Never before had a forest seemed so threatening, so nightmarish to Larkwing. She had spent most of her life under the high treetops. They had always been protective.

But now, as she stood on the shore of Willow Island and looked across to the former territory of LaurelClan, this was not the case.

With a queasy feeling, Larkwing felt carefully for the first stepping stone. Only when she was sure that it was stable did she jump onto it. It was a welcome coincidence that there were also stepping stones towards LaurelClan territory. In no time at all, Larkwing had reached the opposite bank of the river.

Her nose twitched. No imaginary wall of scents hit her. Normally, scent markings were strongest at the borders of territories. Here, however, they were completely absent.

Larkwing couldn't help but snort disparagingly. Of course they don't think it's important to mark their borders. They're probably far too busy planning their next attack.

As carefully as if she were sneaking up on prey, Larkwing slipped into the shade under the branches of two neighbouring bushes. She barely dared to breathe for fear of being spotted as she checked the air and listened for any sounds.

Luckily for her, there didn't seem to be any Shadowless around. Still, she couldn't allow herself to become careless for one tiny moment. All the time, she had to remain on alert.

Let's go. Ignoring the nervousness that was making itself felt in the form of nausea, Larkwing trotted on. Every now and then she turned her head in all directions and stopped if necessary to get a better view of her surroundings.

Although it was also a forest, the LaurelClan territory seemed very different from that of RoseClan or SnowClan. The trees all stood further apart, but their trunks were wider and their tops were overhanging, usually starting far below.

Involuntarily, Larkwing felt a small pang in her heart. She had been here before. Why hadn't she realised how beautiful it was here? What must it be like to be a LaurelClan cat?

She realised that she hardly knew anything about this Clan. It was always said that they had figured out how to grow medicinal plants, making them an important partner in times of illness, but other than that, they seemed to have been reserved — almost a little secretive.

I'll have to ask the older cats what their impression of LaurelClan was when I get a chance, Larkwing decided. It filled her with deep sadness that if LaurelClan ever returned, it would never be the same again.

She straightened up resolutely. Now was no time to worry about the past or the future. Her first duty was to find out information about the Shadowless.

But as Larkwing sniffed again, she realised that something was terribly wrong.

Had she made a mistake? Panic rose in her and she checked the air again and again until she felt dizzy.

There was absolutely nothing there. The forest was devoid of any cat scent.

It can't be. That's not true. That's not true. That's simply not true! Distraught, Larkwing spun round on her own axis.

To all appearances, this forest was deserted. Not even the normally omnipresent chirping of birds could be heard. It was as if she had entered a world of its own - but this world was ghostly dead.

Had they been mistaken all this time? They had assumed that the Shadowless had taken over the territory of LaurelClan, just as they had taken over the Clan itself. But judging by the lack of scents, no one had been here for moons.

What could that possibly mean? They can't have just disappeared like that after all they've done. An icy shiver ran down Larkwing's spine to her paws and the tip of her tail. She should be relieved that there was no risk of her being discovered or even attacked. But her fear remained. She even had the impression that she felt even more uncomfortable in a deserted territory.

Larkwing briefly toyed with the idea of cancelling the mission and reporting to the others that the Shadowless and the LaurelClan cats weren't where they had thought they were. But then she remembered that she was far from finished exploring. She had to keep going; maybe she could find an important clue somewhere else.

Therefore, Larkwing decided to set off in search of the camp. Luckily, Pebblefall was able to explain its location to her pretty well before she left, even though he hadn't been there for many leaf-changes. Larkwing was unbelievably grateful for that. She was sure she would be wandering around here for days otherwise.

When asked why he would help her, Pebblefall had replied that he had voted for her. "That was the first time that Kestrelpelt and I disagreed," the orange spotted tabby tom had explained. "Kestrelpelt has always been a little overprotective of the younger cats. But I think you're more competent than it looks at first."

I can only hope that this turns out to be true.

After a while of wandering through the ghostly forest, she came across the camp. Larkwing stood at a distance and listened intently for sounds. But no one seemed to be in the camp itself.

Carefully, she pushed her way through a gap in the bushes. Although she was all alone here, it still felt wrong to be here - for she was trespassing into the camp of a strange Clan without being asked.

She still remembered the large tree with the branches reaching down to the ground in the centre of the camp from her last visit many moons ago. The camp was set up in the shape of a crescent moon right on the shore of a small lake.

"StarClan, what could have happened here?" Larkwing whispered, her voice a croak.

It seemed as if the camp had never been inhabited. No scents, no tufts of fur, no paw prints in the soft mud on the shore indicated that. When Larkwing poked her head under a cluster of elder bushes, she found only dry, old moss scattered about in shreds.

Was there a fight?, she wondered at first, then decided that this was rather unlikely. She hadn't found any traces of blood anywhere.

Otherwise, they didn't know how long the territory had been empty. It could well be that there had been a fight a long time ago, the traces of which had been washed away by the rain.

