CHAPTER 1

"The 10th Victim"

"Rainkit is gone."

Those were the first words out of Nightfrost's mouth the moment Bluelight returned to camp from a long hunting patrol with Goldfire. His reaction was slow as he stared back at his mother's terrified expression. What had she said? Did that even make sense?

The large vole Bluelight had been carrying dropped from his mouth, landing in the snow at his feet.

"Wha…what do you mean 'gone'?"

But Nightfrost could not answer him. The shock had willed her into silence and seemingly swept the energy from her legs as she suddenly collapsed and curled into a shivering ball of black fur. Another she-cat, Indigoheart, rushed to her side and purred soothing words into her ear while trying to get her to move to the warriors' den. Bluelight continued to stare, paralyzed with confusion. As his clanmate, Mintshade, approached him, he forced himself to speak.

"I don't understand…what's going on? Where's Rainkit? What happened?"

The smaller tom had his head bowed but raised his eyes to meet Bluelight's.

"It…it was the White Death. The kits were playing right in the middle of camp, and then…Nightfrost was the only one who saw it. It came of out nowhere, and it was gone just as fast. I'm so sorry…."

The White Death…it had claimed nine victims so far, seven kits and two young apprenctices. And Rainkit…his own baby brother, who he loved more than anything…was the tenth.

His mind could not comprehend what he had just been told. He saw nothing but the snow falling all around camp, chilling the already cold air, and there was no sound. The shock that had sent his mother to the ground now swam in his bones and froze his blood . Silence, and endless white. He didn't even hear Goldfire beside him, trying to get his attention.

"Hey…Bluelight? Hey, come on. Look at me, Blue."

When Goldfire finally nudged his shoulder, Bluelight responded, swiveling his head to stare into his best friend's amber gaze. The young tom's ears drooped and he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Bluelight's with genuine sorrow in his voice.

"I'm so sorry, Blue. I'm so…so sorry."

Goldfire's own sadness made sense. Though they had been related by blood, the ginger and white tom had been almost as close to the tiny black and white kit and his own brother. In fact, everyone had loved Rainkit. The loss would deeply affect every cat in IceClan without a doubt. But for Bluelight, whose only friends had been Goldfire, the odd medicine cat Fogpelt and his baby brother, the loss was more than heart-breaking. It was soul-shattering.

Much discussion followed, and though his body and spirit were completely numb, he listened to every word intently. Every cat demanded blood, tired of watching their future warriors picked off one by one as if they were nothing but prey. It was not a new topic, and attempts had already been made to put an end to the White Death's reign of terror. But these attempts had yielded certain facts that made the act of finding and killing this monster next to impossible.

Two patrols had been sent, one lead by their own leader Bearstar, but both had resulted in the loss of an apprentice, despite the efforts of IceClan's strongest. The most disturbing fact attained was in regard to the creature's likely nesting place. Although it had not been officially confirmed, based on what the patrols had found, the White Death lived on a part of the mountain that was not only outside their territory but was so steep and dangerous, cats were forbidden to venture there by clan leaders ages ago. The trees on that side of the mountain were so tall they gave the impression that the ground was even. This misleading appearance had claimed many lives over the years and cats that traveled too close were never seen again. However, these enormous pines were also the perfect home for winged predators….

If not for Bearstar's booming growl of a voice, the IceClan leader might have been completely drowned out by the angry howls and screeches from his clanmates.

"Enough now! I can hear you all just fine without the raised voices. And I hear what you are saying, and I agree. This is an issue that is long overdue for being resolved, but none of you are a stranger to the fact that we have been trying, so we must approach this from a different angle. However, there is a storm coming, we can all feel it. It should be here by nightfall. The need to avenge our fallen clanmates is stronger than ever, and it will be done. But we must be careful not to endanger more lives in the process. We must be smarter than it is, more diligent. We must come up with a plan using new strategies, and we must work together. But we must wait…not much longer, but long enough for this storm to pass. In the meantime, we can solidify this plan to ensure its success. I need to know that all of you understand what I am saying."

Before anyone else could respond, Moonscar, an older, dark gray warrior, pushed his way in front of the rest.

"What we need to do is find this thing where it lives and attack when it's least expecting it" he snarled. "Sure, the storm is dangerous, but what if it's the cover we need to come up behind it without being noticed? We could talk and strategize and whatever else till we're all blue in the face and still not succeed. So what good is more yap gonna do?"

Halfnight, the clan deputy, reacted first, stepping in front of the slightly smaller tom with narrowed eyes.

"Show more respect for your leader, Moonscar. You best of all should understand his reasoning. Have you really forgotten Silvercloud and Stripepaw? Some way to honor their memory."

Moonscar immediately raised his hackles and bared his teeth with a hiss. "Don't you dare utter their names again or I'll rip both of your ears off and make you uglier than you are now, you pathetic foxdung!"

"Ugly?" Halfnight smirked. "You're one to talk, one eye."

Before Moonscar could lunge at the deputy, Bearstar roared over the commotion.

"ENOUGH! None of this is going to help in the least. Did you not hear the part where I said 'we must work together'?"

Moonscar dipped his head in shame, still growling quietly under his breath, while Halfnight merely joined his leader on the ledge.

"The storm will be here shortly. We shall take the night to rest and grieve. Stonefall and Treeshadow, you will keep first watch. Then Halfnight and Rivergaze will take over. At dawn, we will begin building our plan. All voices will be heard, and all ideas taken into consideration. But under no circumstances is anyone allowed to leave camp until the storm is through. Are we clear?"

