thick fog. If even Jayfeather has given up, Bristlefrost thought, then it really must be the end for Bramblestar.
“If Squirrelflight did help Ashfur,” Cinderheart began after a moment, “then maybe she took him away from Clan territory. That might be for the best, for them both to be far away.”
“For the best?” Lionblaze echoed, as if he couldn’t believe what the gray she-cat had said. “No, it’s outrageous! The only way for ThunderClan to be safe is for Ashfur to be dead, once and for all. I regret losing Bramblestar as much as any cat,” he continued, raising his voice to be heard above yowls of protest. “He was like a father to me! But if we’re honest, we know that Bramblestar—and probably StarClan, too—is gone forever.”
Fear tingled through Bristlefrost from the tips of her ears to the bottoms of her pads. The future that Lionblaze outlined seemed so dark and empty. How will we cope without Bramblestar and StarClan? How can we call Squirrelflight our leader when she can’t receive her nine lives?
Facing the bleak prospect of ThunderClan without Bramblestar, Bristlefrost struggled to hold on to her earlier certainty that Squirrelflight would never have helped Ashfur. She truly had believed that she and Rootspring had talked Squirrelflight out of interfering in the Clans’ plan.
But what if Bumblestripe is right, and Squirrelf light was just telling us what we wanted to hear? She might have let her love for Bramblestar blind her to the evil in Ashfur. Bristlefrost shook her head helplessly. But she seemed so sincere!
Now Bristlefrost wished that she had gone with Rootspring when he set out to follow Squirrelflight. If the ginger she-cat had been about to do something desperate, two cats could have stopped her more easily than one.
But she’d left Rootspring to go on alone. . . . If Ashfur— and even Squirrelflight, if she was helping him—had turned on Rootspring, what might they have done to him? Bristlefrost’s heart sank; she felt helpless in her anxiety for the cat she cared for so much.
While the argument raged through the Clan, the dawn light had been gradually growing stronger, and now the sun shed a warm yellow glow into the clearing. The assembled cats looked up, blinking, almost as if they had forgotten where they were.
“We need a dawn patrol,” Molewhisker meowed. “Lionblaze, shall I lead one?”
“What?” Lionblaze looked distracted. “Yes, okay, go.” Molewhisker gave him a brisk nod and beckoned with his tail to Cherryfall and Stormcloud. The three cats headed off toward the thorn tunnel; Bristlefrost thought they looked glad to be going.
It was time for hunting patrols to go out, too, but Lionblaze clearly wasn’t ready to return to the normal routine of the Clan. “There’s something we have to do,” he announced. “I want a group of cats to accompany me to ShadowClan. To question Shadowsight, and then go after Ashfur. We need to do it quickly. Which cats will come with me?”
“I will,” Bristlefrost responded instantly, thankful for the chance to be active, instead of sitting around in camp worrying. Besides, she wanted to do what she could to help Squirrelflight, and she didn’t want to doubt what she believed about the young ShadowClan medicine cat. If I can talk to Shadowsight, I’ll know for sure if he helped Ashfur escape.
Lionblaze fixed her with a stern look. “Are you able to do what needs to be done?” he asked her.
“Yes, I am.” Bristlefrost met the Clan deputy’s gaze steadily. “I know how important this is.”
For a moment, Lionblaze went on staring at her, as if he could see her very thoughts. Then he gave her a curt nod. “Okay, you can come.”
I have to be there, whatever it takes, Bristlefrost thought, while Lionblaze chose the rest of the patrol. Even if every other cat only cares about chasing down Ashfur, I’ll be there to help Squirrelflight.
“I’ll take Bumblestripe, Plumstone, and Leafshade,” Lionblaze declared. “And you, Bristlefrost. The rest of you can organize yourselves into hunting patrols.”
“But what about me?” Sparkpelt asked. “I want to come with you. Squirrelflight is my mother!”
“I can’t take every cat,” Lionblaze meowed brusquely. “Tigerstar will think we’re an invasion.”
