Maps

MAPS

Prologue

PROLOGUE

A warm breeze wafted over the grass, carrying with it the scents of prey and the fresh green growth of newleaf. The sun shone from a blue sky crossed by scudding white clouds. A small stream gurgled its way down a gentle slope, then widened out into a pool fringed with rushes.

A group of cats sat beside the pool, while others stalked up and down along the bank. Frost shimmered in their fur, and starlight glittered at their paws and in their eyes.

“I can’t believe this has happened!” a cream-furred she-cat lamented. “I gave up my life trying to get back to ShadowClan.” Her voice shook as she went on. “I never thought there would be a time when ShadowClan didn’t exist!”

A plump white she-cat nuzzled her shoulder briefly, her black ears quivering. “I know, Dawnpelt,” she murmured with a sorrowful glance around at her Clanmates. “Maybe it’s our fault. Maybe we didn’t fight hard enough for ShadowClan while we were alive.”

A disdainful hiss came from a slim, silver-pelted cat, who had been pacing restlessly near the water’s edge. She halted and rounded on the others, her front claws tearing angrily at the grass. “You’re wrong, Beenose,” she snarled. “We couldn’t have saved a Clan that didn’t want to be saved. We have to place the blame where it belongs: on Rowanstar. Rowanclaw, as he’s calling himself now.”

“That’s easily said, Needletail.” The rasping voice came from an old gray she-cat with rumpled fur and glaring amber eyes, who sat on top of a boulder a couple of tail-lengths away. “But Rowanstar wasn’t the only cat who misunderstood Darktail’s true intentions. Did some of you not call yourselves Darktail’s Kin?”

“Of course, Yellowfang, you always know everything,” Needletail retorted, her tone edged with sarcasm.

“I’ve seen more in my time than you young cats.” Yellowfang’s voice rumbled from deep within her chest. “I thought once that nothing worse than Brokenstar’s leadership could happen to my Clan. But I was wrong.”

“I trusted Rowanstar,” a white tom added from where he sat at the base of Yellowfang’s rock. He swiped his tongue over one black forepaw and used it to wash his ears. “I thought he would make a fine leader after me. But what was he to do when half his Clan betrayed him and followed Darktail?”

Dawnpelt nodded sadly. “You’re right, Blackstar. I know we also made mistakes.”

“And now the ShadowClan cats who are left have joined SkyClan,” Beenose murmured. “But will Leafstar and the rest of SkyClan ever really trust them? We should all have tried harder when we had the chance.”