Tigerheart pricked his ears. Ahead the bracken—still stiff from the morning’s frost—crackled. He dropped into a hunting crouch.
“We don’t need more prey.” Behind him Cloverfoot stood over the squirrel they’d already caught. Blaze held a fat pigeon between his jaws.
“Hush.” Tigerheart flicked his tail impatiently to quiet the tabby she-cat. “Berryheart needs as much food as we can catch until the kits are fully weaned.”
A moon old now, Hollowkit, Sunkit, and Spirekit had tasted their first prey. But although they were growing fast and exploring farther from their nest each day, they still suckled at night.
The bracken crackled again. Pelt prickling excitedly, Tigerheart leaped. He dived between the fronds and clamped his paws over a mouse. It twitched in panic as he hooked it toward him and gave it a killing bite. Its musky scent made his mouth water. Even now, nearly two moons after leaving the city, the taste of forest prey still filled him with pleasure. He wondered if he’d ever get the taste of scrapcan trash off his tongue. He lifted the mouse and carried it back to Cloverfoot.
She purred. “Are you enjoying hunting for your Clan again?”
“I never really stopped.” Tigerheart dropped the mouse beside the squirrel. “The guardian cats were like a Clan to me. But there’s no honor in scavenging. When I bring my Clanmates forest prey, I feel I am feeding them prey worthy of them.”
He picked up the mouse and headed toward the temporary camp they’d built between two swaths of bramble. They had dug nests among the roots and dragged bracken to make a low camp wall where the brambles didn’t reach. Berryheart’s nest was deepest inside the bush, safe from nosy predators. This stretch of hillside had sheltered them peacefully. Owls called where the forest deepened into oak and birch, and foxes screeched in the valley below, but Tigerheart had never scented predators on the territory he’d marked around the camp.
He hadn’t declared himself leader of their tiny Clan, but no one questioned his orders, and it was to Tigerheart they looked to organize the daily hunting and border patrols. Cinnamon had managed to build a small store of herbs, remembering, with the help of Blaze, the sight and scent of the leaves Spiresight and the other healers had used. Luckily, no cat had fallen ill, despite the cold weather. Cinnamon had treated an occasional bellyache and sore throat, but her skills hadn’t been stretched beyond mild ailments.
The cats were rested by the enforced break in their journey, and Tigerheart sensed relief in Dovewing’s gaze as she watched Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit play in the shelter of the camp. He’d felt relief too. The long days of walking had been hard on the kits. But as the moon had worn on, impatience had begun to itch beneath his pelt. Rowanstar’s message rang in his mind. Tell Rowanstar I’m sorry it’s taking so long. Had StarClan known the journey would be this long when they’d sent Rowanstar’s words to Spiresight? Would Tigerheart arrive too late to help his Clan? The tug of home grew stronger each day, and he realized that once more he was beginning to feel trapped, worrying more about ShadowClan with each passing sunset.
As Tigerheart reached the camp now, he heard the kits squeaking. His whiskers twitched with pleasure as he glimpsed them over the bracken. Hollowkit and Spirekit were stalking Pouncekit and Lightkit while Sunkit nestled at Berryheart’s belly. Were they old enough to travel yet?
“Watch out!” Pouncekit mewed a warning to Lightkit as Spirekit sprang. Lightkit pretended to struggle to escape as the tiny kit began tugging at her tail. Hollowkit squealed with delight and flung himself at Pouncekit. He reared and hooked his claws into her shoulder, and she wailed dramatically and fell to the ground.
“You got me!” Pouncekit groaned as he clambered onto her flank and stood there triumphantly.
“Tigerheart!” Lightkit’s eyes lit up as she saw her father pad into camp. She pulled free of Spirekit and raced to meet him, sniffing eagerly at the prey he was carrying. “You caught a mouse!” She bounced around him. “Can I have it? I love mouse. It’s my favorite.”
Tigerheart dropped the prey at the edge of the small clearing. “It’s Shadowkit’s favorite too,” he told her. “You’ll have to share.” He glanced around the camp. Ant and Cinnamon were resting in a patch of sunshine that filtered between the branches. Rippletail was mending a hole in the bracken wall, threading brambles through, which Sparrowtail passed over the top. “Where is Shadowkit?” He couldn’t see the gray tom-kit.
