There is a prophecy about me.

Larkwing stood there petrified, forgetting even to breathe. An invisible paw seemed to be squeezing her lungs. Numerous thoughts whirled around in her head like foliage carried away by a leaf-fall breeze.

Cold fear crawled up her trembling legs and spread throughout her body. She wanted to object. You must be wrong! I am nothing special.

The silence between them since Sunray had spoken the meaningful words only fuelled Larkwing's panic. She forced herself to turn around. In the faces of her travelling companions she saw surprise, confusion, but also fear and horror, which secretly calmed her.

Full of despair, Larkwing searched for the right words. She felt like a mouse being chased by a hawk — small, vulnerable and with no chance of escaping the danger.

Then she recalled what Sunray had said. A cat with dissimilar eyes would come...

"You..." she began in a terribly croaky voice, "you think th-this prophecy is about m-me because of my eyes?" Suddenly meowing was so exhausting that she had to gasp after every word.

Sunray still didn't look away from the ground as she replied in an awed tone, "It must be. The last Guardian of the Ancient Stone died so long ago that her name and the memory of her have long since turned to dust. Since then, we have waited moon after moon, season after season, generation after generation, for the next prophecy cat to be born. She never came. We almost gave up hope."

"But maybe we've always just been looking in the wrong places," the black and white spotted tom added, also facing downwards.

There was a snort, and as Larkwing turned to look for the source of the sound, she discovered Crowshadow had stepped forward and was looking down at the skyden cats with narrowed eyes. It was truly a strange sight. As a native SnowClan she-cat, Crowshadow was blessed with a huge, bulky, muscular build. Larkwing had actually gotten used to the sight by now, but seeing the old, black warrior compared to the lanky skyden cats reminded her once again of the uncanny size of the SnowClan cats.

"And what does Larkwing have to do with it?" she enquired unfriendly.

Sunray gave her an astonished sideways glance, as if wondering why Crowshadow didn't know the reason. "Because the prophecy says so!" she claimed. "There isn't another cat with eyes like that for miles around. It just has to be her."

"That's all well and good." Redleaf sounded annoyed. "But what does that mean? Are you going to kidnap Larkwing?"

Hearing this filled Larkwing with warm pride. No matter what happened, she would always have her patrolmates with her. Even though they all came from different Clans, they had put aside their rivalries for this mission in order to be there for each other.

Suddenly, another's fur brushed against her own and she flinched, barely noticing. Lakepelt had pressed himself against her and licked her ear, blinking slowly. "Don't worry, if they want to hurt you, I'll be there to scratch some fur," he whispered more seriously than Larkwing was used to.

She purred happily. "Then I want to join in," she replied as she raised a paw demonstratively and let her claws unsheathe and retract a few times. "What else do I have these for, then?"

Admittedly, she herself was a little surprised by her own combativeness. But maybe it was contagious, as close as Lakepelt was to her.

Too close. Only now did she realise this and she tensed up involuntarily. The whole left side of her body felt uncomfortably warm. Lakepelt had pressed himself so close to her that she had trouble pushing herself against him so that she wouldn't lose her balance and topple over. It felt so uncomfortable that she forgot to breathe.

Lakepelt turned his head to the right, whereupon Larkwing flinched. Her left, green eye began to water. "Now you almost poked my eye out with a whisker," she complained under her breath.

At the same time, she noticed how almost everyone's gaze — excluding the skyden cats' — was directed at her in anticipation. Her fur prickling with embarrassment, she moved to the side, trying to ignore the fact that her left flank was now as warm as a stone in the greenleaf sun and her right was as cold as a stone at the bottom of a river.

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" Larkwing stuttered, her heart pounding as if it wanted to jump out of her body and run away across the mountains.

Redleaf made a move to give an explanation, but Sunray was faster. "You have to come with us," she meowed, her eyes once again turned to the ground. "The prophecy has to be fulfilled."

Prophecy! Anger rose in Larkwing and she couldn't prevent her small white tail tip from twitching. She just keeps meowing about the prophecy and how special I am because of something I was born with. But why should I care about some prophecy of random cats?

Suddenly she felt torn. Those cats needed a Guardian of the Ancient Stone. Sunray was right. Going with them was the only right choice.

