Prologue
A frigid wind raked its cold claws through the trees, causing the cats hidden inside to burrow further into their knothole nests.
The only thing that stirred besides the rattling branches in the icy gusts was a sleek black she-cat. She stood tall against the wind as if she could overpower Mother Nature herself. In three powerful bounds, Ebony reached the top tier of an old park fountain where she often addressed the Willoting gang from. To a twoleg, it would look like just an old fountain, but to the cats of Willoting Gang it was Iceledge, named after the rainwater that collected and froze in the winter. But slipping to her death was the least of Ebony's worries; her children had just been killed.
Ebony's impossibly deep amber eyes gazed mournfully at Startail, the strip of stars where the gang's dead cats went. She noticed with a stab of anguish that five new stars glowed coldly above: Spiral, Camille, and Pepper were walking in Startail now, watching over her kits, Grace and Jackal. They had only been apprentices… they'd never become fighters now.
Ebony heard pawsteps behind her and smelled poppy seed. Sure enough, her Starwalker and also brother, Storm, leapt up next to her panting. "Fern had her kits!" The muscular brown tom exclaimed with an excited glow in his amber eyes. "Two beautiful kits. Arya and Rabbit." His mew grew clouded with quiet worry. "But Rabbit was born blind…"
Ebony only nodded, not taking her eyes away from Startail. Storm noticed her silence and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"The Brightstars will watch over them. Grace and Jackal will be cared for." Sympathy burned in his quiet mew, but Ebony only nodded again. Her heart was too hollow to feel anything.
Sighing, Storm turned to go. Suddenly his body went rigid and he let out a horrified gasp.
Ebony whipped around just in time to grab him by the scruff as Storm tottered unsteadily on the edge of the sheer drop into the icy water below.
"Storm?" She cried worriedly. When the Starwalker didn't respond, she began to panic. "Storm? ! Whats happened?"
Then Storm opened his silver-flecked muzzle and let out a bloodcurdling wail. Ebony shivered away from the terrifying noise. In a voice that was not his own, Storm began to speak.
"When five are lost, five will be gained. A new soul will be ignited as another falls. Be ready, for the darkness is rising."
And with that, the Starwalker collapsed.