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| - ❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅ — Ed Sheeran, I See Fire RUTA WAKES ME early the next morning, reaching out to shake me before realizing Everly is curled by my side. "Oh! Sorry, I could only see your white pelt against the boughs of the bush." "It's fine." I have to fight back a smile as I see how Everly has fallen asleep: paws outstretched, like she's been trying to hang onto me and protect me. "It's probably good that she's here, too. I thought we should hold a leader's conference." I stare at her. "A leader's conference?" "Yes." Ruta looks mildly offended. "Turner had to convince them a little bit, but Feather and Diana agreed that I should take temporary command of our patrol." "I wasn't suggesting the idea of you being a leader is anything but sensible," I say. "But I still don't understand why you woke me. Where's Jett?" She blinks. "When I visited the others and told them I wanted to hold a conference, Jett was the one who told me he thought he saw you disappear somewhere around here last night. Didn't bat an eyelid. You're their leader, Lucifer." "How did that happen?" I say, utterly bewildered. Part of me still thought that they all secretly hated me, to be honest; it would take a long time to unseat my own hatred of myself. "Well, you and Everly." Ruta smiles. "I can see it. You balance each other out. You're a good team; it's like you were meant to lead together." After a pause, during which I try to sort out in my mind the events that lead to me standing here, being told by a member of the Snow Guard that I was meant to lead, Ruta says, "You're not used to kind words." Her face is sad, compared with her usual look of composure, and I am reminded of Everly and the way her face always changes to complete empathy with the cats around her. Speaking of Everly. "Wha's goin' on?" says a blurry voice, and the brown she-cat stumbles to her paws, accidentally bumps into me, stretches, and yawns. "Good morning, fellow leader," I say. She squints at me. "What?" Ruta quickly explains that she wants to hold a meeting, and Everly doesn't look surprised at all at my inclusion. She shoots me a fleeting smile before saying, "Why don't we talk under here? It's cozier." Ruta agrees and crawls under the bush with us. "Listen. Turner and I are completely on your side. I spoke for a long time with Feather and Diana, and though they will follow me, I don't think they should play too big a part in our plan; I don't know how strong their loyalties are to me over Greer." Everly taps me lightly, and I glance at her. She widens her eyes slightly. Can we trust her? I was never close with any of the Guard cats, for obvious reasons, but it's fallen to me to make that decision. Everly trusts me. I tip my chin fractionally. Yes. Briefly, Everly describes what she and I talked about last night. "It would obviously require you to pretend you're fully on Greer's side, maybe even play the part a bit, so unless you think you can do that, we'll come up with something else." She doesn't say out loud what Ruta clearly realizes: that if she's caught, her punishment at Greer's claws will be worse than death. Of the three of us, I alone know just how horrible Greer's claws can be, but the other two at least understand the implications. "I don't think I should take Feather and Diana with me," Ruta says, accepting the mantle without further discussion. "I'll tell Greer that they died along with Cecily." "What would we do with them?" Everly frowns. "We'll have to have them guarded." I sigh. "And we already have so few cats to spare." "What if you kept them with you?" Ruta suggests. "You guys can set up a camp for the Clan and Guard cats who want to join our cause, and make Feather and Diana stay with you. You can keep an eye on them, and if they're truly on our side, they can help out." "I don't like the idea of you and Turner heading up to the peak by yourselves," says Everly. "I think Lucifer and I should come with you and hide out nearby in case something goes wrong." "I'll go," I say. "You should stay to set up the camp." Everly immediately opens her mouth to protest, but I interrupt, "They'll need you. You're better at making cats feel welcome and part of a group." "But what about Greer?" "If I run into her, all the worse for her, all the better for me," I say grimly. "Right." Everly nods at Ruta. "I'm in." "Great. I'm going to go run it by the others. They're having breakfast right outside if you want to join." "We'll be out in a second," I tell her. When she's gone, I turn to Everly. "Okay, spill. What's wrong?" "Nothing. Not really. I'm so glad we finally have an ally." "But . . .?" I prompt. "It's strange. Moving cats around like they're playing pieces in a game, a game that might get them killed. Even Feather and Diana -- if they're not on our side, we're imprisoning them." "If they're not on our side, we have to imprison them. Just until stage one of the plan is over. Once Greer knows everyone involved in the plan, there's no point in pretending we're not traitors anymore." I sigh. "I know you hate hearing all of this. But it's going to take war to get Greer to relinquish the peak." "I understand." Everly's eyes roam my face. Her hazel eyes have a faraway look in them. "Are you okay? Is there something else?" She