But what reason would there have been for this? Based on the fights in the MoonClan and RoseClan camps, Larkwing had subconsciously assumed that the Shadowless had manipulated LaurelClan into following them. She couldn't imagine the Clan being so vicious and attacking the others willingly.

And what if LaurelClan had refused all this time? Then that would mean that they had fought against the other Clans against their will.

Larkwing bit her flews. She had never thought it would be so complicated.

She ran over to the lakeshore. Even though a water source right by the camp could prove to be extremely handy, there was one drawback: there was a large gap in the camp wall.

Larkwing noticed that the bushes on the shore hung far over the water. So if strange cats didn't want to enter through the camp entrance, they would have to swim through the lake for better or worse.

Was that how the Shadowless were able to enter the camp back then?

Snorting, she shook her pelt. How could she have forgotten? It had been Eveningstar herself who had brought the Shadowless here.

Larkwing stared at her trembling reflection in the water with her ears pressed against her head. Oh, Eveningstar, no one will ever forgive you for bringing so much suffering to the Clans. If you are in StarClan — which I hope is not the case — can you see what has happened here? Your Clan is destroyed. MoonClan has lost members because they were worried about your cats.

At that moment, a leaf fell onto the surface of the water and distorted Larkwing's reflection. As if she had been torn from a dream, she stepped back, blinking and slightly dazed. It was high time to return to the reconnaissance patrol's camp if she didn't want to spend the night here. Besides, it wouldn't do any good to search the rest of the territory anyway. LaurelClan and the Shadowless were gone.

As she left the camp that once belonged to LaurelClan, her head was full of worrying thoughts. What would this discovery mean for the Clans now? And above all, how would they react?

On the way back, Larkwing no longer paid much attention to her surroundings. Now that she had found out that she was alone, she felt safe.

However, she instinctively checked the air again and again, even though she had long known that there was no point in doing so.

But even if she hadn't, she would still have noticed the smell of blood rising like mist.

Horrified, Larkwing stopped. Where does that come from? She opened her mouth, trying to locate the source, but it was as if the whole forest was bathed in the cold, pungent odour. She couldn't even recognise which animal it came from. Was it a cat?

Shuddering, she ran on. No matter how much she wanted to get to the bottom of it, if the smell of blood was that extreme, any help would probably be too late.

Nevertheless, there was a feeling, an urge deep inside her that told her to look for the injured creature. At first she tried to suppress it. She wouldn't be able to bear the sight that awaited her anyway — she, who was as rigid as a mouse before every fight.

And yet the feeling eventually won. Hissing, she whirled around and stomped back. I swear on my tail and whiskers, if this turns out to be the worst idea ever, I'll never forgive myself.

Again and again she had to close her mouth because she felt dizzy and nauseous. She could hardly believe she had ever smelt anything like that before. She wandered helplessly between the trees, looking for the source.

Suddenly she had the impression that the odour was intensifying. Only very faintly, but she was sure she was on the right track.

After a while of aimless wandering, Larkwing's gaze fell on something dark and motionless, barely perceptible in the shadow of the bush where it lay.

That's indeed a cat!, she realised.

Without a second thought, she rushed forward and stopped abruptly, suppressing a scream.

Now she finally knew why the smell of blood had blocked out all the others. There was a narrow, gaping hole in the strange cat's chest, an unnatural black spot in the white fur. Dried blood coloured the tips of the hair around it light and dark red.

Oh, mousedung. This can't be true. Larkwing groaned, forcing herself to turn away. Suddenly she felt as if her throat was being crushed. She could hardly breathe from nausea.

Did the Shadowless do this? Annoyed, she unsheathed her claws. How mouse-brained she was. The forest probably wasn't deserted at all, the Shadowless had just disguised their scent well enough at first to give her a false sense of security.

Then a scraping sound caught her attention and she whirled around again. The cat seemed to be looking straight at her, though their eyes were so narrowed that one couldn't even make out the irises. Trembling and with great effort, they opened their mouth.

Larkwing rushed forward. Could it be that this cat was still alive despite the unnatural injury? She let her gaze wander over their flank, which was also covered in deep, long since bloodless wounds. And indeed, there was a faint rise and fall.

"Can you hear me?" she whispered, holding her mouth very close to the cat's ear — apparently a tom.

She waited anxiously for a reaction. When he finally gave an answer, she had to hold her breath to hear the quiet meow.

"They are controlled, and so they control."

Larkwing's ears perked up in confusion. "What do you mean? Are you talking about the Shadowless?"

"I'm not controlled anymore," the tom whispered to himself, as if he didn't even realise Larkwing's presence.

"Do you mean the Shadowless?" Larkwing repeated louder. "Did they do this to you? You have to answer me! Please!" Her tone became more pleading.

At last the strange tom twitched an ear, a sign that he had understood her. "That's what they called themselves when they attacked us with thorns, tore us apart.... tore us apart..."

Panic-stricken, Larkwing gave him a shake with her paw. "Remember!" she meowed urgently. "What happened then?"

