The Last Hope

The smell of smoke was even stronger. Why had she led him to a fire? “What is it?” he asked.

“One reed is smoldering,” she told him. “It’s been smoldering for days.”

“In this rain?”

“The rest of the reed bed is soaked, but this one keeps burning,” Mothwing explained. “It doesn’t burn completely. The tip just glows with a tiny flame.”

Jayfeather leaned close, the smoke making his eyes sting. Pain stung his nose as it touched the smoldering reed. He stepped backward. “How long has it been like this?”

“Three sunrises,” Mothwing told him. “Ever since the Gathering.”

“It’s a sign!” Jayfeather turned to Mothwing. “You know it’s a sign, don’t you?”

She sat down. “For me, it’s a trick of the marshes,” she meowed. “But I knew you’d find an omen in it. That’s why I showed you.”

“Has Willowshine seen it?” Surely Mothwing would show it to her own Clanmate first?

“Willowshine isn’t looking for signs,” Mothwing told him. “Not like you.”

Jayfeather leaned closer to the tiny flame. As its heat touched his nose again a vision flared in his mind. Fire shot like a stalk in front of him, spearing up toward the sky, glowing orange like a… Jayfeather’s mind whirled… like a tail!

Flametail! StarClan was sending him a sign. Find Flametail!

He’d already been to the Moonpool in his search for the dead ShadowClan cat. But that time he hadn’t even made it to StarClan’s hunting grounds. Maybe StarClan was ready now.

“Thank you!” Jayfeather ran his tail gratefully over Mothwing’s flank. Was he right about her being the fourth cat? Maybe it’s Flametail. This sign changed everything! If he could talk to Flametail and persuade him to tell Littlecloud he drowned accidentally, the medicine cats could unite once more. And with the medicine cats working together, the Clans might join forces in time to face the Dark Forest.

“I have to get back.”

Mothwing stilled him with a paw. “Do you know what it means?”

“I think so.” It would take too long to tell her everything. Jayfeather wanted to get home, curl into his nest, and dream his way to StarClan’s hunting grounds. “It means I can find Flametail now.”

“But he’s dead, right?” Mothwing asked uneasily.

“Not to me!”

Jayfeather felt sorrow flood Mothwing. “I envy your faith,” she murmured. “You can always find hope, even in the darkest moments.”

Jayfeather tipped his head. “If only that were true.” A few sunrises ago he’d given up all trust in the prophecy and his power to fulfill his destiny. Now there seemed a tiny chink of light, but the darkness still loomed on every side.

“I’ll always be here if you need me,” Mothwing told him. “I may not share your faith, but I will always help you fight for what you believe in.”

“Thank you.” Jayfeather broke away, his paws itching for home.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Mothwing offered as he headed back along the trail.

“I’ll be okay!” Running, he followed his own scent along the narrow path until he burst out onto the shore.

Mothwing’s mew sounded from the reeds behind him. “I’ll keep watching the flame!” she yowled. “If it goes out, I’ll know you’ve found what you’re looking for!”

Chapter 16

Jayfeather shivered. A cold wind had woken him. He sat up, feeling rain spatter his pelt. Where am I? He’d awoken on a grassy hillside, the sky darkened by rainclouds and the dismal landscape patched together by dying trees and storm-battered meadows. Was he in the Dark Forest? StarClan had always seemed to exist in perpetual greenleaf, with only the lightest breeze to stir the prey-scented air. Jayfeather fluffed his pelt against the chill and headed for a cluster of trees lower down the slope. No bird sang, no creature moved. He strained to hear paw steps. Were there cats here?

Fur brushed bark. Heart thumping, Jayfeather ducked beneath a tangle of dripping bracken. He pressed his belly to the ground and peered out. Four muddy paws padded toward him. Was it a Dark Forest warrior? He scrabbled backward, deeper into the bush. A familiar scent bathed his tongue. Spottedleaf! Light-headed with relief, he dived out from under the bush.

Spottedleaf stopped. “Jayfeather! What are you doing here?”

“Are these StarClan’s hunting grounds?” Jayfeather gazed up at the browning leaves.

Spottedleaf flicked her ears. “Yes.”

“What’s happened?”

“Leaf-fall.” Spottedleaf hunched against the chilly wind. “The first StarClan has ever known.” Her mew was flat. “And I can taste leaf-bare on the wind.”

“Leaf-bare in StarClan? That’s impossible!”

“Not anymore. The Dark Forest is rising,” Spottedleaf shivered. “And StarClan could fall.”

Jayfeather whisked his tail. “Not if I can help it!” He scanned the woodland, hoping to see more pelts. “I’ve come to speak with Flametail.”

Spottedleaf looked surprised. “Why now?”

“I saw the sign,” Jayfeather explained.

Spottedleaf stared at him blankly. “The sign?”

“The one StarClan sent. The burning reed.”