“But Sparkpelt has a right to be there,” Alderheart pointed out. He seemed to have grown calmer now that some definite action was planned. “And so do I. And I think Jayfeather should come, too. Tigerstar won’t feel so threatened if you have medicine cats with you.”
“I know what you’re like, Lionblaze.” Jayfeather stepped forward to confront his brother. “No cat better. You tend to think with your claws and then regret it later. I want to make sure that Shadowsight and Squirrelflight get treated fairly.”
The golden tabby tom drew himself up, briefly furious, then relaxed and huffed out an annoyed sigh. “All right, if you put it like that . . . but for StarClan’s sake, let’s get a move on.” He led the way out into the forest and turned in the direction of ShadowClan territory. Bumblestripe strode along at his shoulder, followed by Jayfeather, with Alderheart walking alongside him. The rest of the patrol bunched together after them, and Bristlefrost brought up the rear. She was thankful to be doing something, but her belly felt hollow with dread at the thought of what she might have to face. If Lionblaze didn’t like what he heard, even Jayfeather and Alderheart might not be able to calm him down. Shadowsight could be in danger, even in his own territory.
What are we going to find in the ShadowClan camp?

 CHAPTER TWOIn the ShadowClan camp, Shadowsight huddled miserably in the leader’s den. His father, Tigerstar, and his mother, Dovewing, pressed close to him, one on each side. He could feel the beating of their hearts, his nose tickled by the scent of their fear.
They had questioned him throughout the night, but now, as dawn light was beginning to seep into the den, they had fallen silent. Shadowsight could tell that they had not been satisfied with what he had told them. They didn’t bother to conceal how worried they were, and how disappointed in him.
Outside in the camp he could hear angry voices, from his own Clanmates and the few warriors from other Clans who had been left to guard him. Shadowsight couldn’t hide from the knowledge that the anger was aimed in his direction. Even Puddleshine, his mentor and his friend, had looked stunned and horrified when he’d learned what Shadowsight had done. “I told you what happened,” he began again, feeling compelled to make one last effort to convince his parents that he was telling them the truth. “Ashfur let me see that Bramblestar isn’t dead. But Bramblestar told me that if we kill his body, he’ll die for good. I saw Spiresight, too,” he continued desperately when neither Tigerstar nor Dovewing responded. “I think he was trying to tell me something. . . . That, somehow, Ashfur has imprisoned many cat spirits. We have to set them free—and how can we do that if Ashfur is dead and can’t tell us where he has taken them? How could I let Ashfur die when it means so many other cats will die or suffer?”
Glancing from Tigerstar to his mother and back again, seeing the fear in their eyes, Shadowsight realized that his impassioned plea had made no difference at all.
“You’re the cat most likely to die or suffer right now,” Tigerstar meowed roughly.
Dovewing rubbed her muzzle against Shadowsight’s cheek. “The other Clan leaders are coming to question you,” she told him. “We don’t want you to go through that. I think you ought to flee, now, quickly, before they get here.”
“Leave my Clan?” Shadowsight exclaimed, as shocked as if a tree branch had fallen on him. “No . . .”
“Yes,” Tigerstar responded. “The other Clans—even your own Clanmates—are furious that Ashfur has escaped. At the moment, they’re not convinced that it’s you who is to blame. But if they decide that you were responsible, no matter why you did it, they might attack you. You can’t admit that you had anything to do with it, or tell the other leaders what Ashfur showed you.”
“It was probably a trick of Ashfur’s anyway,” Dovewing added sadly.
“I know what I saw,” Shadowsight argued. “I don’t care what happens to me, as long as we can somehow put things right. And I’m not going to lie to the other Clans. What Ashfur showed me was not a trick. It really was Bramblestar and Spiresight, and I have to tell the other leaders the truth. That’s the only way to stop them from making a terrible mistake.”
Tigerstar and Dovewing looked at each other over the top of Shadowsight’s head. Shadowsight could see their eyes filled with pride in him, but almost at once it faded into sadness. Tigerstar let out a faint sigh. “That won’t work,” he meowed.
