Then she dismissed these thoughts with a lash of her tail.
Lizardfang was the next warrior to come forward. Yellowfang rejoiced to see his frail limbs strong again, and his tabby pelt thick and healthy. “I give you a life for judgment,” he meowed. “ShadowClan stands at a place where the path ahead divides. Choose to follow the right path, for the good of your Clan.”
As Brokentail received his fifth life, instead of appearing unmoved, his limbs and his tail twitched as if they were briefly out of his control. He staggered at the touch of Lizardfang’s nose, recovering himself with an effort. Something huge, something overwhelming, seemed to hover around him, as if an unseen battle were going on in the very air he breathed.
Tail held high, Brokentail’s tiny sister pattered forward into the circle to stand beside him. “I give you a life for love of kin,” she mewed, the wisdom in her voice startling Yellowfang as it came from so small a body. “And as Clan leader, remember that every Clan cat is your kin.”
Brokentail had to bend his head to receive the life from the young kit. As their noses touched a spasm of agony shook him, and he closed his eyes, jerking his head aside as if for a heartbeat he had seen something he could not bear.
The seventh cat was a stranger to Yellowfang, a small brown tabby with a depth of gentleness in her eyes. “I give you a life for clear sight,” she meowed. “Brokentail, know yourself and your destiny, but know too that destiny can be changed if you choose the right path.”
Again Brokentail staggered as he received the new life. Yellowfang thought he looked exhausted. Yet throughout he hadn’t uttered the slightest sound of pain, not even a whimper.
The eighth cat, a plump black-and-white tom, had also given a life to Raggedstar. He padded up to Brokentail and spoke swiftly. “I give you a life for strength. This is the time you and your Clan will stand or fall. You need to be stronger than ever.”
This time, when Brokentail received the life, he seemed to revive, as if the strength the tom had promised was already flowing into his limbs and his heart. With the end of the ceremony in sight, Yellowfang began to breathe more easily.
All this while, Sagewhisker had stood silently in the circle of cats, her gaze fixed on Brokentail. Now she stepped forward to give him his last life. “Brokentail, I give you a life for compassion. Use it to shelter the weakest in your Clan, the kits and elders and the sick. Use it to show mercy to your enemies and to choose the path your paw steps will follow.”
Yellowfang watched the spasm of pain rippling through Brokentail as Sagewhisker gave him his ninth life. For a moment she was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stay on his paws.
But the discomfort passed. As the nine cats acclaimed him by his new name, Brokenstar stood strong and proud again, his eyes gleaming as he heard the yowls rise up to the stars.
“Brokenstar! Brokenstar!”
As the yowling died away, he dipped his head. “My ancestors, I thank you,” he meowed solemnly. “I promise that I will make ShadowClan the strongest and most feared that it has ever been.”
The StarClan warriors began to fade, their outlines shimmering faintly with starlight until they vanished, leaving Yellowfang and Brokenstar alone in the bleak marshes.
Brokenstar turned to Yellowfang. “It is time to return,” he announced. His voice dropped to a savage snarl, and he lashed his tail. “It is time for
Dusk was falling by the time Yellowfang and Brokenstar returned to camp. Brokenstar raced across to the Clanrock and summoned the Clan together. “Let all cats join here beneath the Clanrock for a meeting!”
Yellowfang was surprised that he had left out the words “old enough to catch their own prey,” but guessed that he had forgotten.