Larkwing was startled. These thoughts could not possibly have come from herself. Had the evil gained access to her mind again?

What a very feather-brained idea. She had better stop looking to the supernatural for the reasons for everything strange that was happening to her.

Cloverdapple's meow caught her attention. "That can't be!" he contradicted, his eyes narrowed to slits. "We didn't come here to solve your problems, we came here to solve ours." He turned to Redleaf defiantly. "What do you think about that? They can't possibly force us to—"

"No, I'm going with them." Quickly, the words had left Larkwing's mouth. She had no idea what was happening with her. It was as if she hadn't control of her thoughts anymore. At the same time, something deep inside her screamed, protesting that she should not care about Sunray and the prophecy.

Sunray nodded barely perceptibly. For a brief moment, it seemed as if her facial expressions were smugly contorted.

With his ears flattened, Leafwind scampered over to Larkwing. His eyes were filled with a sad gleam. "Are you crazy?" he hissed quietly. "You can't go with them! You belong with us."

Yes, I know. Of course I do. RoseClan is my home and I want to return to it. At least this was what she wanted to say.

"It's the only right way," it bubbled out of her uncontrollably. "You have to leave me here."

Then Leafwind swiped at her with one paw. Reflexively, she flinched backwards. "Forget that right away! Do you seriously think we're going to leave you alone with this?" The ginger tabby tom twitched his tail. "Of course we're coming with you. Besides, now we know where the Shadowless were before. Until we find out more, we won't be leaving here anytime soon."

Like a storm wave, a feeling of love swept over Larkwing, so strong that she could hardly breathe. Stones would have to fall from the sky before Leafwind would give up on her. Dashfoot might have distanced herself from her and their kithood together, but Leafwind was still there for Larkwing, as if they really were family.

"Yes, exactly, how else are you supposed to manage on your own, as little as you still are?" Lakepelt added, scrutinising her closely.

Larkwing flattened her ears with feigned indignation. "I'm only four moons younger than you! Don't act like you can go to the dirtplace yourself already!"

Sunray was tense. Even without her having to say anything, it was clear that she didn't think much of it. The other skyden cats looked at each other uncertainly.

Finally, it was Lavender who timidly spoke up, "Our camps aren't normally open to outsiders."

Larkwing suppressed a growl. "Technically, we're not completely strangers anymore," she contradicted, knowing full well that this wasn't true. "Besides, we — I meant they need the information about the Shadowless. Please! It could change so much."

The word 'Shadowless' made the fur on Sunray's neck stand up.

"Larkwing is absolutely right about that." Redleaf stepped forward and gave the aforementioned she-cat an appreciative look. "Our Clans trust that we will come back with answers."

Sunray scratched her paws. "Why is it so important to you to know what kind of damage the cats without souls have done?" she muttered bitterly.

Larkwing would have liked to give her a good shake. Because they're our problem now!, she wanted to hurl at the stubborn she-cat.

Fortunately, Redleaf answered in her place, and far more calmly. "They've already brought my whole Clan under their control. It's only a matter of time before they take over the others too."

Fear lit up in Sunray's green eyes. "Oh, they certainly haven't just brought them under their control," she whispered so quietly that she was almost inaudible.

But nothing escaped Larkwing's hearing. She turned her ears forwards attentively. What does she mean? Do the Shadowless have more power than we think? A shiver ran down her spine.

"Understand that! You've suffered at the paws of the Shadowless, now we're suffering at the paws of the Shadowless, so why do you want to keep hiding what they've done to you?" Redleaf was beginning to look desperate, even though he had managed to keep a cool head until now.

Cloverdapple flicked his tail. "Would you tell us more about the Shadowless if we proved our loyalty to you?"

Splashfur jerked his head up in astonishment. "You're not seriously suggesting that we should join them!" he hissed. "We already know that we won't find out anything from them. So why should we bother with them any longer? We'd be better off looking elsewhere."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Cloverdapple replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Maybe we're just one step away from something important."

Redleaf nodded in agreement. "Besides, we can't possibly let Larkwing go there alone," he added.

At these words, Larkwing grew hot with shame. That makes it sound like I can't take care of myself!