“Please!” Shadowsight begged. “For so long, I thought I had murdered Bramblestar, because I told the ThunderClan cats to let him freeze in that snow cave on the moor. If I don’t do my best to protect Bramblestar’s body now, I’ll never be able to change that. Yes, I got it wrong that day: I thought I was speaking for StarClan, but all I did was give Ashfur the chance to come back and terrorize all the Clans. Now I have to put it right.”
“I understand,” Dovewing told him. “But every cat is so angry about everything that Ashfur has done—none of them will even listen to you, let alone believe you.”
“Your only choice, if you don’t want them to banish you, or even kill you, is to lie,” Tigerstar pointed out.
“No,” Shadowsight retorted. “I’ve already told you, I won’t do that.”
“Then leave before they can question you!” Tigerstar insisted.
“How could I?” Shadowsight asked hopelessly. “Where would I go? How is running away any better than being banished?”
Tigerstar rose to his paws and poked his head outside his den. “Tawnypelt!” he called.
The tortoiseshell she-cat entered immediately; clearly she had been just outside, waiting for her son’s summons. “So it’s come to that?” she asked Tigerstar.
The ShadowClan leader nodded. Then he turned back to Shadowsight. “I knew you wouldn’t agree to lie, so I discussed this with Tawnypelt, and we decided that she should travel with you to the Tribe of Rushing Water.”
“You remember that I took you there when you were a kit?” Tawnypelt mewed, while Shadowsight gaped at her in shock. “Stoneteller will welcome you. We’ll sneak out of camp now, before the Clan leaders get here.”
Shadowsight searched his vague memories of his time with the Tribe. He tried to remember the cat called Stoneteller, who his mother had described as kind. But the only images his mind could gather were of sparkling, falling water . . . so beautiful and mysterious. For a moment he was tempted to flee with Tawnypelt and find safety with the mountain cats, so far away from Ashfur and all the trouble he had caused.
He resolutely thrust the temptation away. “But if I can get the others to listen,” he meowed, “if the rest of ShadowClan just backs me up, I’ll have time to explain, and to convince the other leaders that they have to let Ashfur live. Then we can figure out how to break his hold on Bramblestar and the other spirit cats.”
The three warriors in the den with him exchanged a look, passing questions between their eyes for long enough that Shadowsight hoped he had gotten through to them. But when Tigerstar shook his head, Shadowsight felt his heart plummet into his paws. None of them believed that the rest of their Clan would back him. Are my own Clanmates really as eager to see me pay as ThunderClan is?
“Sometimes, you can’t even depend on your Clanmates,” Tigerstar assured him solemnly. “You can only count on your kin.”
Shadowsight couldn’t repress a gasp of shock. How can a Clan leader be telling me this?
Dovewing stretched out her tail and drew it comfortingly down his side. “Go with Tawnypelt,” she mewed, “and I promise that your father and I will try to get the Clan to listen to your reasoning. Then, when things calm down a little, you can come home.”
Shadowsight looked up at his mother and saw nothing but love in her gentle gaze. He drew in a deep breath. “Okay, then I’ll go,” he responded. The Clan might listen to their leader and Dovewing—at least, more than they would ever listen to me, he thought, but he couldn’t hold back the surge of misery that was sweeping through him. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to come home.
“Then let’s be on our way,” Tawnypelt meowed. “Cheer up, Shadowsight. It’ll be an adventure!”
Shadowsight doubted that he would ever feel cheerful again. He struggled to his paws and followed Tawnypelt out of the den. Tigerstar emerged after them, and let out a commanding yowl.
“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here for a Clan meeting!”
The rest of the Clan immediately began to gather around their leader, leaving Tawnypelt and Shadowsight free to sneak unobserved around the edge of the camp. Shadowsight spotted his littermates, Lightleap and Pouncestep, urging their Clanmates to join the group, guiding them away from him and Tawnypelt.
So they’re in on this plan, too, he thought. I wonder if they doubt me like the others do.
Tigerstar had leaped up onto the tree branch that overhung his den and was making an announcement about how he expected his Clan to behave when the other leaders arrived. As he approached the tunnel through the brambles that led out of the camp, Shadowsight glanced over his shoulder to take one last look at his Clanmates gazing up at their leader.