Satisfied by the overall yowl of agreement, Bearstar climbed down the ledge and went inside his den, saying something quietly to Halfnight. As the others dispersed, Moonscar stayed seated, glaring after the leader and deputy as they disappeared from view. He didn't even acknowledge Fogpelt sitting beside him until he leaned in close to his ear.

"Feeling a little irritated, brother? I got somethin' for that."

Moonscar didn't even look at him.

"Shut up."

Bluelight, too, remained in place after every other cat had gone to their respective dens. He jumped a little when Goldfire brushed his tail against Bluelight's muzzle.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's get some rest, you really need it."

Bluelight reluctantly followed his friend to the warriors' den, but he could not think of rest. Other ideas swam in his mind, along with Moonscar's words, and he knew deep down what would happen next. Sometime during the night, he was going to leave, and he would not return until he had gotten his revenge. Either that…or he would not return at all.

Leaving camp completely unnoticed was a challenge. Bluelight had to be extra careful when climbing out of his nest in the warriors den, as it was right next to Goldfire who was known for his exceptional hearing. But it wasn't as hard getting by Treeshadow and Stonefall since Bluelight used a secret entrance that he and Goldfire made to sneak out when they were apprentices. Once outside the camp, the sheer force of the blizzard was made clear. Bluelight had forgotten how secure their camp really was until he felt the icy wind blast against his face and through his fur, chilling him to the core. Bluelight shuddered. Of all the ways he could die tonight, freezing to death seemed most likely at the moment.

He began his trek through the dense snow, his tired limbs fueled purely by determination. He veered right, heading towards the steepest part of the mountainside where the creature was believed to live. He did not even consider the possibility of that assumption being wrong. The White Death was there, he could feel it. He could not hear the voices of StarClan like a medicine cat, but if he did, they would have told him to trust his instinct.

As he pushed through the storm, Bluelight was occasionally halted by an unexpected noise from somewhere behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks each time, raising his head and scanning around for anything out of place, despite the poor visibility. Finally, a loud crunch directly behind him caused Bluelight to whirl around and bare his fangs.

"I can hear you!" he snarled. "I know I'm being followed, so show yourself!"

After a few seconds, Bluelight could make out a bright orange blur approaching him. His body immediately relaxed as Goldfire came into view.

"So you can hear me then. What a relief! Honestly, Blue. I was beginning to worry that your ears didn't work at all! Do you have any idea how loud you are?"

Bluelight gave him a funny look. "How loud I am? How about that deafening noise you just made?"

Goldfire chuckled. "I made that noise on purpose, fuzz brain. You know, to make sure you weren't actually deaf or something."

Bluelight turned away, head bowed slightly in embarrassment. "You know my hearing has never been the best…."

"I know" Goldfire meowed, stepping closer. "That's why you and I stick together, right? With your eyes and my ears, we're an unstoppable team. Which brings me to my next question…what exactly were you thinking leaving camp alone?"

Bluelight faced him, eyes narrowed slightly. "I think you already know the answer to that."

Goldfire's ears twitched. "Sure I do, but did you really think I was going to let you?"

Bluelight huffed. "You can't stop me, Goldfire. You could drag me back by the scruff and it still wouldn't work. I'm going and that's it. So please don't get in my way…."

Goldfire walked past him casually with a playful glint in his eyes. "But I'm so good at getting in the way. Regardless, I never actually intended on stopping you. I'm coming with you, of course."

Bluelight's eyes widened and he hurried after his friend. "No, you can't! I can't have you dragged into this, too. I might not even make it back…I'm going after this thing and I'm willing to give my life is necessary."

"That's why I'm coming along, to make sure you don't have to" the other tom replied. "And I'm just as willing to give my life right beside you."

With these words, Goldfire stopped and turned to look back at his clan mate. "Rainkit was like my little brother, too. He was a future IceClan warrior, and it's just as much my duty as it is yours to avenge him. So that's what we're going to do, and we'll either make it back alive…or we won't. At least we'll be together."

For a few moments, neither tom said a word. But no words were needed. Despite the fear of putting his best friend's life in danger, Bluelight was secretly relieved that he was there. The chances of success no longer seemed so unlikely.

To save face, Bluelight marched on ahead with a small glare in Goldfire's direction. "Fine, but if you talk the whole way, I'm burying you in the snow and fetching you on the way back."

"Me? Talk? What a silly idea. I have to say Blue, I'm fairly insulted. I mean, I'm not as quiet as Stonefall, but I pride myself as a cat of few words. Only saying what needs to be said. If I open my mouth, it's because I have pure, elder-worthy wisdom to share. So I say to you, I am not the type to talk on and on unnecessarily. I merely say my piece, and then I'm done. And you're lucky if you'll hear my voice again for a long time. In fact, you'll probably miss the sound of it. I mean, if I do say so myself, I real-"

BAFF! Goldfire's rant was cut short (but not short enough) when Bluelight leapt at him with all four paws outstretched, shoving him sideways right into a large snow drift.

"That's what you get for calling my bluff, ya dumb hairball. See you when I get back!"

As the black and white tom walked off, Goldfire's head popped out of the snow, shaking from wildly from side to side.

"Still don't know how to take joke, I see. You never disappoint."

Even he couldn't see the smirk on Bluelight's face, he knew it was there.