The Last Hope

“Which attack move do we use?”

Jayfeather’s fur bushed up as he recognized Blossomfall’s mew.

“The throat grip might work.” That was Birchfall!

“Not straight for the throat!” Breezepelt of WindClan snarled. “Death shouldn’t come too quickly. We must terrify our enemies before we kill them.”

“If we shred the cats in front it’ll unnerve those behind,” Tigerheart added.

“First scare them, then scar them.”

“Nice one, Icewing.” Beetlewhisker congratulated his Clanmate.

This was worse than Jayfeather had imagined. We’ve lost so many to the darkness! Jayfeather thought in horror. The Clans must fight as one, more fiercely than ever before, if they were going to defeat the Dark Forest army.

Pelts brushed bushes, fur snagging on thorns. Paws thrummed the ground. They’re coming! Jayfeather unsheathed his claws as he heard cats approaching swiftly through the trees. Hawkfrost broke from the shadows first. Behind him raced ranks of warriors, lean and low to the ground. Jayfeather scanned their faces. He recognized no one. He saw only eyes glittering with cruelty. These were different cats, Dark Forest warriors. They streamed toward him, teeth bared.

Jayfeather tried to run but his paws were frozen. As the first wave flooded around him, buffeting him, growls rumbling from every throat, Jayfeather blinked open his eyes.

He was blind again. The Moonpool lapped at his nose. With relief he felt smooth rock beneath his paws. His pelt was drenched with stinking dew, his breath fast as he struggled to his feet.

A voice startled him. “Jayfeather?”

“Mothwing?” Still struggling to push away his vision, Jayfeather tasted the air. The cold stone tang of the hollow was warmed by the scent of the RiverClan medicine cat.

“Are you all right?” Her whiskers brushed his cheeks as she leaned close.

“I’m fine.” Jayfeather shook his pelt and frowned. Why was Mothwing here? Although she was skilled with herbs and could treat any sickness, she had no connection with StarClan. She’d stopped coming to the half-moon Gatherings ages ago, letting her apprentice, Willowshine, share tongues with RiverClan’s ancestors instead.

“Are you the only one who came?” she meowed.

Jayfeather sat down. “Yes.”

“Willowshine refused.” Mothwing padded to the edge of the pool and Jayfeather heard her sniffing the water. “What is going on with StarClan? Willowshine told me they’d ordered her to stay away from the other medicine cats.” Her paws scuffed the stone as she turned to face Jayfeather. “It doesn’t make sense. Our shared code helps the Clans fight sickness. In the past it’s helped keep the peace.”

Jayfeather fixed his blind gaze on her. “Our code is no longer enough. StarClan is frightened.”

Surprise pulsed from Mothwing. “Of what?”

“The Dark Forest.” Jayfeather wondered whether to share what he knew. If Mothwing didn’t believe her ancestors lived on in the stars, she certainly wouldn’t believe in a forest filled with wicked cats. And yet, perhaps her lack of belief might be helpful. She couldn’t be touched by either StarClan or the Dark Forest warriors.

What if she’s the fourth cat!

Mothwing padded around him. “Willowshine says there will be a battle between StarClan and the Dark Forest.”

“She’s right,” Jayfeather meowed. “But when it comes, it won’t be just in our dreams; it’ll be real. It’ll be fought between living warriors on Clan territory.”

Mothwing halted. “How can that be?”

“The Dark Forest warriors have been training Clan cats as they sleep.” Jayfeather waited for disbelief to cloud Mothwing’s thoughts but, though fear sparked beneath her pelt, her mind was like a wide-open sky.

“Some of my Clanmates have been acting strange,” she murmured. “Restless and argumentative.”

Jayfeather pricked his ears. “Who?”

“Hollowflight, Icewing—”

“What about Beetlewhisker?”

Mothwing shifted her paws. “How did you know?”

Jayfeather ignored her question. There wasn’t time. “We need to unite the Clans.” He began to pace. “The battle won’t be fought over boundaries this time. Our very survival will be at stake.”

Mothwing’s breath quickened. “What can I do to help?”

Her offer sent a rush of hope through Jayfeather, but he knew he had to be honest. “Hawkfrost is involved.”

“My brother?” Mothwing’s tail swished over the rock. “How?”

“He has chosen darkness over light.”

Grief flared from Mothwing but she pushed it away. “I am not my brother,” she declared. “I have always chosen a different path from him. My loyalty is to living Clanmates, not dead littermates.”

“So you’d fight him if you had to?”

“Fight him? He’s already dead!”

“But the living and dead are training together to destroy the Clans!” Jayfeather pictured his Clanmates training in the Dark Forest. They can’t know what they’re doing, surely? No cat could persuade Birchfall or Blossomfall to harm their Clanmates! “They are using our own Clanmates against us.”