“No, we’ll have to lure one down to us.” Stone Song sounded reluctant, as if he knew how his suggestion would be received. “Then we can work out the skills we need.”

“You’re not using my kits!” Owl Feather glared at him, protecting the three tiny cats with her paws and tail.

“Of course not,” Stone Song reassured her.

“I’ll do it,” Half Moon offered. “I’ll pretend to be injured.”

Jayfeather felt his heart lurch. “No way,” he mewed. “I’ll do it. This was my idea.”

Stone Song blinked at him. “You’re taking quite a risk.”

“Some cat has to,” Jayfeather replied, forcing his voice to be steady, though inside he was shaking. It was too easy to imagine being whisked into the sky, gripped in cruel talons. “Are we going to do this or not? We need food right away.”

Though some of the cats still seemed uncertain, enough of them gathered around Jayfeather to make up a patrol. Jayfeather looked at them: Stone Song, Jagged Lightning, and—to his surprise—Furled Bracken, along with Half Moon, Fish Leap, and Dove’s Wing. All of them looked tense but determined.

“Let’s go,” Jayfeather meowed, leading the way out of the cave. Emerging from behind the waterfall, he realized that the storm was over. The howling wind had sunk to a stiff breeze, with a few flakes of snow tossed in the air, and gaps showed in the rolling gray clouds above their heads. The patrol crunched through the snow and clambered up the rocks beside the waterfall until they stood on top of the cliff.

Jayfeather took a deep breath. He had never trained another cat, especially not in fighting skills. The safety of these cats was his responsibility—not just now, when they were luring the bird down deliberately, but for all the generations to come. Is this what it means, to have the power of the stars in my paws?

“I’ll stay out here while the rest of you hide,” he directed. “Remember, you mustn’t be seen from above because that’s where the bird will come from. Stone Song, Jagged Lightning, and Furled Bracken, you get ready to leap out and attack. Fish Leap, Dove’s Wing, Half Moon: You stay hidden and watch what happens. Then we can discuss tactics later.”

“I’m not watching behind a rock while you get torn apart,” Half Moon objected.

Her concern warmed Jayfeather. “You can join in if there’s trouble,” he told her.

Half Moon’s tail lashed once. “Try stopping me!”

“What do we do when it comes?” Fish Leap asked. “We can’t pounce on it as if it was a blackbird!”

“I think we should go for the wings,” Stone Song suggested. “It can’t carry one of us off if it can’t fly.”

Furled Bracken nodded. “Leaping for its neck would be good, too. That’s a weak point on any bird, I don’t care how big it is.”

“Good idea,” Jayfeather agreed. “Now, get out of sight before it spots you all.”

The rest of the patrol slunk away to take up positions among the rocks.