Contents
Dedication
Allegiances
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Exclusive Manga Adventure
Excerpt from Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #1: The Apprentice’s Quest
Back Ads
About the Author
Books by Erin Hunter
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Dedication
Special thanks to Kate Cary
ALLEGIANCES
WINDCLAN
LEADER WIND RUNNER—wiry brown she-cat with yellow eyes
GORSE FUR—thin, gray tabby tom
DUST MUZZLE—gray tabby tom with amber eyes
MOTH FLIGHT—white she-cat with green eyes
SLATE—thick-furred gray she-cat with one ear tip missing
WHITE TAIL—dark gray tom-kit with white patches and amber eyes
SILVER STRIPE—pale gray tabby she-kit with blue eyes
BLACK EAR—black-and-white patched tom-kit with amber eyes
SPOTTED FUR—golden-brown tom with amber eyes and a dappled coat
ROCKY—plump orange-and-white tom with green eyes
SWIFT MINNOW—gray-and-white she-cat
REED TAIL—silver tabby tom with a knowledge of herbs
JAGGED PEAK—small gray tabby tom with blue eyes
HOLLY—she-cat with prickly, bushy fur
STORM PELT—mottled gray tom with blue eyes and thick, bushy tail
DEW NOSE—brown splotchy tabby she-cat with white tips on nose and tail, yellow eyes
EAGLE FEATHER—brown tom with yellow eyes, broad shoulders, and striped tail
WILLOW TAIL—pale tabby she-cat with blue eyes
FERN LEAF—black she-cat with green eyes
SKYCLAN
LEADER CLEAR SKY—light gray tom with blue eyes
STAR FLOWER—golden she-cat with green eyes
TINY BRANCH—tan-and-silver tom
DEW PETAL—silver-and-white she-cat
FLOWER FOOT—she-cat with tan stripes
ACORN FUR—chestnut brown she-cat
THORN—tom with splotchy brown fur
SPARROW FUR—tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes
QUICK WATER—gray-and-white she-cat
NETTLE—gray tom
BIRCH—ginger tom with white circles of fur around his eyes
ALDER—gray, brown-and-white she-cat
BLOSSOM—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes
RED CLAW—reddish-brown tom
THUNDERCLAN
LEADER THUNDER—orange tom with big white paws
VIOLET DAWN—sleek dark gray she-cat with bits of black around her ears and paws
CLOUD SPOTS—long-furred black tom with white ears, white chest, and two white paws
LIGHTNING TAIL—black tom
OWL EYES—gray tom with amber eyes
PINK EYES—white tom with pink eyes
LEAF—black-and-white tom with amber eyes
MILKWEED—splotchy ginger-and-black she-cat with scar on muzzle
CLOVER—ginger-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes
THISTLE—ginger tom with green eyes
GOOSEBERRY—pale yellow tabby she-cat yew tail—cream-and-brown tom
APPLE BLOSSOM—orange-and-white she-kit
SNAIL SHELL—dappled gray tom-kit
RIVERCLAN
LEADER RIVER RIPPLE—long-furred silver tom with amber eyes
DAPPLED PELT—delicate tortoiseshell she-cat with golden eyes
SHATTERED ICE—gray-and-white tom with green eyes
NIGHT—black she-cat
DEW—gray she-cat
DAWN MIST—orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes
MOSS TAIL—dark brown tom with golden eyes
DRIZZLE—gray-and-white she-kit with pale blue eyes
PINE NEEDLE—black tom-kit with yellow eyes
SHADOWCLAN
LEADER TALL SHADOW—black, thick-furred she-cat with green eyes
PEBBLE HEART—dark gray tabby tom with white mark on his chest and amber eyes
SUN SHADOW—black tom with amber eyes
JUNIPER BRANCH—long-furred tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
RAVEN PELT—black tom with yellow eyes
MOUSE EAR—big tabby tom with unusually small ears
MUD PAWS—pale brown tom with four black paws
ROGUES
COW—plump black-and-white barn she-cat with green eyes
MOUSE—small brown barn tom with amber eyes
MICAH—yellow tom with green eyes
Maps
PROLOGUE
“Help her!” Horror seared through Moth Flight’s body as she spotted the blue-gray she-cat lying in the ditch beside the dirt track. Blood darkened the she-cat’s neck, spreading fast through her thick fur. Her flanks trembled as she struggled for each shallow breath.
