Facing A Forest of Shadows

Epilogue

Frosty moonlight cascaded down through the entrance of Elkstar's den. All of his warriors had gone to sleep, worn out from their busy day. He knew he should try to sleep, but something stopped him.

He tucked his paws tighter underneath his chest. Silently, he wished the urge to sleep would overtake him. But it was useless.

He stared at the pool of moonlight that splashed down into the burrow in front of him. He narrowed his eyes, curious to find that tiny specks of starlight shined throughout the milky puddle.

He slowly stood and crept his way closer to the moon's reflection. As he neared, the tiny specks swirled and vanished. He blinked rapidly, unsure if he had imagined it or not.

But as he turned to return to his nest, a soft voice drifted to him from the camp clearing. Carefully, he slid from the mouth of his den. A single cat sat in the center of the space, their face pointed down towards the small pool of water.

"Hello?" Elkstar called, his heart started to thump rapidly in his chest. To his surprise, the familiar face of Shimmerpaw turned to greet him.

"Hello, Elkstar," Shimmerpaw purred, "I have come to share more knowledge with you."

Elkstar padded closer to the StarClan apprentice and sat alongside her. He looked down into the pool where a vision of the smokey mountain reflected on its surface.

"This is called a volcano," Shimmerpaw explained, "and it is as mighty and powerful as any force of nature."

"A volcano," Elkstar repeated. The word felt weird on his tongue, but most of them usually did. Such things as wolverines and macaws still felt like he had licked sand. But he knew, with time, they would become common knowledge for the IceClan cats.

"Is there a reason it smokes?" he asked curiously, as the vision in the pool became shrouded in a thick gray cloud.

"Yes, but I fear you will not like the answer I must give you," she warned.

"What do you mean?" he blurted.

"The volcano is smoking because it is growing close to erupting," she explained.

Erupting, he wondered inwardly what that word meant. Shimmerpaw must have sensed his confusion, for she explained further. "That means the lava within is going to make the entire mountain burst. It will set the island to flame, and devour everything in its path."

Elkstar stiffened as a new vision unfolded before him. He was perched at the base of the mountain, but the ground quaked and shook beneath his paws.

He glanced upward, just in time to see the peak of the mountain explode outward with immense pressure. Massive boulders crashed to the ground beside him, followed by the relentless flow of molten hot lava.

It seared the ground as it made contact and started to rush towards Elkstar's paws. Just as it was about to engulf his paws, the vision ended abruptly. He blinked open his eyes to find himself beside Shimmerpaw once more.

Her gaze was serious as she awaited Elkstar's reaction. "What am I supposed to do if that happens?" he asked.

"It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," she corrected him. "But I can not give you all the answers. It is your decision, alone, that will determine the path IceClan will take."

He groaned as helplessness overwhelmed him. Shimmerpaw leaned in close, her fur brushed against his flank.

"There's no need to worry," she soothed, "IceClan have earned this time of peace."

"Thank you for sharing this with me," he meowed diplomatically. "I should return to my nest now."

But Shimmerpaw stopped him with an extended paw. "Don't give up hope," she urged, "the waves always return to the shore."

Elkstar was about to question her; but as he blinked his eyes, he found himself tucked back into the safety of his nest.

But the soft moonlight that had reflected into his den shifted to a dark red. Elkstar shivered as he envisioned the volcano shatter, and spread its deadly lava over the surface of the island.

But we've earned our peace, he thought to himself, and I will protect my Clan up until my very last breath.

He closed his eyes, relieved to finally feel sleep pull him under. He decided he would tell Pineheart about his dream in the morning. But as he cradled deeper into slumber, his prophetic dream slipped further and further from his mind until it altogether vanished into his subconscious.