How long had she been lying in Featherwhisker's den now?
Fireheart struggled to keep track of the days through the raging heat that burned inside her head. She slipped in and out of consciousness so often that truthfully, there was no way for her to tell how much time had passed. For all she knew, she could have been there for a few days, a few moons, or only a few hours. Not that there was much point in keeping track of time anyway; she merely did so out of sheer boredom. The medicine den didn't exactly provide much in the way of entertainment, after all.
Although I guess I won't be bored for much longer, she thought wearily.
Almost instinctively, her eyes strayed over to the pile of herbs beside her nest. Spottedleaf had placed them there before leaving to gather moss with a firm order to eat them, but Fireheart couldn't bring herself to do so. What was the point? She had known for a long time that this day was coming. The inevitable had finally happened; she was going to die any day now. There was no use in trying to delay it any longer.
At least I got to see two more of my kits become warriors, Fireheart thought.
She knew her family would be alright without her. Her kits were all fine, strong warriors and Tigerclaw would be a wonderful father to them. Fireheart was counting on him to help their children through their grief and to raise Briarkit and Scorchkit. Bluefur could help too; she had been close with her former mentor ever since she first set foot in the forest. Her only regret was that she hadn't been allowed to spend more time with everyone.
Perhaps it was just the fever, but a moment later, Fireheart could have sworn she heard voices outside the camp. This wouldn't have been unusual in and of itself except for the fact that there was an odd sense of urgency to the conversation. Curious, she strained her ears, trying to listen in on what was being said.
"...and Bluefur is leading an attack on ShadowClan now," Stormtail meowed. "She, Tigerclaw, Stormflare, Lionheart, and Runningwind all went to their camp. They're probably fighting right now as we speak."
"Good, maybe that will teach them not to hunt on our territory," Speckletail growled.
"It's high time someone taught them a lesson," Smallear agreed.
"But will five warriors be enough?" Dappletail fretted. "You know how fox-hearted ShadowClan has become. Do you really think we sent enough warriors to take on their entire camp?"
Suddenly, the sound of pawsteps pounding the earth sounded throughout the camp. Fireheart barely had time to wonder what was going on before Lionheart's voice rang out, filled with urgency.
"Everyone, you have to come quick! ShadowClan is invading our territory!" he meowed.
"What?" Stormtail exclaimed. "What's going on? I thought you would have reached their camp by now!"
"We didn't even make it to the border. When we got to the Owl Tree, there was a patrol of ShadowClan warriors waiting for us. They must have brought at least half of their Clan," Lionheart panted, clearly out of breath. His voice grew indignant as he added, "They were accusing us of stealing prey from their territory!"
"Excuse me?" Speckletail hissed. "Who do they think they are? They're the ones who have been stealing from us!"
"I don't know, Speckletail. But we don't have time to wonder about that now," Lionheart meowed urgently. "We're losing the fight. There are just too many of them. I only just managed to get away so I could grab reinforcements."
"Say no more," the tabby queen meowed. "We might not be as young as we used to be, but we've still got some fight left in us. Dappletail, go wake up Goldenflower and tell her to come with us. We'll leave as soon as she's out here."
Fireheart's head spun. Her family–well, part of it anyway–was being attacked and she wasn't there to help. What was she supposed to do? The patrol was made up of some of the best fighters in the Clan–in Tigerclaw's case, possibly the entire forest–but no one was unbeatable and from the sound of things, the odds were stacked against them. Normally, Fireheart would have brushed it aside–after all, it was impossible to win every battle. But this was ShadowClan, and she wouldn't have put it past one of their warriors to "accidentally" kill one of her Clanmates.
She couldn't let that happen. Even if she was on her last legs, her Clan still needed her. Still weak from her fever, Fireheart struggled to her paws and stumbled out of the medicine den, heading determinedly for the gorse tunnel. At the last second, she turned around and cast one last glance toward the nursery. Briarkit and Scorchkit were taking their afternoon nap now. As much as she wanted to believe that she would see them when she returned, she knew this wasn't the case.
"I'm sorry, little ones," Fireheart whispered. "I'll always be watching over you, I promise."
Taking a deep breath, she summoned what little energy she had left and raced out into the forest.
By the time Fireheart reached the battle, the tide had already started to turn. Lionheart's reinforcements had done the trick, and most of the ShadowClan warriors had fled back to their own territory. But there were still quite a few left, and as she launched herself at the nearest enemy warrior–a dark gray molly–she felt the familiar surge of adrenaline course through her veins.
This is it, she thought as she slashed her claws across the molly's face, splattering both of them with blood. This is my final stand. Let's make it count.
She bit down hard on her opponent's shoulder, ripping out a chunk of flesh. The molly screeched in agony and tore herself away, pelting off in the direction of the ShadowClan border. Spitting her blood onto the ground, Fireheart scanned the battlefield to see how the rest of her Clanmates were faring. Bluefur and Lionheart were battling side by side, fighting against Russetfur and Nightpelt. Tigerclaw was in a fierce match against two ShadowClan warriors. Although he was outnumbered, he loomed over both of them and they were no match for his power and fury. Within heartbeats, he had sent both of them fleeing the battlefield with their tails between their legs. Fireheart breathed out a sigh of relief before continuing to scan the clearing. Soon, she had accounted for every one of her Clanmates–every single one, that is, except Stormflare.