Other feline shapes moved around Moth Flight, hazy in the pale dawn. She snapped her head around as a hiss sounded beside her. A huge dark tabby reared and smashed his forepaws down onto a smaller black-and-white tom. “Why don’t you help her?” Moth Flight begged. But neither cat seemed to hear. The tom scrabbled desperately at the earth as the tabby pinned him down.
Moth Flight’s thoughts spun. Is this a battle?
But the other cats weren’t fighting.
Ginger fur flickered like flame through the ditch as a young tom raced to the she-cat’s side and crouched beside her. Two frightened faces peered over the top of the ditch, ears twitching.
Blood was seeping onto the ground from the she-cat’s neck.
“She’s dying!” Moth Flight yowled to the fighting toms. But they only snarled at one another more viciously.
Dread shadowed her heart. Moth Flight raced toward the injured she-cat, her paws moving soundlessly over the earth. Early sunlight struck her flank, but made no shadow on the earth beyond.
She slid into the ditch and stopped beside the flame-colored tom. “What happened to her?”
The tom didn’t answer. He leaned close to the injured she-cat, until his breath stirred her ear fur.
“Don’t die!” Moth Flight reached out to touch the she-cat, but her paw passed through the injured cat’s flank as if she was cutting through mist.
Dark fur loomed beside her. The great tabby had stopped fighting and come at last. But as he pushed past her, Moth Flight felt no weight. His fur brushed through her as though she weren’t there.
The two young cats, watching from the top of the ditch, climbed down into the shadows and stood trembling beside the ginger tom. She saw the tabby’s mouth open and close as he spoke, but she couldn’t hear his words.
Moth Flight held her breath as she saw the blue-gray ca
t’s flanks grow still.
She’s dying!
The sight of death sliced through Moth Flight like an icy wind, and she began to tremble. She remembered Gray Wing’s death, just a moon ago. She’d shivered as she’d peered into his open grave, her heart twisting as she saw how small he looked and how dull his fur had become. The warmhearted tom, whose pelt had rippled in the wind, had been lost in death. Prey seemed to lie in his place. His Clan had buried him, eyes hollow with grief, yet at least the ceremony had given them a chance to say good-bye.
“You must bury her,” she breathed shakily.
But the cats did not move. They only stared at their dead friend, hardly blinking as the sun lifted higher into the sky. The-black-and-white tom watched from a few tail-lengths away, nervously eyeing the tabby.
“Don’t just stand there!” Frustration raged through Moth Flight as she tried to make herself heard. “Show her some respect! Start digging her grave.”
No cat turned or even betrayed with an ear twitch that they’d heard her.
The sun lifted higher until its rays spilled into the ditch.
“Are you going to leave her here for crows to pick at?” Moth Flight couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Are these cats heartless?
Suddenly, the blue-gray she-cat’s tail twitched.
Moth Flight gasped, shock jolting through her. Had the wind caught the dead cat’s fur?
No!
The blue-gray she-cat was lifting her head, looking blearily at the others.
Moth Flight tried to back away, but the mist seemed to entwine her paws, holding her still. She stared in disbelief as the she-cat spoke to the flame-pelted tom. She was dead! Moth Flight couldn’t make out the words but she could see, as the cat’s blue eyes cleared, authority in her gaze. It reminded her of her own mother’s look. Was this she-cat the group’s leader? How was she alive?
The young cats moved away to let the she-cat stand. As she heaved herself slowly to her paws, relief washed over their faces.
