The First Battle

Chapter 23

Clear Sky forced his paws to stop trembling. Love ached deep in his heart as he gazed into Storm’s eyes. How had he ever let her go? She stared at him now, her face shimmering in the moonlight. Her gaze was stern.

“Is this what you planned?” She flicked her tail toward the bodies, keeping her eyes fixed on Clear Sky.

Clear Sky glanced past her. The bodies lay unmoving. Their blood glistened in the moonlight. His mouth dried as he searched for words. Did she think he’d meant for this to happen? “I—I was trying to do the right thing,” he mumbled.

“And you didn’t guess that this is how it would end?” Storm demanded.

“I followed my instincts.” The ground seemed to sway beneath his paws.

Storm narrowed her eyes. “Your instincts?” The scorn in her growl pierced his heart like claws.

“I had to protect my cats.”

“Your cats?”

“I’m their leader. I’m responsible for them.”

Storm tipped her head to one side. “And have you protected them?”

Clear Sky tried not to look again at the bodies of his camp mates, but their lifeless pelts seemed to draw his gaze like prey scent. He shuddered, guilt twisting in his belly. “I have not.”

“You’ve been greedy, Clear Sky,” Storm murmured. “You wanted power over every cat.”

“That’s not true!” Clear Sky protested. “I had to make difficult decisions. That took courage.”

Storm said nothing. She just stared at him.

“You must understand,” Clear Sky wailed.

Slowly, Storm turned and gazed at Rainswept Flower’s battered body. Blood pooled around her muzzle. “Was killing her courageous?”

Clear Sky stared desperately at Thunder and Gray Wing. They gazed back in silence, while Rainswept Flower’s spirit watched him with accusing eyes. Would no cat defend him? “I didn’t want to see any cat starve. I was scared my heart would break if I ever had to see another cat die like Fluttering Bird.”

“Fear is what drove you.” There was relief in Storm’s mew. She turned back to him, her gaze softening suddenly. “Fear is a powerful instinct that only the strongest cat can resist. But now you see there’s no need to be afraid. We have shown that death is nothing for you to fear. It’s not the end.”

Clear Sky stared at her, hope lifting in his chest. Could it be true? As he opened his mouth to beg her to tell him, paw steps thrummed toward the clearing.

Cloud Spots scrambled to a halt at the edge. He held a wad of green leaves in his mouth. He dropped them and stared across the bodies, his gaze fixing on Gray Wing. “Dappled Pelt told me you needed coltsfoot.” He spoke blankly, his eyes widening as his gaze flicked back to the bloodstained bodies, and then the starry pelts of the spirit-cats. “What’s happening?”

Storm glanced at him. “We have brought a message.”

Cloud Spots stared at her, disbelief clouding his gaze. “Message?” he echoed hoarsely.

Storm turned to Thunder. “My dear son. I could not be more proud of the cat you’ve become. Do you know why we’ve come here?”

Thunder narrowed his eyes, puzzled. “To show us that death is not the end.”

“No.” Storm rolled her eyes. “You must know that already. You’ve heard tales of Stoneteller, the cat who learned to speak to the ancients. Did you think she imagined the cats who had gone before her?”

“Then why are you here?” Thunder asked.

“Do you remember what I told you?” Storm asked gently.

Thunder frowned as though trying to remember. “That I would know when to make things right.”

Storm purred approvingly. “Now is the time.”

“Now?” Thunder lifted his muzzle. “What do I have to do?”

“Can’t you guess?” Storm glanced again at the bodies. “After all this death, don’t you know?”

“Tall Shadow!”

Clear Sky stiffened as another spirit-cat stepped forward. Tall Shadow stretched her muzzle toward it, sniffing. “Shaded Moss!” There was joy in her mew as she greeted the older cat.

Shaded Moss returned her gaze. “Did I die in vain?”

“What do you mean?” Tall Shadow frowned.

“I thought you could lead the cats when I’d gone.” The spirit tom’s star-specked gaze darkened. “But where did you lead them? To this?”

Tall Shadow backed away, hackles lifting. “I had no choice!”

Shaded Moss nodded toward Fircone’s body. “You had to kill him?”

“He was going to kill Thunder!”

“How do you know?” Shaded Moss challenged. “And who are you to decide whose life is more important?”

Tall Shadow glared at him. “I had no choice,” she repeated fiercely.

“All cats have a choice,” Shaded Moss countered. “A cat who follows only one path, never stopping to question where it leads, is as dumb as the prey she hunts.”

Fircone’s spirit shimmered closer, stopping in front of Gorse Fur. “We hunted as rogues,” he purred. “Do you remember?”

“Of course.” Gorse Fur lifted his chin.

Fircone nodded to Wind Runner. “You were always faster than us both.”

Emberkit was still at her paws. “Were you fast?” He stared up at her with round eyes.

