Applefur’s apprentices padded out of the shadows. “We can fight Clan cats anytime,” Blossomfall complained.
Hollowflight nodded. “We come here to learn skills we can’t learn anywhere else.” The RiverClan tom’s pelt was matted with blood. Clumps of fur stuck out along his spine.
Haven’t you had enough? Ivypool glanced at Hawkfrost. “Are there any Dark Forest warriors close by?” she ventured, praying there weren’t.
“Of course.” Hawkfrost tasted the air.
The screech of fighting cats echoed through the mist. It had become like birdsong to Ivypool—filling the forest, so familiar that she only heard it when she listened for it. “Why aren’t we training with them tonight?” she asked. Most nights, the Dark Forest warriors couldn’t wait to share their cruel skills with the Clan cats.
Hawkfrost wove between Blossomfall and Applefur. “I want you to learn how other Clans fight.”
Ivypool shivered.
“You may be fighting side by side one day,” Hawkfrost went on.
Liar!
“You need to know your allies’ moves so you can match them, claw for claw.”
No, you’re training them to destroy one another in the final battle.
A husky growl echoed from the trees. “Four Clans will unite as one when it matters most.” Tigerstar padded from the shadows, his wide tabby head held high. “This is the law of the Dark Forest. Remember it.”
Birchfall nodded solemnly. “Four Clans will unite as one when it matters most,” he echoed.
“When will that be?” Blossomfall’s eyes were round.
“You’ll know when the time comes.” Mapleshade slunk from the trees. Her tortoiseshell pelt was so transparent now that the white patches showed the forest behind. Ivypool flinched at the reminder that she too would fade from every memory one day.
“Tigerstar?” Blossomfall was staring at the dark warrior. “Are we training for something special?”
Ivypool flinched. “Not yet,” she meowed quickly, one eye on Tigerstar. He nodded and she went on. “But you never know.” She remembered the vicious battle with WindClan in the tunnels only a quarter moon earlier. “There may be more cats like Sol ready to lead one Clan against another.”
Applefur stepped forward. “Next time a rogue tries to drive us apart, I’ll stand beside ThunderClan, not against them!”
Ivypool shifted her paws. These cats believe their loyalty to the Clans is being strengthened. She glanced at Birchfall. But who will they be loyal to when the final battle comes? Their Clanmates or the Dark Forest warriors?
Tigerstar flicked his tail. “Go back to your nests,” he ordered the Clan cats.
Hollowflight tipped his head. “But it’s early.”
“The senior warriors have a meeting.” Tigerstar nodded to Mapleshade and Hawkfrost.
“Can I come?” Ivypool asked.
Mapleshade narrowed her eyes. “No.”
“I’m a mentor now,” Ivypool pressed. She had to find out when the Dark Forest cats were planning to attack the Clans by the lake.
“While you still have the taste of living prey on your tongue, you’re not truly one of us,” Mapleshade snarled.
Tigerstar nodded. “Go back to your Clan and rest,” he ordered. “You’ll need your strength tomorrow night.” He turned and stalked into the shadows, Mapleshade hurrying after.
Blossomfall shrugged. “I guess we can practice our new moves in the forest as well as here,” she told Birchfall. Closing her eyes, she began to fade.
Ivypool watched her Clanmate vanish from the forest. She’ll take her wounds with her. And the memory of what she’s learned. Ivypool’s pelt pricked. She didn’t want those memories, these vicious skills in ThunderClan!
“Are you coming?” Birchfall flicked his tail.
Ivypool twitched her ears to send him on his way. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Hollowflight, Applefur, and Redwillow were melting into the shadows as Birchfall disappeared. As soon as they had gone, Ivypool turned to Hawkfrost. “You trust me to train cats for the Dark Forest, but not to attend gatherings of the senior warriors?”
His eyes gleamed. “Do you really want to be there?”
Ivypool nodded.
Hawkfrost leaned closer. “Tough.” He turned and padded after Tigerstar.
Ivypool flexed her claws. I’m coming whether you want me to or not! As Hawkfrost’s pelt shimmered away between the trees, she darted forward and, heart racing, began to shadow him. Keeping just enough mist and bramble between them so that he was little more than a flicker at the edge of her vision, she matched his pawsteps.
