Looming Darkness

Chapter 14

Whispersong sat still as stone, watching the fog roll in and the cold blow with it. Her earlier conversation with Star and Echoheart still lingered in her mind, and she couldn't keep it away.

Some cat is going to die soon. Someone is going to die... Whispersong thought over and over again. Images of Aspenleaf, Creekfall, and Hailstorm carrying back Echoheart's limp, bloodied body flashed in her mind. No, she told herself. No one was going to die that soon! And StarClan would never let a cat part of a prophecy die, would they? But then Whispersong thought: do they even have control over death? This worried Whispersong more because if StarClan had no control over death, then Echoheart could very well be murdered next. She shuddered, and tried to convince herself that that would never happen.

We need to keep every cat in camp, where they'll be safe. But then she realized that that would be of no use. Whispersong shut her eyes and let out a very uneven breath. There's just no way out of this darkness! she thought in despair.

Jasminekit let out a cry, which shoved these thoughts from Whispersong's mind. Why did she have to have a young kit now, when there was no hope for life?

Jasminekit whimpered.

"Oh, my dear Jasminekit. I promise I'll never let anything hurt you. I'll protect you with my life, and so will your father. I promise," she choked, tears spilling from her eyes. She curled up around her daughter's tiny silver body, and her small purr told Whispersong that there would be hope, there would be life, there would again be happiness; they just had to fight for it, and Whispersong would fight for it with all the strength in her body. As long as I have breath in my body, I will protect you; you'll be safe, she vowed silently.

* * *

"Whispersong!" a voice rang in her head.

Whispersong's eyes flew open in an instant, and she looked up at a cat's silhouette.

Bumblefrost was standing over her, looking worried. "The dawn patrol finally returned, and they say they have bad news. They're waiting for the whole Clan to gather."

Whispersong bolted upright, heart beating irregularly with fear. She started to dash out the den, then stopped. Jasminekit was still asleep. Whispersong didn't want to leave her.

"I'll watch her," Meadowheart meowed, looking concerned, her four kits curled up with sleep beside her. "Go see what happened."

Whispersong hesitated, but she trusted Meadowheart. Whispersong nodded at the tortoiseshell and white queen, then ran from the den after Bumblefrost.

Echoheart was there. Whispersong sighed in relief. Echoheart was there, and so was the rest of the patrol that had left earlier. Echoheart, Hailstorm, Cherrypaw, Needlepaw, Aspenleaf, and Creekfall sat together, all facing Sunfur. Eveningstar must have gone training with Star, so the dawn patrol turned to the deputy to convey their news.

"Okay, so what is it?" Sunfur demanded.

"Is the whole Clan gathered?" Aspenleaf asked, voice strained.

Sunfur nodded. "The rest of the Clan is on hunting patrols or training apprentices. So what is it? What happened?" she repeated, tail lashing.

Creekfall stepped forward, taking a deep breath. "We were remarking the DayClan border, and we saw a DayClan patrol coming to the riverbank across from us, looking terrified," he began in a whisper, gray eyes clouded.

Bronzepelt sputtered in disbelief. "DayClan, terrified?"

Echoheart and Hailstorm nodded in sync.