Chapter 1

Brambleclaw closed his eyes, bracing himself for death. A strange peace washed over him as he laid there on the grass waiting to die. StarClan, if you can’t save me, please let my Clan survive, he thought.

All of a sudden, the weight was lifted off of his chest. Firestar was holding the tom in his powerful jaws. Firestar dropped the tom to the ground, where he lay there unmoving for a few moments. Then, he faded away into nothingness, leaving only a small pool of scarlet blood on the ground.

Brambleclaw rose to his aching paws. “Thanks,” he panted. “Where’s Darkstripe?”

Firestar nodded to the gorse barrier. “I chased him off,” the flame-colored tom meowed.

“You should have killed him while you had the chance,” Brambleclaw said. “If I know Darkstripe, he had re-entered the camp as soon as you turned you back.”

Firestar gave him a stern look. “Brambleclaw, you know a warrior doesn’t kill unless he has to,” the ThunderClan leader meowed.

Before Brambleclaw could reply, Firestar dashed away into the battle. Brambleclaw saw where he was heading. Two Dark Forest warriors had Sandstorm pinned to the ground. Sandstorm spat in defiance and struggled to get free, but Brambleclaw could see that the she-cat was growing tired and weak. Yowling furiously, Firestar dragged one of the cats off of her. Firestar gave the tom a sharp bite to the tail that sent him fleeing from the camp. While the other cat was distracted, Sandstorm slipped out of his grasp. Together, Firestar and Sandstorm attacked the other cat. Brambleclaw had a feeling that the tom would no longer be a threat.

Suddenly, Brambleclaw heard a small, high-pitched mew from behind him. “I am going to kill all of the Dark Forest warriors!” Lilykit declared.

The queens hadn’t noticed her disappearance because the were too busy fighting other Dark Forest cats. Her mother, Sorreltail was fighting two massive toms, trying to keep them out of the nursery. A tom crept up behind Lilykit, with his left forepaw raised in the air ready to kill the young kit. He looked up for one moment and glared at Brambleclaw with his amber eyes.

The cat was Tigerstar.