Squiggles — colourful, bouncing squiggles everywhere in a lake of gloom. They made noises. The faster ones had a high, echoing tinkling sound, the slower ones rattled.

Their movements became more irregular, more aggressive. They began to collide and merge with each other. Finally, a glistening ball of different, rapidly flashing colours had emerged.

Pain shot through Larkwing's head, as intense as if someone had rammed a stick through it with full force. Panicked, she tried to squint her eyes to protect herself from the light. But she couldn't. She couldn't do it at all. Why couldn't her eyelids close? Did she even have eyelids?

Suddenly — a humming. A melody consisting of two short and one long tone that repeated itself. This caused the ball of light to begin to deform. Within a few heartbeats, it began to bulge, stretching in length and width before finally exploding. The only evidence of its former existence was a rain of countless tiny speckles.

With a gasp, Larkwing raised her head and lowered it to the ground again the next moment. All is well. It wasn't real, she told herself reassuringly, although her heart wanted to escape from her body. Just a crazy nightmare. No wonder, after everything that has happened.

"Well, are we awake now?"

Her field of vision still not adjusted to her surroundings, Larkwing searched for the source of the voice. There seemed to be a cat sitting there, scrutinising her with glowing green eyes.

Larkwing was about to pull herself to her paws when dizziness took hold of her. Powerless, she lay still. "Sun... Sunray?" she croaked. "Is that you? What's happened to me?"

The she-cat started to move. The closer she got, the clearer her shape became. Indeed, it was Sunray. "Oh, it's terrible what you've had to go through."

What is this supposed to mean? Suspiciously, Larkwing curled her muzzle. You're the one who did this to me.

"And yet you just won't let yourself be broken. I have to admit, that's impressive. I didn't expect that from a she-cat like you."

Larkwing found her voice again at last. "What are you talking about?" She wanted to growl, but only a choked whisper came out of her mouth.

"Shh." Sunray raised a paw. "Likewise, I didn't expect there to be cats so foolish as to be willing to die for you. That tom, for example, who killed Pebbles and Moth and helped you escape. Unfortunately, my subjects failed to finish him off." Her muzzle came very close to Larkwing's face and she hissed. "And do you know why?"

Clenching her teeth tightly, Larkwing shook her head. At the same time, she felt a refreshing wave of relief flood through her. Lakepelt is fine. What luck. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if he had died because of me.

A look of pure hatred came into Sunray's face. "Because he was a homicidal monster!" she hissed. "He could have at least faced my subjects in a fight. But no, instead he had used every opportunity to minimise my followers. Otherwise, he would've had no chance of escaping death on his own."

Shuddering, Larkwing bristled her fur. Strangely enough, this didn't surprise her as much as it should have. She had long since realised that Lakepelt could be damn dangerous and bloodthirsty at times, especially when it came to protecting others or himself. Besides, how could he have reacted differently? Fighting alone against several opponents was impossible.

Aware of this realisation, Larkwing glared resolutely at Sunray. "No. You simply left him exposed to an unfair situation. That's called self-defence."

Enraged, Sunray flattened her ears. "How—"

"Moreover, your followers don't seem to be very strong if they can be killed so easily by a single cat."

Smugness spread through Larkwing as Sunray ducked her head and tensed her shoulders. Well, those who underestimate others and overestimate themselves...

Right after that, Sunray pulled herself together again. Her thin tail lashed through the air. "Well, he may have managed to escape unscathed. But not that old she-cat who had the audacity to think she could protect you."

That was when the memories all came flooding back, like masses of water breaking through a dam. Just before Larkwing had fainted, Crowshadow had appeared. She had talked about how Sunray would have to manage to finish her off before she could get to Larkwing. Then an agonising scream had sounded. No doubt, it must have been Crowshadow.

A growl rose in Larkwing, and with a sudden burst of energy she lunged at Sunray. "What have you done to her?" she screeched, while she alternately covered the golden spotted she-cat's cheeks with red welts with her claws unsheathed. "I'm the one who has to be sacrificed. So why are you punishing those who have nothing to do with it?"

As if she couldn't feel any pain, Sunray didn't make a face. "Turn round, mouse-brain," she replied in a mocking tone.