With rattling breath he continued, "They robbed us of our shadows, they said. Wanted to... control. Wanted us to control, too."

Distraught, Larkwing backed away. Robbed us of our shadows? Great StarClan, she wasn't dealing with a Shadowless here, was she?

Everything inside her was screaming to run away. There was no way she was going to interact with a Shadowless. And yet somehow she knew she had to coax as much information out of this half-dead tom as possible. If he was indeed a Shadowless, he surely knew things that they would otherwise be denied.

Once again, she stuck out her muzzle. "Are you shadowless too? Where do the Shadowless come from?"

The tom remained silent and turned his head away, his flank movements even weaker than before.

Larkwing hissed impatiently. "Do you know where you come from?" she urged.

Endless heartbeats passed before the tom managed to answer, "We came from the place where the Abandoned Skydens are — of those who have entered the realm of the stars."

"Where is that?" Larkwing's whole body trembled.

Very weakly, as if this movement would cost him a lot of strength, the shadowless tom raised the tip of his tail and pointed to the east. "You must look for the remaining cats. They have..." His breath stopped for a moment. "They have something that..."

Another wave of horror washed over Larkwing. He couldn't die yet! There was so much to know!

"Hang on, at least just a little," she mewed anxiously. "So we're supposed to look for cats at the Abandoned Skydens? Why? Do they know anything about the Shadowless?"

The tom blinked, then closed his eyes. "They know..." he muttered with the last breath of his life.

Larkwing felt as rigid as a pillar of ice. No! Not just yet!

Staggering, she straightened up. She didn't know who this cat was, but one thing was clear: he had revealed information that might be essential for all of them.

Paying her last respects, Larkwing lowered her head. "Thank you," she whispered, "I promise we will put an end to the suffering."

***

How Larkwing had ended up at the reconnaissance patrol's camp, she couldn't explain. She only knew that she had run as if her worst nightmare was chasing her. In between, she seemed to have basically crashed into the RoseClan camp, almost dragging Lakepelt by the scruff of his neck like a kit. She hadn't paid attention to the worried meows of the other cats.

Now she crouched under the waving branches of a sparse bush in the shadow of a huge rock, still trying to catch her breath. She might be exceptionally fast under certain circumstances, but her stamina left a lot to be desired.

She had just summarised what she had learnt in LaurelClan territory and, as expected, had been met with great disbelief.

"They can't just be gone like that," Splashfur meowed, his eyes wide with horror. "After everything they've done?"

Wearily, Redleaf shook his head. "I don't think they're gone either. They've probably just left LaurelClan territory and settled outside the Clan territories."

"That doesn't help us at all!" Crowshadow lashed her tail. "At least we know our way around the territories. But in the Foreign Lands, we're at a hopeless disadvantage. If we want to attack them, they have an advantage there because they know the surroundings better.'

Attack? Larkwing wrinkled her muzzle. Why was Crowshadow already thinking about attacking? It would be moons before they were ready to fight the Shadowless.

Crowshadow's statement was met with an uncomfortable silence until Cloverdapple spoke up. "Maybe we really should look for those Skydens. If we really do find information there, we can't afford to ignore it. If those cats there really do know something about the Shadowless, like Larkwing said..."

Disapprovingly, Lakepelt thumped his tail on the ground. "Yes, but we don't know what they supposedly know," the dark grey and white tabby tom pointed out. "What if this cat actually wanted to say they know nothing?"

Larkwing had to admit that he was partly right. The strange tom had died before he could finish his sentence. Now they could probably never find out what he really wanted to say.

Determined, she dug her claws deep into the crumbly earth. Still, she had a feeling that they had to make this journey. "Even if they don't know anything useful, it might still be helpful to find out what the Shadowless did before they came here," she suggested.

"And we're supposed to leave our Clans alone like this?" Leafwind interrupted her incredulously. "We don't know what doom lurks out there. For my part, I think it's better to stay here. We don't need to go looking for some strange cats that we don't even know exactly where they are."

Larkwing suppressed an annoyed snarl. The strange tom hadn't spent the last of his life force to tell her as much as possible for nothing. There was no way she wanted his efforts to be in vain.

She wanted to open her mouth and argue why they should follow the strange tom's words, but Redleaf beat her to it.

"We should try anyway. After all, we have an approximate direction and that's often enough," he meowed. "Besides, I don't think the Skydens are hard to miss."

Larkwing breathed out in relief. Fortunately, at least Redleaf was on her side — although that was no wonder.

Cloverdapple also sided with her. "We shouldn't forget that the Clans expect us to find a solution."

"So, who's in favour of looking for the cats at the Abandoned Skydens?" Redleaf raised the tip of his tail.

Larkwing and Cloverdapple were the first to follow, shortly followed by Lakepelt. Splashfur and Crowshadow hesitated at first, but then they voted in favour as well.

Now hopelessly outvoted, Leafwind had no choice but also to raise his tail.