Hol yleaf's bel y lurched. No! The warrior code matters more than anything! But she knew that she had to stay calm. If they quarreled with Sol, they would lose the chance of discovering who their father was.

"I know so much more than StarClan does," Sol continued. "Did they tel you that the sun would vanish? You know very wel they didn't. Doesn't that make me more powerful than your warrior ancestors? And if I'm so powerful without a prophecy, then the powers you three share must be magnificent!"

Lionblaze's eyes glowed, and Jayfeather was unconsciously flexing his claws in and out. Hol yleaf had to make a huge effort not to be enthral ed by Sol's voice. So far he's given us nothing, she reminded herself. His words are nothing but mist and sunshine, impossible to hold down.

"That's al very wel ," she snapped, "but what do we have to do?"

"ShadowClan cats are worthless!" Sol went on.

"They have no right to their territory-and if they are left alone, they'l soon be invading yours. You need to fake evidence that ShadowClan is stealing ThunderClan prey, so that your Clan leader can launch an attack on them. Once you have launch an attack on them. Once you have ShadowClan's territory, you can invade RiverClan and WindClan." He glanced around, lowering his voice to a deep, vibrating purr as he continued, "That's what absolute power is. Control ing every cat in the territories by the lake!"

Hol yleaf stared at Sol, feeling her paws tingle.

Was this real y what they had to do to gain power- fight against every cat in the rival Clans? She tried to imagine Firestar al owing that to happen, and couldn't.

"I don't think-" she began uncertainly.

But Sol wasn't listening to her. He padded off into a far corner of the den and hauled a rabbit out of the shadows. As he dropped it in front of her, Hol yleaf picked up the scent of ShadowClan mingled with the smel of fresh-kil .

"I caught this in ShadowClan territory, and rubbed it on their scent markers," Sol explained. "You can take it back to the camp with you, and tel your Clan that you chased off a ShadowClan patrol." His eyes glinted with cold amusement.

"What can ShadowClan do to deny it? Those stupid cats, they'd rather believe in nursery tales about dead ancestors than try figuring things out for themselves. Al that nonsense about signs from StarClan!"

Hol yleaf glanced at Lionblaze; he was staring at Sol with narrowed eyes, and his neck fur was slowly rising.

"You're no different from Tigerstar," Lionblaze growled. "You don't want this for our sake. This is your ambition."

Bunching his muscles, he launched himself upward, his claws extended toward Sol. Hol yleaf flung herself at him, just managing to knock him away before he slashed into Sol's pelt.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, pinning her brother to the floor.

"This isn't part of the prophecy." Lionblaze shook Hol yleaf off and sat up, glaring at Sol. "He just wants to use us. The power is ours, not his!"

"You're right." Jayfeather rose to his paws and flicked his tail toward Sol, who had not flinched at Lionblaze's attack or tried to respond to his accusation. "Sol doesn't care about us. He's stil fighting his private battle with ShadowClan because Blackstar made him leave their territory. That battle has nothing to do with us. The truth about our father exists somewhere, but this is not the way to find it."

Lionblaze rose to his paws. "We're leaving," he announced. "And we're not coming back."

Hol yleaf stared at him in disbelief. "We can't!" she protested. "We need to know-"

"We don't need anything that Sol can tel us,"

Lionblaze insisted. "We've been fools to trust him, when we know what he's done to other cats. Can't you see that he just wants war between al the Clans? The prophecy says nothing about that. It says we were born with power-we shouldn't have to fight for it! Come on."

He strode out of the den with Jayfeather hard on his paws. Hol yleaf took a pace after him, then glanced over her shoulder at Sol, but the loner simply stared back at her, giving her no help.

With a hiss of mingled fury and desperation, Hol yleaf sprang after her littermates. We're the Three! I can't do this on my own!

Lionblaze and Jayfeather stood a few fox-lengths away from the den, waiting for her in the pouring rain.

As she joined them, Sol appeared in the entrance.

"Wait!" he cal ed. "Don't you want to know who your father is?"

Lionblaze ignored him. "Come on," he meowed to Hol yleaf. "This isn't the only way to find the truth. We have to do this for ourselves, not for any other cat."

