Bushes rustled at the far edge of the clearing. ShadowClan must be arriving. Jaypaw tasted the air, and was startled by the scent. This wasn’t a full-size Gathering patrol. It was just—

“It’s just Blackstar and Sol!” Hollypaw’s mew was barely more than a whisper.

“Where are the rest of them?” hissed a WindClan cat from the far side of the clearing.

“And who in StarClan’s name is that?” came a murmur from the RiverClan cats.

All the Clans shifted anxiously as the ShadowClan leader padded to the center of the clearing. Sol followed, trotting lightly over the sandy earth.

Jaypaw was surprised by the sense of calm flowing from Blackstar’s pelt. The ShadowClan leader had seemed so lost and worried when they’d seen him in the camp. What had happened?

“I bring news,” Blackstar began.

“I hope ShadowClan’s all right,” Hollypaw whispered.

“Shh!” Brackenfur silenced her as Blackstar went on.

“ShadowClan will no longer attend Gatherings.”

An astonished silence fell on the clearing. Whatever the other cats had been expecting, this wasn’t it.

“We no longer believe that StarClan hold all the answers. It was living cats who found the lake. It is living cats that hunt prey to keep themselves alive, and it was a living cat who predicted that the sun would vanish.”

He means Sol.

Onestar was stunned. “He predicted the sun would disappear?”

Amazement flooded through the cats like water washing through grass.

“I did no more than warn it would happen.” Sol’s mew was humble.

“How did you know?” Leopardstar demanded.

“How did you not know?” Sol answered. “You, after all, are the ones who share with StarClan.”

Barkface stepped forward. “They didn’t warn us.”

“And they didn’t warn me,” Sol meowed. “I merely followed my instinct and listened to my own voice of experience. You, of course, are entitled to believe in whatever you want….”

“What’s he saying?” Hollypaw gasped. “Does he think beliefs can be chosen like prey from the fresh-kill pile?” Her pelt seared Jaypaw’s where they touched. He flinched from her, lost in his own disappointment.

Sol was meant to be helping us! What is he doing with ShadowClan?

There was the sound of soft paw steps padding over the dry ground.

“They’re leaving.” Lionpaw sighed. “I guess that means Sol isn’t going to help us after all.”

As Blackstar and Sol swished away through the ferns, frightened whispers broke out among the Clans.

“Who was he?”

“Where did he come from?”

“Can it be true?”

Jaypaw felt his own Clan move restlessly around him, their pelts sparking with fear as they brushed against one another.

Firestar had padded to the middle of the clearing. “We must stay calm,” he called to all of them.

“Calm?” Onestar’s mew was filled with contempt. “Even you can’t change this, Firestar.”

Firestar bristled with anger. “I never said I could!”