As they rose and shook out their fur, Alderheart could not free himself from the sense of frustration that filled him from ears to tail-tip. There were no answers in that vision, he thought, deeply disappointed. I’m even more confused than I was to start with! From their confused looks, none of the other cats seemed to have learned anything, either. His head bowed with dejection, Alderheart prepared to set out on the long journey home.

But before any cat could start to climb the spiral path, Puddleshine suddenly exclaimed, “Dawnpelt came to me!”

At once the other cats gathered around him.

“What did she say?” Jayfeather demanded. “What did you see?”

Puddleshine closed his eyes, as if he was trying to cling to the vision before it faded from his memory.

“She didn’t seem in pain from her death,” he began, sounding relieved. “And she’s in StarClan now.”

“But what did she say?” Jayfeather lashed his tail impatiently.

“She told me that the shadows are approaching, and must not be dispelled,” Puddleshine replied. He and Frecklewish exchanged a concerned glance, as if the words meant something to them that they didn’t mean to the other medicine cats.

Alderheart’s dejection vanished like ice under the strong sun of greenleaf. “I saw Needletail!” he mewed excitedly. “She told me exactly the same.”

“And I saw Lioneye.” Kestrelflight’s eyes were filled with awe as he spoke. “She gave me the same message, too. They came to every Clan!”

“The shadows are approaching . . .” Frecklewish’s voice was thoughtful. “Maybe that means the missing ShadowClan cats are on their way back to us!”

“And ‘they must not be dispelled,’” Kestrelflight added. “Perhaps that means we should be open to the returning cats, and listen to what they have to say.”

Puddleshine glanced around the group of medicine cats, his eyes worried. “This gives me hope,” he mewed. “Perhaps ShadowClan isn’t gone forever. But we’ll have to convince Leafstar. . . .”

“We must take the message back to our Clanmates,” Leafpool declared. “The meeting is over. And may StarClan light our paths, now and always.”

“This is the best news we’ve had from StarClan in a long time,” Kestrelflight declared as he and the other cats climbed the spiral path.

The others murmured their agreement. Alderheart could sense excitement and optimism in the air, as if every cat was eager to return to their Clan and pass on the message.

But as he thrust his way through the bushes and paused beside Leafpool before leaping down the rocks, Alderheart could see that his Clanmate looked troubled. The other cats, even Jayfeather, had gone on ahead, so Alderheart hung back to speak to her alone. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “This is what we’ve been hoping for, isn’t it?”