Turning back to Sunray, Redleaf wanted to know, "If we join you and prove our loyalty to you, would you tell us more about the Shadowless?"

Larkwing held her breath. The air was heavy and dry, like before a thunderstorm.

After a seemingly endless pause, Sunray finally lowered her head in defeat. "However, you only have one chance," she warned, "If you even think of harming us in any way or fail to abide by the rules, you must leave and never, ever return."

Lakepelt stepped uneasily from one paw to the other. "It'll be impossible to survive half a day with them," he mocked softly so that Sunray couldn't hear him.

Silently, Larkwing agreed with him. She already knew that these cats would make life difficult for them on purpose. Her fur bristled.

"We'll be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs," Sunray said just then.

When Larkwing looked up, she just saw Sunray run downstairs as the last of the skyden cats. Hm, so this angular slope is called 'stairs'.

As soon as the golden spotted she-cat was out of sight, Splashfur lashed his tail. "I still don't think this is a good idea," he commented tensely.

"Somehow I don't trust them." Crowshadow narrowed her eyes. "I bet my whiskers they're trying to hide something at all costs. Why else didn't they come right out with what they know about the Shadowless?"

Maybe they have a good reason for it, Larkwing thought, but refrained from speaking her thoughts aloud.

Redleaf padded to the top of the stairs. "I don't like it either," the orange and white tabby tom admitted. "However, we should leave no stone unturned. I have a feeling that they know something important about the Shadowless... Come now."

Larkwing let the other cats lead the way before she made her own descent. A strange emptiness spread through her. None of them knew what to expect in the coming days, and that frightened her.

And even worse: her own life would take a drastic turn. How would these cats let her go when they had waited moons for her arrival? When there was a whole prophecy about her?

As soon as the Clan cats had left the dilapidated stairs behind them, Sunray flicked her tail impatiently. "Don't fall back. I want to be back at the main camp before sundown."

With those words, she trudged off, the skyden cats right behind her. After a little hesitation, the Clan cats followed.

At the main camp? Does that mean there are several camps? Larkwing looked thoughtfully up at the sky, which was blue for once today. It was still bright, but the sun had already travelled a long way. Larkwing knew from experience that nightfall came much quicker than one would have liked in leaf-bare.

She thought longingly back to the long warm days and balmy nights when she was still a fresh apprentice. Amberhaze and she were lucky enough to have been appointed apprentices in the middle of greenleaf. So they were able to get to know the forest when it was lush green and where the hunt was successful every day. In addition, due to the fact that the RoseClan camp was halfway up a mountain, there was always a pleasant breeze, which made up for the heat.

Now, however, there was still no sign of greenleaf, let alone newleaf. And yet it was supposed to be slowly arriving. Larkwing fluffed up her fur, shivering. The temperatures seemed to be particularly low today. Over the last few days, her medium-long pelt had done a pretty good job of keeping out the cold. Whereas today she felt like she was going to turn into an ice cat at any moment.

The cats walked along a straight dark grey hard stone surface, barely visible under all the earth and tufts of grass coming out of cracks, between the dizzying skydens.

Larkwing forced herself to keep her gaze at ground level. She could see all sorts of huge, strange things sticking out of the dry vegetation like a single white flower on a bush. For example, there were all sorts of big, brown, dirty boxes with four round, black paws. All of them had holes and dents, and hardly any of them were still standing on their paws.

Larkwing wondered whether they had once been living creatures. If so, what had happened here to make them so maltreated?

Crowshadow also looked at the destroyed boxes with interest. "What are these things? In a way, they remind me of the tunnel at SnowClan camp," she murmured.

Her quiet ramblings didn't go unnoticed. With a twitch of his ears, the light brown tabby tom turned to face her. "Cars," he replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to know such a thing. "Well, I guess they don't fulfil their purpose anymore, though."

Crowshadow quickened her steps and fell into line beside him. "Oh, do you know more about this place?" she asked, sounding as excited as a kit asking an elder for a story. She didn't even wait for an answer, but simply babbled on, "There's a big, long, hollow object in the forest where I come from. It looks a bit like a bird. Do you know—"

"Plane." The light brown tabby tom looked at Crowshadow in amazement out of large green eyes. "How come you don't know what that is?"