But the tabby only stared. His amber gaze betrayed nothing—neither relief, nor joy. Moth Flight drew in a trembling breath and began to run, clambering out of the ditch, her thoughts spinning as she tried to make sense of what she’d seen.
A pale flash caught her eye and she lifted her head, surprised to see a great, green moth. Its wide translucent wings fluttered in the breeze; dawn sunshine flooded through them so they glowed as bright as new leaves.
She watched the moth dance away, realizing that, beyond it, she could see Highstones. Their towering peaks glittered in the sunshine and Moth Flight narrowed her eyes against the glare, straining to see the moth as it fluttered toward them.
Without thinking, she leaped the ditch and began to follow the moth as it bobbed over the grass, keeping low. I must reach it! She bounded after it as it zigzagged like a petal caught on a breeze, staying just beyond paw reach.
It pulled farther ahead until she stumbled to a halt and watched it fly away. Moth Flight was surprised by a fierce longing in her heart. Wait for me! A wail caught in her throat. I want to come with you!
CHAPTER 1
“What are you mumbling about?”
Dust Muzzle’s mew jerked Moth Flight awake. She blinked open her eyes, narrowing them at once as bright afternoon sunshine sliced over the gorse wall of the camp. “Was I mumbling?” The dream of the blue-gray she-cat and the moth were still sharp in her mind. Had she been calling out in her sleep?
Dust Muzzle paced in front of her. “You said you wanted to go with someone.”
Spotted Fur stopped beside Dust Muzzle, his eyes warm with affection. “I thought only old cats took afternoon naps.” He nudged Dust Muzzle. “Your sister has been hanging out with Rocky too long.”
Rocky looked up as he heard his name. The old ginger-and-white tom blinked from his nest in the long grass beside the sandy hollow. “She could learn a lot from me,” he grunted. “I’ve seen more moons than the three of you put together.” The kittypet had been with the Clan for only a few moons—he’d arrived shortly after Gray Wing had called the groups of cats Clans for the first time, a word that had seemed right the moment Gray Wing had said it—but Rocky had taken to Clan life like a frog to swimming. He didn’t hunt as much as the younger cats, complaining that his paws were too slow for chasing. But he loved to help Holly and Eagle Feather with their tunneling. Holly was always planning new tunnels, digging through old rabbit runs to make shortcuts to new ones.
Moth Flight scrambled to her paws. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but the sun was so warm.” Leafbare was finally loosening its grip on the moor and the newleaf sun felt luxurious after hard moons of frost and ice. Panic jolted through her. “Where are Slate’s kits?” She scanned the clearing, her heart lurching. Slate had asked Moth Flight to watch White Tail, Silver Stripe, and Black Ear. They’d been playing in the sandy hollow when Moth Flight’s eyes had begun to grow heavy. She’d only closed them for a moment and now the kits were nowhere to be seen.
She caught Holly’s eye across the camp. The black she-cat was washing dirt from her fur, while Eagle Feather shook out his dusty pelt beside his mother.
Holly frowned. “Is everything okay, Moth Flight?” she called. “You look worried.”
Moth Flight forced herself to blink brightly. “I’m fine,” she assured Holly.
Dust Muzzle flashed her a look. “Apart from losing Slate’s kits,” he breathed.
“Hush!” Moth Flight headed across the tussocky grass. “Perhaps they’re near the stones.” The kits liked to chase one another around the smooth flat rocks near the camp entrance.
“I saw them earlier,” Rocky called.
Moth Flight spun to face him. “Where?” Before he could call his answer across the camp for everyone to hear, she dashed to his nest and stopped, panting, beside him. “Where were they?” she begged.
“I saw them playing outside camp when we came out of the tunnel,” Rocky told her.
“Whereabouts?” Fear prickled through Moth Flight’s pelt.
“Near the RiverClan border.”
“You mean the gorge?” Moth Flight’s throat tightened. A deep ravine cut through the moor there, a river churning at the bottom. It was a dangerous place for kits.
“Not very near,” Rocky reassured her. “They’re too sensible to go close to the edge.”
