Dawnstripe turned back and touched his nose with her wind-cold muzzle. “With this life I give you patience. Training the young takes kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. They are small gifts, but they will be rewarded many times.” Talltail felt a sense of calm wash over him with the softness of her breath on his muzzle.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “For your kindness and patience and for everything you taught me. It meant a lot.”
Dawnstripe’s eyes sparkled as she turned away. Shrewclaw took her place.
Talltail stepped back in surprise. “Are you here to give me a life?” His old rival was the last cat he expected to see on this night. He searched Shrewclaw’s dark brown pelt, looking for signs of the wounds that had killed him. But the tom’s glittering fur showed no scars, only starlight.
Shrewclaw lifted his muzzle. “I know we were never friends, Wormcat.”
“I’ll be Wormstar soon,” Talltail corrected him with a purr.
Shrewclaw’s ear twitched. “But loyalty isn’t rooted in friendship. It is much stronger than that. It comes from being born and raised under the same sky, from walking the same path as our ancestors, and from sharing the warrior code.” He pressed his nose to Talltail’s. “With this life I commit you to upholding the warrior code, whatever challenges you might face. This is the wisdom of our ancestors, all our traditions distilled. Trust the code to lead you along the right path.” Stars swirled through Talltail’s mind as the life pulsed through him. He and Shrewclaw were one. Not friends. But they would fight side by side in any battle.
Shrewclaw drew away, dipping his head. Talltail took a deep breath. His paws ached from the effort of staying upright with so many lives flowing into him, and his mind was full of dizzying images. But there was one more life to come.
A broad-shouldered tom appeared, his amber gaze glowing with reflected stars. Sandgorse! Talltail felt his eyes glisten as he recognized his father.
“I knew you would be a great warrior, Talltail.” Sandgorse’s mew was thick with emotion.
“Really?” Talltail whispered.
“Really.” Sandgorse’s eyes shone even brighter. “You never needed to kill Sparrow to prove it.”
“Didn’t you want me to avenge your death?”
Sandgorse shook his head. “There was no reason for vengeance.”
“So you really did give your life to save Sparrow?” There had always been a shadow of doubt at the back of Talltail’s mind that the rogue might just have lied in a desperate effort to save his own life.
“What if I hadn’t?” Sandgorse didn’t move. “Would you still have killed him?”
Talltail’s thoughts whirled. “I don’t know.” He remembered his rage so clearly it took his breath away. But he also remembered the relief when it faded, and he had saved Sparrow from the Thunderpath. He dipped his head. “I guess that whatever happened to you in the tunnel, I’m glad I didn’t kill him.”
“I did save his life, Talltail,” Sandgorse told him. “Sparrow was telling the truth.”
Talltail’s heart seemed to shift and lighten in his chest, as though an ancient wrong had been righted. Sandgorse took a pace forward and touched his nose to Talltail’s. At once stars swept down and swirled him through the night-black sky. Dizzy, he heard Sandgorse’s words over the rushing of the silver wind.
“I give you this life for forgiveness. No death need ever be avenged. Forgiveness brings peace far more surely than vengeance.”
Talltail felt his ruffled fur smooth, his claws retract into his pads, his breath come steadily. Mercy was his, and always would be.
“I’m sorry you had to learn the hard way, Tallstar,” Sandgorse meowed.
Tallstar opened his eyes. Behind his father, the ranks of starry cats glowed and shimmered against the wind-stirred heather. Tallstar let his gaze rest on each cat. “I promise you all that I will lead WindClan with the fierce devotion of a father and the pure love of a mother. Nothing matters more to me than making WindClan strong so that future generations may live with dignity and peace. Every cat I have known—” He paused as Jake filled his thoughts. He pictured his old friend’s green eyes glowing with pride. “Every cat I have loved has taught me the meaning of friendship and the unbending power of the warrior code.”
Sandgorse leaned forward and lapped Tallstar’s cheek with his rough, warm tongue. “I couldn’t be more proud of you, Tallstar,” he whispered. “Go well, lead strongly, and protect WindClan from the storms that lie ahead. For they will come, no matter what StarClan does.” He took a pace back and fixed Tallstar with his gaze, brimming with love. “And there will be a kit, kin of your dearest friend, who will need your help more than he knows. Watch over him, guide his paws, for he is important to all the Clans.”
Tallstar gaped at his father. My dearest friend? Would Jake father kits? He lifted his chin, certain in the knowledge that he would watch over any kit of Jake’s as though it were his own.
Sandgorse’s eyes clouded. “I can say no more, but you will know this cat when you see him. Just remember, there is no need to be afraid of every flame. Fire can bring life, warmth, new growth, as well as death.”
Tallstar blinked. The vision of cats was fading in front of him, and he could see the dazzling light of the Moonstone piercing the shadows. “I will remember,” he vowed. “I will always remember.”
See what happens next in an exclusive manga adventure
CREATED BY
ERIN HUNTER
WRITTEN BY
DAN JOLLEY
ART BY
JAMES L. BARRY
