Warriors: Omen of the Stars #6: The Last Hope (17 page)

Lionblaze lifted his chin. “It has made us strong.”

“And now it has become your greatest threat.” Rock shook his head. “We always knew this moment would come. Without darkness there is no light, and now the darkness between the stars is rising up to banish the light forever.” He thrust his muzzle forward, eyes widening once more. “You were our only hope, the Three joined with the fourth!”

Jayfeather swished his tail. “We still are!”

“Really?” Rock looked straight down at him, white eyes shining in the gloom. “Then why has each of you given up before the battle has begun?”

Dovewing flinched away from the stream and slunk back to join the others. Lionblaze dropped his gaze. Before he had time to guess what his Clanmates were thinking, guilt jabbed at Jayfeather’s belly. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting told me that we weren’t enough!” He flung the words at Rock. He hadn’t lost faith without reason! “They told us we couldn’t do it alone; that we needed a fourth cat.”

“And have you found this fourth cat?” Rock hissed.

Jayfeather shrunk back. “We didn’t know where to look.”

Rock cut him off. “You’ve gossiped and guessed. There’s no time for that! Find this cat! Choose your destiny! That is the Clan’s last hope!”

The moonlight suddenly flickered as though clouds were passing over the hole in the roof, and Jayfeather noticed eyes blinking from the darkness below Rock’s ledge. Cats were crouched there, watching. Jayfeather crept closer to the stream and tasted the air. These weren’t StarClan cats. The scent of endless sky and wind-scorched stone clung to their fur, as though they came from more ancient times. Were these Rock’s Clanmates? Jayfeather stiffened as he tasted one scent among the others that made his heart quicken.
Half Moon!

Now he could see her pale white pelt among the others. And then he noticed another shape, much larger than the others. A badger ambled forward out of the shadow.

Dovewing pressed against Jayfeather, her eyes sparking with surprise. “Is that Midnight?” she whispered. “From the nursery stories?”

Jayfeather nodded.

Lionblaze nudged his shoulder. “Who are the others?”

Jayfeather gazed at Half Moon. “They are Ancient cats.” Looking closer, he recognized Broken Shadow and Owl Feather among less familiar pelts. “Some are from the Tribe from long ago.”

“We have waited long.” Midnight’s rumbling growl sounded across the stream. The old badger’s round, black eyes fixed on Dovewing. “Learn who to trust. It is heart that knows truth.” She turned her wide, striped head toward Lionblaze. “Don’t close eyes and wait for path to choose you. Choose path and follow it.”

Jayfeather leaned forward, waiting to hear the words Midnight would share with him.

“You!” He flinched as her gaze pierced him. “When all cats have closed eyes, we gave the gift of sight to the cat who is blind. You see more than most, but look inside, too. See your own strength.”

Was that it?
See your own strength.
Frustration shot through Jayfeather. “Stop talking in riddles. Tell us how to save the Clans! At least, tell us who the fourth cat is!”

Rock growled from the ledge. “We have seen your weakness. Do you want us to make you weaker?” With a shove of his paw, he sent grit and stone showering down. Two pale shards—like broken bones—thudded onto the earth below. “You haven’t tried hard enough!” he snapped.

Jayfeather hardly heard him. His attention was fixed on the pieces of wood that had fallen from the ledge. He darted forward and leaped over the stream, weaving between the Ancient cats until he was standing beside the scattering of debris.

My stick!

His heart quickened as he saw the twin halves of the ancient branch. In the watery moonlight, he could still see the scratches that had recorded the lives and deaths of so many cats lost in the tunnels countless moons ago.

“All those brave warriors!” Rock hissed down to him. “They took their chance in the darkness and found their way back to the light.”

Jayfeather gazed at the half scratches etched in the wood. “Some didn’t,” he murmured. He felt Broken Shadow flinch beside him. Fallen Leaves’s death was marked there.

More grit showered down as Rock peered over the ledge. “But they tried!”

Broken Shadow moved closer. “So many cats have waited for you,” she whispered.

“Since before the dawn of the Clans!” Rock added.

Jayfeather looked up and saw Half Moon staring at him. “What gives you the right to abandon us?” she pleaded, and he saw many lifetimes of sorrow in her eyes. Jayfeather felt hackles rising around him. He backed away as growls rumbled in the throats of the Ancients. A screech rang around the cave.

“How dare you abandon us?”

Jayfeather sprang back across the stream and crouched beside Lionblaze. The Ancients were advancing on them, pelts bristling, eyes flaming.

“Would you let us all die again?” Rock screeched from the ledge.

Water washed Jayfeather’s paws. He jerked back but only splashed deeper into wetness. Was the stream flooding? Panic rose as he looked down. The river had broken its banks and was washing the cave floor, but it wasn’t black anymore. It was red.

Blood!
It streamed around Jayfeather’s paws, drenching his fur. He swallowed back a yowl of terror.
This is all my fault!
Jayfeather blinked open his eyes and found himself blind and awake. His pelt was spiked with fear; his heart pounded so hard it seemed to shake his whole body.

Find the fourth cat!
Rock’s voice wailed in his ear.
Find the fourth cat!

“Lionblaze! Quick!”

