Fading Echoes

“W-what do you mean?” Dovepaw stammered.

Firestar’s attention flashed toward Jayfeather, crackling with suspicion. “What about you? Did StarClan send you a sign or a dream about the dog?”

Jayfeather shook his head. He wished he could lie to hide Dovepaw’s stupid mistake, but Firestar wouldn’t fall for it. “I’ve dreamed about dogs on the moors before,” he mumbled. “But not recently.”

Firestar’s attention shot back to Dovepaw.

“So, how did you know about it? Did you dream it?”

“I told you,” Dovepaw answered. “I heard it!”

A frustrated growl rumbled in Firestar’s throat. “What about you, Lionblaze? You were tree training with her. Did you hear this dog?”

Lionblaze shifted his paws. “I was on the ground,” he mumbled. “There was a breeze. It was impossible to tell.”

Firestar cut him off. “Then it was just Dovepaw.”

Jayfeather shifted his paws, his belly tightening. What was the ThunderClan leader getting at?

“Have you heard anything else other cats don’t hear?” Firestar’s question came out of the blue. “Like beavers blocking a stream, for example? That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Jayfeather froze. The shock from Lionblaze’s pelt swept over him like an icy wind.

The Clan leader sighed. “Dovepaw, I’ve worked out that you know things other cats don’t, and I don’t think you’re having dreams about them. So how do you know?” His tail-tip was tapping the ground. “I need to know. It’s important. It helped save the lake, but it also just got you into serious trouble. Even worse, it could have caused a battle with WindClan, and that makes it my responsibility.”

Confusion was flooding from Dovepaw, her mind whirling as she searched for something to say.

Firestar snorted and flicked his attention back to Jayfeather and Lionblaze. “It looks like I’m going to have to be the one who says it, doesn’t it?”

Lionblaze was holding his breath as Firestar went on.

“I think the three of you have something in common. Something we maybe should have discussed before.”

The fur on Jayfeather’s spine lifted.

“Haven’t you wondered why you can slip so easily into other cats’ dreams, Jayfeather? That’s not something every medicine cat can do. And Lionblaze, do you think I haven’t noticed the way you fight? You’re not just brave; you’re completely without fear. You must know that you’re safe. That no mortal cat can hurt you. And then we have Dovepaw, who knows what’s going on farther away than any of us can hear or see.” Firestar paused to take a breath.

He knows! Jayfeather’s heart beat faster. He knows we’re the Three!

Chapter 7

“Long ago, I was told of a prophecy—” the ThunderClan leader began.

“We know!” Jayfeather interrupted. He had walked through this memory in one of Firestar’s dreams. “We’re the Three. Kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in our paws.”

Shock flashed from Firestar’s pelt, then ebbed into weary acceptance. “So you know already.” He sighed. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, since before Leafpool and Squirrel flight were born.”

Jayfeather wasn’t interested in Firestar’s memories. “But what does the prophecy mean?”

“Mean?” Firestar sounded surprised.

Doesn’t he know?

Before Jayfeather could speak, Dovepaw found her voice. “Did you think it would be Leafpool and Squirrelflight?”

“For a while,” Firestar answered slowly. “I thought it might be them and Cloudtail. But nothing happened. Then Jaykit, Lionkit, and Hollykit were born.” He stopped, and when he spoke again his tone was curious. “How long have you known about the prophecy?”

Jayfeather shrugged. “Since we were apprentices.”

“Did StarClan tell you?”

“Not exactly.” Jayfeather wanted to delve into Firestar’s mind, find out everything the ThunderClan leader knew about the prophecy. But he was only one of the Three. Lionblaze and Dovepaw needed to know too. The whole thing would have to be teased out in words. “But it didn’t need to come from StarClan, did it? This is not their prophecy.”

“No.” Firestar sounded perplexed. His paws shifted on the night-damp earth. “Do you know what your destiny is?”

“Don’t you?” Dovepaw gasped. “I mean, if you know about the prophecy, how come you don’t know what it means?”

“Didn’t the old cat tell you?” Lionblaze meowed.

There was a moment of silence as Firestar digested the fact that the three cats knew who had given the prophecy to him. “I don’t think even he understood what it meant,” Firestar admitted. “He was just passing on a message.”

Ice-cold fear spread along Jayfeather’s spine. No cat knows! They were floundering in shadow, heading for what?

He felt Firestar’s muzzle touch his head. “Skywatcher promised that you would come, and you have. We must have faith. There’s nothing we can do but wait,” the ThunderClan leader murmured.

Rage clawed Jayfeather’s belly. Didn’t he care what dangers could be lying in wait for his Clan?

“Tell me.” Firestar turned his attention back to Dovepaw. “What exactly is your power?”