This is a trap. Larkwing pressed her claws even deeper into Sunray's face. As soon as she turned round, this treacherous cat would seize the moment of surprise and attack her.

But then her nose picked up a scent that she hadn't noticed before because she was so agitated.

Crowshadow's scent — but something was wrong.

Stunned, Larkwing stared down at Sunray. "You're insane."

"You say that when you haven't even looked at her yet?" Sunray's lower right eyelid twitched. "Go on, see what happens to those who think they can stand in my way and thus in my masters'. I'll be merciful for a moment and not ambush you like you fear."

Barely perceptible, Larkwing cringed. It was downright creepy how easily Sunray could see right through her. And who were these masters she kept rambling on about all the time?

With one last sceptical look, Larkwing turned slowly and tensely. Something lay there in the darkness, strangely deformed and motionless.

"Crowshadow?" Only a soundless caw came from her mouth. She stalked closer on stiff paws.

The otherwise large and broad-shouldered she-cat made a pitifully tiny impression as she lay crouched there. Larkwing's whiskers quivered as she nudged her muzzle against Crowshadow's ear. "Hey, Crowshadow. Can you hear me?"

No response. Holding her breath, Larkwing patted the black she-cat's chest. Only when she could detect a faint heartbeat did she allow herself a sigh of relief. Crowshadow was alive. At least still.

Larkwing's gaze travelled down her body. Apart from the injuries that Crowshadow had already been bearing when she had found her, Larkwing couldn't detect any new ones at first.

At least until she noticed Crowshadow's right hind leg. In a grotesque way, it was twisted and protruding from her body. Torn out scraps of fur and fresh bite marks indicated that this had been done to her by another cat.

Oh StarClan, no... Nausea rose in Larkwing's throat and she swallowed hard. "You're the only monster around here," she pressed out. Even though she dreaded looking Sunray in the eye again, she turned to her anyway.

"Am I?" Sunray purred. An icy purr that perfectly complemented the poisonous green colour of her eyes. "Whatever. Enough talk."

She stood up and shook the drops of blood from her kinked whiskers. Without breaking eye contact with the RoseClan warrior, she let out a high-pitched hum.

Confused, Larkwing took a step back. Her hind leg bumped against Crowshadow, but she didn't care about that at the moment. "What are you doing?"

No sooner had she opened her mouth than a tentacle snaked its way towards her. It was far thinner and smaller than the ones that had wound around the skydens. Beside Sunray, it straightened and rotated its tip, resembling unnatural bird talons.

Larkwing's paws were frozen solid. Terrified, she stared at the thing. "What... what is this creature?" she whispered.

"Oh, that?" Sunray glanced sideways at the tentacle. "Well, that's one of my masters. Technically, of course, it's only a fraction of one. Unfortunately, my masters are in a distant place that is still inaccessible to me. Besides, they lost a lot of power when they last absorbed energy and it will take time for them to regenerate."

The whole time, Larkwing didn't understand any of what Sunray was saying. Absorbed energy? Regenerate?

Apparently Sunray had realised that the tortico she-cat was at a loss, because she added, "But until then, they use the soulforce of cats to keep themselves going."

Larkwing ruffled her fur fearfully. For some reason, she felt that she had better believe Sunray.

Suddenly it flashed through her mind. The ruin cats called the Shadowless Soulless. Could it be possible that the tentacles were the reason they existed?

An amused snort snapped her out of her thoughts. "I guess you're not capable of anything but staring stupidly around with your unnatural eyes."

Hot anger flared up in Larkwing again and she unsheathed her claws. "How dare you?" she growled in anger, forgetting her exhaustion and the badly injured Crowshadow for a moment. "You threw yourself into the dust in front of me. You refused to look me in the eye because I'm supposedly so special and a prophecy cat!" With every word, her usually so smokily feminine voice became shriller and louder. "You convinced me to follow you precisely because I have unnatural eyes. Who are you really, Sunray? No, wait, don't answer that. A deranged, unscrupulous traitor is what you are, nothing more."

