The Darkest Hour

When they saw what was happening to the leader they had believed was invincible, horrified yowling came from the warriors of TigerClan. Firestar realized that they were all breaking rank; several cats pushed roughly past him in their mad haste to flee from the clearing. From somewhere behind him he heard Tallstar call out to his own warriors, “Wait! Hold the line!”

Firestar knew he did not have to give his own warriors the same order. They would stand with him to the end.

Tigerstar was panting now, his fight for life exhausting him. Firestar caught a glimpse of his amber eyes, glazed with pain and fear and hatred. Then his body gave one last jerk and lay still.

Tigerstar was dead.

Frozen in disbelief, Firestar stared down at the lifeless body. His oldest enemy, the most dangerous cat in the forest, the cat he had expected to fight to the death—gone, just like that.

Firestar was left facing Scourge. The small black cat looked unmoved. Now Firestar knew not to underestimate him due to his size. He knew he had never faced a cat more dangerous than this, who in a single blow could destroy a leader with nine lives.

Behind Scourge, the cats of BloodClan moved forward as if they were about to attack, and Firestar shot a glance at his own warriors to make sure they were ready. They stood in line with the warriors of WindClan, and Firestar braced himself to leap forward with them, but when he looked back at the enemy, Scourge raised one blood-soaked paw.

The cats behind him stopped.

“You see what happens to cats who defy BloodClan,” the black cat warned calmly. “Your friend here”—he gave a contemptuous flick with his tail toward Tigerstar’s motionless body—“thought he could control us. He was wrong.”

“We don’t want to control you,” Firestar rasped. “All we want is to lead our lives in peace. We’re sorry that Tigerstar brought you here with lies. Please feel free to hunt before you go home.”

“Go home?” Scourge widened his eyes in scornful disbelief. “We’re not going anywhere, forest fool. In the town where we come from, there are many, many cats, and live prey is scarce. Here in the forest we won’t need to depend on Twoleg rubbish for our food.”

His gaze slid past Firestar to where ThunderClan and WindClan stood ready for battle. “We are taking over this territory now,” he went on. “I shall rule the forest as well as the town. But I understand that you may need some time to reflect on this. You have three days to leave—or meet my Clan in battle. I shall wait for your decision at dawn on the fourth day.”

Chapter 23

Firestar stared, speechless with shock, as Scourge turned away and disappeared through the lines of his own warriors. Silently the cats of BloodClan fell in behind him and vanished into the bushes with scarcely a rustle. Firestar tracked their departure through the movement of branches up the side of the hollow, and then they were gone.

Firestar looked down at the body of Tigerstar. The huge tabby’s legs were splayed and his teeth bared in a last snarl of defiance at death. The amber eyes that had smoldered with savage ambition were blank and sightless.

Faced with the death of his enemy, Firestar knew he should feel triumphant. He had known for a long time now that the only hope for peace in the forest was the death of Tigerstar. But Firestar had always expected that he would be the cat that struck his enemy down, risking his own life in combat with the massive warrior. Instead, now that Tigerstar lay at his paws, staining them with his blood, he found himself struggling with the strangest feeling of all—grief. Tigerstar had received from StarClan all the strength, skill, and intelligence to make himself truly great, a legend among cats. But he had misused his gifts, murdered and lied and plotted revenge, until his ambition brought him to this terrible end. And nothing had been solved. The fate of every Clan still hung in the balance, and the tide of blood still flowed.

We need your strength, Tigerstar, Firestar whispered. Just as we need every cat who can fight, to drive BloodClan out of the forest.

He became aware that another cat was standing beside him, and he turned his head to see Graystripe. The rest of the ThunderClan cats were still drawn up in their battle lines at the far side of the clearing, with Tallstar and the WindClan warriors beside them.

“Firestar?” Graystripe’s yellow eyes were huge with fear. “Are you okay?”

Firestar shook himself. “I will be. Don’t worry, Graystripe. Come on—I need to talk to Tallstar.”

As they turned away, Graystripe glanced down at the dead S h a d o w C l an leader and a shudder passed through him. “I never want to see anything like that again,” he meowed hoarsely.

“If we don’t get rid of Scourge, you probably will,” Firestar replied.