As he hesitated, Tawnypelt gave him a prod in the shoulder. “No time to hang around,” she meowed briskly. “We have a long way to go.”
But as the two of them were about to plunge into the tunnel, Shadowsight froze at the ominous sound of determined paw steps thrumming the ground, swiftly drawing nearer and nearer. Lionblaze emerged from the tunnel, standing nose to nose with Tawnypelt until she reluctantly stepped back to let him enter the camp.
Harestar and Mistystar followed Lionblaze, with a whole crowd of their warriors behind them. Only SkyClan was missing. Shadowsight felt as trapped as if they had thrown him into the bramble enclosure where they had once kept Ashfur prisoner.
“Oh, I can guess what’s going on here . . . ,” Lionblaze growled, his amber eyes furious as he glared at Tawnypelt and Shadowsight. “You two are trying to escape before the Clans can get to the bottom of all this . . . aren’t you?”
Before either Tawnypelt or Shadowsight could reply, Tigerstar leaped down from the branch and came bounding over to thrust himself between his son and the visitors. “Who do you think you are?” he demanded, his shoulder fur bushing out. “Coming into my camp and accusing—”
“I’m a cat who’s trying to put right the chaos that your son caused,” Lionblaze retorted, drawing his lips back in a snarl.
At his words, it seemed to Shadowsight that every cat in the camp erupted into growls and hisses, challenges and arguments flying back and forth like flocks of frightened birds. Even Shadowsight’s Clanmates, who were angry enough with him, raced over to support their Clan against the intruders. Shadowsight noticed that the ThunderClan medicine cats, Alderheart and Jayfeather, were trying to calm things down, but no cat was listening to them.
“You’re following your own path, as usual,” Harestar snarled at Tigerstar. “You’re protecting your kit, even though he is our only hope of tracking down Ashfur.”
“Yes,” Mistystar agreed, baring her teeth as she confronted Tigerstar. “I thought you were as eager as the rest of us to get rid of that StarClan-cursed impostor. But no—you have chosen your own kin over the good of all the Clans!”
“What else can we expect from ShadowClan mange-pelts?” Lionblaze added.
The two sides surged closer, with claws unsheathed; Tawnypelt slipped to Tigerstar’s side, joining him to protect Shadowsight. He could see that they were moments away from springing into an attack.
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“Stop!” Shadowsight meant the word to be a commanding yowl, but instead it sounded more like the wail of a frightened kit. But it had the effect he wanted: The enraged cats eased away from one another, and their yowls of accusation sank to near silence as they turned to face him.
“I don’t need any ShadowClan blood shed on my account,” Shadowsight continued. “I’ll go willingly.”
Tigerstar, his fur still bristling with fury, laid his tail across Shadowsight’s shoulders, and Shadowsight’s spirits sank as his father led him to the bramble enclosure where Ashfur had been imprisoned. Shadowsight hesitated at the entrance: The impostor’s scent, stale but still strong, washed over him, an irresistible reminder of how he had been deceived and manipulated. Tigerstar thrust him inside.
Lionblaze and the other two leaders had followed. “Plumstone, Bumblestripe,” the ThunderClan deputy meowed, beckoning with his tail to the two cats he had named, “stay here on guard while we wait for Leafstar and SkyClan. Then we can all decide what we should do together.”
Gazing out from the entrance to his prison, Shadowsight saw Lionblaze swing around to confront Tigerstar. “Except for you,” he growled. “You will not be part of the discussion, since you clearly can’t be trusted.”
Oh, StarClan! Shadowsight thought despairingly. This is all my fault, because my father tried to help me. What else might Tigerstar now lose, along with the other leaders’ trust?
Tigerstar’s ears flattened and he slid out his claws. Shadowsight felt a flash of fear that his father would attack Lionblaze. But after a moment, he whipped around and began stalking back to his den.
