Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 All was darkness and cold. Fireheart had never been so cold. He felt as if every scrap of warmth and life were being sucked out of his body. His legs twitched as painful cramps clutched at them. He imagined that he was made of ice, and if he tried to move he would shatter into a thousand brittle fragments. But no dreams came. No sight or sound of StarClan. Only the cold and the darkness. Something must be wrong, Fireheart thought, beginning to panic. He dared to open his eyes a narrow slit. At once they flew wide with shock. Instead of the shining Moonstone in a cavern far below the ground, he saw short, well-trodden grass stretching away. Night scents flooded over him, of green, growing things moist with dew. A warm breeze ruffled his fur. Scrambling into a sitting position, Fireheart realized he was in the hollow at Fourtrees, near the base of the Great Rock. The towering oaks, in full leaf, rustled over his head, and Silverpelt glittered beyond them in the night sky.

How did I come here? he wondered. Is this the dream that Cinderpelt promised? He raised his head and looked up at the sky. He could not remember its being so clear; Silverpelt looked closer than he had ever seen before, scarcely higher than the topmost branches of the oaks. As Fireheart gazed at it, he realized something that sent the blood thrilling through his veins like liquid fire. The stars were moving. They swirled before his disbelieving eyes and began to spiral downward, toward the forest, toward Fourtrees, toward him. Fireheart waited, his heart pounding. And the cats of StarClan came stalking down the sky. Frost sparkled at their paws and glittered in their eyes. Their pelts were white flame. They carried the scent of ice and fire and the wild places of the night. Fireheart crouched before them. He could scarcely bear to go on looking, and yet he could not bear to look away. He wanted to absorb this moment into every hair on his pelt so it would be his forever.

After a time that might have lasted a hundred seasons or a single heartbeat, all the cats of StarClan had come down to earth. All around Fireheart the hollow of Fourtrees was lined with their shimmering bodies and blazing eyes. Fireheart crouched in the center, surrounded on all sides. He began to realize that some of the starry cats, those sitting closest to him, were achingly familiar. Bluestar! Joy pierced him like a thorn in his heart. And Yellowfang! Then he drew in a familiar, sweet scent, and turned his head to see the tortoiseshell fur and gentle face that he had dreamed of so often. Spottedleaf—oh, Spottedleaf! His beloved medicine cat had come back to him. Fireheart wanted to spring to his paws and yowl his joy to the whole forest, but awe kept him silent, still crouching. "Welcome, Fireheart." The sound seemed to belong to all the cats Fireheart had ever known, and yet at the same time it was one clear voice. "Are you ready to receive your nine lives?" Fireheart glanced around, but he couldn't see

any cat speaking. "Yes," he replied, forcing his voice not to shake. "I'm ready." A golden tabby cat rose to his paws and strode toward him, his head and tail high. Fireheart recognized Lionheart, who had become Bluestar's deputy when Fireheart was still an apprentice and who had died soon after in a battle with ShadowClan. He had been an old cat when Fireheart knew him, but now he looked young and strong again, his coat shining with pale fire. "Lionheart!" Fireheart gasped. "Is it really you?" Lionheart did not reply. When he was close enough, he stooped and touched his nose to Fireheart's head. It burned against him like the hottest flame and the coldest ice. Fireheart's instinct was to shrink away, but he could not move. "With this life I give you courage," Lionheart murmured. "Use it well in defense of your Clan." At once a bolt of energy seared through Fireheart like lightning, setting his fur on end and filling his senses with a deafening roar. His eyes grew dark, and his mind filled with a chaotic swirl

of battles and hunts, the feeling of claws raking across fur and teeth meeting in the flesh of prey. The pain ebbed, leaving Fireheart weak and trembling. The darkness faded and he found himself in the unearthly clearing again. If that was one life received, he had eight more to go. How will I bear it? he thought in dismay. Lionheart was already turning away, moving back to his place in the ranks of StarClan. Another cat rose and came toward Fireheart. At first Fireheart did not recognize him, but then he glimpsed a dark, dappled coat and bushy red tail and realized this must be Redtail. Fireheart had never met the ThunderClan deputy, who was murdered by Tigerstar on the very day Fireheart came to the forest as a kittypet, but he had sought out the truth about his death and used it to prove Tigerstar's treachery. Like Lionheart, Redtail bowed his head and touched his nose to Fireheart's. "With this life I give you justice," he mewed. "Use it well as you judge the actions of others." Once more an agonizing spasm rushed through Fireheart, and he had to grit his teeth to stop

himself from yowling. When he recovered, panting as if he had raced all the way back to camp, he saw Redtail watching him. "Thank you," the former deputy meowed solemnly. "You revealed the truth when no other cat could." Fireheart managed to nod in acknowledgment as Redtail went back to sit beside Lionheart again, and a third cat emerged from the ranks. This time Fireheart's jaws dropped open when he recognized the beautiful tabby, her coat glimmering with a silvery sheen. It was Graystripe's lost love Silverstream, the RiverClan queen who had died bearing his kits. Her paws scarcely skimmed the ground as she bent down to him. "With this life I give you loyalty to what you know to be right," she meowed. Fireheart wondered if she was referring to the way he had helped Graystripe to see his forbidden love, trusting to the strength of their relationship even though it went against the warrior code. "Use it well to guide your Clan in times of trouble," Silverstream urged him. Fireheart braced himself for another agonizing