Squirrelflight’s belly clenched. It couldn’t be true! StarClan couldn’t be that cruel! She wanted to rush into the nursery to see for herself and comfort her sister, but she knew she had to stay where she was, guarding Sorreltail while her kits arrived.
In front of her, the hollow was emptying as if some of the badgers had been chased off, but the cats still weren’t winning the fight. There were too many unmoving heaps of fur sprawled on the ground, too much blood sinking into the paw-trodden earth.
A few fox-lengths away Squirrelflight could see Firestar and Brackenfur battling a long-legged male badger, darting forward in turn to confuse it. The badger swiped at them with massive paws; it couldn’t be long before one of the blows landed, hard enough to smash a cat’s skull or break a limb. Her belly churned as she looked for Brambleclaw, but she couldn’t see him.
Crowfeather crouched beside her, his amber eyes burning as he gazed across the clearing.
“You wouldn’t think he’d be so upset about the death of another Clan’s medicine cat,” Ashfur muttered into Squirrelflight’s ear.
Squirrelflight didn’t say anything. She knew the grey-black warrior wasn’t just grieving for Cinderpelt.
Another badger lumbered out of the shadows, its jaws open to reveal two rows of pointed yellow teeth. It was bleeding heavily from one shoulder; Squirrelflight’s belly twisted as she imagined what might have happened to the warrior who had inflicted the wound. Ashfur leapt out to confront the creature before it got too close to the nursery, and Squirrelflight sprang up to follow. “Crowfeather, guard the entrance!” she yowled.
But before she could join Ashfur, she was distracted by a terrified wail. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Whitepaw flat on the ground by the trampled barrier, frozen with terror as a badger loomed over her. Squirrelflight swerved and pelted over to the apprentice’s side. She aimed outstretched claws, then pulled back without striking and stared up in disbelief.
“It’s OK, Whitepaw,” she choked out after a moment. “This is Midnight.”
“Greetings, small warrior,” Midnight rasped.
Squirrelflight’s instinctive reaction had been relief, but then her suspicions flared up. Was Midnight here to fight on behalf of her kin? Squirrelflight took a pace backwards until she was standing protectively over Whitepaw.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“No need for fear,” Midnight reassured her. “My way is not fight. I bring help.”
She cocked her head to one side as if she were listening to something, then stepped aside to let a river of cats stream into the camp: strong, fresh warriors who fell on the badgers with yowls of fury. Tornear, Ashfoot, Whitetail, Onestar …
WindClan had come to help them!
The badger that had been fighting with Firestar and Brackenfur staggered back, turned tail, and ran. Firestar and Webfoot chased after it, hissing. Nightcloud and Onestar joined Ashfur to chase off the badger that had come too close to the nursery. Squirrelflight dashed forward to help, but she realised all the invaders were fleeing from the clearing. She skidded to a halt and watched them blunder through the broken branches that lay across the entrance to the hollow.
Relief stabbed Squirrelflight as she spotted Brambleclaw standing a little way off, his sides heaving with effort. She caught his eye and saw her own surprise reflected at the arrival of the Clan who had so recently rejected their friendship.
Ashfur’s badger lumbered past her with Nightcloud and Onestar hard on its paws. Onestar halted in front of Brambleclaw as the badger scrambled over the remains of the thorn barrier and vanished into the trees.
“You came,” Brambleclaw meowed.
“Of course we came.” Pride kindled in Onestar’s eyes. “There are four Clans in the forest, but we can still help one another.”
Ashfur staggered to a stop beside Squirrelflight, and she turned to lick his wounds. He had lost fur from his shoulder and one side, and there was a deep gash on his foreleg. Even as she took care of him she tried to push aside the thought that she hadn’t been as frightened for him as she’d been for Brambleclaw.
“You’d better let Leafpool have a look at that,” she told him. She’d almost said “Cinderpelt.”
“Later,” he meowed. “It’s nothing serious. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Onestar and his warriors,” he added. “I thought we were all going to join StarClan.”
“Not yet,” Squirrelflight assured him. But the grim truth of what had happened swept over her, and she felt like wailing aloud. How many cats were dead besides Cinderpelt and Sootfur? How many more would die of their injuries?
The last of the badgers were disappearing with WindClan in pursuit. The exhausted ThunderClan warriors began to gather in the centre of the camp around Midnight. Their eyes were stunned with horror, as if they couldn’t believe the battle was over.
Whitepaw scrambled to her paws and ran over to Cloudtail and Brightheart, who were slowly approaching from the direction of the elders’ den. Cloudtail’s white fur was caked with blood and dust, and he leaned heavily on Brightheart’s shoulder. Mousefur guided Longtail down from the Highledge, glancing around with narrowed eyes as if she wasn’t sure all their enemies had gone. Goldenflower followed a moment later; Brambleclaw, Thornclaw, and Sandstorm joined them.
Dustpelt limped up, fear in his eyes as he scanned the clearing. “Ferncloud?” he rasped. “Birchpaw?”
“They’re fine,” Squirrelflight reassured him. “They got out of the camp. They’re looking after Daisy and her kits.”
The brown tabby warrior visibly relaxed, collapsing on the ground to lick a wound on his shoulder.
Firestar staggered up and halted in front of Midnight, gazing up uncertainly as if he wondered why this badger wasn’t fleeing. As he tensed his muscles, ready to attack, Squirrelflight stepped forward quickly.
