Nightpaw shook her head, and blood spattered the ground. The Clan cats had circled the cats that had betrayed them now, and the bad cats were in a pile, some motionless and others blinking in shame.

Onestar and Breezepelt were the only cats that remained standing. At the flick of Firestar's tail, the Clan cats surged forward and pinned them to the ground. Nightpaw and the other apprentices were told to stay out of the way.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" snarled Blackstar, his amber eyes flashing at the cats that had betrayed their Clans. "Why did you do something like this?"

A tabby RiverClan warrior limped forward. "Tigerstar and Hawkfrost promised us we'd be great warriors." she mewed sadly, her eyes dull. "They told us to meet with the others a few hours before the Gathering, and that an important training session would be held there... so we went."

"Why would you believe the Clan's biggest traitors?" Mistystar asked, her voice gentle but ashamed. "Why would you trust them?"

"They said we'd be the greatest warriors in all of the Clans." rasped Tigerheart. "They said if we just killed the leaders, who they said were possessed and trying to attack the Clans, we'd be heroes. We wanted what was best for our Clans."

Hollowbelly stepped forward. "And one leader is possessed." he mewed. "Onestar has been taken over by Mapleshade and Tigerstar. That is why he's acting strangely." He hung his head. "We're sorry for our actions."

"If you choose to exile us, we understand." Tigerheart mewed, his battered tail drooping.

"Well I'm not sorry!" exclaimed Breezepelt from under Brambleclaw's claws. "You soft bunch might be, but I'd fight to the death to kill my half-brothers, and my father. They've brought me up in a lie." His eyes glared at Crowfeather, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather. "I want you all dead!" He yowled. "Like the filth you are!" None of the toms flinched, but Lionblaze's eyes blazed. Nightpaw's father seemed to be virtually unharmed.

"This isn't over!" Onestar snarled. Firestar was holding him down. "Dark Forest, possess these traitors!"

At once, the cats that had fought against their Clanmates fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Their eyes were glazed, and mouths wide open in a silent scream. Then, they sprang up, their injuries long forgotten. Their eyes took on a strange, evil quality that even Nightpaw couldn't place. She shrank against Thornclaw. "What's happening?" she asked him.

"I don't know." he whispered. "But I don't think it's good."

The Dark Forest cats prowled toward the cats, hissing and spitting when one tried to step forward. "Stay back." They seemed to say.

The cats left in the clearing were Firestar, Onestar, Brambleclaw, and Breezepelt. "I'll kill you now!" Onestar, or Tigerstar, hissed. "It'll feel good to finally kill you!"

"Killing the ThunderClan deputy will be easy." Breezepelt snarled, freeing himself from Brambleclaw's grasp. "You're so soft there's nothing to it."

At once, the cats started circling each other. Brambleclaw flung himself at Breezepelt, who nimbly dodged out of the way and bite Brambleclaw's shoulder down hard. As if signaling something, the Clans flung themselves at the Dark Forest warriors, who immediately were outnumbered again. They fought courageously, but in a matter of moments the Clans had overtaken them, and the cats slumped to the ground, the Dark Forest spirits leaving them.

"No!"

Nightpaw turned to look at what was happening. Brambleclaw was yowling at his leader, who was bleeding severely from a gash in his neck. Breezepelt was clawed up, twitching on the ground, while Onestar was motionless on the ground, panting heavily. It seemed as if Tigerstar and Mapleshade's spirits had left him.

"Someone - Jayfeather - get the herbs!" Brambleclaw was also bleeding heavily from his wounds, and he stumbled. Jayfeather bounded over, but shook his head at Brambleclaw. "He's loosing a life." Jayfeather mewed softly. "Perhaps StarClan can heal his wound."

Brambleclaw sunk to the ground, his breathing slowing. A mass of cats gathered in front of Nightpaw. She tried to see what was happening, but the clearing remained silent as voices echoed all around the cats.

"Brambleclaw, no!" That was Squirrelflight's voice. "Jayfeather, please get him some herbs! He's not... oh, StarClan, no!" A yowl of grief came from the watching cats. Nightpaw shouldered forward and found that her mentor's eyes were glazed over, and he was still.

"He's dead." Littlecloud mewed hollowly. Nightpaw let out a wail of grief and buried her nose in her dead mentor's cold fur. She lifted her head up to glare at Breezepelt. "You did this!" she yowled. "You killed my mentor! I can't believe I'm related to you, you filthy traitor!"

But Nightpaw couldn't hear Breezpelt's reply, because it was cut off by the excited murmur of cats. "Firestar's awake!" they gasped.

Sure enough, the great leader's eyes were back to normal. "Jayfeather, come here." he rasped. "I'm about to die, and I know it. I've just seen StarClan, and there is a greater destiny than the Three." His voice was close to a whisper. Nightpaw could only hear it because she was grieving for Brambleclaw. "There are two more for which you to seek, with powers just like yours." Powers? What was Firestar talking about? Nightpaw pricked her ears. "One is in another Clan, but the daughter of Dovewing. One is the child of Lionblaze." Nightpaw felt as if her stomach exploded. Snowpaw? Did he have some sort of power? "Four will become five as if it was in the ancient times. Keep that in mind."

"Who will be our successor, for ThunderClan?" Jayfeather rasped.

"Lionblaze." Firestar mewed. Louder, he announced in a raspy mew, "Lionblaze will be the new leader of ThunderClan." And with a twitch of his tail, the leader's eyes glazed again and his breathing stopped.