"Apart from us, only the cats with the possessed souls visit this place. Who are you?"

They had appeared like shadows, six cats as small and thin as newly appointed apprentices. With spiky fur, they stood at some distance at the foot of the angular slope. Despite their menacing appearance, there was also mistrust, coupled with a suppressed trace of fear in their expressions.

Without taking his eyes off them much, Cloverdapple hissed, "What do we do now?" His body was so rigid that Larkwing almost had the impression that he wasn't breathing.

Growling softly, Crowshadow let her bushy tail sweep across the ground. "If they've come to fight us, we definitely have the advantage," she remarked, snarling. "With half portions like that, we should be done in no time."

Lakepelt said nothing, just unsheathed his claws and cowered down, his paws tucked under his body. His blue eyes suddenly lost their lustre as he fixated on the strange cats as if they were nothing more than prey to be caught and killed.

Exactly the same expression as back then. Shuddering, Larkwing shook herself and backed away, intimidated. Since when has Lakepelt been so keen on fighting? We don't even know yet if these strange cats are hostile.

"Keep your fur smooth," Redleaf commanded his cats with a warning undertone. "First of all, no one is going to attack anyone here. As long as we don't have access to herbs, a fight is basically the direct route to StarClan. Besides, this is probably their territory. What's the point of invading someone else's land and attacking the rightful occupants?"

Larkwing twitched her whiskers slightly, relieved that Redleaf didn't share the others' belligerence. Attacking cats in their own territory? Hm, the Shadowless could certainly chirp a thing or two about that.

Visibly ashamed, Crowshadow licked her chest fur and turned her ears back. All the aggression she had hitherto radiated disappeared in an instant. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice as soft and breathy as a breeze.

Larkwing was not particularly surprised by her behaviour. Crowshadow had once been one of the SnowClan cats who had held Larkwing captive as a young apprentice.

What worried her far more, however, was Lakepelt. He, too, had smoothed his pelt again and there was nothing more to be seen of the flashing, thorn-sharp claws, yet he seemed somehow frustrated, or even disappointed.

Uneasily, Larkwing stepped from one paw to the other. It made her stomach twist to see Lakepelt like this. Stars in the sky, we shouldn't trample on the code of combat and our conscience with our hind paws, she thought to herself. After all, we are warriors and not mindless, bloodthirsty...

"I ask you again: who are you? What brings you here? Are you part of the cats with the possessed souls?"

It was a golden tabby she-cat with darker speckles who had spoken. Of the six strange cats, she was the only one who had ventured to the bottom of the slope. On closer inspection, Larkwing noticed that they were indeed unusually small. In terms of stature, they reminded her of Blossompaw, Nettlepaw and Owlpaw before she had left. At the same time, she realised that these cats here must have grown up long ago.

Cloverdapple moved closer to Redleaf and whispered something to him. Larkwing listened out of curiosity, but understood nothing.

However, Redleaf didn't seem particularly convinced by what Cloverdapple was saying. He tilted his head doubtfully. "I don't really know," he raised his voice, then another hiss sounded.

The golden spotted she-cat had arched her back and bared her fangs. "Don't you hear what I'm saying?" Her lower jaw trembled. "Explain yourselves — or I must assume you are our enemies."

Enemies? What extremely suspicious cats. Still, Larkwing had to admit to herself that there was probably a good reason for her cold behaviour.

Redleaf stepped to the edge of the angular slope, tail twitching, and half-turned to face the other cats. "Let me handle this and you all stay out of this," he meowed.

"No, keep your distance!" the golden spotted she-cat warned sharply. "Are you at last ready to talk?"

Nervously, Larkwing licked her flews. Don't let it come to a fight!, she begged Redleaf in her thoughts.

Lakepelt moved forward beside her with narrow eyes. "They don't want to fight," he commented firmly. "Any bet they're just putting on an act to hide the fact that they're scared... And weak."

Now get off your I'm-totally-up-for-a-fight trip! Larkwing poked him in the flank with her shoulder, causing Lakepelt to sway. When he gave her a reproachful sideways glance, she whispered, "What's wrong with you? Somehow you're so different all of a sudden."

But before Lakepelt had a chance to answer, the wary meow of the golden spotted she-cat sounded again. "We are well aware why you are here." Although her tone was dripping with resentment, her whole body was shivering. A pungent odour of fear emanated from her. "But this time..." She spread her claws, only to retract them a heartbeat later with a sudden, violent twitch. "But this time we won't be so easily overpowered! This time, you will not possess a single one of our souls!"

Her babbling was as enigmatic and incomprehensible as a squirrel's chittering. Yet there was one thing that had caught Larkwing's attention.

Cats with possessed souls? For some reason she couldn't quite fathom, she had the uneasy feeling that this meant the Shadowless.

Then she shook herself. I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Best to just wait and see.