“This is all a huge mistake.” The ShadowClan leader tossed the words over his shoulder. “In the future, the Clans will wonder how any cat could have been so flea-brained—if there are any Clans left to remember.”
Shadowsight was left alone, huddled in the bramble enclosure. The fight had been halted for now, but he knew it would not take much for claws to be unsheathed again.
Things are going from bad to worse, he thought miserably. Will any cat listen to me now?

CHAPTER THREE 
Rootspring half fell, half scrambled down the rocky slope that led away from the Moonpool. Terror throbbed through every muscle of his body, so that he was hardly aware of the dawn chill that penetrated his soaking-wet fur.
I must get back to camp! I need to tell the others what I saw.
But even as the thought crossed his mind, Rootspring wondered whether his Clanmates would ever believe him. He wouldn’t have believed it himself if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes: Ashfur grabbing Squirrelflight and dragging her beneath the waters of the Moonpool, where both cats had vanished.
His anxiety mounted as the sun crept up above the hills, reminding him of how much time was passing. He knew he had spent too long vainly searching the Moonpool. Every moment made him feel that Ashfur’s escape, his kidnapping of Squirrelflight, was becoming more and more final.
I have to get help!
Reaching the bottom of the slope, with the tough grass of the moorland underpaw, Rootspring was able to pick up his pace until he was pelting along with his paws barely skimming the ground.
He had crossed into ThunderClan territory and was racing alongside the stream that formed the border with WindClan when he spotted a group of cats climbing the hill toward him. Rootspring let out a gasp of relief as he recognized the SkyClan deputy, Hawkwing. Mintfur, Macgyver, and Bellaleaf were with him.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Hawkwing asked as Rootspring skidded to a halt in front of him. “You’ve been missing since the Gathering. Ashfur has escaped. No cat should be out alone.”
Rootspring’s chest was heaving as he struggled to breathe; for a few heartbeats, he was unable to speak. Hawkwing rested his tail-tip on his shoulder to calm him.
“I’m leading this patrol to look for Ashfur,” he continued. “Leafstar means to take another patrol to the ShadowClan camp to confer with the other Clan leaders and find out exactly what happened.”
“I can tell you what happened.” Rootspring managed to get his breath at last, deeply thankful to have found a cat in charge who could tell him what to do about it. “I went with Squirrelflight to the Moonpool, and Ashfur appeared and dragged her in. They vanished under the surface, and they didn’t come up again!”
He was aware of the other three cats exchanging dubious glances as he spoke, and he guessed that they didn’t believe a word of what he was telling them. 
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“That sounds unlikely to me,” Macgyver meowed as he finished his account of his fruitless search of the Moonpool, confirming Rootspring’s suspicions. “Maybe you were dreaming, or you got confused. What did you really see?”
Rootspring opened his jaws to protest, but Hawkwing forestalled him. “I was there when Ashfur escaped,” he told the others. “I certainly believe it’s possible that he has taken Squirrelflight as his hostage. That’s more likely than Squirrelflight actually helping him get away.” Turning to Rootspring, he went on, “Hurry back to camp. You need to catch Leafstar and tell her about this before she gets to ShadowClan. We’ll go on to the Moonpool and see what we can find there. Bellaleaf, you’d better go with Rootspring.”
“What?” Bellaleaf’s whiskers twitched indignantly. “Hawkwing, if you find Ashfur, you’re going to need all of us with you.”
“It’s okay,” Rootspring responded, heading downstream again. He didn’t want to stand around wasting time while his Clanmates argued. “I don’t need an escort!” he called back over his shoulder. “I have to get to Leafstar!”
Rootspring reached the SkyClan camp just in time to see his Clan’s leader emerging from the fern barrier. Rabbitleap, Cherrytail, and Harrybrook were with her, as was Rootspring’s father, Tree.
“Leafstar!” Rootspring panted. “There’s something I have to tell you—about Ashfur.”
Leafstar’s ears flicked up in surprise. “I have no time now,” she meowed. “We’re going to ShadowClan territory. You’d better come with us and tell me on the way.”
