Warriors: Omen of the Stars #6: The Last Hope (30 page)

Spiderleg was huddled deep in conversation with Brackenfur. Lionblaze noticed for the first time that his black muzzle was flecked with gray.
He’ll be moving into the elders’ den before long.
His pelt pricked.
If there’s a den left.

Brambleclaw flexed his claws. “We need to prepare for a new type of enemy.”

“We have to learn to fight as viciously as Dark Forest warriors.” Lionblaze swallowed the anger rising in his throat. “They’re forcing us to break the warrior code.”

“Defend your Clan above all things,”
Brambleclaw reminded him. “If that means fighting like rogues, then we must fight like rogues.”

“I’ll fight like Brokenstar if it means protecting the Clan.”

“You may have to.” Brambleclaw turned his dark gaze toward Spiderleg and called to the warrior. “I want you to teach Mousefur and Purdy some moves.”

“Okay.” Spiderleg headed for the elders’ den.

“Hollyleaf!” Brambleclaw meowed. “Take Molepaw, Rosepetal, and Whitewing out of camp and practice every battle move you know. Ivypool will come and train with you next.”

Sorreltail bounded toward the ThunderClan deputy. “Let me train with Ivypool first,” she begged.

“If she shows us the Dark Forest’s most deadly moves, we can figure out how to defend ourselves,” Dustpelt added.

While Brambleclaw divided the Clan into training patrols, Lionblaze headed for the nursery. He padded past Daisy and stuck his head inside.

“My poor kits!” Brightheart was in her nest, curled around three squirming scraps of fur. Cloudtail crouched beside her, his pelt ruffled. Lilykit and Seedkit sat on the edge of their nest, chins high.

“We’ll protect them,” Seedkit declared.

“You’ll
stay hidden in your nests,” Lionblaze ordered. He turned to Cloudtail. “Join your Clanmates. I’ll teach Brightheart how to defend Snowkit, Amberkit, and Dewkit.”

As Cloudtail slid out, Lionblaze hopped past him. “Come here, Daisy,” he called. “I need you.”

“What do you want me to do?” Daisy heaved her soft body inside. “I don’t know any warrior moves.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Lionblaze told her. “You and Brightheart are going to work together. You’ve got five kits to protect. Sorreltail will be needed on battle patrol so I’m relying on you to help defend the nursery. There is no cat more dangerous than a queen!” He flicked his nose toward Brightheart. “Stand up!”

Brightheart pushed herself to her paws. Lionblaze lunged toward her kits, teeth bared. Hissing, Brightheart lashed out as fast as lightning, her claws raking his nose.

Lionblaze pulled away. “See? All her instincts will protect her kits.”

Daisy glared at Lionblaze. “How
dare
you attack her like that?”

“It’s okay.” Brightheart met Lionblaze’s gaze, excited. “Let me practice another move.”

Lionblaze flicked his tail toward Daisy. “You can learn this one, too.” He moved backward, focusing on an imaginary attacker, then jabbed a forepaw high and swung his other one low. “It’s easy to do and confuses your attacker.”

“Let me try it on you!” Brightheart balanced on the edge of her nest. “Come at me.”

Daisy hesitated, then darted toward Brightheart. Brightheart swiped high and Daisy instinctively looked at her paw. As she did, Brightheart used her other paw to scoop Daisy’s forelegs out from under her. Daisy stumbled forward and bumped her muzzle on the den floor.

“If you work together, one can trip an enemy while the other attacks.” He was relieved to see that the fear had faded from Brightheart’s gaze. “Just make sure you always keep one eye on your kits.” Dewkit, Amberkit, and Snowkit were clambering up the side of their nest, staring at their suddenly ferocious mother. “You three, stay in the nest. Right at the bottom,” Lionblaze ordered.

Blinking at him, they slid down and huddled deep in the moss.

He turned back to Daisy and Brightheart. “Working together will make you as strong as the fittest warrior.” He felt a rush of satisfaction. For the first time in a long while, he felt as if he was doing exactly what he should. He’d spent too much time worrying these past moons. Now he was ready to fight like the warrior he was born to be. Midnight’s words echoed in his ears.
The journey you make is your choice.

My choice!
He froze, his heart leaping.
It’s all my choice!

“Can I leave you to practice?” he asked Brightheart.

“Can we work out some moves of our own?” she asked.

“Sure.” Lionblaze stuck his head through the wall of the nursery and scanned the clearing. “I’ll be back soon to watch them.”

Where is she?
He tasted the air and finally detected Cinderheart’s scent mingled with Icecloud’s and Leafpool’s. He followed it across the clearing and out of the camp, breaking into a run as he headed up the slope. Leafpool and Icecloud were batting each other with their forepaws, practicing swipes while Cinderheart watched.

“You need to be quicker,” Cinderheart told Icecloud. “Try using shorter blows.”

“Cinderheart!” Lionblaze called from the bank.

She turned, ears pricked. “Lionblaze? What are you doing here?”

“I have to talk to you!”

She must have detected the urgency in his mew because she nodded to her Clanmates and hurried toward him. “What’s the matter?” Worry pricked her gaze.

“Follow me.” Lionblaze weaved past a clump of ferns and halted at the foot of a gnarled beech.

Cinderheart stared at him. “Is something wrong?”

Lionblaze took a deep breath. “You have a destiny,” he began. “Just like every cat. But you also have a choice.”
StarClan, let her understand!
“And so do I.” Cinderheart leaned forward, opening her mouth, but before she could interrupt, he pressed on. “Our destinies guide our paws, but they don’t shape every step. That’s up to us. We walk the path we choose.”