“He and Dovewing went out of camp to talk.” Lightkit was sniffing the mouse distractedly.
Hollowkit and Spirekit hurried to sniff it with her.
“It’s all furry.” Spirekit frowned.
Pouncekit padded to join them. “I like the fur,” she mewed. “It’s chewy.”
As Hollowkit wrinkled his nose, Tigerheart peered over the top of the low camp wall. He could see Dovewing and Shadowkit a little way away, their heads bent together as they talked. He nodded to Lightkit. “Why don’t you show Spirekit how to strip out the meat?” he suggested. “But remember to leave some for Shadowkit.”
“Okay.” She dragged the mouse away from the fresh-kill pile and began to nibble through the fur. Spirekit watched her eagerly.
Tigerheart leaped the camp wall and padded toward Dovewing and Shadowkit. What were they talking about so intently?
Dovewing looked up as he neared. She blinked as though she was relieved to see him. “You’re back.” There was worry in her mew.
“Is everything okay?” Tigerheart glanced from Dovewing to Shadowkit. The gray tom’s eyes were round and anxious.
“Shadowkit had a dream,” Dovewing told him.
“A bad one?” Had the kit had a nightmare?
“No.” Dovewing smoothed her tail along Shadowkit’s spine. “Tell Tigerheart what you told me.”
“I know how to get to the lake,” Shadowkit mewed earnestly.
Tigerheart frowned. “Really?” Had the kit been exploring?
“I dreamed it,” Shadowkit explained. “I dreamed about the Twolegplace Spiresight said was at the end of the Thunderpath, and then I saw beyond. There was a valley with birch trees edging a small stretch of water and then a hill rising to moorland.”
Moorland? Tigerheart stiffened. Was Shadowkit talking about WindClan territory? “Did you see beyond the moor?” He leaned closer to Shadowkit.
“The moor stretched over a hilltop, then down to a lake.”
Tigerheart’s throat tightened with excitement. Were they that close to home? “What did the lake look like?”
“There was pine forest on one side, and oak forest, and near a marshy stretch of reeds at the far end, there was an island.”
Tigerheart lifted his gaze to stare at Dovewing. “Our lake,” he breathed. “He saw our lake in a dream.”
This one will see into the shadows. Tigerheart remembered Spiresight staring at Shadowkit on the day he was born. This dream must be a vision. How else could Shadowkit describe the lake so exactly? Pelt prickling along his spine, he stared at Dovewing. “Have you ever described the lake to him?”
“Not in that much detail,” she told him. “I said that there was forest beside it, but I don’t think I said what kind, and I didn’t mention the reed marshes or the island.”
Tigerheart’s gaze flitted eagerly back to Shadowkit. “Do you think you could lead us there?”
“I dreamed the whole route,” Shadowkit told him. “As though I were a hawk flying over it.”
“But could you recognize it from the ground?” Tigerheart pressed. Asking such a young cat to lead the patrol home was a big responsibility to place on small shoulders. He wanted to make sure Shadowkit could do it. “Could you tell us which paths to follow?”
“Yes.” Shadowkit nodded eagerly. “That’s why I had the dream. I knew it while I was dreaming. It was to show you the way home.”
Tigerheart’s belly tightened. Shadowkit’s bond with StarClan must be strong. He wondered whether it would last, or if their ancestors were just using the kit to guide their paws now. He blinked fondly at his son. “Thank you, Shadowkit. We’ll discuss what you’ve told us with the others.”
Shadowkit’s pelt prickled uneasily. “We will go, won’t we?”
“Of course,” Tigerheart promised. “We just need to decide when.”
“Soon.” Urgency shone in Shadowkit’s eyes.
“As soon as we can.” As Shadowkit searched his gaze, Tigerheart waved him away with a flick of his tail. He had to talk about it with Dovewing and then the other cats. “Lightkit’s stripping a mouse for Spirekit. She promised to save you some. Go and eat. You must be hungry.”
Shadowkit gazed at him for another moment, then turned toward the camp. As he padded away, Tigerheart looked at Dovewing. “Do you think StarClan is really sharing dreams with him?”
“I don’t see how else he could have described the lake so precisely.”
“It seems too good to be true.”
“You saw him,” Dovewing mewed. “How sincere he was. He believes his dream is true, and so do I. Perhaps he is connected to StarClan. Perhaps I dreamed I should travel to the city because I was carrying him in my belly.”
Tigerheart shifted his paws. Spiresight had said that Shadowkit would be special. “Do you think he’ll be a medicine cat?”
“Let’s worry about that when we get home.” Happiness suddenly sparked in Dovewing’s green gaze. “I never imagined we were so close.”
Tigerheart could see over the camp wall from here. Spirekit had wandered away from Lightkit as she pulled the mouse apart and was watching his father’s tail twitch as Sparrowtail worked on the camp wall. Excitement sparked in the tiny kit’s gaze as the tail flashed back and forth in front of him. With a squeak, he pounced and fell onto his side. Wrapping his paws around the tail, he began churning it with his hind claws. Sparrowtail hardly seemed to notice.
Tigerheart turned back to Dovewing. “Do you think Berryheart’s kits are ready to travel?”
“They’re still very small,” Dovewing murmured. “Even walking for two days would be hard on them. Especially in cold weather. They only have kit fur.”
“Let’s ask the others.” Tigerheart headed back to the camp, Dovewing at his heels. When he reached the small clearing, he lifted his chin. “I must speak with you.” He looked around the camp, meeting the gazes of Ant, Cinnamon, Cloverfoot, and Blaze as they turned to look. “Shadowkit has had a dream.”
Rippletail left his work at the camp wall.
Sparrowtail shook Spirekit from his tail and licked him between the ears. “Go and play with the other kits,” he mewed.
“You too.” Berryheart got to her paws, nudging Sunkit away.
Dovewing nodded at Pouncekit. “Will you keep the young kits busy while we talk?”
“Can’t we listen too?” Pouncekit asked as Sunkit, Hollowkit, and Spirekit hurried toward her.
“You can listen,” Dovewing meowed. “But you can’t interrupt.”
As the kits clustered together, Berryheart padded closer. Ant and Cinnamon sat beside Cloverfoot and blinked at Tigerheart.
“Shadowkit dreamed of the lake,” Tigerheart began.
Rippletail pricked his ears. “Are you sure it was the lake?”
“He described it exactly,” Tigerheart told him. “He saw the route we must take to get there and says he can lead us to it.”
Shadowkit huddled closer to his sisters as the warriors turned to look at him.
“Does he have visions like Spire?” Ant asked.
“I guess he does.” Tigerheart felt a rush of pride.
Cloverfoot tipped her head questioningly. “Do you really think a kit can lead us home?”
“I think StarClan has chosen to share with us through him,” Tigerheart meowed. “We need to know how to get home. Now we have been shown a way. It isn’t far. Only a day or two.” He looked at Berryheart. “Do you think your kits are ready to make the journey?” Hope rose in his chest as Berryheart’s gaze flicked toward her kits. I’m coming, ShadowClan. I’ll be there soon.
Berryheart shifted her paws uneasily. “Not yet,” she meowed. “They’re barely weaned.”
Shadowkit stiffened, his pelt pricking. “But—”
Tigerheart spoke over him. “The journey is not long.” His Clan was so near; and in need of his help. The tug of home felt like a thorn in his heart. “We can carry them most of the way.”
“If you must go now, you can leave without us,” Berryheart offered.
“No,” Tigerheart meowed firmly. “We leave together or not at all.”
Dovewing blinked softly at Berryheart. “Will they be ready in a quarter moon?”
Shadowkit flicked his tail. “We must leave before that!”
Dovewing silenced him with a look. “I said no interrupting.”
“But it was my dream—”
Dovewing cut him off. “You are too young to be telling warriors what to do.”
Shadowkit tucked his tail around his paws and stared at the ground.
Dovewing turned back to Berryheart. “A quarter moon?”
“Yes.” Berryheart gazed anxiously at her kits. “But only if the weather is fine.”
Tigerheart flicked his tail eagerly. “Then it’s settled. In a quarter moon, we’ll go home.”
