“Traitor!” Brambleclaw gasped.
He tried to heave upward and throw his enemy off, but the sodden ground yielded under him, and he felt the icy touch of liquid mud soaking into his pelt. He battered helplessly against Mudclaw’s belly with his hindpaws.
Mudclaw let out a snarl, baring his teeth. Brambleclaw braced himself as he waited for the shining fangs to meet in his throat. Then a darker shadow reared up beyond Mudclaw, and a massive tabby paw swatted the WindClan warrior on the side of the head. Mudclaw jerked back, off balance, and Brambleclaw managed to slide out from under him to see him grappling with Hawkfrost in a clump of reeds.
Utterly confused, Brambleclaw staggered to his paws, feeling the drag of wet mud plastered over his pelt. The next flash of lightning showed Hawkfrost standing over Mudclaw with one paw on his belly and the other pinning him by the throat. His pelt was soaked in mud, and his ice-blue eyes blazed.
He and Brambleclaw gazed at each other.
“You saved my life,” Brambleclaw’s voice shook. “Why, Hawkfrost? Why did you help me and not him?”
Mudclaw writhed under Hawkfrost’s paws and spat out an insult, but Hawkfrost’s gaze never left Brambleclaw. Even in the darkness the young ThunderClan warrior could not break away from the compelling ice-blue eyes. For a few moments the two of them seemed alone in the world, enclosed by the turmoil of the storm.
“You helped Mudclaw,” Brambleclaw stammered. “You attacked WindClan, but now…”
Hawkfrost bowed his head. “True,” he meowed. “I joined with Mudclaw because I believe he is the rightful leader of WindClan. But you’re my brother, Brambleclaw. How could I let him kill you?”
His words struck Brambleclaw with the force of a blow. It was as if Hawkfrost had known all along that Onewhisker had not been appointed as deputy in the right way. Brambleclaw felt a strange stab of relief that he was not the only cat to fear StarClan would never approve him as the leader of WindClan.
“Mudclaw persuaded me to join with him,” Hawkfrost went on. “He promised to leave RiverClan in peace if I and some of my Clanmates helped him drive out Onewhisker.”
“Tell him what else I promised,” Mudclaw snarled from beneath Hawkfrost’s paws. “Tell him how you came to me and offered your help if I made you WindClan’s deputy… and helped you take over RiverClan later.”
“What?” Hawkfrost’s eyes widened. “Brambleclaw, don’t listen to him. Why would I want to leave RiverClan? And why would I need to ask any cat for that kind of help?” He lifted his head; Brambleclaw thought he had never seen a cat look so noble, even bleeding and muddy from the battle. “If I am to lead RiverClan one day, it will be by the warrior code, or not at all.”
“Liar!” Mudclaw spat.
Hawkfrost shook his head. “I did only what I thought was right,” he meowed to Brambleclaw. “Can you honestly say you never had any doubts about Onewhisker’s leadership?”
Brambleclaw could not reply. His half brother’s words struck too close to home.
As he hesitated, Mudclaw let out a hiss of triumph and heaved himself up, thrusting Hawkfrost back into a reedy pool. Brambleclaw crouched to fight back as the WindClan warrior leaped at him, but Hawkfrost, recovering rapidly, dived between them and lashed out furiously at Mudclaw with teeth and claws. Mudclaw veered to one side, then turned and fled, his dark shape soon lost in the night.
Without another word, Hawkfrost spun around and splashed off after him, leaving Brambleclaw to follow.
Lightning flashed again, and above the answering roll of thunder Brambleclaw heard a cat calling his name. He glanced back to see Squirrelflight standing behind him, her eyes wide with horror.
“What are you doing?” she gasped. “You’re letting him go!”
“No—you don’t understand—” Brambleclaw began.
“I heard what Mudclaw said! Hawkfrost helped him so he could be deputy of WindClan, and take over RiverClan. He’s dangerous, Brambleclaw!”
“But Mudclaw was lying!” Brambleclaw protested.
A claw of lightning tore the sky from top to bottom. The pulsing blue-white flare lit up a cat standing on the shore opposite the island. It was Mudclaw. In the same heartbeat an earsplitting crack sounded across the water. The lightning crackled down to the topmost branches of one of the trees on the island, outlining it briefly in a spike of flame. The tree began to fall, gathering momentum as it toppled. Too late, Mudclaw turned to flee. His screech of terror was cut off as the tree crashed down on the shore, its branches clattering like bones.
Brambleclaw stumbled forward through the swamp until he reached firmer ground. As if the storm had done its work by destroying the tree, it began to move away; the next flash of lightning was over the hills, and the thunder echoed more distantly. The rain faded to a soft hiss, and ragged gaps began to appear in the clouds, allowing a feeble moonlight to fall over the lake.
By its light, Brambleclaw could see more cats gathering on the shore, among them Firestar, Onewhisker, and his deputy, Ashfoot. The WindClan leader looked exhausted, and blood trickled from a long gash on his shoulder. His eyes were hollow with the knowledge that Mudclaw and other WindClan warriors had been traitors plotting secretly against him.
Brambleclaw splashed his way across to his Clan leader and the WindClan cats. Together they approached the tree.
Brambleclaw froze when he spotted movement among the branches. He braced himself, ready to battle to the death if Mudclaw was still alive. Then the branches shifted and a tabby cat backed clumsily out, his hindpaws scrabbling for a grip on the pebbles. Brambleclaw blinked. It was Hawkfrost.
His half brother had his teeth fixed in Mudclaw’s scruff as he dragged him into the open. The WindClan warrior’s head lolled at an awkward angle, and his limbs trailed limply upon the ground.
Hawkfrost dragged him up to Onewhisker and let the body fall at the Clan leader’s paws. “The tree crushed him,” he rasped. “Your leadership is safe.”
Onewhisker bent his head and sniffed at the former deputy. “The Clan will grieve for him,” he murmured. “He was a fine warrior once.”
Ashfoot let out a faint hiss. “He betrayed you!”
“As did you!” Onewhisker spat, rounding on Hawkfrost.
“You helped him.” He unsheathed his claws, ready to spring on the massive tabby.
Hawkfrost bowed his head, and Brambleclaw felt his belly clench in horror at what Onewhisker might do in revenge.
“I admit it,” Hawkfrost meowed. “And I ask your forgiveness. I truly believed that Mudclaw was the rightful leader of WindClan, and because of that, at his request, I brought cats from RiverClan and ShadowClan to help him. But StarClan has given us a clear sign by sending the lightning to destroy Mudclaw. Onewhisker, you are WindClan’s true leader, chosen by StarClan. Do with me what you will.”
Onewhisker glanced at Firestar, but the ThunderClan leader just flicked his ears, indicating that this was Onewhisker’s problem to solve. Brambleclaw looked closely at Firestar, trying to read his reaction to the news that StarClan approved of Onewhisker’s leadership after all. But Firestar’s expression gave nothing away.
Meanwhile Ashfoot padded forward to investigate the branches of the fallen tree. “Hawkfrost is right, Onewhisker.
You couldn’t hope for a better sign than this. StarClan sent lightning to strike the tree and kill the cat who would have taken your place. There’s no doubt now that you’re the cat StarClan has chosen to lead WindClan.”