It was clear to see that Redleaf was struggling to keep calm. For some reason, this reassured Larkwing, for it showed that he was a cat like any other and his rank said nothing about how well he coped with unusual encounters.

"What are you meowing about?" Redleaf replied now. "We're certainly not here to possess any... souls." He tilted his head. "What is that even supposed to mean?" An interested undertone emerged in his voice.

Instead of giving a proper answer, the golden spotted she-cat lashed her tail. Her eyes glowed like a green fire. "You're lying," she managed to utter between clenched teeth.

Shaking his head, Cloverdapple licked a paw and pulled it over his ear. "Forget it," he said. "We won't get a word out of them."

Was there contempt in his tone? Larkwing almost glared angrily at the brown and white tom for daring to speak to a deputy like that. But then she noticed the similarity in their stature and remembered that they were from the same litter.

Without turning around, Redleaf swished his tail in Cloverdapple's direction. Meanwhile, the remaining five strange cats had ventured forward, but still kept a good distance from the angular slope. Just like the golden she-cat, who presumably acted as leader, their faces were contorted with a mixture of fear and hatred.

Except for one cat — presumably a she-cat, as could be seen from her small face. She had lilac tabby fur, a beautiful pale brown colour with a barely noticeable dusty pink undertone that stood out particularly well in the sunshine. She had white ear tips and a white tail tip. Her paws, chest and belly fur were also the same colour. Furthermore, she had a white muzzle with a pink nose and a white blaze.

Larkwing's mouth was gaping open in deepest awe. The beauty of this strange she-cat was so overwhelming that she shone like the whole Silverpelt and put all the others in the shade. Her eyes were like honey — and she had her gaze set directly on Lakepelt.

Larkwing felt her fur prickle. That look... I don't like it at all. A low rumble stirred in her chest.

As the pretty she-cat padded towards the golden spotted one, Larkwing's anger evaporated and was replaced with curiosity. With a sideways glance that wasn't hostile, but not exactly friendly either, the lilac tabby whispered something to the golden she-cat.

The golden spotted she-cat winced. "Out of the question!" she retorted immediately. "The last time we trusted strangers, they stole the souls of our companions or killed them and left their corpses to rot." Unlike the lilac she-cat, she didn't bother to whisper. On the contrary, she was almost screaming.

Intimidated by her sharp, loud tone, the lilac tabby she-cat ducked her head. Nevertheless, she didn't let it get her down. "Be reasonable, Sunray!" she pleaded.

Sunray? Isn't that the name of a Clan cat?

"I'm sure they don't have the same intention as the last strangers who came through here," the lilac tabby she-cat continued. "We should trust them. There aren't many cats who come to our ruins, and if they do, they have an important reason to do so." At the last words, her warm gaze travelled upwards again.

Larkwing promptly threw herself in front of Lakepelt and glowered at the she-cat from narrowed eyes. Stop ogling him like that or you'll be sorry! No cat must ever come between our friendship!

Something cool nudged her rump. "Now you're the one who's behaving strangely," Lakepelt pointed out, twitching his whiskers in slight annoyance.

Embarrassed, Larkwing sat down again. Suddenly her fur seemed to burn unpleasantly. "I'm sorry. There's just too much going on today."

It seemed Sunray was still stubbornly holding on to her hostility. With her back arched, she chided the lilac tabby she-cat, "You are far too gullible and kind-hearted! But it's no wonder you don't realise what the cats with the possessed souls have done to us. After all, you were just a stupid kit back then, just as stupid and useless as the rest of your family."

"Don't you dare say anything bad about my family!" the lilac tabby she-cat spat at her with fury. From one moment to the next, the warm, gentle expression vanished from her honey-golden eyes. Now she glared at Sunray with pure hatred.

Visibly tense, Splashfur unsheathed his claws. "Have they forgotten us?" he mumbled in disbelief, while Sunray and the lilac-white she-cat continued to snarl at each other below.

Lakepelt gave a short, snide purr. "I told you they were weird."

Staring off into the distance, Larkwing nodded. So they don't trust strangers, but they don't seem to know how to deal with us. Why don't they just chase us away if they don't want us here?

Resignedly dangling his tail, Redleaf turned back around. "Since they don't seem to want to listen, we should think about a new approach," he decided over the sound of hissing. "So, any suggestions?"

Crowshadow looked at him doubtfully. "Let's just tell them the truth — that we're here because of the Shadowless," she suggested bluntly. "Because I have a feeling that these soul-possessed cats—" She paused briefly and grimaced mockingly, "—are the same as our Shadowless."

Larkwing raised her head in interest. So Crowshadow had the same hypothesis as her. Besides, the dying tom in the former LaurelClan territory had sent them in exactly that direction. All this couldn't possibly be a coincidence...