jolts a little as she comes back out of her thoughts. "No. Nothing else. Shall we go eat?" Breakfast is surprisingly normal, all things considered. Farrah, Sasha, Plover and Eider approach me in a small huddle and offer me their condolences for Cecily. I barely have time to mutter, "That's all right," before I'm enveloped in a group embrace, one which Jett and Calder and Everly hurry to join. "If you need to talk or anything, I'm here," Farrah tells me. "I know how much it hurts to watch someone die and not be able to save them." "Thanks. For being there for me." "What are friends for?" "Sharing their food," chips in Calder. "True friends share food." Farrah rolls her eyes and takes a deliberate bite of her mouse. "You already had a vole, you grub." "Did everyone just hear her hurl that heinous insult at me? Where is the justice in this world?" Calder demands dramatically, and collapses into obnoxiously loud fake sobs. While Farrah and Calder argue, Sasha sidles over to me. "Can I talk to you for a moment, off to the side?" "Sure," I say, puzzled. Though Sasha is long past the point where she flinches every time I'm around, we rarely talk alone together. I doubt we'll ever be the best of friends, but you can't win 'em all. "I have a request for you." "At your service." "Kill Greer." I stare at her. I don't know where the meek, soft-spoken Sasha went, but in her place is a fierce-looking warrior whose blue eyes are shining like war lights. "I -- Excuse me?" "I know you're afraid of becoming a killer again. I know you're afraid that if you take one step, you'll fall the rest of the way. And I know you care too much about Everly to let her see you become who you were again." "I--" "But I also know that there will never be justice on this mountain until she's gone." "I realize that, too. No one knows Greer better than me. Unfortunately," I mutter. Sasha doesn't seem to register my words. "Promise me. If you get the chance, nothing will stop you." "Sasha, are you okay?" The she-cat's face crumples. "I knew you would ask that. You don't understand why it's me begging you for this, because I don't have a tragic story like the others. But Lucifer, you guys are my tragic back story. You and the others are my family, and I'm constantly watching my family be ripped apart and hurt by that monster. I need justice for a world of pain Greer has spun." "You're like Everly," I murmur. "Seeing others get hurt is the worst thing you can imagine." "It is the worst thing." Sasha smiles softly. "Do you even realize you do that?" "What?" "Compare everything good to Everly," she says. I have no reply to that. "Another thing." "Someone else to kill?" I say, then immediately add, "Sorry. That's not who you are. I just want you to know, I understand. About Greer. I feel it too; I want all the suffering to end." "Thank you for saying that." Sasha tilts her head to the side and casts me a thoughtful smile before continuing, "When Everly mentioned how we were going to set up a camp for the Clan cats who were hopefully going to join our side, I thought we'd better start a training program. After all, these cats have been living under the Guard for a long time now; they'll be weakened and already afraid to be away from the peak. We have to be prepared for attacks from both Greer and DiAngelo. Since you're the best fighter among us -- don't shake your head, we both know it's true, that's the one good thing we can use from Greer's influence -- I thought you could give lessons after you're back." I nod. "That's actually a really good idea." "Oh, and one more thing." I laugh. "I feel exploited. Go on, what's up?" "Stay safe. I don't want you to get hurt, and I hate seeing Everly get hurt." "Everly's staying behind." "I know," Sasha says, and goes back to eating her breakfast. After everyone is done eating, we get into formation for the trek up the mountain; I, Ruta, and Turner will be splitting off from the main group once Everly picks a spot for the camp. We attempt to be subtle about placing Diana and Feather towards the center of the group, but I think they notice all the same; Feather glowers at Ruta darkly and refuses to respond to anything we say. Usually, a climb up Thorn Mountain is a feat, even for me, but this one feels much too short. When Everly pauses to examine a series of rocky caves nestled above a plateau near ForestClan's old border, I find myself hoping against hope that this won't be the camp. "It's perfect," she announces, and I feel my heart drop out of me. It's not just that I'm dreading going back to the peak -- it's also going back to the peak alone. Everly and I escaped that place together, and though I want her to keep safe, it's going to be so much worse without her. "I'm going to start setting up -- we need to clear out the dens, scope out the best places to station guards, et cetera," Everly says. I nod as brusquely as possible. "Of course. I won't keep you; I should get Turner and Ruta, anyway. Be careful, okay?" I start walking away, but a light touch on my shoulder stops me. Everly's eyes soften as she gazes at me. "You misunderstood. Lucifer, I wanted to say good-bye before I go do all of that." She moves closer. I can see every fleck of color in the kaleidoscope of her eyes: blue and green and gold swimming in a warm honey. I can't believe I ever thought her