The Last Hope

The old ThunderClan medicine cat lifted his head, then hauled himself to his paws. “Is it half-moon already?”

“Come with us.” Jayfeather flicked his tail. “We’re gathering the Clan.”

Goosefeather glanced at Whitestorm. “What’s going on?”

Whitestorm shrugged.

“Come on!” Jayfeather raced away. He crested a rise to find Sunstar picking his way along an ivy-choked trail.

Jayfeather caught him up. “Follow us!” He didn’t even pause. There wasn’t time to explain. The ground grew muddy underpaw and ferns gave way to bracken. “Frostfur!”

The white she-cat was reaching up into a cloud of tumbling leaves, batting at them with her paws. Her gaze widened as she saw Whitestorm, Goosefeather, and Sunstar on his tail. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Join us!” Jayfeather called, racing past the she-cat and heading for a swath of brambles.

“Bluestar!”

The old ThunderClan leader was eating a vole in the shade of a withering juniper. She looked up in surprise.

“Follow us!” Jayfeather told her.

Bluestar glanced down at the vole, then bounded toward them, her eyes shining with excitement. “Where are we going?”

“Wait and see!” Jayfeather led the cats down a ravine that cut through the middle of the woods.

As they scrambled up the other side, Jayfeather glanced over his shoulder, surprised by the long line of cats trailing in their wake. Tawnyspots, Frostfur, Swiftbreeze, and Adderfang had joined them. He reached the top of the ravine and caught sight of a thick, tangled pelt lurking in the shadows. “Yellowfang?” Her amber eyes narrowed as he called to her. “Come with us!” he urged.

She curled her lip. “What are you up to?”

Jayfeather stumbled to a halt. “I’m uniting StarClan!”

“Why would I follow fools?”

Jayfeather lashed his tail. “Don’t come, then! Stay here in the dark. My words will be wasted on you anyway.” He bounded forward, his Clanmates scrambling after him.

Pale light showed ahead and he pelted for the edge of the forest, breaking from the trees, tail high. The hill rose before him. Charging through ferns, he led his Clanmates onto the grassy slope. Cats were swarming from every direction, racing for the hill. He spotted Willowshine’s gray pelt leading a horde of RiverClan warriors. Kestrelflight raced from the valley, warriors skimming over the grass behind him like a flock of starlings.

Jayfeather’s paws ached from running but hope was swelling in his chest. At the crest of the hill, he stopped and turned, amazed by the ranks of StarClan cats crowding over the slopes below him.

Kestrelflight halted beside him. “Word must have spread.”

Willowshine slowed, panting, and sat down.

As Jayfeather plucked at the grass, Littlecloud scrambled to the top of the hill and stopped beside him. His eyes stretched wide as an owl’s as he saw the cats amassed below.

“Yellowfang came,” Willowshine whispered in Jayfeather’s ear. The mangy, old she-cat stood apart from the other cats, eyeing them distrustfully.

“StarClan!” Jayfeather stepped forward and lifted his chin. “Listen!”

“Why?” Yellowfang yowled. “We have the wisdom of ages. You have the stupidity of youth!”

Sunstar jerked around and hissed at her. “You can leave if you want to!”

Yellowfang flattened her ears but didn’t move.

Jayfeather tried again. “You must listen to me!” he called. “Yellowfang’s right. I’m younger than any of you.”

Mosskit flicked her tail as she padded out from behind Snowfur.

“Younger than most of you,” Jayfeather corrected himself. He unsheathed his claws. “There is a terrible threat to you all! And to the Clans you once lived in. You know the Dark Forest is rising. You can see it in the dead leaves that litter your hunting grounds, and the clouds that block out your sun.” Jayfeather glanced up at the gray sky. “You must face the truth. And the truth is worse than you ever imagined.” He gazed around the raised faces, hoping they understood. “The Dark Forest must be met and fought. You will not win by huddling together like families of mice. You must stand together or fall divided!”

“But how can we beat an enemy that can bring leaf-bare to StarClan?” Raggedstar called.

Darkflower’s eyes glittered. “They have grown stronger than us.”

Sunstar padded forward. “When we sent you the Prophecy of the Three, we didn’t know the Dark Forest would grow so powerful.”

“But now they are Four!” Bluestar pushed past her old leader. “The Ancients gave them an ally to make them strong enough to fight any enemy.”

Jayfeather’s pelt ruffled. “We don’t know who it is yet.”

Bluestar tipped her head. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Jayfeather frowned.

“You are not the first cats guided by a prophecy,” Bluestar prompted. “I was promised long ago that fire would save the Clan. It has never needed saving as much as it does now.”

The fire in the reeds. Always fire.

Bluestar nodded, as if she could see into his thoughts. “Get him,” she mewed softly. “He needs to know what is happening.”