The warriors pressed together, craning their necks to watch all five dogs. Crouching low, Sun Shadow hissed, and an answering growl came from the dogs. Two were black, both almost as big as the shaggy brown one. One was medium-sized, close-furred, and brown, and one was smaller and white with curling fur, its pink tongue dangling as it panted eagerly.
She could feel Sun Shadow trembling.
“Let’s take on the smallest one together,” Shadowstar murmured quickly. “Then we’ll head for the trees. Once we’re up a tree, they won’t be able to reach us.” The largest dog was coming closer, growling gutturally.
Sun Shadow nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m ready,” he mewed, his voice quiet.
Shadowstar tensed her hindquarters. “Now!” she yowled, and dashed toward the white dog, Sun Shadow a blur of motion beside her.
Shadowstar swiped her claws across the white dog’s face, and it flinched backward, blood running from the scratch. Sun Shadow launched himself at the dog’s side, clawing at its shoulder, and it turned, yelping, to face the new threat.
“Go!” Shadowstar jumped onto the dog’s back and dug in her claws. It howled, twisting and snapping, trying to reach her, and Sun Shadow dived between its legs and came out behind it, dashing toward the trees. The other dogs were barking in confusion and rage.
Balanced on the dog’s back, Shadowstar looked toward the trees, gauging how far she’d have to run. For a moment, she thought she saw amber eyes—cat eyes—blinking at her from the shadowed branches. Was help coming? But the eyes didn’t move. They just watched. Shadowstar leaped from the dog’s back, heading for safety.
In midair, she was suddenly jerked back, a sharp pain shooting through her hindquarters. One of the larger black dogs had caught her in its jaws as she jumped. Like prey, she thought, horrified, and twisted to claw at its muzzle. Her vision clouded with agony.
The dog snarled, shaking her as she tried desperately to run, her forepaws churning. Through her shock, Shadowstar could see Sun Shadow near the tree line, looking back in horror.
Run, she thought desperately, run! ShadowClan needs you.
Sun Shadow turned and began to run—back, toward the dogs, toward Shadowstar.
No! she thought, and then everything went dark.
The sun was warm on Shadowstar’s back. The pain was gone. She lay still for a moment, her eyes closed, breathing in the rich scents of prey and growing plants all around her.
She knew where she was.
Those dogs killed me, she thought, outraged. Now I have only one life left.
When Windstar’s daughter Moth Flight had told the Clans’ leaders that StarClan had given them each nine lives, guaranteeing they would be able to take the risks a leader must and still have all the moons they’d need to guide their Clans, Shadowstar had been dubious. How could a cat die more than one death? But then she had died—after an attack by a badger—and gone to StarClan and woken again, healed, with a memory of this warm, green place.
She had died eight times: from the badger’s attack, a miserable coughing illness, a Twoleg monster on the Thunderpath, and a fight with a rogue before the Clans had fully established their rights to the forest. She’d fallen from a tree while hunting, she’d been swept away by the river—she’d saved a kit from drowning, so it had been worth it—and she’d had an infected wound that even Pebble Heart hadn’t been able to treat. And now these mangy dogs.
Only one more life.
It would be fine, Shadowstar reasoned. Most cats—all cats who weren’t Clan leaders—had only one life. All through the long struggle to find territory and establish her Clan, those terrible moons when all the cats seemed to turn their claws against one another, she’d had only one life.
Still, she now felt vulnerable. As if a great owl were hovering above her, its talons outstretched.
Most cats have only one life, she reminded herself again.
Most cats. Shadowstar’s heart gave a sickening thud. Please, StarClan, please let Sun Shadow have gotten away.
But when she opened her eyes, her heart sank. Sun Shadow was on his feet beside her, blinking nervously at two cats who stood before him. The dogs killed him, too. “Gray Wing?” he asked tentatively. “But you’re …” He turned to face the other cat, a black tom. “And I don’t know you.”
Shadowstar climbed to her paws and pressed her shoulder against his. “This is your father,” she mewed gently, taking in her beloved brother’s outline, now glittering with faint stars. “Hello, Moon Shadow. It’s been a while. Hello, Gray Wing.”
Both StarClan toms dipped their heads to her, their eyes warm with affection. Shadowstar turned to face Sun Shadow, and now she noticed the stars shining in his fur, too. “I’m so sorry,” she told him. Guilt flooded through her. I should have protected him.
“It’s not your fault. You told me to run. But I couldn’t leave you to fight them off alone.” Sun Shadow’s amber eyes were wide. “But … I’m dead? I don’t remember exactly… .”
Moon Shadow stepped forward and brushed his cheek against his son’s. “I’ve been watching you since you came to the forest,” he meowed gently. “I’m so proud of you. This is where you belong now.”
“It is?” Sun Shadow looked at Shadowstar anxiously, his ears twitching. “But what about ShadowClan?”
“We will watch over them together,” Moon Shadow told him with a purr. “Come with me.”
Hesitantly, Sun Shadow stepped toward him. In a moment, they were gone, leaving a trail of starry paw prints in the grass. Shadowstar looked after them, aching inside. Whatever Sun Shadow said, she should have been able to prevent his death. She was his leader. What would she do without her deputy?
In the grass at some distance, she could see a faint black shape. Herself, stars glimmering in her fur. Each time she came here, the shape was a little clearer, a little firmer. Next time, it would be her.
She brushed her tail against Gray Wing’s. “I only have one more life,” she mewed.
“I hope it’ll be enough.” Gray Wing’s expression was grim.
Alarm stirred inside Shadowstar. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Gray Wing shook his head. “I don’t know what it will mean for ShadowClan, or for any of the Clans, when you die,” he told her, his gaze steady. “None of us do. A leader’s never lost all nine lives before. I hope that ShadowClan will be strong enough to survive your loss. If ShadowClan falls apart, it could destroy all the Clans.”
Shadowstar shuddered, suddenly chilled. She’d founded ShadowClan. She’d brought all those cats together and built their life in the pine forest. Would they stay together without her? The feeling of vulnerability was back, stronger than before. One life was such a fragile, temporary thing.
And it wasn’t just her own life that was at stake. It was also the life of her Clan.
Chapter Two
Vroooom.
At the sound of a Twoleg monster roaring by, Shadowstar opened her eyes. She was lying in the grass near the side of the Thunderpath, not far from the Twoleg bridge. Dawn was breaking, soft pink and golden clouds at the horizon.
For a moment, Shadowstar felt as if she were waking from a long, good sleep. She got to her feet and arched her back, stretching her paws in front of her, enjoying the loosening of her muscles.