anything but beautiful, that I ever preferred gray or white pelts to hers. It seems that my mind has chosen this second to insist it's absolutely necessary to memorize everything about her: the fascinating glimmer of pale cream stripes coursing through her nut brown fur, the delicate frame of her face, the tufts of fur that cap her dished ears. "Lucifer--" A kind of alarm goes off in my mind, and nothing short of sheer panic seizes me with no warning. Suddenly, close is too close. I stumble back from her. The air is too hot -- something that never happens -- and there's no oxygen to be found. I can't do it. I can't say good-bye to her. I don't know what's going on: my pulse is triple-timing, roaring in my ears. "Lucifer?" calls Ruta, and I seize the chance like I'm drowning and she's thrown me a lifeline. "I gotta go. Stay safe. I'll see you soon." Everly's eyes cloud with confusion, and she steps forward with one paw, but I have a feeling that if she gets any nearer, I'll never be able to bring myself to leave her. I back away so fast that I splash us both with snow; without a backwards glance, I spin and run towards Ruta and Turner. "Let's go!" I say, leading the way in a charge. The three of us stick together for as long as we dare without Greer's sentries detecting us. Then I split up from Ruta and Turner, promising that I will get as close as possible without being detected. "I have your backs," I say. "We're all in this together." "We know," Ruta responds steadily. "We trust you." While the two of them head straight for the entrance, I skulk around the side of the mountain. I may be on the larger side, but I've had a lifetime of stealth training to prepare me for this. I know all the perfect places to perch for a hunt. Treading carefully, I hide myself behind a great frozen snowbank, located several lengths above the entrance to the cave; from here, I can see all the cats entering and exiting, as well as most of the sentries stationed around the mountain. I watch two Clan cats -- I recognize them vaguely as RiverClan -- leap from their guard posts to greet Ruta and Turner. To my relief, the warriors seem worried rather than suspicious, though I'm sure Greer will have concern only for the welfare of her mission rather than her cats. Ruta and Turner disappear inside the peak stronghold, and the RiverClan warriors return to their posts. I stifle a sigh and settle down for what will most likely be a long wait. It isn't, though. Ruta and Turner reemerge within a half hour, and following them is -- I get to my paws, muscles stiffening and ears falling flat against my head -- Greer herself. It's hard to read the situation, especially since Ruta and Turner don't look around at all, determined not to give anything away to Greer. But as Turner tilts his face slightly, I see the expression of worry creasing his brow. Greer, behind them, looks as cold and calculating ever. A slight sneer curls her lips. There isn't a trace of sorrow on her face, no sign that she just found out her only daughter was dead. Something strange happens. Ruta starts veering away from Greer, who shouts something angrily at her and breaks into a run. Seconds later, I see why. A small group of three Clan cats bundle out of the peak entrance, glance around, and break into a run, taking another path down the mountain. A Snow Guard cat gives chase, but she is overtaken by another group of escaping Clan cats. Ruta is making her distraction as effective as possible. Try as they might, though, her and Turner cannot hold Greer's attention forever. The silver she-cat spins and sees the Clan cats, and I see realization dawn on her, even from this distance. Only one thing can stop her from setting her Guard cats on the Clan cats -- there are queens carrying their kits out of the peak, now, and I know Greer would tell the Guard to kill. In two bounds, I spring down from my hiding place onto the roof of the cavern, and launch myself off the edge. I go sailing over the heads of several cats and hit the ground running, making straight for Greer. Turner and Ruta dive out of the way as I lock claws with the she-cat. Greer twists, using the momentum of my charge to send me crashing to the ground. Pain lances through my shoulder, and I grit my teeth to stop from yelling out in pain. "Lucifer!" someone -- I don't even know who -- hauls me to my paws. "We're getting out of here," the tom, who I realize in complete shock is Shadowstar of ForestClan, says, pushing me away from Greer. "All of us." Turner falls into stride with me as I follow the others down the mountain. "Something's wrong," he says. "There aren't enough Guard cats chasing us." I blink. "Are none on our side, running with us?" "Besides the ones we already have, almost none, except for Miko," says Turner. A chill runs through me. "Then where's the rest of the Guard?" "Lucifer!" A cat is bounding up the mountain, struggling against the crowd hurrying to follow Ruta to our camp. It's Calder, covering in snow and ice, his eyes wide and fearful. "They took them!" "Who?" I shout back, stopping my descent. Turner stops, too. "The Snow Guard! They stormed the camp right before you guys came back," Calder says, spitting blood. "Calder, who did they take?" "Farrah," the name escapes Calder in a sob, "and Everly."
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