Erin Hunter - Dawn

“Go to RiverClan and ask Leopardstar for help!”

“Yes, Firestar!”

“Find Mistyfoot first,” Squirrelpaw whispered. “And make sure Hawkfrost comes too. He shouldn’t be left behind at the camp.”

Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. “You think he would attack here?”

“It’s better to be safe.”

Brambleclaw snorted. “You’re too suspicious,” he growled, and pelted away.

Squirrelpaw felt a prickle of guilt. She hoped Brambleclaw didn’t think her suspicions included him.

“Squirrelpaw, you’ll join my patrol,” Sandstorm ordered.

“Stay near me or Dustpelt.”

Squirrelpaw nodded. Her paws tingled with excitement. It was time to fight back—or time to accept that the forest had been lost, and leave. Even the WindClan warriors seemed to have brightened at the prospect of a battle. Onewhisker thrashed his tail in agitation, while Tornear paced back and forth in front of him.

“We will come with you,” Tallstar announced, his croaking voice finding new strength.

Firestar shook his head. “You are not strong enough.”

Tallstar fixed Firestar with a stern gaze. “My warriors and I are coming.”

Firestar dipped his head. “Very well,” he mewed respectfully.

He surveyed his Clan. “Mousefur, Sandstorm, Thornclaw, are your patrols ready?”

The three warriors nodded.

“This may be our last battle in the forest,” Firestar went on, his voice barely louder than a growl. “We won’t be able to stop the Twolegs completely, but we can try to save ShadowClan.” He looked at Leafpaw. “We’ll need you with us to look after any wounded cats. Cinderpelt will stay behind and take care of the cats here.”

Squirrelpaw knew that the medicine cat’s old injury meant she would be more valuable to the Clan here at Sunningrocks, ready to tend to any cat who returned from the battle injured.

She felt a flash of protectiveness toward her sister, then reminded herself that medicine cats learned fighting skills as well as any warrior.

As Firestar led his Clan down the slope, Squirrelpaw heard Onewhisker whispering to his leader.

“Tallstar, you are on your last life,” he was mewing urgently.

“Please stay here.”

“Whether I’m on my first life or my ninth, my duty is to the forest,” Tallstar replied calmly. “I will not miss this battle.”

Squirrelpaw saw icy determination in the old cat’s eyes, and felt glad for the sake of his dignity when Onewhisker just nodded and walked beside him down the slope to the other cats.

Firestar paused for a moment at the edge of the trees to check that all the patrols were ready before charging into the forest. Squirrelpaw pelted after him with Tawnypelt beside her, their paws thrumming on the hard ground. She glanced back. No cat had fallen behind; even Tallstar was keeping pace. They followed the river until they were safely past the Twoleg clearing nearest the ravine, then swerved around to reach the crest of the slope that led down to Fourtrees.

Firestar didn’t hesitate, but led them straight over the top of the rise. In the hollow, the slaughtered trees had been neatly stacked in piles. With a sickening jolt Squirrelpaw saw that the Great Rock been utterly crushed, reduced to nothing more than a massive pile of cracked stone.

Crowpaw weaved through the running cats and fell in step beside her. “Don’t look at it,” he warned. “Even if the Great Rock were still here, it wouldn’t help ShadowClan.”

Suddenly a yowl rang out from behind them, and Firestar swerved to a halt. The cats behind him stopped and spun around.

Mistyfoot, the RiverClan deputy, stood at the top of the slope. She had her Clan’s finest warriors beside her: Stormfur, Blackclaw, and Mothwing, and beside them the imposing shape of Hawkfrost. Next to him stood Brambleclaw, the outline of his head and shoulders matched with Hawkfrost’s against the pale sky.

“Wait!” Mistyfoot called down. “RiverClan will join you!”

Brambleclaw raced over to Squirrelpaw.

“How did you persuade Leopardstar to let them come?” she gasped.

“It wasn’t hard,” Brambleclaw told her. “They’re hungry and growing desperate.”

Stormfur pushed his way through the restless cats to join them. “We’ll be fighting together.”

“It’s as it should be,” Crowpaw growled from behind.

Looking around, Squirrelpaw realized that all the cats that had returned from the sun-drown-place were beside her—Brambleclaw, Stormfur, Crowpaw, and Tawnypaw. She glanced up at the sky. Feathertail, are you watching us? She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that they hadn’t left their friend behind forever with the Tribe of Rushing Water.

“Come on!” Firestar called. With a fierce battle cry, he led them toward ShadowClan territory.

The Thunderpath that had divided ThunderClan from ShadowClan for many moons lay eerily silent.

“They stopped the other monsters from coming here just before they started destroying our part of the forest,” Tawnypaw whispered to Squirrelpaw. “At least it makes it easier to cross,” she added dryly.

The hard surface felt icy underpaw as Squirrelpaw raced over it and into the trees. She heard the distant roaring of monsters and smelled their acrid scent. Her paws trembled, but fury urged her on. Crowpaw raced alongside her, his eyes grimly focused on the path. Squirrelpaw was amazed that his bony, ragged body possessed such strength.

She glimpsed a Twoleg monster through the trees. Its great yellow forepaws were lowered, its claws unsheathed as it tore through the undergrowth. Suddenly a violent and unnatural sound filled the forest, and Squirrelpaw scrambled to a standstill. All around, the forest rang with a dreadful creaking and groaning that seemed to split the air.

Flattening her body against the trembling forest floor, she saw a Twoleg monster only tail-lengths away. With massive paws it ripped an oak from the ground, dragging its roots from the earth as if it were a blade of grass. The tree’s branches crashed like hail as the monster tipped it over and began to strip the trunk, showering the cats with chips of bark. Something growled behind them, and Squirrelpaw whirled around to find their escape blocked as another monster rolled steadily toward them.

“They’re nearly at the camp!” Tawnypelt yowled.

With a sickening feeling of dread, Squirrelpaw saw more monsters ahead, churning their way toward the tangle of brambles that hid the ShadowClan camp.

“We’ll have to go that way,” Firestar called, gesturing with his tail toward a gap in the trees the monsters had not yet reached.

“No!” spat Crowpaw. “It’ll be quicker this way!” He darted forward, heading straight for the camp.

“Stop! You’ll be killed!” Squirrelpaw leaped onto Crowpaw’s back and dragged him to the ground, digging in her claws.

He collapsed beneath her, hissing with fury. “Get off me!”

Brambleclaw raced over to them. “Don’t be such a fool, Crowpaw!”

“He’s gone mad!” Squirrelpaw shrieked. “I’m not going to let him kill himself!”

“I’m not frightened of joining StarClan,” Crowpaw spat back. “The forest is dying anyway. At least in StarClan, Feathertail will be waiting for me!”

Brambleclaw leaned down and snarled into Crowpaw’s face. “You would rather join a dead warrior than fight to save live ones?”

Squirrelpaw felt the fight drain from Crowpaw’s body, but Brambleclaw went on. “Your Clan needs you more now than ever! Use your head and follow Firestar’s orders! Squirrelpaw, you can take your claws off him now.”