Lionblaze jerked his head as Jayfeather’s hiss woke him. He sat up in his nest, blinking in the pale dawn light of the warriors’ den. The dream was still vivid in his mind: the cavern, the blind tom, and the ghostly Ancients. He hauled himself out of his nest and padded, paws numb, out of the den. He shivered as he looked around for Jayfeather.

“Lionblaze.” Jayfeather darted from beside the warriors’ den. “We have to talk about the dream.”

Lionblaze nodded toward the apprentices’ den. “Is Dovewing awake?”

“I just woke her.”

As Jayfeather spoke, Dovewing crept from the den, her eyes bleary with sleep.

“Come on.” Jayfeather hurried toward the thorn tunnel with Dovewing close behind. Lionblaze scampered after them.

Jayfeather rounded a bend in the trail and stopped beside a bramble. Lionblaze halted beside him and glanced over his shoulder.

Dovewing’s eyes were bright. She was fully awake now. “So we
did
all share the dream?”

Jayfeather nodded.

Lionblaze narrowed his eyes. “And you’ve met those cats before?”

“Yes,” Jayfeather snapped. “But that’s not important.”

Dovewing brushed past Lionblaze, pacing anxiously. “I can’t believe that all those cats have been waiting for so long!”

Lionblaze curled his tail over his back. “Since before the dawn of the Clans!”

“We need to concentrate on what happens
now!”
Jayfeather insisted, flexing his claws. “We are here because the faith of our ancestors has brought us here.”

“And the Dark Forest,” Lionblaze reminded him grimly.

“Without faith, there would be no Dark Forest,” Jayfeather snorted, echoing Rock’s words. “But there is. And we have to find the fourth cat.”

“It’s not Ivypool.” Dovewing twitched her tail. “I’ve asked her.”

“Did you find out if it was Mothwing?” Lionblaze gazed at Jayfeather.

Jayfeather shook his head. “She’s given no sign.”

“Then it must be Hollyleaf!” Lionblaze was absolutely convinced. His sister had been part of this since the beginning. And she’d returned just in time to save ThunderClan from WindClan’s attack.

Dovewing was frowning. “I think we’re looking in the wrong place.”

“What’s the right place?” Jayfeather snorted.

“I don’t know.” Dovewing sighed. “It could be a warrior from another Clan.”

“Why don’t we ask Firestar to make an announcement at the next Gathering?” Jayfeather muttered sarcastically. “He could ask the fourth cat to stick their tail in the air so we know who it is.”

Dovewing ignored him. “We must be missing something obvious.”

“Yes.” Lionblaze began to pace.
“Hollyleaf!”

“But if it’s
not
Hollyleaf,” Dovewing ventured, “we need to start looking for a cat who was born with a special destiny, like we were.”

Jayfeather narrowed his eyes. “A cat with the power of the stars in their paws.”

“Breezepelt?” Dovewing suggested. “He’s your half brother. Maybe he’s special too.”

“He’s not kin of Firestar’s kin,” Jayfeather pointed out.

“That was the StarClan prophecy,” Dovewing argued. “Perhaps the new prophecy doesn’t care if it’s kin.”

Lionblaze swished his tail. “You can argue till the sun sets!” he snapped. “I’m going to try to find out.” He turned and ran down the slope back to the hollow. If he could just spend some time alone with Hollyleaf, then he’d know.

The dens lay in shadow, even though sunlight was beginning to color the tips of the trees above the hollow. Below Highledge, Brambleclaw washed his face, swiping a heavy paw over his muzzle, his eyes still blurry with sleep. Spiderleg stopped to stretch as he emerged from the warriors’ den. On the other side of the clearing, Ferncloud poked her head out of the nursery. Foxleap and Toadstep practiced battle moves while they waited for their Clanmates to gather.

Lionblaze fell in beside Cinderheart as she padded toward Brambleclaw.

“Are you okay?” she asked without looking at him.

He glanced at her. “Fine, why?”

She kept her eyes fixed ahead. “You were murmuring in your sleep. Bad dreams?”

“Just dreams.”

When she didn’t comment, he went on. “I made a mistake.” He knew that he should never have tried to choose a different destiny. Too many lives depended on him following the path laid out for him. “It won’t happen again.”

He felt Cinderheart stiffen beside him. She knew what he really meant.
I won’t be distracted by you anymore.

She stopped and turned to face him, her eyes glistening. “Okay.” Her mew was calm, but he could see sorrow in her gaze.

Lionblaze’s heart twisted.
I’m sorry, Cinderheart.

“The Clan comes first,” she murmured softly.

“The Clan comes first.” Lionblaze dipped his head and padded past her. He stopped in front of Brambleclaw. “Is it okay if I go hunting with Hollyleaf?”

Brambleclaw stopped washing. “Just the two of you?”

“Yes. I need to speak with her.”

“Okay, if you wish.” As Brambleclaw licked his paws and began once more to smooth his muzzle, Lionblaze headed for the warriors’ den.

Hollyleaf was stretching at the entrance. The stiffening wind ruffled her fur.

“Come on.” Lionblaze nudged her shoulder with his nose. “Let’s go hunting.”

Hollyleaf straightened up, stifling a yawn. “Who else is on the patrol?”

Lionblaze headed for the thorn barrier. “Just us.”

Hollyleaf fell in beside him as they emerged outside the camp and headed up the slope. “I’ve caught up with all the new hunting techniques,” she reassured him.