Long Shadows Read online

  “This loner didn’t stay away,” River pointed out.

  “Clans not need to hide,” Midnight insisted. “If did, not strong enough to meet challenges from outside.”

  “My warriors can meet any challenge,” Wind snapped.

  “Challenges not always from teeth and sharpened claws,” the badger commented.

  Wind let out a hiss. Her neck fur bristled as she unsheathed her claws. “Don’t talk to me as if I’m stupid! You’re only trying to avoid admitting that you made a huge mistake. The warriors of StarClan revealed their secrets to you, and you told them to a stranger! There wouldn’t be any trouble in ShadowClan right now if it wasn’t for you.”

  Midnight rose to her paws. “Sheathe your claws, small warrior.” Her voice was a rumbling growl. “Stupid is to pick a fight with someone not your enemy.”

  For a few heartbeats, Wind stood her ground, only stepping back and sheathing her claws when Thunder rested his tail on her shoulder.

  “Quarreling won’t help,” the first-ever ThunderClan leader meowed. “The secrets are out. We have to decide what we can do now to help our Clans.”

  River shook his head. “Well, I don’t know.”

  “Nor do I.” Shadow lashed her tail in frustration. “I’d like to rip the throat out of this ungrateful badger, but it’s too late to change anything.”

  “We don’t understand,” Thunder meowed, meeting Midnight’s gaze. “We shared our secrets with you, and you have done so much for our Clans. Why would you want to destroy them like this?”

  Before he had finished speaking, the wind picked up and the starry cats began to fade, blown away like mist. Midnight watched them with berry-bright eyes until their frail forms were gone and the glimmer of starlight had died away.

  A cat emerged from behind a windblown bush a few tail-lengths away: a hairless cat with bulging, sightless eyes.

  “You heard, Rock?” Midnight asked.

  Rock nodded. “I knew the Clan leaders would be unhappy that you confided in Sol,” he rasped. “But you had no choice. The power of three is coming, and the Clans must be ready.”

  CHAPTER 1

  The moon was huge, a golden circle resting on a dark ridge of hills. Stars blazed above Hollyleaf’s head, reminding her that the spirits of her ancestors were watching over her. Her fur prickled as something stirred on the ridge. A cat had appeared there, outlined against the moon. She recognized the broad head and tufted ears, and the tail with its bushy tip; even though the shape was black against the light, she knew the colors of its pelt: white with brown, black, and ginger blotches.

  “Sol!” she hissed.

  The outlined shape arched its back, then reared up on its hind paws, its forepaws stretched out as if it was about to rake its claws across the sky. It leaped upward, and as it leaped it swelled until it was so huge that it blotted out the moon and the blazing stars. Hollyleaf crouched, shivering, in darkness thicker than the deepest places of the forest.

  Screeches of alarm rose up around her, a whole Clan of hidden cats wailing their fear of the shadow cutting them off from the protective gaze of StarClan. Above the noise, a single voice rang out: “Hollyleaf! Hollyleaf! Come out!”

  Hollyleaf thrashed in terror and found her paws tangled in soft moss and bracken. Pale gray light was filtering through the branches of the warriors’ den. A couple of foxlengths away, Hazeltail was scrambling out of her nest, shaking scraps of moss from her pelt.

  “Hollyleaf!” The call came again, and this time Hollyleaf recognized Birchfall’s voice, meowing irritably outside the den. “Are you going to sleep all day? We’re supposed to be hunting.”

  “Coming.” Groggy with sleep, every hair on her pelt still quivering from her nightmare, Hollyleaf headed toward the nearest gap between the branches. Before she reached it, her paws stumbled over the haunches of a sleeping cat, half hidden under the bracken.

  Cloudtail’s head popped up. “Great StarClan!” he grumbled. “Can’t a cat get any sleep around here?”

  “S-sorry,” Hollyleaf stammered, remembering that Cloudtail had been out on a late patrol the night before; she had seen him return to camp with Dustpelt and Sorreltail while she was keeping her warrior’s vigil.

  Just my luck. My first day, and I manage to annoy one of the senior warriors!

  Cloudtail snorted and curled up again, his blue eyes closing as he buried his nose in his fur.

  “It’s okay,” Hazeltail murmured, brushing her muzzle against Hollyleaf’s shoulder. “Cloudtail’s mew is worse than his scratch. And don’t let Birchfall ruffle your fur. He’s bossy with the new warriors, but you’ll soon get used to it.”