Cinderheart said nothing. Lionblaze persisted. “Whatever our destiny says, we still have to choose our own path, don’t you see? We can walk side by side if we wish.”

Cinderheart backed away, her gray pelt ruffling. “It’s not that easy!”

Lionblaze padded after her. “It
is!”

“My head is so full of memories!” Cinderheart wailed. “I feel as though there are two lives inside me, not one. How can it be my choice to make? Doesn’t Cinderpelt have a choice? I can’t make her be a warrior! She was a medicine cat!”

Lionblaze pressed his muzzle closer. “She chose you,” he murmured. “She gave
you
the choice.”

Cinderheart began to tremble. Lionblaze could sense her mind whirling. “You can only live one life, Cinderheart. It’s your choice! This is
your
destiny, not Cinderpelt’s. She lived her own life.”

Cinderheart gasped. Then her pelt smoothed. She lifted her chin. “Then I choose the life of a warrior.” Her blue eyes shone. “And I choose you.”

A breeze stirred the ferns. Lionblaze glimpsed a pale gray shape appear like a shadow beside Cinderheart. Stepping back in surprise, he saw it peel away from her and drift up like a cobweb carried by the wind. A soft voice whispered,
Thank you.

Lionblaze’s fur stood on end. “Did you see that?”

Cinderheart was watching the shadow disappear into the trees. “It was Cinderpelt,” she breathed. “I’ve set her free.”

Lionblaze purred loudly. “Will you fight alongside me?”

Cinderheart pressed her muzzle fiercely against his. “Always.”

Ferns scraped Jayfeather’s spine as he
gathered comfrey from the patch near the camp entrance. Dew was already beading on the soft leaves. Dusk was drawing nearer. The patrols from WindClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan would be here before long. He shook out his paws. They ached from gathering herbs all afternoon while the warriors trained.

Muscle thumped against earth behind him. “Don’t forget what Ivypool taught us!” Squirrelflight called to Dustpelt. “Dark Forest warriors will go for your throat. Make sure you’re always ready to fend off a killing bite.”

Dustpelt’s fur brushed the ground as he struggled out from under Graystripe. “How can I attack properly if I have to defend myself all the time?”

Graystripe was panting. “What about leading more with your shoulders and keeping your head low?”

Jayfeather plucked a final leaf and stacked it with the rest. Bundling them between his jaws, he headed back into camp. He ducked through the tunnel and hurried around the edge of the clearing, skirting Rosepetal and Molepaw as they practiced a tricky battle move.

“Never turn your back on a Dark Forest warrior!” Ivypool yowled.

“Can we try it next?” Leafpool paced restlessly while Cloudtail plucked at the sandy earth, anticipation pricking from his pelt.

Brambleclaw sat beneath Highledge with Lionblaze and Squirrelflight. “Sorreltail, Thornclaw, and Spiderleg should go to ShadowClan,” he meowed.

“Whitewing, Berrynose, and Hazeltail could go to WindClan,” Squirrelflight suggested.

Jayfeather dropped the herbs beside his den and joined them. “Do you think we’ll be ready in time?”

“We’ll have to be,” Brambleclaw growled.

Jayfeather tasted the air. “Where’s Firestar?”

“He’s setting traps with Sandstorm and Sorreltail,” Dovewing told him. “Stretching brambles across trails and hiding rabbit holes with nettles.”

Ivypool’s mew cut in. “Use your tail to balance, Rosepetal! You need to be able to fight on two paws as well as four! These warriors want to kill you!”

“How do we kill
them?”
Cloudtail called. “They’re already dead!”

Jayfeather frowned.
Good question.
“I’ve seen StarClan warriors fade when there’s no cat left to remember them,” he recalled, raising his voice to reach Cloudtail. “If StarClan can fade, perhaps Dark Forest warriors can die.” He stiffened as he sensed darkness suddenly engulf Ivypool. He reached into her mind and was plunged into the Dark Forest.

Antpelt was struggling beneath Ivypool’s paws. Her claws ripped deeper into the warrior’s throat as life ebbed out of him in a pool of blood. His shape began to fade until there was nothing left but a scarlet stain on the withered grass. Jayfeather recoiled, feeling sick.
She’s killed a Dark Forest warrior!
He wondered if she’d tell Cloudtail that dead cats could vanish forever, but he felt her push the thought away.

Brambleclaw carried on planning. “I’m sending Foxleap, Toadstep, and Rosepetal to RiverClan,” he decided. “They can share Ivypool’s moves with Mistystar’s warriors.”

“I wonder who she’ll send to us?” Jayfeather tried to imagine RiverClan warriors in the ThunderClan camp.

Anger flashed from Molepaw. “Are we expected to hunt for them and let them sleep in our dens till the battle begins?”

“Yes!” Brambleclaw turned on the apprentice. “If that’s what Firestar wants. They’re our allies now.”

Cloudtail bristled. “I’m not sleeping next to a ShadowClan cat.”

“Would you rather be in the patrol I send to fight alongside RiverClan?” Brambleclaw snapped. “There’s no time to worry about Clan rivalries. We’re facing the end of everything we know. We’ll fight alongside the other Clans as though they are our Clanmates, and there will be no argument.”

Lionblaze’s tail whisked impatiently. “Firestar also wants two runners to pass messages between the Clan during the battle.”