Dusk turned the thin clouds above the forest pink. A fresh wind stirred the branches. Tigerheart gazed at the moon as the sky darkened around it. The quarter moon had passed. They would leave at dawn. Anxiety fluttered in his belly. What would he find when he reached the lake? The shadows are fading. He can’t keep them together. He couldn’t believe Rowanstar had let ShadowClan fall apart. They must be waiting for him. A forest without ShadowClan would be like a forest without trees.
Dovewing gazed across the camp wall, scanning the woods. “The hunting patrol will be back soon,” she meowed. Cloverfoot and Sparrowtail had gone to find prey with Rippletail and Ant. Tigerheart had told them to catch as much as they could; he wanted the party to start their journey with full bellies.
Blaze had left the camp with Cinnamon to hunt for herbs to give them strength. Berryheart was purring as she played moss-ball with Spirekit. Hollowkit and Sunkit were exploring beyond the camp wall. Dovewing could see them now, sniffing at the roots of a beech while Pouncekit and Lightkit bounced around them, trying to catch the moths flitting around the bracken.
“Why don’t you go and play with the other kits?” Tigerheart glanced at Shadowkit. The young tom was crouching in the shadow of the brambles, his eyes dark with worry.
Shadowkit ignored his question. “We should leave tonight.” His gaze flashed toward the sky. “Tomorrow will be too late.”
Tigerheart’s belly tightened. “Has StarClan shared something with you?”
Shadowkit looked away. “I wish they had,” he murmured. “Then I could explain.”
“Explain what?”
“This feeling.” Shadowkit shifted his paws beneath him. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“We leave in the morning,” Tigerheart soothed. Sharing a dream world with StarClan must be hard for a kit who was too young to understand even the real world. And yet he couldn’t resist probing. “In your vision,” he mewed softly, “have you seen a ginger tom?”
Shadowkit glanced at him sharply. “No? Was I meant to?”
“No.” Tigerheart shook out his pelt. He was putting too much pressure on the young tom. It wasn’t fair to ask him if StarClan had shared any news about Rowanstar. Shadowkit would have told me if he knew anything. Why would there be news of his father? Rowanstar had probably solved ShadowClan’s problems by now.
“Tigerheart!” Dovewing’s mew was taut. He looked at her. She was still watching the kits. Had she spotted the hunting patrol?
“What is it?” He followed her gaze as she raised her eyes to the canopy.
A dark shadow flitted between the branches. Tigerheart’s pelt spiked with alarm.
Owl.
It was gliding silently above the kits. His heart lurched as he saw it swoop. With a gasp, he leaped the camp wall and pelted toward Pouncekit. “Hide!” Lightkit and Pouncekit scattered into the bracken. Sunkit stared at him, her eyes wide. Hollowkit seemed rooted to the spot. Tigerheart looked up as he felt the wind from the owl’s wings. The owl was so huge it blocked out the sky. Pelt bushing, he saw its talons reach for Hollowkit. He lunged forward and pushed the kit clear, then reared to beat away the owl.
Gray fur flashed at the corner of his eye. Dovewing leaped for the owl, her claws outstretched. With a screech, she tore at its wing as it began to lift. Tigerheart glimpsed its beady eye. It flapped its giant wing, knocking Dovewing away. Tigerheart slashed at its chest, blinded by a flurry of feathers. Then pain pierced his flanks. Talons clutched him as hard as stone. Shock pulsed in his chest as he felt himself lifted. The owl had caught him. He thrashed helplessly in its grip as the earth fell away from his paws. Wind rushed around him as the owl rose among the trees and glided between the branches. A moment later the trees were below him. Tigerheart struggled for breath as air rushed around him. Dizzy with terror, he stared as the ground disappeared into shadow.
Dovewing and Berryheart were screeching. Their cries echoed far below. The kits mewled in terror. Panic shrilled beneath his pelt. Numb with fear, Tigerheart twisted between the owl’s talons and swung his paws around. Claws stretched out, he sliced at the owl’s belly. The owl screeched in pain and loosened its grip.
Tigerheart felt himself slipping from its talons. His heart leaped to his throat. Wind battered his pelt as he fell, his thoughts reeling. He flailed, grasping at nothing. Then branches whipped his face and battered his flanks as he dropped through the canopy. He saw tree trunks blur around him, and then he hit the ground.
The thump of earth against his chest knocked the breath from him.
Then everything went dark.