Shadows of War

**Shadows of War** is the first volume in the Clash of Shadows series.

## The Blurb

*A devastating war has left GreyClan weakened and struggling to hold onto their territory. The other Clans snap at their heels. As tensions rise, three unlikely heroes must band together to save their Clan, and face the foes hiding in the shadows...*

***Spoiler warning:** Plot and/or ending details follow.*
## Detailed Plot Summary

*Sleekstripe finds herself in a shadowy forest in a dream that she's had many times before. She is approached by a mysterious entity, who promises her great things if only she joins their cause. She refuses and wakes up, praying to FallenClan to protect them all.*

Petalfeather and her apprentice Webpaw are out on a border and hunting patrol together, when Petalfeather scents something strange on the wind. Cutting their patrol short, she follows the scent through GreyClan territory before they stumble on a trespassing PoppyClan patrol. Webpaw suggests confronting them, and is outraged when her mentor just lets them go, but the older warrior explains they need to report it back to Stormstar, not rush headlong into a battle.

Upon returning to camp, Stormstar calls a meeting to explain the threats that the other Clans pose. When she announces that she will take no action following the StoatClan war, she is met with resistance from some of the other warriors in the Clan, Silverfire most notably. She holds her ground though, stating to not attack and attempting to resolve things peacefully. Sleekstripe is firmly against the need for war at all, and is unhappy at all of this. A PoppyClan warrior has been crouching in the shadows watching these disputes, and slinks away to report back to the leader.

Sleekstripe has another dream and finally confides in her fellow medicine cat, Brindleleap. He is furious that she didn't tell him earlier and goes to tell Stormstar and Shrewclaw about the dreams, telling her that he trusted her before, but now he doesn't know what to believe.

Webpaw is on patrol with Shadewing when they run into a WishClan patrol blatantly trespassing on their territory. The warrior confronts them, telling them to leave or else. The patrol, lead by Flowerfang, refuses to leave without a fight and Shadewing, remembering Stormstar's orders, leads Webpaw back to camp to report to Stormstar, albeit very relucatantly.

At the Gathering, all 4 Clans are bristling with hostility. Stormstar challenges the other leaders, Hawkstar, Shimmerstar and Maplestar, asking them why they are trespassing on GreyClan land. It quickly turns into an argument between the leaders, with even the warriors and apprentices of the Clans fighting with each other in the Juniper clearing. Suddenly, Sleekstripe and the other medicine cats are made aware of the shadowy presence, seemingly made stronger by their bickering. Webpaw is also showing signs of being able to sense the creature, but Sleekstripe doesn't ask. With her yell, the Gathering breaks up and the Clans return to their camps.

After the gathering, Sleekstripe has another Shadow Dream in which she is shown Webpaw also trapped in the forest in an attempt to get her to give into their darkness. She still refuses, but wakes up to the realisation that through their targeting of medicine cats, the Clans' only link to FallenClan, it's impacting them too.

Petalfeather, Shadewing, Webpaw, Palepaw and Pinkpaw are patrolling the PoppyClan border when they come across a PoppyClan patrol on their territory again. Petalfeather tells them to leave but then sees that Dawnheart is there. She provokes her into a fight and the whole patrol start scrapping with each other. After screaming at Webpaw to run, Petalfeather attacks Dawnheart, who taunts her. Their fight is broken off by Webpaw being seriously injured by an unknown PoppyClan warrior. They take her back to camp, but even though Sleekstripe does the best she can, she will never be free from pain again and won't be able to be a warrior. Webpaw is devastated at this news, because being a warrior was all she ever wanted.

*End of spoiler warning*
## See Also

Allegiances

Chapter-by-Chapter Notes

Character List

Book Cover Gallery