"Get up!" The echoing, asynchronous chorus of voices was deafening. "Look at what's going to happen!"

Without warning, a terrible pain shot through Larkwing from her chest to the tip of her tail, as if someone had rammed a stick through her body. She threw her head back, wanting to scream, but instead could only produce a croaking wheeze.

What's going on? How long have I been here? Lakepelt was gone. Her nest was gone. She was alone in a dark environment, too gloomy for her to see anything.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called timidly. Reflexively, she unsheathed her claws and tensed her hind legs, ready to dodge if something lunged at her.

Numerous pairs of glowing yellow eyes flashed one after the other, above her, beside her, even below her, until the tortico cat seemed to be trapped by them. A tingling sensation made the pelt along her spine stand on end.

"Is this a dream?" Her question echoed in the rushing silence of this strange place.

Until the eyes seemed to come closer. Her heart skipped a beat in fright. Blindly, she felt behind her with her hind paws and slowly backed away.

Faint silhouettes, barely distinguishable from their surroundings, appeared around some of the pairs of eyes. There were three cats, their bodies dark grey and swirling, as if they were made of clouds and mist and could be blown away by a breath of air.

At the same time, they opened their mouths, revealing their white fangs, the only thing about them that looked real. "The prophecy is coming true," they said with one voice.

Larkwing pressed her ears to her head. "Prophecy?" she repeated. "What are you? Are you StarClan? What do you want from me?"

Gradually, her fear disappeared and was replaced by anger. She stepped up to the mist cats and hissed at them. How dare you bring me here? I know myself that I am tainted!

"Look at what will happen," they repeated. "Look at your future, Shadowless."

A growl formed deep in Larkwing's throat. "Why—"

The rest of her question was lost in a shrill scream as she was pulled into the abyss beneath her. She fell faster and faster, spun around as if she were as light and fragile as a leaf. In a pitiful attempt to regain control, she paddled with all four legs, but that only made her even more disoriented than before.

And then she came down hard on something cracking. She lay still for a moment, her face contorted in pain. If this is a dream, why does it feel so real?

Carefully, she opened her eyes a crack. Far above her, in the middle of the darkness, was a tiny bright spot of light.

When the pain had subsided a little, she tried to stand up, but instead her paws slipped through holes in the floor. Panicked, she tried to regain her footing, which caused her to sink even deeper.

"Mousedung!" she cursed as she wriggled around helplessly.

At that moment, the ground beneath her gave way and she fell muzzle-first, landing in something sticky.

"Mousedung on crowfood!" she hissed incensed. "What kind of stupid dream is this?"

Her fur ruffled, she pulled herself to her paws and shook her fur. The sticky feeling remained.

She curled her muzzle. "What is this anyway?" she mumbled to herself, her voice eerily echoing in the silence that surrounded her like fog.

She turned her head back to examine her pelt — and a scream almost escaped her mouth.

A mountain of bones — too big to have come from prey — piled up behind her.

A lump formed in Larkwing's throat. There had to be a reason why she was having such a realistic dream. At the same time, she felt deep inside that she didn't want to find out under any circumstances.

Her paws forced her to step closer to the mountain of bones. They lay there like bright branches, once part of creatures she was unable to recognise.

"They all died because of you."

At the sudden sound of the voice, Larkwing whirled around. "What does that mean? Who are you?" she hissed, the tip of her tail twitching tensely.

A she-cat with tortoiseshell fur stepped out from behind a scraggy birch tree, her glowing green eyes fixed accusingly on Larkwing. "Don't act so innocent! You know exactly what I mean. Your heart is dark, Larkwing. It's tainted by pure malice."

No... I will not accept that! Anger pulsed beneath Larkwing's skin, swelling until she could hold back no longer and threw herself at the tortoiseshell she-cat.

She made no move to dodge. She didn't even have to, because Larkwing flew straight through her body and was thrown against the birch. Pain shot through her back, but she clenched her fangs to suppress a howl.

"How dare you attack a StarClan cat? Isn't that proof enough for you that you belong in the Dark Forest?"

Larkwing froze. "Cloudwind," she murmured as the she-cat's name came back to her. "Dark Forest? You're wrong! I... I can't end up there! I want to be— no, I am a good cat!" Her mouth went dry and with every word she meowed, her throat felt like sand was trickling down it. "Is that why I dream of this place? Is this really what my future looks like?"

There was no trace of pity in Cloudwind's expression. "Your future — it is a path entwined with thorns. They try to grab you, to pull you into the deepest thicket — and they will succeed. You don't have the power to change your destiny completely, Larkwing. The only thing you can do is not to lose yourself."

These words... It had been moons since Larkwing had heard them. Suddenly, she found herself shifted back to RoseClan territory, as a young apprentice. The earth cooled the pads of her paws. The dense canopy of leaves shielded most of the scorching greenleaf heat. Even the pungent scent of chervil, which she had collected with Fruittail for Flutterflight's infection, stung her nose again.