Rootspring padded beside his leader as they headed for the ShadowClan border. “Bristlefrost and I met Squirrelflight after the Gathering,” he began. “She agreed that she wouldn’t try to save Ashfur when the leaders came to kill him, and I went with her to the Moonpool in case she needed a cat from another Clan to talk to.”
Leafstar nodded understandingly. “That makes sense.”
“But then Ashfur appeared from out of nowhere and attacked Squirrelflight. Worse, he dragged her—” Rootspring broke off, knowing that this next part would sound crazy to the gathered warriors. But he had to say it. “He dragged her into the Moonpool.”
Shocked murmurs came from the rest of the SkyClan patrol at the news.
“Alive?” Leafstar asked, stunned. “Was he trying to drown her?”
“I don’t know,” Rootspring admitted. “I just know that she was pulled in—and neither of them came out. I couldn’t find any sign of them.”
“Yeah, and hedgehogs fly,” Rabbitleap meowed. “Rootspring, have you got bees in your brain?”
“No, I have not,” Rootspring replied indignantly. “I saw it happen, just like I told you.”
“But . . .” Leafstar shook her head doubtfully. “Maybe Ashfur pulled Squirrelflight out at the far side of the pool and escaped,” she suggested.
“Or maybe he drowned both himself and Squirrelflight,” Harrybrook meowed. “He obviously had bees in his brain. That would be sad, but at least it would put an end to this whole mess.”
Rootspring forced down rising anger at his Clanmates’ disbelief, and made himself speak calmly. “I know what I saw, and I searched the Moonpool. Ashfur took Squirrelflight somewhere I couldn’t follow. And he went through the Moonpool to get there.”
“We’ll have to tell the other leaders about this right away,” Leafstar meowed. “Every cat suspects that Squirrelflight helped Ashfur make his escape. But from what you tell me, Rootspring, it’s clear that she is his victim, not his accomplice. We need to rescue her.”
“Rootspring, are you sure you’re not . . . well, imagining this?” Cherrytail asked at last. “After all, you’ve always seen things a bit . . . strangely.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Tree asked, facing up to the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat. “Remember that Rootspring was the first cat to see Bramblestar’s spirit, and alerted us all to what was happening. Is this any harder to believe?”
Rootspring blinked gratefully at his father as Tree defended him. It felt good to have some cat on his side. And to think I used to be embarrassed that Tree is so weird!
“There’s something in what you say, Tree,” Leafstar responded to the yellow tom. She looked deep into Rootspring’s eyes, and he held himself straight, determined not to flinch under that searching gaze. Finally, Leafstar gave a decisive nod. “I have confidence in you, Rootspring,” she declared. “But we may have some trouble convincing the other Clans.”
 
“In the future, the Clans will wonder how any cat could have been so flea-brained—if there are any Clans left to remember.”
The words, spoken in a furious snarl, were the first that Rootspring heard as he followed Leafstar through the brambles into the ShadowClan camp. It was Tigerstar who had spoken. Gazing over his leader’s shoulder, Rootspring saw him stalking back toward his den, while Lionblaze stood glaring after the dark brown tabby tom. The leaders and warriors from the other Clans were crowded together in the middle of the camp. Rootspring spotted Bristlefrost among the ThunderClan cats and felt a wave of relief.
I wish I could tell her everything that’s happened since I last saw her.
“There won’t be any Clans if we have to rely on you,” the ThunderClan deputy growled in response.
Tigerstar halted and spun around. “What did you say?” He strode back across the camp until he was facing Lionblaze. Both cats arched their backs, their claws digging into the ground.
“I said we can’t rely on you,” Lionblaze replied. “Shadowsight can’t be trusted. He’s brought terrible danger to all the Clans, and your blind loyalty to him is just as bad.”
“My loyalty is anything but blind,” Tigerstar insisted. “If you weren’t so determined to show off now that you’ve managed to stumble into the ThunderClan leadership, you might be able to see that Shadowsight has been trying to do his best, and show a bit of compassion.”
Lionblaze let out a furious hiss at Tigerstar’s criticism, bracing his muscles as if he was about t

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