Hollyleaf and the others followed him into the damp interior and shook the raindrops from their pelts before finding a place to crouch on the cracked stones.

“You might need to find a new place to stay,” Hollyleaf warned the loner. “ShadowClan sent a patrol to report us to Firestar for being outside our territory.”

“What?” Sol’s fur began to bristle. “Blackstar dared to do that? Is he allowed to dictate where cats go outside his own borders?”

“Well, he thinks he is,” Jayfeather muttered.

“You were doing nothing wrong!” Sol declared, his fur fluffing up even more and his amber eyes burning. “Blackstar is using this as a way to humiliate ThunderClan.”

“I’m not sure.” Lionblaze was looking uneasy. “I think Blackstar is just being a bit overly keen to prove that he’s keeping the warrior code again.”

Sol gave a snort of contempt. “The warrior code! Belief in StarClan! I can’t understand why you cats think all that is so important.”

Hollyleaf’s belly lurched. No! The warrior code matters more than anything! But she knew that she had to stay calm. If they quarreled with Sol, they would lose the chance of discovering who their father was.

“I know so much more than StarClan does,” Sol continued. “Did they tell you that the sun would vanish? You know very well they didn’t. Doesn’t that make me more powerful than your warrior ancestors? And if I’m so powerful without a prophecy, then the powers you three share must be magnificent!”

Lionblaze’s eyes glowed, and Jayfeather was unconsciously flexing his claws in and out. Hollyleaf had to make a huge effort not to be enthralled by Sol’s voice. So far he’s given us nothing, she reminded herself. His words are nothing but mist and sunshine, impossible to hold down.

“That’s all very well,” she snapped, “but what do we have to do?”

“ShadowClan cats are worthless!” Sol went on. “They have no right to their territory—and if they are left alone, they’ll soon be invading yours. You need to fake evidence that ShadowClan is stealing ThunderClan prey, so that your Clan leader can launch an attack on them. Once you have ShadowClan’s territory, you can invade RiverClan and WindClan.” He glanced around, lowering his voice to a deep, vibrating purr as he continued, “That’s what absolute power is. Controlling every cat in the territories by the lake!”

Hollyleaf stared at Sol, feeling her paws tingle. Was this really what they had to do to gain power—fight against every cat in the rival Clans? She tried to imagine Firestar allowing that to happen, and couldn’t.

“I don’t think—” she began uncertainly.

But Sol wasn’t listening to her. He padded off into a far corner of the den and hauled a rabbit out of the shadows. As he dropped it in front of her, Hollyleaf picked up the scent of ShadowClan mingled with the smell of fresh-kill.

“I caught this in ShadowClan territory, and rubbed it on their scent markers,” Sol explained. “You can take it back to the camp with you, and tell your Clan that you chased off a ShadowClan patrol.” His eyes glinted with cold amusement. “What can ShadowClan do to deny it? Those stupid cats, they’d rather believe in nursery tales about dead ancestors than try figuring things out for themselves. All that nonsense about signs from StarClan!”