That obviously seemed to have hit home. No sound came from Sunray for quite a while. Then her mouth tightened. "Stupid young cat! That's what happens when you're too reckless and enter places you're not supposed to," she scolded Larkwing.

"Stop talking in riddles!" Larkwing snapped harshly at Sunray. Her paws tingled and she pressed her claws even deeper into the ground.

Go on, attack her. You still have the power. Let her endure the same suffering you had to. And then end it.

In a protective way, as if it could recognise the dark thoughts that haunted Larkwing, the tentacle shifted in front of Sunray and pointed its tip at the RoseClan she-cat. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that there was a sort of round opening in the centre, unfortunately too black to see anything inside.

A mocking, ugly-sounding purr rumbled in Sunray's throat. "Shall I tell you something?" she hissed. "The prophecy... was a lie."

A chill ran down Larkwing's spine. "So it was true..." she whispered, more to herself. It had occurred to her the day before that there might be something strange about the prophecy. Still, it was shocking news to actually have certainty now.

"Why?" she wanted to know. "Above all, why didn't anyone contradict you back then? Are all the ruin cats in on the lie?"

Sunray interrupted her. "My masters have given me the ability... hmm... to be very persuasive," she explained. "I'm not a leader, but I've been the first one the cats turn to for more leaf-changes than you've been alive. Although I'm not a battle-hardened tom, I'm the one they trust the most. They'll do anything for me — and they'll believe anything I tell them. With a little help if necessary."

"Why should I believe you?" Larkwing's tail tip twitched.

Thereupon Sunray gave the younger cat a look as if she had just asked why cats and mice couldn't be friends. "I used to be weak. Puny. Good for nothing. I wasn't anyone's first choice. I often roamed around in the skydens. Secretly, of course. Normally we avoid these places. Oh, I was so reckless. But that's what finally gave me strength."

She hummed briefly and the tentacle moved its talons with a cracking sound. "I was followed by a tentacle in one of the skydens. I thought it was strange at first as they never moved before," she continued. "It stabbed me in the neck. What followed was the most hellish pain I've ever known in my life. I thought I was going to be torn to pieces. It was so ghastly that I felt the urge to jump off a skyden just to finally be redeemed."

Hearing this, Larkwing was involuntarily reminded of her encounter with the shadowless cat. She, too, had been pierced by a tentacle and then went mad.

The tentacles spoke to me too, Larkwing recalled. She shook her fur. She wanted to forget what she had done back then.

"But give up?" Sunray's lower right eyelid twitched again and she threw her head back with a shrill giggle. "I didn't want to give up that easily. That's why I begged the tentacles to spare me. If necessary, I would do whatever they told me to do. And my pleas were finally heard. They made me their subordinate and, on top of that, gave me powers that are denied to normal creatures. From that day on, the ruin cats saw me in a completely different light. Suddenly they trusted me."

Larkwing narrowed her eyes. "Because of these powers you got from the tentacles, am I right?"

Sunray nodded in confirmation. "That's right. My masters gave me the ability to manipulate thoughts and memories. From then on, I couldn't care less what others thought about me. And if they thought bad or wrong things about me, I could change them with ease."

Shuddering and trembling, Larkwing pulled her paws under her body. Gradually it dawned on her that the situation was quite different and more complicated than she had originally assumed. If Sunray had the power over thoughts, that probably meant that she was the one who had practically created the renegade ruin cats.

Sunray continued, "One day, the tentacles whispered to me that there was another cat who had come into contact with them. Not in the same way as me, but traces of the tentacles' influence remained on her."

Oh no. No, no, no. With her ears flattened, Larkwing backed away as Sunray began to prowl around her.

"You've probably figured it out already, haven't you?" Sunray purred. "That's right, that cat is you. And my masters see you as something special. That's why they want to use you to replenish a lot of their energy."

Larkwing's hind paws bumped against a wall and she tensed up imperceptibly. "I... I don't understand," she stammered, confused.

Her thoughts were racing. Why was she, of all cats, so special to Sunray's masters? Was it because she had touched the tentacle back then and was still connected to it now? Was that also the reason for her occasional, sudden violent urges?