“They’re only two moons old!” Moth Flight was fighting panic. Slate had trusted her to watch her beloved kits. Still mourning the loss of her mate, Gray Wing, the gray she-cat often rested after sunhigh, weary from her grief. I’ve let her down! What if Silver Stripe fell into the gorge? Or a buzzard carried off White Tail? Or Black Ear—stop! Moth Flight forced her thoughts to slow. “Why didn’t you bring them home with you?” She glared at Rocky.
“I thought you’d sent them out there.” Rocky blinked at her.
“Why would I do that?” Moth Flight lowered her voice to a hiss. “They’re too young to be out of camp. They can’t look after themselves.”
Rocky met her gaze steadily. “I thought that’s what you were supposed to be doing,” he grunted.
A disdainful snort sounded from behind Moth Flight.
She glanced around to where the heather wall of the camp shaded a soft grassy border.
Swift Minnow was eyeing her harshly. “I can tell you haven’t been with us long, Rocky,” the gray-and-white she-cat meowed. “You clearly don’t know Moth Flight very well.”
“What does that mean?” Moth Flight glared at the other cat, her belly twisting as she guessed what Swift Minnow was going to say before she’d finished her question.
“You never do what you’re supposed to.” Swift Minnow sniffed. “Wind Runner sent you out to catch voles yesterday and you came back with leaves from some stinking plant.”
“It wasn’t stinking!” Moth Flight defended herself. “And I had to bring it back. I’d never smelled leaves like that before.”
“Leaves don’t feed a Clan,” Swift Minnow shot back.
Rocky pushed himself to his paws and gazed gently at the gray-and-white she-cat. “Don’t be too harsh, Swift Minnow. Moth Flight’s hardly more than a kit herself. Kits get distracted. Everything is new to them.” He shrugged and shambled toward a sunny patch of clearing, his pelt twitching along his spine where tunnel mud caked his fur.
“Don’t worry.” Spotted Fur’s mew stirred Moth Flight’s ear fur. The golden tom leaned closer, his dappled pelt glowing in the afternoon sun. “The kits will be fine. I’ll help you look for them.”
Swift Minnow glanced toward the shady hollow in the heather wall where Slate was sleeping. “You’d better find them before their mother wakes up. She’s had enough grief.”
Moth Flight lifted her chin. “I’ll find them!” Wishing she felt as sure as she sounded, she marched toward the camp entrance.
Spotted Fur hurried after her.
Moth Flight glanced back at Dust Muzzle. “Aren’t you coming to help?”
Dust Muzzle rolled his eyes. “Not again! I’m always helping you out of trouble. You’ve got Spotted Fur to help you. I’m tired from hunting. Let me rest.”
Moth Flight flicked her tail crossly. But he was right. Her brother was always helping her out of scrapes. Last half-moon, Wind Runner had sent her looking for cobwebs to dress Dew Nose’s scratched paw, but the night had been so starry, Moth Flight had been distracted by the reflection of the sky glittering in a puddle. It had been Dust Muzzle who’d come to hurry her up and who had finally found a clump of cobwebs among a pile of rocks while she’d been spotting patterns in the stars.
I must learn to focus on what I’m supposed to be doing! Otherwise, I’ll never—
“Should we head for the gorge?” Spotted Fur’s mew cut into her thoughts.
“The gorge?” she stopped outside the camp entrance and frowned for a moment. Then she hissed, angry with herself. Her thoughts had wandered again! Promising herself she would try harder, she nodded. “Of course. That’s where Rocky saw the kits last.”
She stared across the wide swaths of brown heather rippling softly in the newleaf breeze. Full moon was in two days, and in another half-moon, the moor would be green with budding leaves, something she had only heard older cats talk about. Moth Flight could hardly wait for the fresh, clean scent of new life. This would be her first newleaf. All she could remember was snow and ice and the slow dying of the moorland in the moons before leafbare. Now it was all going to come back to life again. Excitement fizzed in her paws.