Mapleshade reared and slashed at the air. “They’ll be sorry we ever kitted them!”
Ivypaw pricked her ears. When were they going to attack? But Tigerstar only bared his teeth and slid, hissing, from the boulder. He slipped into the throng of cats, and Ivypaw lost sight of him. The air crackled with excitement as the cats paced and wove around each other, bristling.
A pair of eyes glinted at Ivypaw, and she found herself unsheathing her claws as Darkstripe padded toward her.
“Are you ready for the battle of your life?” There was a taunt in his mew.
Ivypaw glanced at the forest, wishing she could disappear into its shadows.
“Or do you want to leave?” Darkstripe seemed to guess what she was thinking.
“N-no, of course not.”
“Good.” He circled her, letting his tail slither over her spine. It felt like a snake, cold and heavy. Ivypaw wished Tigerheart were with her.
“Ivypaw!”
She looked up hopefully, disappointed when she saw Brokenstar heading toward them. The massive, scarred tom dipped his head to her. “Greetings, Ivypaw. I’ve been watching you train.” He shouldered Darkstripe out of the way. “Very impressive.”
Ivypaw met his gaze, keeping Darkstripe at the edge of her vision. Why was Brokenstar singling her out? Was he trying to make Darkstripe jealous?
“I have a special mission for you,” Brokenstar went on.
Ivypaw blinked. “Really?” Maybe it was a kind of assessment.
“Follow me.” Brokenstar headed into the trees.
Ivypaw trotted after him, her breath quickening as the dark tom climbed over a low rise and jumped down into an empty streambed. The gully meandered between twisted trunks and led them under low-slung branches that dripped with dusty gray moss. Ivypaw ducked beneath them, shuddering as the moss left cobwebby smears on her pelt.
She paused. Something was flitting through the brittle ferns on the bank. She peered through the mist, stiffening when she recognized Darkstripe’s pelt.
“Go away, Darkstripe!” Brokenstar’s yowl made Ivypaw jump. She wasn’t the only one to have spotted the shadow.
The scrawny outline froze, then slid from sight.
“He’s no better than a whining kit,” Brokenstar muttered. He flicked his tail toward the nearest tree. “Show me your climbing skills.”
“Okay.” Ivypaw leaped onto the lowest branch and clawed her way up the thick, knotted trunk. When her paws started to ache, she stopped to catch her breath and looked up. There was still no sign of sky.
“Not bad!” Brokenstar called. “See if you can get down faster, though.”
Concentrating hard, Ivypaw let herself drop a tail-length at a time, clutching at the bark to control her fall. As the ground grew near, she pushed away from the tree and landed nimbly on a patch of slimy grass at the edge of the gully.
Brokenstar bounded up the bank and joined her. “Now show me an attack lunge.”
Ivypaw crouched down, unsheathed her claws, and focused on a clump of moss a few tail-lengths ahead. She sprang and hit the moss squarely, then flipped over, lashing out with her hind legs before jumping back onto all fours.
“You’re fast.” Brokenstar faced her. “How are your defensive moves?” The words still hung in the air as he pounced.
Just in time, Ivypaw saw his claws flash and ducked. With a jerk of her spine, she rolled out of his way. She guessed he’d anticipate her and shot forward as soon as her paws hit the ground.
She was right. Brokenstar’s claws pierced the spot where she’d been a half moment earlier. She spun around and confronted him, hackles up, teeth bared, prepared for another attack.
Brokenstar sat down. “Nice.”
Ivypaw’s heart was thudding so loud she was convinced Brokenstar would be able to hear it. Where was her mission? Was he just testing her skills?
“I have one final task for you before you can fight alongside your new Clanmates.”
Ivypaw pricked her ears. This
Something moved in the shadows at the edge of the clearing.
“Come out!” Brokenstar called.
Ivypaw gripped the earth as an orange-colored cat padded out of the ferns.
The ShadowClan medicine cat’s eyes were stretched wide. “Did you fall through the ice, too?”
Ivypaw shook her head. “I—I…” Words choked in her throat. How could she explain why she was here? “H-how did
“I was in StarClan.” He squinted, puzzled, up through the branches. “I heard a noise in the bushes and followed it. It kept moving ahead of me, whispering my name, so I followed it until I got here. But… but this doesn’t feel like StarClan anymore.” He shifted his paws. “Do you know the way back?”
Ivypaw stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“Kill him.” Brokenstar’s order cut through the silence.
A bolt of panic shot through Ivypaw. “What?”