“Snowtuft?” Hawkfrost suddenly slowed.
Ivypool halted and pricked her ears.
Hawkfrost greeted his Clanmate with a growl. “Are you heading for the meeting?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for all the mice in the forest,” Snowtuft rasped. “Where are the Clan cats?”
Hawkfrost snorted. “Tigerstar sent them back to their nests.”
Snowtuft’s claws scraped the earth. “Are you sure there won’t be any hanging around the training rock?”
“Brokenstar will make sure there aren’t,” Hawkfrost growled.
The training rock! Ivypool flicked her tail. They’re meeting beside the river! She knew the Dark Forest well enough now to find her way without being spotted by Hawkfrost. She only had to follow the old stream to the hollow trunks, then aim for the riverbank.
Crouching, she slunk behind bushes until she could hear the deep murmur of the senior warriors. She slid behind a trunk and peered around. The mist cleared where the river cut through the trees. A large boulder stuck out of the mud on the shore. Ivypool flattened her ears. She had shared her first training sessions with her Dark Forest Clanmates here. Now it was circled by heavily muscled warriors. Feeling the stirrings of fear in her belly, she pushed them away. I am a warrior of the Dark Forest, she reminded herself. I am the equal of any of these cats!
Brokenstar stood on the stone, his thick, dark pelt spiked with excitement. “The time is close,” he growled.
Mapleshade lifted her fading white muzzle. “Good,” she hissed. “I’d hate to miss it.”
Hawkfrost sat and watched through narrowed eyes. Blue as ice, they followed Brokenstar’s every move. Shredtail and Thistleclaw paced while Tigerstar stood stiff-legged, his tail lashing. “Where will we strike first?” he demanded.
Brokenstar slid from the boulder and scratched a line in the muddy earth. “This is where the lake meets the land.”
Slash.
Slash.
Slash.
With deft claws he sliced more shapes into the ground. “We will come at them from here and here.” He stabbed the ground. “And while they are fighting there, another patrol will strike here.”
Ivypool stretched forward, desperate to see where he was pointing at, but Tigerstar and Shredtail blocked her view as they crowded close. Her heart pounding in her throat, Ivypool listened for clues instead.
“They’ll be weaker where the hill slopes down to the brook,” Brokenstar growled. “We can come at them from higher ground and drive them backward.”
“What if we approach from here instead?” Tigerstar jabbed the map with a claw.
Ivypool jumped as Brokenstar’s eyes lit up with interest. “At the very heart of the Clan!”
“Once the kits are dead, their mothers will have less to fight for,” Mapleshade pointed out.
“You’re right.” Brokenstar sat back on his haunches. “It’s decided, then.”
Hawkfrost looked over his shoulder, his gaze grazing the tree where Ivypool was hiding. She flattened herself to the ground, relief swamping her as Hawkfrost’s gaze swept past, missing her, and the Dark Forest warriors began to pad away from the river. As soon as the shore was deserted, she slid out from her hiding place and crept toward Brokenstar’s map. Tense as a rabbit, she glimpsed lines scored in the mud.
Suddenly, paws shook her violently. She jerke
d around, hissing, and lashed out at her attacker.
“Ivypool!”
Dovewing’s shocked mew brought her to her senses. Ivypool was in her nest. “You woke me up!” she snarled at her sister.
Dovewing stared at her, terror glittering in her eyes. “Ivypool? Are you okay?”
“I was dreaming!” Frustration tightened Ivypool’s throat. She was about to see Brokenstar’s plans!
“You’re awake now, though?” Dovewing asked uncertainly.
“Yes,” Ivypool muttered. “I’m awake.”
Dovewing met her gaze. “You never would have tried to shred me for waking you up before.”
“You know what happens when I dream.”
“That’s why I woke you. Your fur was on end. I was scared something was . . .” Dovewing suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Did you want to stay in the Dark Forest?”
Ivypool lifted her chin. Here, in the safety of her nest, the terror that had sharpened her dreams ebbed away. But the sense of danger still thrilled beneath her pelt. “I was doing something important!”
Dovewing leaned closer. “What?”
Ivypool turned away. “It’s too late now.” Brokenstar’s plans would be scuffed or washed away by tonight.
Dovewing suddenly wrinkled her nose. “You smell foul.”
