PROLOGUE
Small flakes of snow began to rain down upon the she-cat standing in the midst of them, gazing at it silently. Her beautiful calico pelt ruffled in the chilly Leaf-bare wind, and frost collected on her green eye's eyelashes. She blinked, confused, and took a step foreward. Nothing happened. Looking up, a crescent moon shone brightly in a bright, cloudless sky speckled with thousands of stars.
"You've finally come, Larchsong," Larchsong jumped back, her pelt bristling. "We've been waiting for you for a while…we have a message for you." A delicate, young black tom stepped from the shadows, jumping and landing gracefully off of the rock he had been sitting on.
"R-Ravenheart?" Larchsong gasped, taking a step back. Ravenheart swished his tail patiently, signaling for the medicine cat to stay where she was.
"As I said," Ravenheart repeated. "I have a message to you from StarClan."
Knowing that she should trust him, since he was from StarClan, she sat down shakily, and asked, "Wh-what is it?"
Ravenheart stared up at the sky, his blue eyes fixed upon an unseeable object unblinkingly, and meowed loudly in a new voice, "When darkness's sky is clean as dew, and it's light is thin and curved, each cat's nightmare will become reality, but the dappled night can stop it all."
Larchsong blinked, utterly bewildered and speechless. Ravenheart smiled at her, nodded and backed away. "Wai-!" she called, but before she could finish, the warrior had faded again. Suddenly everything went back. Larchsong shrieked shrilly, images of blood, foxes, badgers, dogs, claws, teeth and war flashed in her mind. She became dizzy with fright, and fainted.
A stream of foggy sun streamed into the den of bracken and ivy, causing the cat inside it to wake with a start. "What? Wh-what happened?" Larchsong gasped, jumping up and looking around with wide eyes. Beads of sweat clung to her pelt, and she sat back down, grooming herself.
When darkness's sky is clean as dew, and it's light is thin and curved, each cat's nightmare will become reality, but the dappled night can stop it all. The prophecy repeated itself in the she-cat's mind, and she shivered. What could it possibly mean?
Suddenly there was a yowl that came from outside the den.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highboulder for a Clan meeting!"