7:

Cold wind blasted in Redstorm's muzzle, making him yelp in terror. A swirling mist shook his paws and a tide of wolves below the Great Chamber was ripping into each other's pelts. Birchfang stalked into the clearing, his thick pelt now half ragged and transparent, and a reminder to Redstorm that he was fading from old age. On the other side of the Blood Realm, a black-and-white warrior was wrestling with Brokenfall. He held her scruff so tight that blood drew; her paws were flailing as she tried to twist her head round to snap at his flank. Finally Birchfang leaped down from the Great Chamber and ripped his claws down Tornfur's throat.
Twisting in a knot of heat and sweat, Amberdawn was flaying as she and the Blood Realm deputy aimed vicious blows at each other. Brokenfall was staring intently at the fight, not missing an inch of it – the two wrestled and tumbled in a screeching mix of blood and clumps of fur.
"How dare you protect that weak insult of a wolf?" Birchfang snarled.
"Tornfur was my kin," Amberdawn hissed. "You killed him!"
"Good riddance," the brown deputy sneered. "He would have stopped you from being an excellent warrior if he lived. Aren't you going to thank me?" Biting into her spine, Birchfang clawed at the young warrior. She twisted in vain to break free and her massive tail was flicking in defiance. Huge paws grasped at her pelt as she was tugged down, into the dips below. A huge cluster of thorns were resting in the patch of ferns, and Amberdawn was dragged through them heartlessly. Yowling in pain, she broke away from the attack and cuffed her assailant in the muzzle. Birchfang let go, howling angrily that his attack was in vain. Slinking up behind Amberdawn, Brokenfall grasped her in her teeth and was tugging hard – a thick scar that was pulsing with blood settled in Amberdawn's muzzle. Scoring his long claws across Amberdawn's belly, Birchfang twisted away and ripped up her pelt, throat to tail. Amberdawn's body was staring sightlessly up at the red sky, her blue eyes faded and dull and her pelt ragged and torn.
Breathing shallowly, Brokenfall turned and growled for Darkstorm to join her in a border patrol. Birchfang nodded in assent and howled to show that victory was theirs for the time being. Thunder flashed and crackled in the dim light of the moon, illuminating the grave scene below the blood-red sky and Birchfang's words.
"He won't expect it," Birchfang hissed. "We must thin their numbers so that there will be no one but the stronger and purer warriors."
Redstorm felt the ground tread light under his paws. The moss on the damp grass reeked of blood and death, and there was no prey to be seen.
Why am I here?
"What about their powers?" Brokenfall growled. "Are we so weak that we fear them?"
"Never," Birchfang sneered. "We will attack from the west of the Forest, toward the lake. So long as they are driven out, we can be sure of victory."
Suddenly the muscular pelt whipped around to breathe in his scent. "Welcome home, Redstorm. We've been expecting you."
The snarl was a powerful alarm to the deafest of rabbits. The great wolf was straddled on top of Redstorm, his thick claws hooked into his fur. "I'm glad you're here," he said smoothly. "Banishing the pups was far easier than I had intended."
Redstorm's snarl was barely a whisper. "You exiled Hallowfall and Flintstorm?"
"Someone had to, you know. They would have weakened you. Be thankful for that."
Hissing with terror, Redstorm curled his front claws in disgust, his body limp.
"What's wrong, forest dog? Are you scared of your deputy?" Birchfang growled. "Has all of my exhaustive teaching gone to waste?"
Redstorm spat defiance. "I'll never be afraid of Dapplewhisker!"
"I suppose you were too hard on him, Birchfang!" spat a silky voice from the shadows. The thick gray clouds parted to let a small tortoiseshell pass through the undergrowth.
"Don't interfere, Dottedfur. I'm training with my apprentice."
"It sure looks like it," the young she-wolf hissed back. "Go easier on him. He had quite a shock when he learned of his true heritage."
Birchfang snorted, as if he didn't believe a word Dottedfur had said. "And what good would it do?" he snarled. "You aren't a member of the Blood Realm."
"I don't have to be," the tortoiseshell growled. "Birchfang, even you know better than to argue with a warrior from the Realm of Light."
"Tales for pups," Birchfang hissed, but still he loosened his grip on Redstorm and had gotten off of him with a mighty leap. "Take heed of this, forest dog," he spat. "Next time I won't be so gentle with my teachings."
"Gentle?" Dottedfur protested. "You were ripping his pelt off!"
Birchfang cast a dirty look at the Realm of Light before answering. "When you're here next and your pathetic soul mate isn't around, watch your back," he threatened. "I know why you're really here. Wait till I tell Iceshadow."
Grinning ruefully, he padded back into the den with his tail drooping low.

"You can never go back there again. You know that." Dottedfur's pelt was bristled in anger, and Redstorm could taste the fear mixing between her furs. "Iceshadow will kill you if you do, like Amberdawn."
Redstorm padded on in step with the newcomer. "I know that," he snarled. "It's obvious. And when Birchfang tells Iceshadow I'm traitor we're all dead."
"Every hope is not lost," Dottedfur murmured. "Your destiny was carved out many centuries before you were born. Since before the Forest, even. Two Stars has chosen you for this moment. You are the solo leader of Scar Pack."
"How can I be leader?" Redstorm protested. "I'm not even deputy!"