Ivypool glanced down at her muddy paws and tucked them tighter beneath her. “Don’t worry. I’ll wash.”
“Good.” Dovewing squeezed past her and headed out of the den.
Ivypool glanced at Molepaw’s empty nest and Cherrypaw’s beside it. They’d already left for apprentice duties. Flexing her claws, she shouldered her way out of the den.
“Ivypool!” Bumblestripe called from the fresh-kill pile. The well-muscled gray tom had a fat blackbird at his paws.
Ivypool ignored him and ducked through the thorn tunnel, into the forest. How could she stay in camp, confined by the hollow, trapped with her Clanmates while her head still spun with the scents and sounds of the Dark Forest?
She bounded up the slope toward the ridge. Strength surged through her body. The Dark Forest had given her that power. It had trained her to be a more skillful warrior than her Clanmates, given her tactics that she would use against the Dark Forest cats when the final battle came. Ivypool’s claws sliced through brambles as she crested the slope and burst from the tree line. Below, the lake glittered beneath a pale dawn sky. Leaf-fall was beginning to tinge the treetops. The green haze that had enfolded the forests for moons was darkening to amber. Excitement surged beneath Ivypool’s pelt. There was no prey she couldn’t catch; no warrior she couldn’t defeat. Her paws itched to prove it.
Out of nowhere, a vision filled her eyes. Warriors swarmed from the shores and spilled into the forest. Torn-eared and scarred, their eyes gleamed with hate. Ferns trembled, brambles shivered as the woods seemed to heave, suddenly alive with battle-hungry cats. Shrieks echoed and Ivypool heard the thud of muscle against rock as the world shook in the claws of the Dark Forest warriors.
As the vision faded she could still taste the tang of blood and fear. Ivypool realized that she was shaking, and her pads were sweating. All the battle skills in the Place of No Stars would not be enough to stop that unrelenting tide of death.
About the Author
ERIN HUNTER is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich, mythical explanations for animal behavior. She is also the author of the bestselling Seekers series.
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Also by Erin Hunter
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
THE NEW PROPHECY
Book One: Midnight
Book Two: Moonrise
Book Three: Dawn
Book Four: Starlight
Book Five: Twilight
Book Six: Sunset
POWER OF THREE
Book One: The Sight
Book Two: Dark River
Book Three: Outcast
Book Four: Eclipse
Book Five: Long Shadows
Book Six: Sunrise
OMEN OF THE STARS
Book One: The Fourth Apprentice
Book Two: Fading Echoes
Book Three: Night Whispers
Book Four: Sign of the Moon
Book Five: The Forgotten Warrior
Book Six: The Last Hope
EXPLORE THE
WARRIORS
WORLD
Warriors Super Edition: Firestar’s Quest
Warriors Super Edition: Bluestar’s Prophecy
Warriors Super Edition: SkyClan’s Destiny
Warriors Super Edition: Crookedstar’s Promise
Warriors Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans
Warriors: Cats of the Clans
Warriors: Code of the Clans
Warriors: Battles of the Clans
MANGA
The Lost Warrior
Warrior’s Refuge
Warrior’s Return
The Rise of Scourge
Tigerstar and Sasha #1: Into the Woods
Tigerstar and Sasha #2: Escape from the Forest
Tigerstar and Sasha #3: Return to the Clans
Ravenpaw’s Path #1: Shattered Peace
Ravenpaw’s Path #2: A Clan in Need
Ravenpaw’s Path #3: The Heart of a Warrior
SkyClan and the Stranger #1: The Rescue
SkyClan and the Stranger #2: Beyond the Code
SkyClan and the Stranger #3: After the Flood
SEEKERS
Book One: The Quest Begins
Book Two: Great Bear Lake
Book Three: Smoke Mountain
Book Four: The Last Wilderness
Book Six: Spirits in the Stars
RETURN TO THE WILD
Book One: Island of Shadows
MANGA
Toklo’s Story
Kallik’s Adventure
Copyright
Warriors: Hollyleaf’s Story
Copyright © 2012 by Working Partners Limited
Series created by Working Partners Limited
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 e-books.
ISBN 978-0-06-212593-4
* * *
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FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition © MARCH 2012 ISBN: 9780062125934
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