  Hollyleaf nodded gratefully, though she didn’t tell Hazeltail the real reason she was thrown off balance. Birchfall didn’t bother her; it was the memory of the dream that throbbed through her from ears to tail-tip, making her paws clumsy and her thoughts troubled.

  Her gaze drifted to the nest where her brother Lionpaw—no, Lionblaze now—had curled up at the end of his vigil. She wanted to talk to him more than anything. But the nest was empty; Lionblaze must have gone out on the dawn patrol.

  Careful where she put her paws, Hollyleaf pushed her way out of the den behind Hazeltail. Outside, Birchfall was scraping the ground impatiently.

  “At last!” he snapped. “What kept you?”

  “Take it easy, Birchfall.” Brambleclaw, the ThunderClan deputy and Hollyleaf’s father, was sitting a tail-length away with his tail wrapped neatly around his paws. His amber eyes were calm. “The prey won’t run away.”

  “Not till they see us, anyway,” Sandstorm added as she bounded across from the fresh-kill pile.

  “If there is any prey.” Birchfall lashed his tail. “Ever since the battle, fresh-kill’s been much harder to find.”

  Hollyleaf’s grumbling belly told her that Birchfall was right. Several sunrises ago all four Clans had battled in ThunderClan territory; their screeching and trampling had frightened off all the prey, or driven them deep underground.

  “Maybe the prey will start to come back now,” she suggested.

  “Maybe,” Brambleclaw agreed. “We’ll head toward the ShadowClan border. There wasn’t as much fighting over there.”

  Hollyleaf stiffened at the mention of ShadowClan. Will I see Sol again? she wondered.

  “I wonder if we’ll see any ShadowClan cats,” Birchfall meowed, echoing her thought. “I’d like to know if they’re all going to turn their back on StarClan, and follow that weirdo loner instead.”

  Hollyleaf felt as if stones were dragging in her belly, weighing her down. ShadowClan had not appeared at the last Gathering, two nights before. Instead, their leader Blackstar had come alone except for Sol, the loner who had recently arrived by the lake, and explained that his cats no longer believed in the power of their warrior ancestors.

  But that can’t be right! How can a Clan survive without StarClan? Without the warrior code?

  “Sol’s not such a weirdo,” Hazeltail pointed out to Birchfall with a flick of her ears. “He predicted that the sun would vanish, and it did. None of the medicine cats knew that was going to happen.”

  Birchfall shrugged. “The sun came back, didn’t it? It’s not that big a deal.”

  “In any case,” Brambleclaw interrupted, rising to his paws, “this is a hunting patrol. We’re not going to pay a friendly visit to ShadowClan.”

  “But they fought beside us,” Birchfall objected. “WindClan and RiverClan would have turned us into crow-food without the ShadowClan warriors. We can’t be enemies again so soon, can we?”

  “Not enemies,” Sandstorm corrected. “But they’re still a different Clan. Besides, I’m not sure we can be friends with cats who reject StarClan.”

  What about our own cats, then? Hollyleaf didn’t dare to ask the question out loud. Cloudtail has never believed in StarClan. But she knew without question Cloudtail was a loyal warrior who would die for any of his Clanmates.

  Brambleclaw said nothing, just
gave his pelt a shake and kinked his tail to beckon the rest of the patrol. As they headed toward the thorn tunnel they met Brackenfur pushing his way into the hollow with Sorreltail and Lionblaze behind him. The dawn patrol had returned. As all three cats headed for the fresh-kill pile, Hollyleaf darted across and intercepted her brother.

  “How did it go? Is there anything to report?”

  Lionblaze’s jaws parted in a huge yawn. He must be exhausted, Hollyleaf thought, after keeping his warrior vigil and then being chosen for the dawn patrol.

  “Not a thing,” he mewed, shaking his head. “All’s quiet on the WindClan border.”

  “We’re going over toward ShadowClan territory.” Alone with her brother, Hollyleaf could confess how worried she was. “I’m scared we’ll meet Sol. What if he tells the other cats about the prophecy?”

  Lionblaze pressed his muzzle into her shoulder. “Come on! Is it likely that Sol will be doing border patrols? He’ll be lying around the ShadowClan camp, stuffing himself with fresh-kill.”

  Hollyleaf shook her head. “I don’t know…. I just wish we’d never told him anything.”