The calm fury Dottedfur fixed him with now made him stop. "Dapplewhisker may be deputy now, but he has his own life to give. He is old, and he cannot serve your Pack any longer. At the next full moon, Brackenclaw will choose another, more powerful, deputy."
"I know," Redstorm snapped. "But I'm not good enough to lead the clan. You've got all the power of Two Stars to choose my destiny…"
"No!" Dottedfur snarled. Redstorm could smell anger pulsing out of her. "The Realm of Light can't choose your path. We guide you but we cannot interfere with your problems."
"Why not? Why can't I just think my clan is safe from the Blood Realm?"
"But it is," Dottedfur hissed. "Your borders are magical. The Eastern side is the strongest defence you have, and think about your heritage."
"What heritage?" Redstorm growled. "I have none."
"What has Brackenclaw ever told you, Redstorm?" Dottedfur soothed. "Did he never explain to you this? Or tell you why you were born under the strongest power ever to have been cast among Two Stars?"
The red warrior stopped and paced the border of the Realm of Light. Dottedfur sighed wearily and unsheathed her claws. "Of course he wouldn't," she snapped. "Much easier to blame everyone else for his problems."
"He didn't," Redstorm hissed. "I was born under a curse. Half-bloods and pure-bloods don't mix together as a clan."
"I know they don't," Dottedfur pressed him. "But think of this now and there will be less pain for you to journey through. The war will come, and I foresee a great power that you will soon acquire."
"What has this got to do with me?" Redstorm growled. "I was not born to Scar Pack. My mother was a wolf and my father a fox. I am what happens when you break the Law of Two Stars. This is what happens when you are disloyal to your clan, your leader, and have nothing left to live for in the Forest!"
"That's not true," Dottedfur said solemnly. "You are stronger than the forest. Don't you remember anything from your past? Family, friends?"
"How could I?" Redstorm growled. "What do you know about me that's so special?"
The small tortoiseshell smiled sadly at him. "Many years ago, Redstorm, the greatest warrior to ever roam Black Forest was the leader of Scar Pack. His pelt was as soft as snow, the colour of oak, with lovers all over the woods. Pinefall was the Scar Pack leader once, and the most bloodthirsty killers of the forest feared him. He could be terrible in a battle and he had never lost a fight before in his life. One day he met a young wolf, a tortoiseshell, roaming through the woods. At first he accused her of stealing prey, but they talked it over and he let her live in his pack. The more he saw her, the more he impressed her, and he knew that it was love. He brought her to Scar Pack, and they had a pup, and do you know who that wolf turned out to be?"
Redstorm twisted his claws into the dirt as he imagined her answer, a mix of fury and sorrow clustered together in the haze of grey. Redstorm tipped his head, anticipating the answer carefully. It can't be true…
"Your kin has been closer to you than even you have known," Dottedfur wailed. "I am your mother, Redstorm. And I was once Scar Pack's medicine wolf."
"But that can't be true," Redstorm protested. "Medicine wolves have never had pups before. Two Star's law forbids it. You're lying."
"Now they can," Dottedfur sighed. "The Law has been rewritten, and it goes without saying that we resemble each other a little. Now that you are a full warrior, we must…"
"I look nothing like you," Redstorm hissed. "Your pelt is tortoiseshell. Mine is reddish-brown, like a fox's…"
"Like your father's," Dottedfur snapped. "You have a brilliant past, Redstorm. The blood of powerful warriors like Pinefall, and a healer as your mother. All you have to do is accept it, and you will be free of every lie a wolf has ever told you."
"But I don't feel like a powerful warrior," he argued. "What if I don't want to be deputy, or leader, for that matter?"
"You must, if the Packs are to survive," Dottedfur snarled. "You are the most selfish wolf I have ever met, aside from Pinefall. As soon as I met him I knew he found it hard to admit he was wrong."
That shut Redstorm up. "But Dottedfur…"
"I know how it feels to be lost," the tortoiseshell answered. "But believe me when I say this: Hal marked out your destiny before you were born."
"The cat?" Redstorm echoed. "What has he got to do with it?"
"You have a very unique gift, Redstorm. Hal was the sole part of Two Stars. He created the forest, the clans, everything. He even made the wolves that shaped the Packs. Thornshadow, Fireclaw, Scarfall and Frostbird. Where did you think the greatness came from? They shaped what you call your clan. They are the reason for your life."
Redstorm paused. "And they created everything in the forest?"
"Not exactly everything," Dottedfur mused. "The river of Thorn Pack was created by a storm many, many years ago, when wolf first put paw beside the marsh. And Hal's heart belonged to the wolves back then. Now he chooses the life of a carefree human barn."
"And the humans forgot all this?"
"You have to remember that they are a very delicate species," Dottedfur said. "They don't view things the way we do, yet they rule every animal, plant and object in the world. They balance everything and everyone in our land. In other words, they can be viewed as our allies, of a sort."
She paused before continuing. "Remember that any other wolf can rip the humans apart if they ever set foot in the woods. Luckily they only choose to live further from the borders that mark the Black Forest. If they found a way to corrupt that…"
"I know this, Dottedfur. Brackenclaw told me it was true."
His mother smiled at him before turning tail and leaving him in the swirling mists of Two Stars. The power was his. He was a true warrior of Scar Pack now.