The Bonehill glowed beneath the moon. The heaped carcasses, stripped of flesh, reflected its clean, white light. For them, the worst was over now. Leopardstar pressed back a shiver; the leaf-bare chill reminded her of her own bones jutting beneath her pelt. It felt like it had been a long time since the prey-rich moons of greenleaf.
She dared not lift her gaze to Silverpelt. Nor did she risk catching any of her Clanmates’ eyes. They had no choice but to watch. RiverClan was part of TigerClan now, and outnumbered in this clearing by former ShadowClan cats. Leopardstar had made a deal with the fierce tom. They must follow Tigerstar’s rules.
Stonefur stood in front of the dark warrior while Featherpaw and Stormpaw huddled behind him, their eyes wide with fear. The apprentices had been imprisoned by Tigerstar for being the kits of a ThunderClan tom and a RiverClan queen. As Stonefur flattened his ears against his head, Tigerstar narrowed his eyes to slits.
“I will give you a chance to show your loyalty to TigerClan,” the dark warrior told him. “Kill these two half-Clan apprentices.”
Leopardstar’s blood ran cold. Surely, Tigerstar only meant to banish them! How could he order a warrior to kill his own Clanmates? And they were so young! It made no sense. Stonefur was half-Clan too. Leopardstar felt dread rising in her chest and throat like hot, scalding bile. Was this really what StarClan wanted? Was this the only way for the Clans to become strong?