  “So do I.” Lionblaze’s eyes narrowed and his tone was bitter as he went on. “But it’s not like Sol is bothered about us. He decided to stay with Blackstar, didn’t he? He promised to help us after we told him about the prophecy, but he soon changed his mind.”

  “We’re better off without him.” Hollyleaf swiped her tongue over her brother’s ear.

  “Hollyleaf!”

  She spun around to see Brambleclaw waiting beside the entrance to the thorn tunnel, the tip of his tail twitching impatiently.

  “I’ve got to go,” she meowed to Lionblaze, and raced across the clearing to join Brambleclaw. “Sorry,” she gasped, and plunged into the tunnel.

  The morning had been raw and cold, but as Hollyleaf padded through the forest with her Clanmates the clouds began to clear away. Long claws of sunlight pierced the branches, tipping the leaves with fire where they had changed from green to red and gold. Leaf-fall was almost upon them.

  Brambleclaw led his patrol away from the lake toward the ShadowClan border, keeping well clear of the old Twoleg path and the abandoned nest where the Clans had fought their battle.

  Tasting the air in the hope of finding a squirrel or a plump mouse, Hollyleaf caught a stale trace of her own and her littermates’ scents, lingering from their trek across the forest to find Sol. She hoped that none of the patrol would notice, especially not Brambleclaw or Sandstorm, because that would mean awkward questions she wasn’t sure she could answer.

  To her relief, the other cats seemed too intent on tracking prey to notice. Sandstorm raised her tail for silence, and Hollyleaf could hear the crisp sounds of a thrush knocking a snail shell against a stone. Peering over a clump of bracken, she spotted the bird: a fine fat one with its back turned to the group of cats, too intent on its own prey to realize that hunters were creeping up on it.

  Sandstorm dropped into the hunter’s crouch and glided over the forest floor, pausing to waggle her haunches before the final pounce. The movement alerted the thrush; dropping the snail, it let out a loud alarm call and launched itself into the air.

  But Sandstorm was too fast for it. With an enormous leap she clawed it out of the air in a flurry of wings; it went limp as she bit down hard on its neck.

  “Brilliant catch!” Hazeltail mewed.

  “Not bad,” Sandstorm purred, scratching earth over her prey until she could collect it later.

  Hollyleaf picked up the scent of mouse and followed it along a bramble thicket until she spotted the little creature scuffling among the debris beneath the outer branches. A couple of heartbeats later she had her own prey to bury beside Sandstorm’s.

  Brambleclaw was clawing earth over a vole; he gave her an approving nod. “Well done, Hollyleaf. Carry on like this and the Clan will soon be full-fed.” He stalked off into a hazel thicket, his jaws parted to pick up the faintest trace of prey.

  For a few heartbeats Hollyleaf stood looking after her father, his praise warming her. Casting about for more prey, she picked up the trail of a squirrel, but as she rounded the trunk of a huge oak she spotted Hazeltail ahead of her, following the same scent. There was no sign of the squirrel, but the trail led straight toward the ShadowClan border. Hollyleaf could already make out the scent of the border markings, but Hazeltail seemed too preoccupied with her hunt to notice.

  “Hey, Hazeltail, don’t—”

  Hollyleaf broke off as three cats emerged from a clump of bracken on the other side of the border. Hazeltail was only a couple of tail-lengths away; startled, she halted, her ears flicking up in surprise.

  Relief surged through Hollyleaf as she recognized the newcomers: Ivytail, Snaketail, and his apprentice, Scorchpaw. All three of them had fought on ThunderClan’s side in the battle; Hollyleaf could still see gashes along Ivytail’s side, and Scorchpaw’s ear was torn. They surely wouldn’t be angry with Hazeltail for coming right up to the border.

  “Hi,” she meowed as she bounded up to stand beside Hazeltail. “How’s the prey running in ShadowClan?”

  “Keep back!” Ivytail spat. “You’ve no right to come into ShadowClan territory. Just because we helped you in the battle doesn’t make us allies.”

  “Typical ThunderClan,” Snaketail added, his voice a low snarl. “Thinking every Clan is their friend.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Hollyleaf demanded, stung by their hostility.

  No cat answered her question. Instead, Ivytail stalked up to the border until she was nose-to-nose with Hazeltail. “What do you think you’re doing, this close to the border?”