Back then, Fruittail had told her that she had the rare medicine cat ability to see the future of all kits. However, she had never revealed this to anyone except Larkwing. Under the circumstances at the time, Larkwing had had no idea what Fruittail had meant by that, but now she realised a few things.

She lifted her chin resolutely. "I don't believe that a prophecy predetermines my entire life. Simply because I know about it, I'll be able to make decisions that deviate from my supposed fate."

Cloudwind's lips twitched. "You really are a mouse-brain if you believe that," she scoffed. "That prophecy came from StarClan itself, and StarClan is never wrong. The bones and the blood sticking to your fur show your unchangeable future. You are turning into a Shadowless. There is no cure for this, only torment."

"No!" Larkwing growled promptly. "I will not lose myself! I'll get through this, with the help of my friends. They will—"

"You're not going to tell them, are you?" Cloudwind interrupted her.

Larkwing's tail swept through the air. "I trust them more than you can imagine," she clarified. "I just have to wait for the right moment to tell them."

Cloudwind gave a snide snort. "If I were you, I wouldn't risk it."

She stepped backwards as her body slowly disintegrated into countless tiny sparks. Larkwing's eyes widened and she reached a forepaw out towards it. "Wait! Why did you say that?" she mewed, sensing that she herself didn't have much time left in this dream.

The sparks began to fly around her, hot as fire, so she was sure they could burn away her fur. "You trust them, but do you seriously think they'd still trust you? You mustn't tell anyone about the real you, Larkwing. Especially not Lakepelt. No matter how close you are, none of that will matter once he finds out you're a Shadowless. He has only one goal: to kill all Shadowless, no matter who they used to be. And you will be no exception."

***

Larkwing jerked her head up and bumped against the branches of her small den. Her face contorted in pain, she felt the pulsating spot with her paw. "You careless featherbrain," she grumbled to herself.

Her green-blue gaze fell on her nest. Lakepelt was already gone. The tortico she-cat buried her nose in the moss, sniffing. Judging by the already fading scent, he had left a while ago.

I hope I didn't meow or roll around in my sleep, Larkwing thought worriedly before she made her way out through the thicket. Outside her den, she was surprised by the bright sunlight. Reflexively, she narrowed her eyes and stepped back into the shadows of the bushes.

"Finally woken up from your hibernation?"

Larkwing whirled around and saw Crowshadow hopping towards her. Her black pelt looked dull and she had pulled her injured hind leg to her flank. But despite everything, her greenish-yellow eyes had the same sparkle as always. And most importantly, she was back on her paws.

Seeing the old former SnowClan warrior like this made Larkwing purr happily. "You're fine!" she exclaimed and promptly bit her tongue. "Um, are you even fine? With your leg, I mean."

Crowshadow twitched her kinked whiskers. "I'm not tied to my nest in the medicine cat's den anymore. How would you interpret that?"

"That you're fine?"

"Fine enough that I'm allowed to run a few laps in the camp every day so my joints don't stiffen up too much."

Larkwing curled her tail upwards. "I'm glad, really!" she affirmed. "I've been worried about you all this time. When I saw what Sunray did to you, I thought you wouldn't... well, you wouldn't survive."

Reassuringly, Crowshadow reached out a paw towards her. "Don't worry about me, love. These old bones can still take a lot."

Her purr stuck in Larkwing's throat. Bones... The mountain of bones, all that blood, Cloudwind's warning...

"Hey, are you alright? You look like you've just seen a StarClan cat."

Snapped out of her memories of her dream by Crowshadow's worried voice, Larkwing looked up. "I'm fine," she replied. "I was just thinking about Sunray, that's all."

At the mention of the name, Crowshadow's fur bristled. "I heard she's planning to attack soon with an entourage of Shadowless," she grumbled.

"Right."

"Crazy. But I don't think I should be surprised by anything concerning the Shadowless anymore."

Silently, Larkwing agreed with her. One day they had to find out what the Shadowless were really all about, but for now they had a completely different problem to deal with.

"I hope Sunray will come," Larkwing growled bitterly. "I swear to you, I'll kill her for what she did to you. She'll pay for everything she's done."

Crowshadow winced slightly. "Vengeance is never right," she objected. "What's in it for you? Then you're not much better than her."

Larkwing tensed her claws. She hated to admit that it was a good reason. The code of combat said one should never take revenge, and she was supposed to follow that ideal unconditionally. She had never understood what was so difficult about it.

Now, however, her whole soul was filled with rage. She couldn't help it. Whenever her thoughts wandered to Sunray, she was involuntarily reminded of all the pain, all the hopelessness.

"I just want her dead." Larkwing lifted her head and returned Crowshadow's gaze firmly. "If she's dead, she won't be able to hurt anyone else. That's my motivation. Maybe you might call it revenge, but for me, there's a lot more to it than that."