Erin Hunter - The Last Hope

Dovewing padded forward and sniffed the tunnel entrance. “Why else would our dream bring us to this part of the forest?” She padded inside and was swallowed up by the shadows.

“Wait.” Lionblaze was staring hard at Jayfeather. “You looked at the tunnel like you could actually see it.”

“I can,” Jayfeather answered evenly.

“How?” Lionblaze’s eyes widened.

“I always see in dreams.”

“So you know what I look like?” The idea seemed to shock the golden warrior.

Jayfeather narrowed his eyes. “You looked better when you weren’t covered in scratches.”

Lionblaze flicked his tail. “I’ll heal.” He ducked into the hole after Dovewing.

Jayfeather darted after them, pushing past his Clanmates in the crowded space. “I’ll lead,” he told them. “I’m used to the dark.” The floor of the tunnel was damp and muddy beneath his paws. It turned to freezing stone as he headed deeper into blackness. His pads began to ache with cold. He let his whiskers guide him along the twists of the jagged walls. “Are you two okay?” he called over his shoulder.

“Fine.” Lionblaze’s mew echoed from the stone. “Dovewing?”

“I’m right on your heels,” she answered.

Lionblaze’s muzzle touched Jayfeather’s tail-tip. “Do you know where you’re going?”

“No.” But Jayfeather felt sure-pawed as he led them farther into the tunnels. Curiosity was tempting him onward. Behind him, he heard Lionblaze tasting the air, his tongue flicking against his lips. The warrior’s mind was crowding with images of claws and blood.

“There are no WindClan cats here this time,” Jayfeather promised.

“Listen!” Dovewing halted. Fear flashed from her pelt.

Jayfeather pricked his ears. The sound of water rippled ahead of them, echoing around stone walls. Jayfeather felt his brother’s pelt slide past him as Lionblaze rushed ahead.

“I know where we are!” Lionblaze called.

Jayfeather caught up to him. Light silhouetted the warrior’s broad shoulders as the narrow tunnel beyond him opened into a wide cavern. Moonlight was seeping through a hole overhead, lighting the tall stone walls and glinting on the fast-flowing stream that cut the wide, sandy floor in two.

Dovewing padded out of the tunnel, blinking. She stopped at the edge of the stream and touched it with one paw. The black water flowed around her claws.

“You came.”

She leaped back as a voice rasped from high above them. Jayfeather jerked his head up to the ledge that jutted from the wall of the cavern. The moon illuminated a grotesque tom crouching on the stone, hairless and white-eyed, his pale skin wrinkled, his blind eyes bulging.

“What is it?” Dovewing squeaked.

Jayfeather flicked his tail. “It’s Rock.” He gazed up at the Ancient cat. After such a long silence, why had he summoned them now? Anger flared in his belly. The last time Rock had appeared, it had been to tell him to let Flametail drown. Jayfeather glared up at Rock, ears flat.

“You made me leave Flametail in the lake! Did you want the other Clans to think I was a murderer?”

Rock met his gaze boldly, almost as though he could see Jayfeather’s bristling pelt. “What does it matter?” he hissed. “I couldn’t let you die trying to change another cat’s destiny!” The ugly cat curled his lip, his sightless gaze taking in all three of them. “Why do you keep straying from the paths we laid down for you?” Rage cracked his mew.

Jayfeather’s paws trembled. What did Rock mean?

“Who is this?” Lionblaze whispered.

Dovewing was staring up at Rock, frozen in horror. “Is he from StarClan?”

Rock growled. “Not StarClan! This was my home before StarClan was ever dreamed of.”

Jayfeather could feel confusion sparking from his brother. “How do you know this cat?” Lionblaze murmured as he peered up at Rock.

Rock leaned over the lip of the ledge, his head weaving from side to side like a snake about to strike. “Jayfeather and I have known each other for moons,” he snarled.

“Can he see us?” Dovewing’s gaze fixed on Rock’s bloated, white eyes.

Rock straightened up, his tail flicking ominously. “I never realized your companions were so mouse-brained. I summon them in a dream and they stand around asking questions like kits on their first day out of the nursery.”

Jayfeather stepped forward. “You summoned us?”

Rock blinked at him. “Did you think you were the only cat with power over other cats’ dreams?” Sneering, he showed his teeth. “You idiots!” Suddenly stretching onto his paw tips, Rock arched his back, spitting.

Lionblaze drew himself up in response, his tail bushing up, claws scraping against the rock.

“Just listen to him,” Jayfeather warned in a whisper.

“This is all your fault!” Rock yowled. “You are the Three. If you had never been born, the Dark Forest would not have risen!”

Jayfeather stiffened in shock. “We never asked to be born!”

“But you were!” Rock spat. “You fulfilled a prophecy written at the beginning of time and gave power to enemies who should long since have faded from the memories of all cats!” He paced the tiny ledge, twisting like a cornered rat, back and forth, his skin rippling with anger. “Now, because of your existence, the Clans face their darkest moment.” He froze suddenly, leaning forward from the ledge. “You Clan cats hold memories too long! You remember dead warriors and dwell on old enemies, passing on stories of battles that should be left behind, not picked over like rotting carcasses!”

Jayfeather swallowed, bristling with indignation that Rock should scorn the Clan’s heritage.

“The Clans have brought this battle upon themselves,” Rock snarled. “You bear grudges too long and refuse to let go of cats so cruel and unnatural they deserve to be forgotten! You keep them alive in your memories and let them find kindred spirits at the edges of StarClan where no star dares shine.” He shook his head, his spine softening. “Why couldn’t you just let them fade into the past?”

“Like you?” Dovewing stepped forward, hackles up. “Do you wish you’d been left to fade?”

Jayfeather tried to hook her back with a paw, but Dovewing pushed past him, her claws curling over the edge of the stream as she gazed unblinking up at Rock.

Rock sat down. “Even me,” he croaked quietly.

Jayfeather felt a rush of indignation. How could Rock blame them? “We thought we were doing the right thing by honoring our ancestors.”

“It was forged into the destiny of the Clans.” Rock’s shoulders drooped. “That you should remember those lost to you.”

Lionblaze lifted his chin. “It has made us strong.”

“And now it has become your greatest threat.” Rock shook his head. “We always knew this moment would come. Without darkness there is no light, and now the darkness between the stars is rising up to banish the light forever.” He thrust his muzzle forward, eyes widening once more. “You were our only hope, the Three joined with the fourth!”

Jayfeather swished his tail. “We still are!”

“Really?” Rock looked straight down at him, white eyes shining in the gloom. “Then why has each of you given up before the battle has begun?”

Dovewing flinched away from the stream and slunk back to join the others. Lionblaze dropped his gaze. Before he had time to guess what his Clanmates were thinking, guilt jabbed at Jayfeather’s belly. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting told me that we weren’t enough!” He flung the words at Rock. He hadn’t lost faith without reason! “They told us we couldn’t do it alone; that we needed a fourth cat.”

“And have you found this fourth cat?” Rock hissed.