  “I was tracking a squirrel.” Hazeltail sounded bewildered. “But—”

  “Prey-stealing!” Snaketail interrupted, the fur on his shoulders fluffing up in anger and his striped tail lashing.

  “We were not!” Hollyleaf mewed indignantly. “We’re still on ThunderClan territory, in case you hadn’t noticed. Hazeltail hasn’t crossed your border.”

  “Only because we turned up in time to stop her,” Snaketail growled.

  Rustling sounded from the undergrowth behind Hollyleaf; she whipped around to see Brambleclaw and Sandstorm approaching, with Birchfall just behind. “Thank StarClan!” she murmured.

  Brambleclaw padded forward until he stood beside Hollyleaf and Hazeltail. “Greetings,” he mewed, dipping his head to the three ShadowClan cats. “What’s going on here?”

  “We had to stop these warriors of yours,” the ShadowClan cat explained. “Another couple of heartbeats and they would have crossed our border.”

  “That’s not true!” Hollyleaf exclaimed hotly.

  “I was tracking a squirrel.” Hazeltail faced the ThunderClan deputy with an apologetic look in her eyes. “I did forget where I was for a moment, but Hollyleaf warned me, and then the ShadowClan patrol appeared. I promise, I never set paw over the border.”

  Brambleclaw nodded. “You’re as close to the border on your side as we are on ours,” he pointed out to the ShadowClan cats. “But no cat is accusing you of trying to cross.”

  “We’re a border patrol!” Snaketail flashed back at him. “And it’s just as well we came along when we did.”

  “No cat can trust ThunderClan,” Scorchpaw added, padding up beside his mentor.

  Birchfall let out a hiss of fury; thrusting his way through the long grass he halted beside the ThunderClan deputy. “Brambleclaw, are you going to stand there and let an apprentice insult our Clan? When we haven’t even done anything?”

  Sandstorm flicked his shoulder with her tail. “That’s enough, Birchfall. Let Brambleclaw handle this.”

  The younger warrior let out a snort of disgust; he said nothing more, but stood glaring at the ShadowClan patrol.

  “Birchfall’s right!” Hollyleaf protested. “These cats are just trying to make trouble. We haven’t broken the warrior code.”

  “Oh, the precious warrior code!” Ivytail’s voice was full of
scorn. “You think it’s the answer to everything, but you’re wrong. The warrior code didn’t stop the sun from vanishing, did it?”

  “Right.” Snaketail supported his Clanmate. “Maybe it’s time the Clans stopped being so obsessed with dead cats, and started looking for other answers instead.”

  Hollyleaf stared at them in dismay. She knew that these thoughts came from Sol. Was this what the strange cat had wanted all along—to destroy the warrior code from inside the Clans?

  He meant to start with us. Hollyleaf remembered how friendly and helpful Sol had seemed. But maybe ShadowClan had been an easier prospect; Hollyleaf couldn’t imagine Firestar abandoning his beliefs as easily as Blackstar.

  I have to save ShadowClan! In her desperation Hollyleaf was scarcely aware of the cats around her any longer. They can’t turn their backs on StarClan and the warrior code! There have to be four Clans!

  “Hollyleaf, calm down,” Brambleclaw murmured beside her.

  Hollyleaf realized that her pelt was fluffed out and her claws were digging into the damp earth. The three ShadowClan cats were staring at her, fur bristling as if they expected her to leap on them. Taking a deep breath she sheathed her claws and tried to make her fur lie flat again.

  “I’m okay,” she muttered to her father.

  “This is Sol talking, isn’t it?” Birchfall jeered, taking a pace forward so that he stood right on the border. “You’re all crazier than a fox in a fit! It’s mouse-brained to listen to a cat that no Clan cat has ever met before.”

  “We listen because Sol talks sense,” Snaketail retorted, stepping forward until he faced Birchfall. “He knows what to do to give ShadowClan a better life for the future. Maybe if ThunderClan listened they would be able to fight their own battles. Maybe that’s why the sun vanished, to tell us that the time of the Clans is over, and cats have to work out how to live on their own. If ThunderClan is too cowardly to face that—”

  With a screech of fury, Birchfall leaped on Snaketail.

  The two cats rolled over in a spitting knot of fur. Scorchpaw jumped on top of them, clawing at Birchfall’s shoulder. Hazeltail launched himself onto the apprentice, trying to thrust him away from Birchfall.