Hol yleaf bowed her head, giving in, but as she picked her way through the soaking grass beside Lionblaze she could stil feel Sol's amber gaze burning into her pelt.

CHAPTER 26.

By the time the three littermates stumbled back into the hol ow, Jayfeather was so exhausted he could hardly feel his paws, and the rain had plastered his pelt to his sides. He felt as if he were struggling in a vast cobweb woven of lies and shadows, with an unseen spider waiting to pounce.

Back in the old Twoleg nest, he had been certain that they were right to abandon Sol, but now he wasn't so sure. What if the loner real y was the only way to the truth?

And what are we going to say when Firestar asks us where we've been? He'll claw us to pieces and toss us on the fresh-kill pile!

But as he staggered into the clearing, he heard a buzz of excitement rising from his Clanmates, who were clustered together near the nursery. No cat was paying any attention to Jayfeather or his littermates.

"What's going on?" Lionblaze asked.

A sudden rush of paw steps answered him as Foxpaw raced up to them. "It's Whitewing!" he burst out. "She's having her kits."

At the same moment, Jayfeather heard Brightheart cal ing from the nursery. "Jayfeather!

Come quick-Leafpool needs you!"

Jayfeather stifled a sigh. He would far rather have crept into his nest to dry off his pelt and sleep.

Instead he headed for the nursery, brushing past Birchfal , who was tearing up grass in his anxiety.

Inside, Daisy and Mil ie had drawn their own kits into their nests to give Whitewing and Leafpool space. The young white she-cat was lying on one side, her breath coming fast and shal ow.

"You're doing fine," Leafpool reassured her. "And so are your kits. They'l be born before you know it."

"I hope so," Whitewing panted.

Even though Leafpool sounded calm, Jayfeather could sense her fear. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, "She's exhausted. I'm afraid she won't have enough strength left to deliver the kits."

Jayfeather rested one paw lightly on Whitewing's distended bel y and concentrated. He could feel a double heartbeat inside her, frail but steady. "She's having two kits," he announced. "Come on, Whitewing! You can do it."

It's okay, little kits, he thought as he crouched over the laboring she-cat, murmuring encouragement.

You're nearly safe. Just a little farther.

Suddenly his mind slid into Whitewing's. He heard a vicious snarling and saw a vision of gaping fangs and lol ing tongues, as if the young white queen was imagining her kits savaged by dogs, just as her mother Brightheart had been. He heard the screech of battle with other Clans and saw blood wel ing in deep claw marks, scarlet against pale fur. He felt the grip of hunger in his bel y as he looked out across a forest deep under the snow.

Jayfeather started back, his mind reeling. Does a mother really imagine her kits' whole lives before they're born? He sensed Whitewing's terror as she lay silently begging him for help.

Recovering, he bent close to the young she-cat.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "Your daughters wil be fine. They wil be loved and protected by their Clanmates." He stroked one paw gently across Whitewing's bel y. "It's time now."

"Yes," Whitewing gasped.

Jayfeather felt a strong ripple pass through her bel y. She let out a screech, and a tiny wet bundle slithered out onto the moss.

"Is she al right?" Whitewing panted.

"She's fine," Jayfeather assured her. "Now the next one."

Whitewing lay stil for a moment; then her back arched as another ripple passed across her bel y, and a second tiny bundle slid into the nest.

"Wel done!" Leafpool exclaimed. "Greetings, little kits. Welcome to ThunderClan."

The first kit squeaked loudly, and Leafpool uttered The first kit squeaked loudly, and Leafpool uttered a soft mrrow of laughter. "This one's tiny, but she's strong. There, little ones, go to your mother."

"They're beautiful!" Whitewing purred. "Thank you, Jayfeather. And you, Leafpool." With one paw, she drew the tiny kits toward her and started to lick them vigorously.

A wave of triumph swept through Jayfeather as he headed for the entrance to the nursery. "Birchfal !" he cal ed. "Come and meet your daughters."

Birchfal brushed past Jayfeather as he stumbled inside. Jayfeather almost staggered under the wave of his relief and joy. "Whitewing, are you okay?" he choked out. "Oh, thank StarClan! What beautiful kits!"

Crouching beside Leafpool as she tended to Whitewing, Jayfeather wondered whether she had felt the same when he and her other kits were born.