"Counter question: How do you know what it is?"

The tom twitched his ears. "It's probably common knowledge here," he explained. "Cars and planes were used to get around quickly. Cars on the ground, planes in the air. They could be used to cover distances that no cat could ever manage. And then there were trains, lots of boxes attached to each other that travelled on their own paths — tracks, to be precise — and ships and boats that could be used to cross large bodies of water."

Larkwing had been strolling behind them the whole time, listening intently. Outside the Clan territories lay a vast world full of secrets and strange things. If only the others knew what there was here! She snorted in amusement.

The next moment she heard Crowshadow gasping for air. "Wow! You know so much about things I've never heard of!" she mewed in a bright voice.

Larkwing couldn't suppress a purr in response. What was that about 'I don't trust them'? It was obvious that Crowshadow was so full of curiosity that she had put aside her initial hostility and was now avidly asking questions.

But now the black she-cat's cheerful tone disappeared. Even her tail, which until now had been raised steeply into the air, slowly sank downwards. "And... these tendrils? Did they have any use?" she enquired hesitantly.

Without attracting attention, Larkwing approached them and turned her ears forwards.

The light brown tabby tom's fur stood up and he tensed. He trotted stiffly as if he had a stick in his body. He looked straight ahead and no longer up at Crowshadow. From one moment to the next, he suddenly seemed unsure.

When he answered after a long silence, he did so quietly. "These tendrils are the reason why the cars here are nothing but junk. Why the sky is no longer traversed by planes. One day they appeared and destroyed the life."

Oh no, how ghastly. Larkwing felt a tightening in her chest as she listened to the tom. For the first time since they had joined the skyden cats, she dared to glance at the aforementioned tendrils.

Her head immediately started to pound. The black material of the tentacles reflected the sunlight so strongly that she reflexively closed her eyes.

No... Please! I mustn't think about it anymore!

The she-cat pierced with the tentacle as she lay in a dark pool of her own steadily flowing lifeblood. In a blur, Larkwing could see her white paws in front of her inner eye. But now they were stained dark red.

I have... I have... The missing word haunted Larkwing's mind. No. No matter what I've done, it can't be undone. The only thing left for me to do is to stay away from the tentacles.

She thought about what the light brown tabby tom had said about the tentacles destroying life. That made it unmistakably clear that they were a danger — and could also turn living beings into a danger.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you that," the light brown tabby tom meowed just then, his head bowed dejectedly. "Sunray's orders. If I were to do it..." His voice became softer and softer towards the end.

Crowshadow forced out a stifled purr. "I guess we can't do anything about that, can we?" she grumbled in a tone that dripped with disappointment. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. Me mouse-brain! I'm Crowhadow."

"I'm Moth."

Larkwing paid no more attention to the rest of their conversation. Just a whisker's length in front of her nose, Lavender's tail wagged through the air. Light-pawed, she leapt around Lakepelt, purring so fiercely that her whole body trembled.

That wretched, flea-infested, walking piece of crowfood! A fire of rage flared up inside Larkwing. Hissing, she scratched the stone surface with her claws. Nausea rose in her throat as she saw how Lavender was far too close to Lakepelt.

And when she moved a little closer, Larkwing exploded inside. Regardless of the consequences, she stomped forward with a growl and pushed Lavender aside with her shoulder. For a brief moment, Larkwing could see hurt in her eyes. A hideous expression that Larkwing wanted to scratch away.

Instead, she put on a good face and declared without growling, "Could you leave us alone for a moment?"

It was clear from Lavender's furrowed muzzle that she didn't like being sent away. Nevertheless, she left without a word.

Larkwing looked after her with tense claws. "You'd better give her a wide berth."

***

"Here is the main camp." Sunray turned to the cats, blocking their way. "Whether the other ruin cats accept you is entirely up to you. So you would do well to adapt to our rules."

The way she said it sent a shiver down Larkwing's spine. Sunray had emphasised this so often that by now she was afraid that anything she would do or say would be a reason to throw her out.

Then she gave herself a jolt. She was part of a mission, and this mission had to be successful at all costs.