She has to be here somewhere though, right? Fireheart thought, her stomach twisting. Surely if she fled the battle, I would have seen her on my way here.
A pain-filled yowl split the air, and Fireheart felt her stomach tighten further as she recognized her daughter's voice. Spinning around, she raced off in the direction the voice had come from. As she ran, she stumbled slightly but righted herself almost immediately. Now wasn't the time to be showing weakness.
Stormflare was being pinned down by a dark brown tabby with a flat face, blood pouring from a wound in her shoulder. Fireheart let out a growl as she recognized Brokentail, the ShadowClan warrior who had nearly started a fight during multiple Gatherings as an apprentice and whose scent had, according to Bluefur, been discovered on their territory just days ago. There was a mad gleam in his eyes as he lifted his head, preparing to give Stormflare a vicious bite to her already-injured shoulder.
Fireheart had seen enough. With a yowl, she launched herself at the ShadowClan tom, knocking him away from Stormflare.
"Get away from my daughter!" she snarled, clawing him across the muzzle.
Brokentail stumbled away from her, spitting blood onto the ground. His eyes gleamed. "So, this is what ThunderClan sends out for fighting forces these days? A sick queen and her weak kittypet daughter?"
"Fireheart!" Stormflare shrieked.
"There are no kittypets in ThunderClan, ShadowClan scum!" Fireheart hissed. "And I'm more than enough to take the likes of you on."
"We'll see about that," the flat-faced tom spat.
Letting out a snarl, Fireheart launched herself at Brokentail. At the same time, the dark brown warrior hurled himself at her, his claws outstretched. White-hot pain seared through her as his claws caught her throat, raking themselves down her belly. The edges of her vision went dark for a moment before she shook her head to clear it, delivering a crushing blow to Brokentail's head in retaliation. The ShadowClan tom staggered backward, giving Fireheart enough time to rake her claws down his face and give him a vicious bite to his ear. With a final yowl of fury, he whirled around and raced back to his own territory.
"ShadowClan, retreat!" That was Raggedstar's voice.
A yowl of triumph rose from the ThunderClan cats as the last of the ShadowClan warriors fled the battle. Fireheart tried to join in, but she was too exhausted. Her Clanmates' voices seemed to echo around her as though coming from inside a dark cave. Black spots dotted her vision and she resisted the urge to collapse onto the ground. Something warm and wet was trickling down her front, dripping onto the forest floor, and it took her a few moments to realize it was blood.
We won, she thought weakly. Then, unable to hold herself up any longer, she stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Fireheart, no!" Stormflare yowled.
The sound of her cry alerted the rest of the battle patrol. Tigerclaw was the first to reach her, followed by Stormflare and Bluefur. Fireheart struggled to keep her eyes open as her family crowded around her, their eyes filled with identical looks of sorrow and disbelief. She tried to sit up but found that she couldn't even move her head.
"It's time...it's really time," she murmured, half to herself.
"Don't say that," Bluefur meowed, her voice unusually sharp. "You're not leaving us. Runningwind, go back and fetch Featherwhisker. Tell him to come as quickly as possible."
"No," Fireheart coughed, now struggling to speak. "Don't bother. Just let it happen. I wanted it to be like this anyway."
"But why?" Stormflare wailed. "Why now? You could have lived a little bit longer if you'd stayed home!"
"That's not how I was meant to die," Fireheart whispered. "I swore a long time ago that if I was going to die, I would die fighting. And protecting you...I couldn't ask for a better way to go."
Tigerclaw touched his nose gently to her forehead. "You've been very brave," he murmured. Fireheart could see sadness in his eyes but also a sense of acceptance, and she had never loved him more than at that moment.
"Take care of our kits," she rasped, panting with the effort to speak.
"You know I will," Tigerclaw promised.
Fireheart turned her gaze toward Bluefur next. "Thank you...for everything. For teaching me so well and for being my friend."
Bluefur's eyes flashed with pain. "I couldn't have asked for a better apprentice," she murmured. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. If it weren't for you, Mosspetal might have died that leaf-bare."
"Let's call it even, then," Fireheart chuckled.
She could feel herself slipping away now. Summoning up the last reserves of her strength, she turned to speak to Stormflare one last time.
"Take care of your siblings. Watch over them for me," she meowed softly. "They'll need you now. And tell Briarkit and Scorchkit I'm sorry...sorry that I won't be here to watch them grow. But I'll always be watching over them from StarClan and I hope one day, they'll understand. I know I'm leaving them in safe paws."
Stormflare buried her nose into her fur. "I love you, Mama."
"I love you too, sweetheart," Fireheart rasped.
Then she closed her eyes and allowed a wave of blackness to wash over her, pulling her away from her friends and family forever.