Carelessly, she jumped to her paws. "I agree with that too!" she announced energetically. "If we let them know that we're both suffering because of the same thing, they'll just have to trust us!"

She was met with an awkward silence. Only Crowshadow nodded approvingly. The unconvinced looks of her travelling companions burnt into her fur.

It was Redleaf who was the first to speak again. "I've already thought about the possibility of them talking about the Shadowless. The only problem is that we don't know how to convince them of the truth in the first place."

"Wait, you've met them too?"

As unnoticeable and secretive as fog, the lilac and white she-cat had crept up on them. There was an expression of genuine interest in her eyes. However, only for the duration of three heartbeats at most, then her gaze wandered directly in Lakepelt's direction for the third time.

Larkwing's claws began to itch. Even without words, she realised what the pushy she-cat wanted to express. Let's become mates right away and sire three litters. Disgusted, she wrinkled her nose and shook her fur as if she wanted an annoying insect to fall off. Mating three times — who would want that? I'd rather cuddle with ash-black slugs than ever mate even once.

Then she noticed that the lilac tabby she-cat was now looking at her. Although, strictly speaking, that was an understatement. She was staring straight at Larkwing, motionless and with large, round eyes, as if she had just seen something unbelievable.

Embarrassed, Larkwing once again became aware of her different coloured eyes and she squeezed the left, green one shut. Oh StarClan, help me if I have to listen to stupid comments again!

As unperturbed as if she had known the Clan cats all her life, the lilac and white she-cat strolled into their midst. "I must apologise for Sunray's behaviour," she meowed. "You have to understand that we have been through some hard times and—"

A threatening hiss interrupted her. "Lavender! Why can't I let you out of my sight for a moment?"

Now Sunray had also jumped up the angular slope, stopping on the penultimate ledge and peering upwards with eyes flashing with anger.

Visibly startled, Lavender flinched. Then she wrinkled her muzzle, but Sunray didn't even give her a chance to reply. Her paw pads made a trampling sound as she stomped onto the large stone platform and swung her paw wide.

With a scurrying sound, her paw landed exactly where Lavender's head had been a heartbeat ago. Not prepared for this, she stumbled back.

Larkwing's heart had begun to beat faster with agitation. Sunray is so overprotective that she goes so far as to resort to violence when Lavender doesn't do her bidding. Her fur prickled as the hairs slowly began to stand up. How she hated cats like that. So much so that she took pity on Lavender.

Now Redleaf pushed himself protectively in front of Lavender and glared at Sunray. "What was that all about?" he asked incredulously.

With a quick glance around, Larkwing realised that every one of them was shocked by Sunray's violent outburst. She let her claws scrape across the flat stone floor.

This is no leader. Snarls at intruders, but makes no move to chase them away. And now she almost hits another cat because she's behaving more sensibly than her!

"We'd like to know that too."

The remaining four strange cats, all toms, had now also ventured upstairs. Their mistrust seemed to have disappeared.

Just like Lavender and Sunray, they were of below-average size. They all had short, smooth fur, in the colours light brown tabby, black and white spotted, red tabby and grey-brown tabby.

"You are a she-cat. Any use of or even thought of violence will ruin your chance of entering the sinless afterlife," the grey-brown tabby tom pointed out to Sunray with a half-reproachful, half-disbelieving tone.

Larkwing stood there in confusion. These cats were truly becoming more and more suspicious to her. The tom seemed less shocked by the fact that Sunray had been aggressive towards a cat than that she was a she-cat who dared to think of using violence. Of course, it was rude of her to treat a companion like that, but judging by the tabby's tone and choice of words, it gave the impression that they didn't even allow she-cats to fight.

How would they react if they knew they were in the presence of not only one but two battle-hardened warrioresses? Would they even accept that, or were they the kind of cats who firmly believed that their way of life was the only one to follow?

With her muzzle raised, Lavender strutted out from behind Redleaf and stood nose to nose directly in front of Sunray. "If you'd listen, you'd know that these cats here have also had an encounter with the possessed," she explained as slowly as if she were talking to a kit. Her sharp, quick-tempered tone had also disappeared and she meowed as calmly and kindly as her eyes shone.

Oh, not just one encounter, Larkwing thought gloomily.

"Hold it!" Cloverdapple meowed in alarm. "That's not what we said!"

Lavender turned her head towards him. "Really?" She sounded genuinely surprised.

Larkwing snorted, but so softly that Lavender couldn't hear her. Great, she's forgetful too!

The ginger tabby tom leapt forward and pulled Lavender away. Snarling, she tore herself away. "Don't you want to understand? If they really met them, maybe we could find out what happened to the cats that were taken away!"

Larkwing's white tail tip twitched from side to side with increasing frustration. Now it was clear: Lavender consisted of nothing but the soft expression in her dark eyes and her infatuation with a tom cat she hadn't exchanged a single meow with. She didn't seem to be able to memorise simple things at all.