"Come on now — and keep your furs flat." With this final warning, Sunray strode through an arch overgrown with ivy vines.

It'll be fine, Larkwing told herself to reassure herself before she followed the other cats.

Until recently, they had stayed on the hard stone path between the skydens. But now the surroundings had changed. The skydens were gradually getting smaller, so that they could no longer be called skydens, strictly speaking. Further back was a long, crescent-shaped mountain, albeit not even half the size of the Forest Mountains, overgrown with a deciduous forest.

Behind the arch was a bridge that led over a river. Just like everything else here, it was mostly collapsed. A single car with an injured muzzle stood dangerously close to the edge. By all appearances, a huge thin grey trunk had fallen and smashed the car's face in the process.

On cautious paws, the cats skirted the shiny, transparent splinters lying all over the ground.

"By StarClan, nothing here is intact," Cloverdapple realised as he stopped briefly to sniff at a pile of broken stones.

On the other bank, there was another cluster of dilapidated dens that seemed to stretch the entire length of the river and up to the forest. They were all comparatively small and narrow stone paths connected them. There were also a few trees here — mostly oaks, linden trees and beeches — and they stood close to the angular dens.

As soon as they had left the bridge behind them, cats appeared from the shadows everywhere. At the sight of the strangers, however, they immediately retreated back into the darkness of the burrows with a hiss. The numerous pairs of eyes lit up like fireflies.

While both the Clan cats and the ruin cats stood indecisively by the river, Sunray trotted on.
A light silver tabby she-cat with cream-coloured patches on her back was the only one to step forward cautiously, letting her amber gaze wander over the new arrivals.

"Who have you brought with you, Sunray?" Her voice quivered.

"Cirrus. I see you've been taking good care of the camps in my absence." Sunray inclined her head before continuing in a louder tone. "There's no need to hide. The new Guardian of the Ancient Stone has finally graced us with her arrival."

Slowly and cautiously, the cats crept out of the dens. None of them dared to leave the immediate vicinity of the dens. They were also unusually small and dainty. The faces of three kits peeked out from under the branches of a bush, which Larkwing would have guessed to be a moon at first glance. But looking at the adult cats, she wondered if they were older than she assumed.

Sunray looked over her shoulder. "Don't just stand there," she snapped irritably.

Larkwing suppressed an annoyed roll of her eyes. Considering that I'm a prophecy cat, you're treating me pretty disrespectfully. She would have loved to hiss back at Sunray, just to put her in her place. However, she realised that this would not make a good impression, so she swallowed her anger.

The stares hit her like thorns as she stepped forward. She had never seen the world so quiet. When she closed her eyes, it was as if she was the only living being left.

"Um... hi. What's up?" she babbled.

Immediately afterwards, she wanted to hit herself. What a mouse-brain I am! No chosen cat speaks like that!

To her astonishment, however, no cat seemed to be bothered by this. On the contrary: just like Sunray, Lavender, Moth and the other three toms who had brought them here, they lowered their eyes to the ground in awe.

Even though Larkwing was used to this very strange behaviour by now, she still found it disturbing. These cats acted as if they would go blind if they looked at her!

"Unbelievable," Cirrus muttered. "I had long since given up hope." Then her gaze wandered to the other Clan cats and her fur bristled. "What about them? You know that—"

"We couldn't stop them." Apologetically, Sunray lowered her head. "If I hadn't let them, they would've killed us."

A startled meow could be heard here and there. Cirrus flattened her ears. "Have you completely lost your mind, Sunray?" Her tail swept through the air.

Liar! Larkwing grew hot with rage. So hot that she lost all decency and bared her fangs. "You made that up!" Her tone was shrill with indignation. "Why are you telling such lies? We only wanted—"

With a growl, Sunray interrupted her. "Don't listen to them. They've assured us that they won't harm us for now, but you should still be as careful as possible in their presence and not say anything they could use against us."

Desperate, Larkwing exchanged a glance with her patrolmates. They looked just as helpless. Even without words, it was clear that they were all thinking the same thing at that moment.

Why doesn't Sunray say that we're here for the Shadowless? Why does she go to the trouble of portraying us in a completely false light instead?

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At the end of the book there will be a list of all the ruin cats.