If you have not read the first two books and you want to, THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!
PROLOGUE
The ultimate battle with TreeClan had been devastating.
Not only for the loss of Browneyes, a kind DarkClan tom, but for OceanClan and LightClan as well. It seemed almost unreal that Willowstar would never torture them again; he was finally gone, and with him went a great deal of pain and anxiety that had hung over the entire valley. What had become of the adopted TreeClan leader, no cat knew for certain; for who were they to judge which cats were deserving to walk among StarClan? However, it was a question that needn't truly be asked. After all the cruelty and selfishness the tom had displayed, it was hard to believe a cat like he was deserving of a peaceful afterlife.
Roseclaw, Mintpaw, and Wetpaw had been kind enough to aid Brisingstar and Morningstar as they lay amongst their broken clans on the battlefield. It was there that the two clan leaders had apologized directly to DarkClan for their actions, and all was forgiven.
The clans seemed to desire new peace in the forest, but as it was, there were only three clans present. DarkClan bid farewell to LightClan and OceanClan after the two clans had thanked them for their freedom, as well as StarClan above. It was a wonder that their ancestors had chosen to interfere, and in all the leaders' lives, they had never heard of such an occurrence ever happening before. It was a moment that would go down in the history of the forest, and would be re-told for generations. Just as they had in the beginning, and time and time again, DarkClan had somehow managed to pull through.
Our DarkClan warriors returned to their home that night, lacking a set of familiar, gray paws. Browneyes had been buried in the field. It was fitting for the tom, seeing as it was his favorite spot in the forest. Even with the burial place being full, they would have honored Browneyes with the location all the same. A small pile of stones sat atop the hill, acting as the marker for the tom's grave; when hit with just the right amount of sunlight, the stones appeared to glow in the morning and late afternoon. Recovering from the fight had not taken too long, and after only a few days, a TreeClan patrol had come to the border, asking for forgiveness. The group was led by an older tom called Thrushcross who apologized for TreeClan's actions. After discovering Willowstar had been defeated, many of the elders were able to convince some of the younger cats to join them and take back their clan. Willowstar had forced all the elders into a separate camp, storing them away to die because they were too weak to fight. Many of TreeClan's warriors did not believe Willowstar could die, because that is what he had told them; and they had truly believed that. The tom's death seemed to pull them back into reality, or at least discourage enough cats so that they could regain control of TreeClan.
Thrushcross announced that he would be the one to become TreeClan's new leader, and at the first Gathering since the battle, he announced it to the clans- as well as the new TreeClan deputy, Barkface. The news came as a surprise to many cats, and they questioned what had happened to TreeClan's old deputy. It was said that during their recovery of TreeClan, Pineneedle was forced out, exiled from the forest, and the tom hadn't been seen since.
The valley was recovering, and just in time for newleaf; and, for once, everything seemed to be at peace. There was no Willowstar, no threat from Oceanclan, TreeClan, nor LightClan; and yet, the nightmares continued...
The DarkClan Trilogy, Book 3: Legacy
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I still can't believe I have come this far. First things first:
If you have not read Book 1 and Book 2 of my trilogy, I recommend doing so before reading this one. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would make it much, much easier to understand, and you would have a better idea of the characters and what is happening.
Second, like I always warn; this is rated T for violence and dark themes. I stated this a while ago, but I really need to state it again. This book has a lot of supernatural themes, so if you don't like that, don't read. The other books did as well, but this one has a bit more to it.
Thirdly, yes updates will probably be considerably slower. I know it sucks, but I am a very, very, very busy person; and I know that can be hard to understand, especially from just looking at this text, but I hope that you do understand. I will try to update as much as I can, but like I said, VERY busy.
Thanks!