And then Larkwing realised something.

Like a dark river, the almost forgotten memory of the conversation with the dying tom on LaurelClan territory came flooding back. But what exactly had he said again? Larkwing blanked out everything around her, trying with all her might to remember the exact wording.

Come on, remember! Maybe we're already very close to our destination. In the end, Lavender might even be right with her theory.

"They are controlled, and so they control," she muttered, her eyes wide.

Even though she had whispered, the others promptly remained silent. All pairs of eyes were fixated on her, some confused, some even frightened.

"What tick is controlling your brain?" Lakepelt enquired.

Larkwing shook her pelt energetically. "No, do you remember when I was supposed to spy on LaurelClan territory? I met a tom there who said exactly that!"

The longer she spoke, the more intensely and quickly the memories of that fateful day came flooding back. She rose to her paws with newfound confidence. The others listened to her, which was good. As long as she could, she had to seize the opportunity.

Excitedly, she continued, "He was the one who sent us to the Skyden cats. Those are you, am I right?" She cast a quick glance round. None of the strange cats replied, but all at once their expressions were contorted with sadness. "And he spoke of the Shadowless, too."

When one got right down to it, that didn't quite match what he had said. As far as Larkwing knew, she had asked him if he had spoken of the Shadowless, to which he had replied that the cats who had attacked them had called themselves that. But her point was still standing.

"That settles it," Larkwing meowed in conclusion. "The soul-possessed cats you spoke of are the Shadowless!"

Silence met her at first. And then — a gasp from Sunray. "Just don't use that name!" she commanded as her whole body began to tremble and her fur bristled again. "We never — under any circumstances — say the true name of those who once brought disaster upon us. It brings misfortune. At worst, it will lead them back to us, and we won't survive another attack."

A shiver ran down Larkwing's spine. These cats were so afraid of the Shadowless that they didn't even dare to call them that.

Lakepelt twitched his whiskers. "But the other one sounds more inviting, doesn't it?" he murmured.

"It's not about making them sound more inviting," Lavender lectured him with her sweet-sounding voice, "but about the conviction that not speaking their true name is like a kind of protective barrier."

"Not only that," the ginger tabby tom, who had just pulled her aside, added. "By calling them the cats with the possessed souls, it also acts as a warning to all those who want to underestimate their negative influence."

It's all starting to make sense. Now that it was clear, Larkwing felt as if a heavy rock had been lifted from her shoulders.

Redleaf took the floor again, which she was secretly pleased about. She simply wasn't made to speak to so many cats at once. I'd make a horrible leader, she thought.

"It sounds like you know more about them than we do," Redleaf said. "If that's the case, do you know where they originally came from?"

The skyden cats exchanged nervous glances with each other. Sunray flattened her ears and pressed her flews tightly together.

Impatiently, Larkwing beat the ground with her bushy tail. Now that they were very close to their goal, they couldn't give up.

"We need to know," Redleaf continued energetically. "Maybe it will give us clues as to where their weak points are and how we can get rid of them."

Larkwing was almost bursting with nervousness. Come on, answer us!, she pleaded silently.

Soon they would return home with new information about the Shadowless. They wouldn't even be gone for a quarter moon. And once they learnt what the Shadowless' motivation was, the Clans could band together and defeat them once and for all, using their weakness against them.

But then Sunray uttered a single word that destroyed everything.

"No." Her voice was as freezing cold as an icicle. "Sorry, but we can't say that to cats who do not belong to us."

At that moment, Larkwing had finally had enough. Hot anger flared up inside her. She rose to her hind legs and hissed at Sunray. "Excuse me? Does that mean you can't or you don't want to?" She was well aware of the warning looks from her patrolmates, but ignored them. "We walked all the way here only to find out that it was all for nothing?"

Breathing heavily, she dropped back onto all four paws. It could have been so easy! Her gaze became blurry and she had to resist the urge to just start wailing like a kit who didn't get what it wanted.

"Larkwing. There's no point." Leafwind sounded agonised.

Be quiet. Ignoring him, Larkwing positioned herself right in front of Sunray and glared at her challengingly.

Suddenly, the golden spotted tabby she-cat's expression changed dramatically. She flattened her ears, her pupils widened and she pressed herself close to the ground. "You came," she whispered in awe. "The cat with the second sight. At last — at last we will have certainty. The prophecy is true after all."

As soon as the word 'prophecy' was uttered, the other skyden cats crouched down, their eyes cast downwards.

Confusion rose in Larkwing. "W-what... Prophe— prophecy? What prophecy?" she stammered.

Very slightly, Sunray lifted her head, just enough so that she only had Larkwing's front paws in her field of vision. "Many moons ago, there was a prophecy that said a cat with dissimilar eyes would come. You are destined to become the next Guardian of the Ancient Stone."