With a hum, Sunray summoned the tentacle to her. A strangely insidious expression came into her eyes. Then the opening in the centre of the tentacle's talon lit up. Shortly afterwards, a half-round stone fell out and came to rest in front of Larkwing's paws with the hollow, purple side up.

She gasped in horror. "The Ancient Stone!" she exclaimed. "But... how... I thought—"

"Ah, ah." Sunray raised her tail, silencing her abruptly. "This is nothing more than a stone. Pretty to look at, but it has no natural powers. In truth, it was once altered by my masters so that it can transport the consciousness of any cat to any part of their own past. At least that was the plan." At these words, Sunray glared at her accusingly. "Unfortunately, it also contains many memories that are nobody's business."

By that she means the nightmarish disaster I saw on my last trip into the past, Larkwing immediately thought. The only question that remains is why it should remain a secret at all costs.

She scratched her paws uncertainly. "I saw what happened back then. Why should it remain a secret?"

"That's none of your business!" Sunray immediately snapped at her harshly. Her tail lashed, stirring up crumbs of earth. "Be that as it may. My masters need two things from you. Firstly, your consciousness, stored in a special relic."

As if they had had the same thought, both Larkwing's and Sunray's eyes wandered to the Ancient Stone. Alarmed, Larkwing pressed her ears to her head. She's trying to force me to use the stone! But then what? If my consciousness is in the past, what do they hope to gain?

Questions upon questions, but she had the uneasy feeling that she shouldn't underestimate the abilities of Sunray's masters.

"And secondly..." Sunray's lower right eyelid twitched again. "Your blood."

Excuse me? Larkwing tensed up. "You won't—" she raised her voice in protest.

She didn't get any further. All at once, a bright light flared up in front of her. It engulfed her entire surroundings, causing her to instinctively narrow her eyes.

Then her face was on fire.

Or at least that's how it felt. A searing pain, as if her fur and skin were being peeled off, stretched from the base of her left ear across the bridge of her nose and down to her right cheek.

And she screamed. She couldn't help it. She couldn't react, couldn't think of anything but the torturous burning in her face.

With her eyes still tightly closed, the attack from the side hit her completely unexpectedly. Claws dug deep into her shoulders and she was thrown uncontrollably across the floor.

Help! Larkwing opened her eyes wide in fright. The light had disappeared; instead, she saw Sunray's hate-distorted face barely a whisker's breadth away from hers.

Quick-witted, Larkwing reared up. With as much strength as she could muster, she kicked Sunray's belly with her unsecured hind legs. It seemed that the golden she-cat hadn't reckoned on Larkwing knowing how to defend herself, because with a startled grunt she was flung headfirst and landed on the ground.

Larkwing was back on her paws in a flash. Something viscous dripped onto the lid of her green eye. She squinted at her nose and vaguely discovered a deep scratch from which blood was flowing steadily.

She froze. "My face," she pressed out between clenched fangs.

A cold purr sounded. "Blood procured, all that's missing is your consciousness," Sunray replied.

Once again she rushed forward. This time Larkwing was prepared. She leapt into the air, spun round and landed on Sunray's back. Surprised by the force, the golden spotted she-cat's legs gave way beneath her.

Breathing heavily, Larkwing held her down with all her weight. It was an advantage that Sunray was so scrawny. This gave Larkwing a considerable advantage, despite the fact that she wasn't particularly large or physically strong.

"How can you still defend yourself in this state?" Sunray wanted to know, gasping. There was real fear in her tone.

Secretly, Larkwing wondered the same thing. The fresh injury still kept her in agony, made her desperate. Maybe that was even the reason why she was still able to fight despite the pain, hunger and exhaustion.

"Let's put it this way," she hissed with her mouth close to Sunray's ear. "I am a warrior. Where I come from, we spend moons learning to fight."

Sunray began to squirm, whereupon Larkwing anchored her claws into her short pelt. "You're a she-cat! It's unnatural that you can fight."

If the situation wasn't so serious, Larkwing would have snorted in disbelief. "Oh yeah, you're a she-cat too, and yet you attacked me."

"I'm different!" Sunray tossed and hissed like a defiant kit. Again and again she snapped at Larkwing's throat.