Did our father share that joy?

More than anything, he wanted to talk to Leafpool, to hear her side of the story and learn the truth. In the closeness of working together, he felt for a few heartbeats that it might be possible. "Leafpool...," he began.

Leafpool turned to him. "She'l be fine now," the medicine cat meowed, cutting off what Jayfeather meant to say. "Go and fetch me some strengthening herbs, and a few leaves of borage to help her milk come."

The moment was gone. "Sure," Jayfeather replied, and slipped out of the nursery.

By the time he had delivered the herbs, the rain was easing off. Jayfeather padded over to the fresh-kil pile for a bite to eat before he went back to his den. Several cats were clustered around it, sharing prey; their delight washed over Jayfeather as he crouched to gulp down his vole.

"It's hard to give birth to kits in leaf-bare,"

Ferncloud mewed. "Whitewing has done real y wel ."

"She'l raise them wel , too." That was Mousefur, sounding less crotchety than usual. "Whitewing is one of the best cats in this Clan. When she was an apprentice she always made sure we had fresh moss, and it was dry, too."

"We'l al have to watch our tails when these kits are old enough to leave the nursery." Dustpelt's voice held a hint of amusement. "They have your blood, Cloudtail, and we al know what a hard time you gave Firestar when you were a kit."

Cloudtail snorted. "They'l be fine warriors, Dustpelt, and I'l claw any cat who says different."

Jayfeather, who was eating his prey, paused for a heartbeat as Hol yleaf and Lionblaze padded up and sat down beside him, listening to the cheerful talk in silence. None of them wanted to join in, but Jayfeather sensed that al of them felt cut off from one another, too.

"I remember when you three were kits,"

Brackenfur meowed; paw steps approached and the golden brown tabby flicked Jayfeather on the ear with his tail. "Chasing foxes! It's a wonder any of you survived to be apprentices."

"Yeah, right," Jayfeather muttered. Suddenly the happiness of his Clanmates was more than he could bear. Without another word, even to his littermates, he swal owed the last mouthful of vole and headed for his den.

Curled up in his nest, Jayfeather woke to the sound of paw steps, and opened his eyes to see a skinny gray she-cat bending over him.

"Yel owfang!" he exclaimed, sitting up. He was stil in the medicine cats' den, bathed in the pale glow of moonlight. Leafpool was curled up asleep a couple of tail-lengths away.

The former medicine cat dropped a long dark feather onto the moss of Jayfeather's nest. "The time for lies and secrets is over," she meowed. "The truth must come out. StarClan was wrong not to tel you who you were a long time ago."

who you were a long time ago."

"Then what-?" Jayfeather began, but already Yel owfang's shape was beginning to fade, melting into the moonlight until she was gone. The moonlight abruptly vanished, leaving Jayfeather in darkness as he woke from his dream.

"Mouse dung! Why can't any cat speak straight out?" he hissed. But an icy weight in his bel y made him realize that Yel owfang had told him al he needed to know.

Feeling around his nest, he found the feather she had dropped, and drew his paw down the long, smooth length. He could picture how it had gleamed black in the silver moonlight.

"She brought me a crow's feather...," he whispered.

Scrambling out of his nest, he padded softly out of the den, taking care not to wake Leafpool. Once he was in the clearing, he bounded over to the warriors'

den. He crept around the outside of it, tasting the air until he located Lionblaze sleeping close to the outer branches.

Jayfeather scrabbled around to find a loose bit of branch and poked it through the thorns until he felt the other end prod Lionblaze.

"Uh? Get off!" Lionblaze swatted at the branch.

"Lionblaze!" Jayfeather hissed, pressing as close as he could to his brother inside the den. "I have to talk to you. Fetch Hol yleaf."

"It's the middle of the night!" Lionblaze protested.

"Keep your voice down! Do you want to wake every cat in the camp? This is important! We have to go somewhere."

"Okay, okay, keep your fur on."

Jayfeather waited impatiently until his littermates pushed their way out through the branches.

"What do you mean, 'go somewhere'?" Lionblaze whispered. "Where?"

"Into the forest. Somewhere we can talk."

Hol yleaf yawned. "This had better be worth it."