“As the breeze,” Wind Runner told him proudly.

“But you’re happy now,” Fircone meowed. “Being part of a group.”

“Yes.” Wind Runner met his gaze. “We are stronger with allies. Our kits are safer.”

Storm purred suddenly. “Have you guessed our message yet?” As Wind Runner gazed blankly back, she turned to River Ripple. “What about you? Do you know?”

River Ripple sat down, curling his tail across his paws. “I think so,” he mewed softly.

Clear Sky watched him closely, frustration pricking in his pelt. How did he know what they didn’t? He was just a rogue!

“The fighting must end,” River Ripple mewed. “It has torn us apart and—”

Clear Sky thrust his muzzle toward him. “How dare you come here, acting like one of us? This has nothing to do with you. You don’t belong!”

Storm jerked around and glared at him.

Clear Sky stiffened, shocked at the fury burning in her gaze.

“Stop arguing!” she spat. “For once in your life, stop telling every cat who belongs and who doesn’t. You don’t get to decide!” Her pelt bristled. “Why do you think I left the forest?” Her gaze flashed toward Gray Wing. “You came here from the mountains and brought nothing but death. This is your chance to make amends. All of you!”

Clear Sky shifted his paws. Shame washed over him. She was right. If they’d stayed in the mountains they’d have starved. But the rogues that had died here today would still be alive. Storm would still be alive. As his thoughts began to whirl, shadows swept the clearing. Clear Sky looked up. Between the rustling branches of the oak, he saw a cloud cross the moon. Beside it, bright light flared.

A falling star!

It streaked across the crow-black night.

Hope flashed through Clear Sky’s pelt. He glanced at Gray Wing. His brother’s eyes were glowing, fixed on the falling star. Thunder was watching it too.

“It’s a sign.” Cloud Spots lifted his tail as he watched its glittering trail.

“You all live under the same stars,” Storm mewed.

Fircone tipped his head. “And a single moon shines onto all your nests.”

Shaded Moss gazed fondly at Tall Shadow. “We came to tell you only one thing,” he purred. “Unite or die.”

“Don’t let these deaths be wasted,” Storm added. “This must never happen again.”

Clear Sky gazed deep into her eyes. His heart ached with understanding. “We’ll unite,” he promised. “From now on, we live as one.”

Thunder whipped around, staring at his father. “How? Gray Wing could never live beneath trees. And you hate the moor. It’s impossible.”

“You’ll find a way.” Storm headed toward the slope, her shimmering fur fading as she neared it.

Fircone’s spirit returned to his body and curled down into it as though returning to his nest.

Rainswept Flower dipped her head to Tall Shadow. “Unite or die,” she breathed.

One by one, the spirit-cats began to pad away.

Wind Runner’s eyes glistened with sadness as Emberkit trotted after Turtle Tail.

“Good-bye, Gray Wing,” Turtle Tail called fondly over her shoulder as she disappeared into the ferns, Emberkit at her heels.

Grief ripped through Clear Sky. He could see the ferns through Storm’s vanishing pelt. “Don’t go…”

She glanced back at him, her gaze growing pale. “Return to the four trees next full moon,” she told him. “Be ready.”

Clear Sky swallowed. For what?

A breeze swept through the hollow and, like mist, the spirit-cats disappeared.

Clear Sky drew in a deep breath, the tang of blood bathing his tongue once more. He blinked at the dead bodies, lying as still as stones, in the clearing. The wind ruffled his fur as it strengthened, and he wrinkled his nose as he smelled rain. The cloud that had covered the moon was thickening, rolling in from the moor.

As the first drop of rain touched his pelt, he watched Gray Wing weave his way between the bodies. Tall Shadow followed him, her tail drooping as her gaze slid mournfully over her fallen camp mates.

Uncertainty suddenly pricked in Clear Sky’s paws. “What did we just see?” he called.

Gray Wing turned to look at him. “I’m… not sure.”

Rain began to thrum the hard earth.

River Ripple padded to the great rock and settled in its shadow, flattening his ears against the squall. “Did the dead walk among you in the mountains?”

Tall Shadow shook her head. “Stoneteller shared with our ancestors. We never saw them.”

“Perhaps you never needed to,” River Ripple murmured.

“Because you never died like this before.” Thunder padded heavily to Hawk Swoop’s body and, nudging it with his nose, moved her so that she looked as though she were curled asleep. Gently, he lifted her tail and draped it over her muzzle. Then he settled beside her and, as the rain drenched his pelt, pressed his flank to hers.

“What do we do now?” Clear Sky called through the downpour.

“I don’t know.” Wind Runner nodded toward the bodies as the rain washed the blood from their pelts. “Whatever we decide, we have been given hope. We know that we can make a better future than this.”

“We can.” Tall Shadow shook out her sodden fur. “But first, we must bury the dead.”