A surging wave of hot anger rolled over Larkwing. Her gaze became blurred and dark.

Put an end to this. The same voice she had heard when she had fled from the lone shadowless one. But this time, Larkwing didn't feel the urge to fight it. Instead, she simply let herself be carried away by it — by the river of hatred that rushed through her mind.

As if she could have guessed her thoughts, Sunray bristled her fur. "So you're even willing to kill another cat, are you?" she hissed. "It seems the darkness has already taken hold of you, even though you're not even infected yet."

Her choice of words made Larkwing flinch. Infected? She was just about to start squeezing a reply out of Sunray when something hit her hard on the flank.

The Ancient Stone lay beside them, the tentacle looming over it. For a tiny heartbeat, Larkwing was distracted.

"Come on, give my masters your consciousness already!" Sunray screeched until her voice sounded hoarse.

"Never!" Larkwing tried to push the Ancient Stone out of her reach with her tail, but it was too heavy.

Sunray narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. She made a barely audible humming sound.

Out of the corner of her eye, Larkwing saw the tentacle rise high into the air. Oh no, you wouldn't dare!

And suddenly she knew exactly what she had to do. She would not kill Sunray. She had thought of something else instead.

With the gloomy voice in the back of her mind, Larkwing rose to her hind legs with whirling paws. Sunray's green eyes stared at her one last time — her lower right eyelid twitched one last time.

Then deep welts ran across her eyes. The blood flowed incessantly until Sunray was barely recognisable. Screaming in excruciating pain, she opened her mouth wide and tried to reach her face with her front paws.

"I can't see! I can't see anything!" she yowled so horribly that Larkwing shuddered.

I... I blinded her! Caught up in her horror, she stared at Sunray's tightly closed eyes, which had disappeared under a red veil. Why have I done such a thing?

Staggering, Larkwing jumped off. The tentacle stood still, as if waiting for another command — which it wouldn't get any time soon.

Groaning, Sunray hunched over as she hid her muzzle between her paws.

With one last distraught look at her, Larkwing dashed over to Crowshadow. "Can you hear me?" She shook her shoulder with growing panic. "We have to get out of here. Quickly! As long as she's still incapacitated, we have to escape."

No reaction from Crowshadow. Oh please! Don't leave me alone! In a fit of desperation, Larkwing grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, trying in vain to pull her along. I won't leave you here. After all you've done for me, I owe you this.

Larkwing only realised that it was becoming treacherously quiet when a scratching noise interrupted the silence. Alarmed, she wanted to turn round. Just at that moment, Sunray pushed her to the ground.

"Good, you didn't want it any other way," she hissed, her voice strangely distorted. "Change of plans. If you won't give up your consciousness, we'll just take your soul."

A shiver ran down Larkwing's spine. "What are you going to do?"

Without her eyes, Sunray's face was completely expressionless, and yet the insidiousness in it was palpable. "There's something you should know before it's possibly too late." She held Larkwing's head with her forepaws and an unusual amount of strength. "My masters call themselves Shadowtakers. They have the power to penetrate the souls of cats — living or dead — and make them subservient to them. But they are not the only ones who can do this. Infected cats can also pass it on."

Larkwing's heart was pounding. "What are you trying to say?" she whispered.

Instead of giving an answer, Sunray leapt forward and bit into her neck. The pain set in a heartbeat late. It felt even worse than the scratch across her face, as if a hole had been torn straight through her body.

Out of reflex, Larkwing wanted to shriek. But for some reason she couldn't. Her mouth was wide open until even her jaws hurt. Still, no sound came out.

"I am a Shadowless," Sunray announced in a weak but determined voice as she stepped back, swaying. "The transformation will soon begin for you too. Then we'll find out whether you're actually as strong as me and won't lose your self completely — or whether you'll suffer the same fate as all the other Shadowless."

She stepped next to the tentacle. "I can feel my masters urging me to retreat. They have what they need. But we will meet again when I have eliminated the rest of the weak, worthless ruin cats."

With those words, she stumbled to an opening in the wall. Just before she disappeared, she turned to Larkwing one last time. "Oh yes, before I forget. Her leg is ruined. It will never heal again."