“Firestar, this is Midnight,” she meowed. “The badger we met at the sun-drown-place. Midnight, this is our Clan leader, Firestar.”
Relief flooded Firestar’s green eyes. “The badger who warned us to leave the forest?” He dipped his head. “You’re welcome here.”
“Good is it to be here,” Midnight told him. “And to see again friends from journey. Yet I wish time was happier.”
“So do we all.” Firestar let out an exhausted sigh. “You knew about this, then? You came to warn us?”
“No, she came to warn us.” Onestar padded up to Firestar’s side. “And to ask for our help.”
“Attack come before I expect,” Midnight explained. “No use come alone to ThunderClan. Best to find more fighting cats first.”
Firestar blinked gratefully. “We’re very glad you did. Thank StarClan you found out what your kin were planning.”
“First in stars I see it,” the old badger told him. “Then I go to my kin, try to speak of peace, but they not listen, and little they tell me. They call me ‘cat-friend,’ and other insults more worse.”
Squirrelflight flexed her claws. “I wish I’d ripped a bit more fur off, just for you, Midnight.”
The badger shrugged. “Is not important. Except I might have got here more sooner. RiverClan they hate most,” she added. “Warriors there drive them out first.”
“We’d better send a message to Leopardstar,” Firestar meowed. “The badgers could still attack there.”
Squirrelflight’s shoulders sagged at the thought of trekking all the way around the lake to RiverClan.
“No need,” rasped Midnight. “My kin in no state fight more. They think twice before bother cats again.”
“Thank StarClan for that,” Squirrelflight murmured. She was wondering how soon she would be able to crawl into what remained of the warriors’ den to sleep when she heard her sister’s voice behind her. “Brackenfur? Is Brackenfur here?”
The ginger warrior was lying in a patch of ferns at the edge of the clearing. His blood was trickling into the dust and he looked barely conscious. He lifted his head as Leafpool came up to him.
“Sorreltail?” He lurched unsteadily to his paws. “It’s Sorreltail, isn’t it? Is she all right?”
Leafpool brushed against his pelt. She looked exhausted too. “She’s fine. She has four healthy kits.”
“Four?” Brackenfur’s tail curled up. “That’s great! Thanks, Leafpool.” He raced across the camp and into the nursery.
Squirrelflight watched him go. Thanks to WindClan they had won the battle. ThunderClan had survived greater disasters than this, and sooner or later the Clan would be as strong as ever. The four scraps of new life in the nursery seemed like a promise from StarClan.
Yet life had ended too. ThunderClan would mourn Cinderpelt’s death for a long time. But it would have been even worse if Leafpool hadn’t returned.
Squirrelflight rasped her tongue over her sister’s ear. “I’m so glad you came back.”
Leafpool glanced over at Crowfeather, who was still crouched outside the nursery, then turned back to her sister. “I’m glad to be back, too.”
Crowfeather stood up as the WindClan cats came back into the camp.
“Look, it’s Crowfeather!” Whitetail exclaimed. “What’s he doing here?”
Onestar stalked over to stand in front of the grey-black warrior. “Crowfeather, you came back … but not to your own Clan.”
Crowfeather looked at him steadily. “I wanted to bring Leafpool safely to her own camp first. I’m ready to come home now.”
“We have things to talk about, but now is not the time,” Onestar meowed.
Crowfeather dipped his head and fell in behind his leader as Onestar padded over to Firestar.
“Onestar, every cat in ThunderClan thanks you,” Firestar meowed. “Without you, StarClan would have gained many more warriors.”
“You’ve helped WindClan in the past,” Onestar replied. “It’s only right that we should come and help you.”
“We won’t forget—” Firestar began.
He was interrupted by a startled yowl from Thornclaw, who was closest to the camp entrance. Squirrelflight stiffened. Had the badgers come back? She didn’t think she could lift a single paw now, even to save her life.
But her exhaustion vanished when she saw two cats carefully picking their way through the scattered thorn branches. The first of them, a powerful warrior with a thick grey pelt, stopped at the edge of the clearing and looked around.
“This isn’t what I expected to find,” he meowed. “What happened?”
Squirrelflight stared in disbelief. After the badger attack, she had thought nothing else could shock her, but for a heartbeat she forgot how to breathe.
Gazing curiously around them, sleek-furred and calm among the shattered Clan, were Stormfur and Brook.
If you enjoyed Twilight, check out these other great Erin Hunter titles.
Buy the ebook here
Buy the ebook here
Buy the ebook here
Buy the ebook here
Buy the ebook here
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
WARRIORS
Book One: Into the Wild
Book Two: Fire and Ice
Book Three: Forest of Secrets
Book Four: Rising Storm
Book Five: A Dangerous Path
Book Six: The Darkest Hour
WARRIORS: THE NEW PROPHECY
Book One: Midnight
Book Two: Moonrise
Book Three: Dawn
Book Four: Starlight
Book Five: Twilight
Book Six: Sunset
COPYRIGHT
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2011
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
77–85 Fulham Palace Road,
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in the USA by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2005
Copyright © Erin Hunter 2005
Series created by Working Partners Limited.
Erin Hunter asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
Source ISBN: 9780007419265
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2013 ISBN: 9780007550920
Version: 2013-09-23
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/ebooks
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com
Erin Hunter, Twilight
(Series: # )
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends