The Tests: Test 6

The Tests: Test 6

### Characters Present

Harnor, Luana, Dune, Quintessa, Yedda, Maya, Frostsong, Wildflower, Sunflower, Fang, Aquanetta, Panther, Yin, Orchid, Ambi, Rosica, Moon, Tawny, Jay, Thunder, Meadow, Shard, Azure, Storm, Marina, Palm, Arc, Tess, Ollie, Kaz, Nest, Robin, Natrix, Mieginck, Lantern, Iyda, Thanya, Merri, Fini, Pebble, Newt, Panther, Kousuke, Bonita, Nol, Ivy, Eclipse

### Important Events

Everyone is possessed, Quintessa kills Yedda, Palm tells Tess he loves her, Iyda kills Heidi, Eclipse kills Meiginck and Iyda, Ambi kills Rosica

**Test 6** is an episode in *The Tests.*

## **The Tests: Test 6 (The Fight)**

The air in the area was still cold, the cats unsettled. They all knew something was coming, yet even after the anticipation for Harnor’s arrival had built up inside them, a troublesome nagging, a burden they had to carry around with them, a worry that would never go away, it was still a shock to see him appear.

Harnor seemed different than usual, his feathers not held with the same pride, not as blood-red as their normal menacing state. The black stone hanging around his neck no longer stood stoic as the wind caught it, and did not hold its usual smoothness.

A few cats whispered among themselves.

A couple cats swore by the fact the god seemed slightly see-through.

Harnor didn’t have the same smugness as the cats expected from him. Instead, his eyes were filled with pure anger and hatred — towards what, the cats didn’t know. “I see you measly mortals have been enjoying yourself here. Apart from a few spares, we seem to be intact.”

Multiple cats stepped forward, hissing and spitting about their lost friends.

“Sunny was a good cat! It was your games that made her want to die!”

“Loki was more than a spare, you piece of fox-dung.”

“I didn’t know Ami for long, but they never believed in this rubbish, and to be honest, I’m glad they died not believing a word that you said! They died for something they didn’t believe in.”

“Why do you keep pushing us? Now Rattlesnake is gone because of you. You chose to give him the power of fire when you knew it would break him, make him think of the madness it caused in Wr. . .”

The cat who spoke paused, cut short by glares from Luana and Dune.

Harnor simply stared down at them, more anger in his eyes than ever. “All of these cats deserved to die! Especially Ami and Loki. You would never guess what they would become. Torn by rage and sadness, they would become monsters. You’re better off without them!” The god took a deep breath, letting out a gust of air that made cats’ fur stand on end. “I suppose to make up for this, I should offer you a gift, as is mortal tradition.” Precisely, step by step, the vivid red god weaved his way through the cats towards one of the locked gateways, snapping it open with one simple flick of his paw. Inside, a massive stone stood, crisscrossed with runes and carvings, symbols, and what seemed to be messages chiselled into the rock. As one red, long-clawed paw was placed on the stone, every single marking seemed to glow yellow. “This stone will give you more power then you ever imagined you could have. Just place your paw on it. I promise it won’t hurt a bit.”

Cautiously, one by one the cats tried to get a better look at the stone, but no one touched it. It reminded lots of the cats of Wren . . . poor Wren, who only had to be touched by Harnor’s black stone to be turned into a bloodthirsty monster surrounded by fire, ashes, and the blood of any cat who crossed her path.

Suddenly, the stone grew massively brighter, then dimmed again.

All the cats looked around to see who had touched the stone.

Every single eye fell on Dune, whose paw was resting gently on the surface. “You’ve got a problem? I want more power so I can win this and find Wren again. You won’t try and stop me.”

Harnor laughed and disappeared, leaving the cats in the arena with the stone and a choice. . . Would they risk turning into a monster and become more powerful, or should they stay weak but safe?

Dune stepped outside of the gate and tried to summon his power. Rocks floated in the air, and he was up with them, freezing cold winds blowing all around him. Suddenly, birds appeared from the sky and landed on the rocks. Falcons, crows, and all sorts — but one single wren.

Quintessa turned to the stone. She felt compelled to touch it, but restrained herself. Memories flashed of Dune’s sister Wren, all the pain and sorrow that everyone went through — should she really go through all that?

Yedda shuddered. Harnor was rather scarier than she remembered. She looked at the stone flatly. She started padding up to it, then stopped. Started again. Stopped. When she reached the stone, she looked directly at it. She could see herself in it.

Suddenly, the reflection changed. It showed Yedda — but not Yedda. This her had long fangs protruding from her upper jaw, blood-red eyes without pupils, a shrill laugh that caused the real her to lower her ears in fright. Reflection her looked right at her, glaring with her malicious, bloodthristy eyes.

It scared Yedda so much, but she was frozen, stuck there.

Quintessa was nearly screeching. “What the heck is she doing?! Does she want to be freaking *killed*?! No. I won’t stand and watch her give away her last and only bit of sanity. Yedda!” She started running towards the blue she-cat.

Yedda couldn’t hear Quintessa.

Yedda’s evil reflection started to speak. *“This is the real you, Yedda,”* she said. *“Touch this stone. Become a powerful goddess! You’ll become the star of the show. The world will be your stage!”*

 Real Yedda shook her head. Though she still couldn’t speak, actions were more than words.

*“Foolish kit! With this, you’ll be everything! You can take down that son of a cow and make the Tests yours!”* Yedda’s reflection said.

I never wanted the Tests. I never wanted power. I never wanted you, Yedda thought.

*“You’ll be friends with everyone! No one will talk down to you again!”* Yedda’s reflection said.

Yedda’s eyes widened. She flashed back to her childhood.

*A small, bluish-gray she-kit just playing around, waiting for her friends to arrive, peeked around a corner.*

*A few bigger kits, the same age as her, were talking quietly.*

*“So that’s the plan? Just ditch her?” a big brown she-cat asked.*

*A fiery-orange she kit nodded, a glint in her eyes. “It’s not personal. It’s just that we can’t be seen with a runt like her.”*

*A black-and-white tom spoke up. “But won’t she, y’know, notice we didn’t come to her playdate?”*

*The orange one, obviously the leader, scoffed. “Please. She’s as dumb as rocks. She’ll assume the best, even if we told her to her face we didn’t and never did want to be friends.”*

*The tom sighed. “Okay. It’s just — Yedda seemed like such a good kit.”*

*The blue-gray she-kit gasped, tears in her eyes. She was Yedda.*

*The big brown kit grumbled. “She talked too much. And sang too much.”*

*Yedda didn’t want to hear anymore. She ran back and never talked or opened up for a long time.*

Yedda’s malicious reflection grinned. *“I see I touched a nerve there.”*

Yedda now was unsure. She remembered Quintessa and Palm—

*“He talked down to you. Their whole group. Everyone here hates you, Yedda. Just admit it,”* reflection Yedda said.

Yedda felt the strong warmth that signified tears in her eyes. *Is that true?*

*“True as the fact that your tail is burnt, honey,”* Yedda’s reflection said.

Yedda gave a glance at her tail.

Quintessa ran up. “Don’t! Yedda, stop!”

Yedda’s tail twitched. And she spoke. “Everyone hates me.”

Quintessa stopped, shocked. “What?”

Yedda whipped around, tears overflowing, giving the dark tabby a furious glare. “Everyone hates me, Quintessa! I always mess up, I sing too loud, I’m obnoxious, I’m annoying, I’m an optimist! Palm, Tess, and Ollie hate me! Dune hates me! I bet even you hate me!”

Quintessa started shouting back. “I don’t hate you! You’re optimistic, you’re caring, you’re sweet, you’ll never give up on me — of all cats — and you sing like an angel! And I bet every single piece of fur on my body that everyone here loves you! Including me!”

Yedda sniffed. “I’m sorry, Quintessa,” she murmured. She placed her paw on the stone.

Yedda’s reflection laughed.

Yedda felt all the energy drained from her body.

“No! Yedda!” Quintessa ran to her. Yedda’s body lay there unmoving. The only thing that reminded her she was alive was the fragile movements of her chest. Up. Down. Up. Down. The tears fell. She looked down at the dark stone. She sighed. “What have you done?” She raised her paw and placed it on the stone. *For Yedda.*

Quintessa woke up. She looked at herself. She looked at the others. Shadows crossed her face as she frowned uncharacteristically. She padded over to a corner by herself, ready to test her powers.

Dune sat, his head dipped to his paws, worried about what was going to happen to him. He had been so hasty to come and touch the stone, he hadn’t even properly considered what the consequences might be. Slowly, he walked towards Quintessa, head still dipped to the ground, knowing that she was the cat he wanted to be near right now. He lay his head on her shoulder and then quickly lifted it again, embarrassed. “Um, so, Quintessa, I’m really worried about the stone. I don’t know whether it will affect us now, but I’m worried someday we’ll all turn out like . . . Wren.” He paused for breath and tried to stop his tears. “I didn’t want to bother Luana. She’s probably just as worried.” He shuffled a little closer to Quintessa. “I feel like giving me the power of summoning birds is like taunting me, showing me what I’ll never be able to have.”

Quintessa looked at Dune. She wasn’t sure how to answer. Finally, she spoke. “Don’t worry. Whatever happens, I’ll be here for you, Dune. Luana too.” Unsuredly, she tried the same position he had chosen, placing her head on his shoulder. She found it surprisingly comfortable. She pressed down on the shadows for now. She needed allies, and he was an easy one.

Dune smiled back at Quintessa, finding this whole thing a little awkward. “If there’s anything you need to talk about, just ask me,” he mewed to her. He sort of wanted to shuffle away from her, embarrassed, but at the same time, it was nice having a cat around. He accidentally grew some roses, but when he noticed, he quickly made them shrivel up.

Quintessa felt . . . calm. Weird. She moved away just a little, lifting her head. Her pelt burned. *Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap.* She flickered, becoming nearly invisible. *My second power!* she realized with a jolt. She looked down at her paws, alarmed. They moved between the visible spectrum, invisible and visible again. *What should I do? How do I get away from him without hurting him? Why do I care? Ugh! I need my powers for the darkness. I can’t focus on this tom. But . . . I have to keep a cover, I guess.* She glanced at the white tom. *I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.* She gave him a head nuzzle, then murmured in his ear, “I’m going to train with my powers alone. I’ll talk to you later.” She padded off to be with herself. At last. She walked away. From the screams, from the laughter, from everything. Her tail lashed as she focused intently on making herself invisible. *Come on. Work. Work. Work.* A flicker. She sighed. Another tail-lash. *Focus. Focus. Focus. Let the darkness consume you.* She repeated the words aloud. “Let the darkness consume you. Let the darkness consume you. Let the darkness consume you. . .” Her eyes started glowing. She didn’t realize her chant had changed to an entirely different language. “Gsv wzipmvhh hvggovh rm nv glmrtsg, lgsvih nzb gsrmp R zn jfrgv z uirtsg. Gsvb pmld mlg lu nb kldvih, mli lu nb xfihv. Mlg gszg gsvb xzm svok, R’n zoivzwb tlmv, lu xlfihv.” She looked down and saw the darkness crawl through her, followed by her newest power. She became fully invisible from ear-tips to tail-tip. She smiled, though no one could see. She reverted to her normal form. She noticed there was still black on one of her paws, covering it like a sock. She hoped nobody would notice. *No, nobody will notice.* She flashed her teeth and decided to hunt.

Maya slunk out of her corner, her eyes darting back and forth curiously. She had barely said a word since before the Test with the plant . . . thing . . . which she still didn’t really understand. She flattened her ears, tearing up. She felt alone. She didn’t know any of these cats. She didn’t even remember any of the cats that she did know. Her eyes darted to the stone. She didn’t even know what her power was, or if she had one. She assumed she did. But what was it? Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. *What if the stone gives me my memories back?* She started, scrambling towards the object of such power. She glanced at Quintessa, who had touched it earlier. She noticed that the brown cat had almost immediately mastered her new power, and she didn’t seem to have any side effects or anything . . . she had to make sure. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. She quietly padded up to Quintessa, nervous. “You touched that thing, right?” she asked.

Quintessa’s back prickled angrily. She didn’t know who this she-cat thought she was just walking right up to her. She hissed curses quietly, before turning to the she-cat. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I did. What is it to you?” She spat the words like poison. Her tail lashed and her back formed the beginnings of an arch. She became invisible, then ran away, throwing foul curses at the she-cat while leaving a gust of wind behind her. Once she was out of sight behind some rocks, she reverted herself. The black had crawled up another paw. She hardly noticed.

Luana gritted her teeth and glared at the ground. She needed to get home, and how could she do that if she was weak? She squeezed her eyes shut and touched the rock. She felt power flood over her and she staggered back.

*As Luana opened her eyes, she was overwhelmed with images. She saw . . . her dad. She saw him when she was a tiny kit.*

*Luana saw him as she took her first messy scramble out of their nest.*

*Luana relieved all of her memories with him.*

*And then . . . a new one. Luana saw her dad surrounded by his owners and new Twolegs. She saw them prick him with something and the light drained out of his eyes.*

*Luana saw her mother’s dull blue eyes as she explained what happened to her dad. Old, raw grief wracked through her entire body and she struggled to take in air.*

As Luana was brought back to the present, she noticed that her paws and her surrounding area was coated in sharp spikes. She sucked in deep breaths and hurried away from that gosh-awful stone. She curled into a tight ball and buried her face into her cold paws.

Dune crept over to Luana, giving Quintessa some privacy. He laid down next to her. “Luana, are you okay?”

What was going to happen? Frostsong wanted to touch the stone, but there were going to be consequences. She slowly inched closer. The stone seemed to pull her closer. She crept closer, squeezed her eyes shut, and tentatively reached out with her paw. She felt a surge of energy in her and her paw exploded into flames.

Wildflower had stepped away from Quintessa and Frostsong to go find their brother. They found him a little ways away.

“Are you going to touch it?” Sunflower asked almost casually.

“Are you?” Wildflower asked back, the way siblings do.

“I mean — we’re here anyway, so why not?” Sunflower responded.

“You didn’t see her, though,” Wildflower whispered. “You didn’t see Wren. How she changed. How she turned on everyone so easily—”

“I’ll be here with you,” Sunflower reminded them. “I’ll hel—”

“No,” Wildflower cut him off. “I mean — Wren had everyone too. She had her brother, Dune. She had Luana. And all of her friends.”

“Wildflower,” Sunflower stared them down sternly. “Are you here to die?”

“Well, no,” Wildflower responded, a little taken back.

“That means you’re here to win.” Sunflower swished his tail almost impatiently. “That means you need these powers.”

Wildflower nodded slowly. “For Thundercloud.”

“And Mother—” Sunflower said.

“Father—” Wildflower said.

“And Starshine. Come on.” Sunflower nudged her towards the glowing stone.

Wildflower gulped as they approached the stone. Glancing back once to Sunflower, they reached their head closer. The stone glowed, pulsing with power. It didn’t seem like a bad power, but it pulled them closer, which didn’t seem like a good omen. They knew they couldn’t pull back now. They pushed their nose onto the cold stone, but despite the fact that the cold usually bothered them, they hardly even noticed it this time. The stone seemed to send power through their veins and soul. They were more ready than they would ever be. They looked at Sunflower.

Sunflower seemed to be frozen barely a whisker away from the stone, eyes filled with horror. Suddenly, his expression changed to determination or evil. He touched the stone and his body seemed to glow. He pulled away quickly.

Wildflower tilted their head as if asking if he was okay.

Sunflower just nodded.

Fang stared at the stone. She didn’t want to accept the gift from Harnor, but . . . she stepped forwards. The stone would help her beat Harnor. Everything he had said about Loki . . . it couldn’t be true. She made her decision. She stepped forwards, placing a paw on the stone. Immediately, ice spread from her paws. Yelping, she scrambled back. The ice followed, only appearing where she stepped. “I have got to get this under control,” she muttered. “Ice powers . . . ice and time. Okay. I can make this work.” Sucking in a breath, she steadied her breathing. The ice shrank back into her paws. *Okay. Okay. I can do this.* She took a step. The ice didn’t form. *Okay.* She took another step. Then another and another, until she was far from the black stone. She looked back at it. Her gaze hardened. “Harnor, I know you can hear me. You’re going to pay.” She stared at the beetle as it crawled across the ground in front of her. Suddenly, it froze mid-crawl. She narrowed her eyes, concentrating. The beetle twitched, but otherwise remained frozen. Frozen in time. She held it there as long as she could manage. After maybe fifteen seconds, the beetle wriggled free of the time-freeze and continued walking. She slumped, exhausted, to the ground. Maybe after a nap, she would find another beetle. Try for twenty seconds. With that in mind, she drifted off to sleep.

Aquanetta gazed into the surface of the stone, unwilling yet willing at the same time. She needed time to think. She sighed. She had to admit it, even though it sounded like bragging . . . how could Harnor possibly infest *her*? The only regret of her life was a mistake. There was nothing sad about her life, really. She had everything to gain and nothing to lose. She pressed her paw to the stone. And then it felt like she had exploded into icicles. She shrieked. The pain was piercing, cold, and unforgiving. “Help! It’s breaking me! There’s too much ice! Help!” she screamed.

Fang jerked up at the sound of a scream. A she-cat — *Aquanetta?* — was having some sort of problem with her ice powers. She rushed over. “Aquanetta. Aquanetta! Calm down! You have to calm down,” she hissed. “You can control this. Breathe.”

Sunflower and Wildflower heard the she-cat scream, and both ran to help at the same time.

“What’s wrong?” Sunflower tried to ask calmly.

“Her paw is trapped, you dummy,” Wildflower screamed. “Quick — uh, fire, fire, fire!” Their paws burst into flames and they reached up to melt the ice.

Ice poked sharply at Aquanetta’s vision. Suddenly, bright flames erupted, but the ice only began to fight harder. . .

“Wildflower, that’s not going to help!” Sunflower scrambled to push their paws away from Aquanetta. “Go find Quintessa or Frostong or someone.”

Wildflower shot him an annoyed look, but bounced away.

“Okay.” Sunflower turned to Aquanetta. He turned into a woodpecker, focusing on wings and feathers. Once he had transformed, he started pecking at the ice.

Panther jumped forward to the stone. He was going to do this.

Yedda blinked twice. She felt . . . different, somehow. Her mind rushed here and there, trying to put everything together all at once. She decided she needed someone to talk to. Someone who wasn’t Quintessa. She decided on Panther. He seemed like a good confidant. She padded over to the black tom, a strained expression on her face.

Panther saw Yedda padding toward him. “Hi! Is there something you need?”

Yedda plopped next to the black tom. She felt a sense of trust with him, even though they had only talked once. “I touched the stone . . . and. . .” Her voice trailed off. “Well. . .” Tears rolled down her cheeks. She sniffled a little, but tried to muffle it. *Crap.* “I saw my sister. My dead sister.” Her voice fell flat and hollow. She decided to explain it in as few words as possible. “She left me for this tom. I was so little. I cried for nights. I forced myself to forget. Forget, forget, forget. Forget how much I loved her.” The words tumbled out of her mouth. “Now that I remember . . . I feel different. Something changed, but I don’t know if I want things to change.” She glanced at Panther. “I’m sorry for dumping this on you. You don’t deserve it.” She looked down at her paws, embarrassed. “This whole thing is messed up.”

“We can’t do this! I just want to go home!” Yin said.

“But the only way we can get home is if we’re stronger!” Orchid countered. “I’m going, whether you like it or not!” She quickly pressed her paw to the stone.

Yin had no choice and followed.

“Rosica? Should we do this?” Ambi asked.

“I . . . no way.” Rosica flicked her tail and curled it around her body. “I’m not doing it, Ambi.”

Moon didn’t touch the stone. It was probably evil.

Tawny stepped back — she wouldn’t trust Harnor.

*Of course. Anything to beat Tawny and Thunder. . .* Jay thought.

Thunder was conflicted. He wasn’t sure whether he needed more power. Harnor was notorious for playing games and shouldn’t be trusted, but more power was tempting all the same. He ran off to find Tawny, but found Jay instead.

There was no way. Why would Meadow do that?

*I need to do this. I need to do it for Ami.* And Jinx walked forwards and touched it.

*I don’t know anyone here, really,* Shard thought to himself, *so there’s no point if I lose friends.* So he rested his paw on the stone and immediately regretted it, feeling as if he was now a power-hungry monster.

*Nope,* Azure thought.

Storm glanced at the stone. What was there to lose? It could only help her. And why would Harnor want more monsters? She inhaled and pressed her paw on the cool surface. Immediately, a jolt shook her body and she fell to the ground, panting for breath.

Marina watched with wide eyes as her sister touched the stone almost casually. *If Stormy did it, I guess . . . I will. To be with her.*

 Palm walked up to Storm.

Palm was quickly followed by Cobra, the young tom trotting at his paws.

“What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Palm asked.

Cobra looked up at Palm. “Daddy, who’s that?”

“Hi, Palm,” Storm mewed, exhausted. “I didn’t know that your kit was here!”

Arc was born with a strange trust toward powerful inanimate objects, so he decided to touch the stone. He hoped he wasn’t going to regret this. . . He turned around, looking for Palm. He hadn’t seen his friend in a long time. Spotting him, he padded nearby and sat down. The little cat walking next to Palm seemed different . . . had his friend also used the stone’s power?

Palm looked awkwardly over at Cobra and whispered in his ear, “Look, I’m going to send you back to the stars for a second. You wait with Quixgee.”

Cobra made a grumpy face.

Palm made him vanish again. Looking back over to Storm, he began to tell her who Cobra was. “He’s not really here. I touched the stone, and now I seem to be able to summon spirits. And you can’t tell him this, but he’s not my kit. I found him abandoned, and he never survived to be old enough for me to tell him that. I’ve never had kits or a mate. I’ve helped a she-cat have kits with her mate. They were both she-cats, but they more desperately wanted kits then any other cat I’ve ever seen.” He smiled at the thought over Quixgee’s overjoyed face when she had found herself to be pregnant. “But she never made it past childbirth.” He looked over at Storm. “Sorry. I tend to get a little, um, carried away when I tell cats about my past.” He sniffed, trying to stop himself from tearing up. He brought Cobra back and then placed his paw on Storm’s. He whispered to her, “Look, I know what you think about me. It took a while for me to work out, but I know you think I’m leading Marina on. I never meant to, and if you could, um, maybe tell her I don’t like her in that way? I don’t know. I don’t want to see her hurt any more than you do.”

*Suddenly, with the close contact between the two cats, Palm’s new power flared up. He saw flashes of what looked like Storm as a kit, both her parents walking away, following a cat who looked like Harnor.*

*“Come back! Mommy, Daddy, don’t worry. We’ll find you!” Palm cried out, without even noticing it.*

*Palm shook his head in shock before zooming through the rest of Storm’s life, at last settling where he saw Harnor nod at her parents, turning them into gods.*

Palm pulled out of Storm’s memories quickly and took a step back.

Storm blinked at him, a strange feeling creeping in her brain until it pulled out. She suddenly realized what had just happened. “W-what did you just do? I— I. . .” She narrowed her eyes, hurt brimming at the top of them — hurt she struggled to push down. “Y-you did it, didn’t you? Used that . . . that awful power of yours . . . intruding on my privacy . . . what did you see?” she yelled, hurt making her voice quaver a bit. *Those were* my *memories. He had no right to do that . . . he had no right! I’m going  to . . . I’m going to make him pay if there’s no good reason.*

“Storm, I didn’t mean to. I swear! I thought I could only summon spirits! I didn’t see much!” Palm cried, worried he would lose the trust him and Storm had shared. He hung his head low. “Okay, I saw your life from the moment your parents left. But I didn’t mean to!”

Tess didn’t need to think twice before trotting up to the stone, holding her paw above the glowing object.

“Wait!” Ollie said.

Tess whipped her head around, growling.

Ollie stood across from her, a look of pure shock on his face. “That thing is pure evil, Tess,” he meowed shakily. “You don’t know what it could do.”

Tess ignored the piercing doubt in the pit of her stomach and snarled at the orange tom. “I know that it could give me unimaginable power,” she hissed. “So I’ll take my chances.”

Ollie took a step closer, his eyes wide with horror. “It could change you, Tess. It could make you as evil as Harnor.”

Tess cackled. “You don’t know anything about me, kitty,” she snapped. “You don’t know the *terrible* things that I’ve done. I doubt that this rock could make me any more damaged than I already am.” Without giving a chance for Ollie to stop her, she leapt towards the stone, her paws outstretched towards the power that it could give her. The pulsing energy beckoned to her, as though she could take over the whole world and no one could stop her.

Ollie slammed into her.

Suddenly Tess was catapulted away, hitting a large rock with a *humph*. She blearily opened her eyes to see that Ollie was standing over the stone. He had pushed her away.

“I still think there’s some good in you, Tess,” Ollie meowed. Then he fainted.

*What?* Then Tess’s eyes wandered to Ollie’s slumped-over form. One of his paws was touching the stone.

Ollie felt a faint pounding in his head, the pulsing slowly growing louder and louder. What had happened? He remembered something about . . . a stone?

Tess rushed up to him, her eyes round with worry. “Are you okay?”

Ollie chuckled. “You’ve never asked me that before.” Then everything came rushing back to him. “Did you touch the stone?” he suddenly hissed.

“No, but you did,” Tess meowed, shuffling her paws. “I had to make sure you weren’t dead first. Are you okay?”

Ollie pushed himself to his paws. He felt dizzy. “I’m fine,” he snapped, and he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He winced. “Don’t you want to get your ‘unimaginable power’?”

Tess flattened her ears, confused at his harsh tone. “I guess I’ll make sure it’s not affecting any other cat badly first,” she murmured. “I don’t want to get poisoned or anything.”

Ollie shrugged, beginning to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Tess called, worried.

Ollie stopped. Where was he going? “I need to . . . process,” he meowed.

Tess twitched a paw, about to follow him, but stayed put. She assumed he needed space.

Ollie kept walking, changing direction towards a cleft full of shadows. He sat down, staring down at his paws. He felt strange. Why had he snapped at Tess? He shook his head. Hadn’t Harnor said something about more power from touching the stone? A small voice in his head whispered, *Don’t do it. Those powers are pure evil.* But a yearning started to grow inside him to see just what he could do. The small voice in his head began to fade away. He placed a paw forward, letting the ice spread across the ground, jumping as he saw the frost spread tail-lengths away from him. He stilled his beating heart, letting the coldness spread from his tail-tip to his nose, the ice seeming to fill up his entire being. But he didn’t feel cold. The ice just felt  . . . powerful. And he liked it.

Palm began to panic after he saw Ollie sprint off away from Tess. He stiffened as he saw how hurt she looked. That wasn’t like the Tess he knew. Slowly, he walked towards her.

Cobra trotted along by his feet as well. To be honest, there wasn’t much height difference.

“Tess, are you okay? What’s up with Ollie?” Nervously, Palm sat down, licking his paw before running it over his ears. *Oh well. I might as well explain Cobra before she asks,* he thought. “Tess, meet Cobra. He’s my—” he paused before whispering in Tess’s ear “—adopted—” he still didn’t want Cobra to find out about his parents “—son. When I touched the stone, I somehow managed not to go insane . . . but now I can somehow summon spirits.” Shaking his head, he thought about the other things he had seen cats do with this power. “And I think I can freeze time. I know I can see memories. I accidentally looked into Storm’s, and now she hates me more than ever. She really scares me. But the thing that scares me most about this new power is that I’ve seen cats change others’ minds. Some now hate their past; others are only left with the good.” He was becoming panicked, stressing over what the power could do to him. “I only touched the stone to help you and Ollie — but I’m so worried I made the wrong choice.” He began to cry, overwhelmed by everything that was happening. “I don’t know anymore, Shadows. Everything seems to be going downhill.”

Storm glared at Palm. He hadn’t even let her reply; he had just . . . walked away after someone else.

Kaz narrowed his eyes, staring at the stone. He inched forward, tail lashing, then stopped. Something was stopping him. Someone was stopping him. That little voice inside his head, whispering into his ear, *Be a better cat, Kaz. You don’t need this, Kaz. Walk away.* He hesitated, jaw clenched against the pain of it all.

Palm saw a new cat and turned his head to Storm. He wanted to get away from the she-cat and her past. So he ran towards the tom, smiling with his tail joyfully held high. “Hello! I’m Palm. What’s your name?” For a second, he paused for breath before starting off again on the tangent. “Do you think you're going to touch the stone? I did to protect my friends! They’re great! Tess! Ollie! Come and meet this new cat!” He nudged the tom playfully and rested his tail on his back. “Whatever you’ve been through, I’m sure you can get through it. And don’t worry about touching the stone. I feel fine so far!”

Kaz surveyed Palm with slitted eyes. “Don’t touch me,” he rasped, his tail held stiffly. He twitched an ear, glancing back at the stone. Annoyed with the battle raging inside of him, he shrugged Palm off and took a step forward.

Tess noticed Palm talking to some cat, and noticed the hostile stance the other cat was surveying Palm with. *Sparky . . . don’t get into too much trouble. . .* she thought miserably. She sighed, glancing at Ollie out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting in a corner still as stone. She was worried about him. But at the moment, she had to keep Palm from getting himself killed by this strange cat. She trotted near the stone, to where the two toms were standing. Her pelt prickled ominously at the stone’s presence, but she ignored it. “Back off!” she hissed to Kaz. “Palm is just trying to be friendly . . . which is kind of annoying . . . but don’t hurt him for it!”

“I haven’t touched him yet,” Kaz rumbled, eyeing Tess. “And he need not bother being friendly, as I don’t have friends.”

Palm flicked his ear. He kind of glared after the tom, a little mad about how rude he was being. He made a tiny little ball of electricity and poked the tom with it. He made sure it didn’t hurt . . . at least no more than a thorn would.

Kaz flattened his ears and let out a little hiss, flicking his tail in annoyance. Stupid cat.

Marina curled up in a small corner. For the millionth time of her life, she felt casted out. Unnoticed. Uncared about. Storm was too busy for her right now. For the first time, there wasn’t any more fight in her to do anything about it. Her former “friends” all had someone else.

Frostsong saw a cat curled up in the corner. Alone. She padded over quietly. “Hey, are you okay?” she said gently. “I’m Frostsong.”

Marina scowled. Frostsong used to know her. They used to practice powers together. Now the she-cat didn’t even *remember her*. She had *introduced* herself like they were meeting each other for the first time.

Frostsong saw Marina scowling, and instinctively ducked away into the shadows. “Sorry,” she muttered, and walked away. For some reason, Marina acted like they had met before. But they hadn’t.

Nest shivered. *“That’s* what’s wrong,” she meowed to Robin.

Robin looked at Nest. “I’m sorry.” She stopped and looked at the other cats making decisions. “What are you going to do?” she meowed, thinking what was coming wasn't good. . . She looked around. Something just wasn’t right here. First Harnor came and looked angered and different in so many ways. Most already didn’t like him, but to put a choice like this on so many mortal cats was diabolical — and what happened to poor Wren? Although she had never met her or seen what happened in person, she knew the impact she had put on everyone and the sadness that ensued. She didn’t know what to do. Some cats were on the floor, some weakened, and some dead — yet others strived trying to control their newfound powers. She looked Nest deep in her eyes with a look of worry and terror. She looked away and stood there for ages, not ready to make any decision she might regret.

Nest didn’t need to look at Robin’s expression to know that they felt equally scared for what could come next. “What do you think will happen now?” she asked her friend, a nervous edge in her voice.

“Well, it looks like if you do touch the stone, you get a load of power, but some can’t control the power they’re given. It makes them weaker. Also, Harnor would never just give us power. And when he came in looking like he wanted to skin us all. . . Yeah, let’s just say there must be a punishment. But I guess if you don’t touch it, it will put you at a disadvantage later on in the Test, but you won’t have the punishment put on the other cats. But that’s all speculation. Knowing Harnor, he might do anything, but I think it’s probably a lose-lose.” Robin looked at Nest, then back at the cats making decisions. “Whatever we do, we’ll regret it. That’s what makes this so harsh . . . I guess the question is what are we going to do. . .?”

“I agree. There’s no way out of this situation,” Nest meowed. “But I’m *never* going to touch the stone. Cats with too much power will always become corrupted.” She turned away from the powerful rock. “Besides, my powers are strong enough already.” She realized that she didn’t know what level Robin was. “I think you’ll be fine with level three or higher,” she decided. “If you don’t want to, then you don’t need to.” She looked into Robin’s eyes. “But whatever happens, let’s stay together.”

Robin suddenly realized she hadn’t said her level to Nest. “Level four — that’s my level. I’m with you; I’m not touching that thing. Some cats already can’t handle the power they’re consuming — but I agree. We stay together.” She looked at Nest. “You know, I’ve never really had any friends. It’s good to know there’s someone I can trust.” She smiled at Nest. “We should go. I can feel the stone’s power from here.”

Nest agreed. “So how did you get here?” She realized that might not be the best question, so she added, “Unless you would rather not talk about it. Then I could tell you my story, though there isn’t much to tell.”

After seeing other cats touching the stone, Natrix glanced at the stone curiously. *Is touching this stone actually worth it? Or will it be the opposite?* She thought for a second, then looked at it again. *I’ll take my chances. . .* she thought, cautiously touching the stone with her good paw. She flicked her ears, wondering if there was anyone she could talk to. She wearily looked around for someone.

Mei ran up to Natrix, glad she was looking okay. “Natrix! How are you? I’m so glad you’re okay! Come and meet my mate, Eclipse.”

“Hey. . .” Natrix looked up at Mei. “How is everyone?”

Lantern backed away from the stone. He had touched it, yet he felt not much more powerful than he had before. Touching the stone had sent a surge of energy through him, but it had passed, leaving only a light trail of energy in his soul. He growled internally to himself. *All these cats growing stronger,* he thought angrily. *They don’t even want to win. Why are they even here? And now look. They’ve taken all of the energy for themselves.* But he knew that wasn't true. He was too smart to believe that. Padding away, he left a trail of ice behind him. The cold had never bothered him anyway.

Iyda, though knowing she was late, ran up and touched the stone.

Harnor watched smugly from above as more and more cats placed their paw on the stone. *Foolish mortals,* he thought. *Now I have more control over them than ever.* He leapt off the clouds and dived down towards the cats, his long tail swishing in the wind. Just as he landed, the stone smashed.

All the cats who had crowded around it ran back, hissing and spitting at Harnor.

Again, Harnor seemed weaker than before; more fragile, less vivid red. And slightly see-through. He held up the gem around his neck.

All the cats froze. Not one moved a muscle or spoke a word.

“Good,” spat Harnor, flicking his ears. “Now let me enlighten some things about your past.”

Dune stared at Harnor, as frozen as all the other cats. It was confusing. What did Harnor mean? He didn’t care. That piece of fox-dung didn’t deserve to be understood.

Harnor lifted the stone higher.

Something clicked in Dune’s mind. He understood everything. How he hadn’t seen it before, he didn’t know. An unimaginable rage surged through him, and he turned to face a cat. Luana. He understood it now. All along, it had been Luana. Leading Wren on, Luana was the one to blame for Wren’s death. Where he had once remembered a random stray cat withholding herbs in the city, he now recalled the truth. Luana’s face stared back at him as she walked off with the herbs that could have saved Wren’s life. That fox-brained she-cat thought she could get away with it. He charged at Luana, claws out, surrounded by rocks floating through the air. Around him, chaos erupted. But he didn’t care. He would get revenge on every cat that had ever hurt him. He knew everything.

Luana quickly threw up a small ice barrier, just enough so the rocks didn’t pelt her. She looked at Dune in disbelief before succumbing to the spell. She saw clearly now. It wasn’t humans that killed her father; it was him. She snarled and felt her claws crack through the ice. She jumped on top of the barrier and shot ice spikes towards Dune.

Dune saw the ice crashing towards him and charged out of the way. As hard as he tried, the ice still slashed at his pelt. Luckily, it didn’t go deep, but he was more furious than ever. How dare she? He sprinted at her, but this time was surrounded by a warm wind trying to take out some of the ice as he went. Oh, she would pay for every little thing that went right in her life and every single horrible event in his. Claws outstretched, he tried to swipe at her face.

Luana slipped as the ice underneath her crumbled and she struggled to get back on her paws. She hissed, rage flaring in her now-aqua eyes.

As Dune saw Luana slip on her melting ice, he smirked, his eyes with a circle of purple, his whole body covered in purple glow. Rocks surrounded him, but he dropped them. He was more powerful than that. Throwing rocks was a weak move. He focused all his power on Luana. He tried to pick her up and fling her away from him.

Luana felt herself rise, and she was easily flung. She gritted her teeth and felt her aqua eyes blaze. She formed several spikes around her and broke one off. Carrying it easily in her mouth, she charged towards Dune, frost coating her legs.

Dune saw the spike heading towards him and ducked, but not before it left a deep gash in his muzzle. Screaming out in pain, he sent a hot wind at Luana, slashing at her face.

Luana smirked triumphantly before she shut her eyes against the wind. She yowled as she felt Dune’s claws rake her muzzle and stumbled backwards.

Dune charged at Luana, trying to take out her eyes with his claws.

Luana tried to dodge Dune’s attack, but he left a nasty scar above her eye. Her eyes shut in pain, she kicked out with her back paws, hoping to hit fur.

Luana’s blow hit Dune’s hind leg, sending her falling to the ground. He leapt at her, trying to knock her to the ground. As he held his paw above her throat, ready to kill her, he mewed, “This is for Wren.”

Luana managed to twist slightly, so that Dune’s blow landed on the bottom part of her neck and her shoulder. She screeched in pain and writhed underneath him.

Dune felt Luana writhe under him and his hold began to loosen. Finally, he couldn’t hold on any longer, and he flew up into the air, higher than she could normally reach without jumping. He summoned a flock of birds, sending them charging at her.

Luana clawed at the birds, knocking some but getting scratched by others. She formed a small ice barrier and pressed her shoulder against it, hoping to ease the bleeding. She wasn’t going to last long like this. . .

Marina snarled. All those “friends” who had forgotten and abandoned her. . . She smirked as she laid down poison right in front of them. They would never know it was her . . . and they would burn.

It grew. It grew, deep inside Quintessa. She smirked. *Well-played, Harnor.* The black started rising faster and faster now. She stretched her toes. Her skin felt smooth as stone. Soon, she was covered tail to ears. The rage was starting. It festered inside her, rumbling wildly. She was losing herself. Good. She extended her claws to their full length. She flew up, using her invisibility to help her stay undercover. She stared down at all the cats that she couldn’t wait to sink her claws into. To bite their heads off. To make them feel the pain she felt. She spotted her first target.

*Oh no. . .* Yedda crouched near a rock, gasping for air as if she were drowning. Her heart seemed ready to burst, ready to give in. The stone had taken over. She threw back her head, thrashing. She heard a noise behind her. She whipped around. Nothing. Her teeth bared uncharacteristically. “Who’s there?” she spat. Her tail lashed. “Come out, coward!”

Quintessa’s voice whispered in her ear, “Peekaboo.” She slammed her head against the ground. “I see you.”

“Quintessa?” Yedda’s voice cracked.

Quintessa revealed herself, grinning maliciously. The now-black she-cat peered down at her former friend. “Stupid, foolish Yedda. At least you had the courtesy of knowing me.”

Yedda’s vision suddenly became very, very black.

It was done. Quintessa’s head whirled. She waited for the happiness, for the joy of revenge. But nothing came. All that was left was a cold heart. She flew up again. Looking for her next target.

Wildflower’s mind filled with pure, uncontrollable rage. How could they have been so stupid? So stupid to trust that brown she-cat? Growling, they sprinted towards Quintessa, shooting thorny vines towards her neck.

Quintessa flew down. She knew she was vulnerable, but she also remembered the burning pain that the others caused. Her head twisted at all her enemies, wondering which one would be next to die. *Aha.* She used her invisibility to crawl up to her, using the element of surprise. She sprung at Wildflower from behind, raising her paw to strike, taking off her invisibility.

That filthy she-cat had disappeared. Simply vanished. Was this the power she had gained from the stone? Had Wildflower too gained one of these powers? They tried for Quintessa’s scent and too late scented her behind them. They turned to face her and Quintessa’s claw cut the side of their neck. Growling, they set their paws ablaze, violently slashing near the brown she-cat. They also shot a thick, strong vine from the ground and looped it around the brown she-cat’s neck.

Quintessa felt the strong thorns draw blood from her. She growled nastily, then sent a wave of cold air towards her attacker, trying to discharge her flames. She flew up, knowing she had an advantage of sorts in the air, only to be held back by the vines. Hissing the foulest words known to cat, she slashed them again and again until they broke. Freely moving, she used invisibility once more and sent more waves of alternating temperatures towards Wildflower.

Wildflower recoiled at the cold air that distinguished their flames, thus allowing Quintessa to break free of the vines, fly up, and turn invisible. Shouting their foul language right back at her and struggling through the sudden cold, they summoned their energy inside. Their energy surged through the air — and brought down sharp rain in the area around them. Finding the spot where the rain disappeared, soaking into a certain invisible cat’s fur, they concentrated their rain to pierce into that spot.

*“You little—”* Quintessa screeched, and flung around wildly, flailing her limbs in an attempt to shake herself dry. She unfortunately ran into a wall and fell. Getting up, head throbbing, she hissed, then ran, still soaking wet, at Wildflower.

Wildflower stopped the rain and shot a thick vine from the ground, and whipped Quintessa on the side, hoping to unbalance her. They knew that if they engaged in direct combat, then Quintessa would have the upper hand. However, they had always been slightly better at handling magic. . . They called birds to their aid. Immediately, they heard the honking of geese in the air. How many, they couldn’t be sure. But knowing that backup was already on the way, they leapt at Quintessa, aiming their claws at the back of her head.

Quintessa stretched her limbs out in front of her. The blast had deactivated her invisibility; plus, the vine-whip had been unexpected. Her ears directly back, she extended her claws out. Ready to handle the blow.

Beat. Beat. Beat. Yedda’s eyes flung open. Her senses were flooded with information. She was soon under the spell as well. Her rage knew no boundaries. She saw the dark brown she-cat that had ended her. Blood pounded in her ears. A sniff. She looked down. She squinted at the ground warily. Poison. She didn’t know how she knew, but she leaped over it, then padded towards the she-cat, tail lashing with fury. Her mouth opened.

*“Payback is a bad cat*

*and baby, I’m the baddest.”*

Yedda’s voice echoed. She glared proudly.

*“Now I’m out here looking like revenge.*

*Feeling like a ten, the best I’ve ever been.*

*And yeah, I know how bad it must hurt*

*to see me like this, but it gets worse.”*

Another tail-lash. Yedda’s voice grew and the ground quaked just a bit.

*“Now you’re out here, looking like regret.*

*Ain’t too proud to beg, second chance you’ll never get.*

*And yeah, I know how bad it must hurt to see me like this*

*but it gets worse.”*

Yedda smiled and dashed around in an almost-dance.

*“Now payback is a bad cat*

*and baby, I’m the baddest.*

*You fighting with a savage.*

*Can’t have this, can’t have this, ah.*

*And it’d be nice of me to take it easy on ya, but nah.”*

Yedda’s voice rang loud and clear, the sass in it full.

*“Baby, I’m sorry*

*I’m not sorry.*

*Being so bad got me feeling so good.*

*Showing you up like I knew that I would.*

*Baby, I’m sorry — I’m not sorry.*

*Baby, I’m sorry — I’m not sorry.*

*Feeling inspired, ’cause the tables have turned.*

*Yeah, I’m on fire and I know that it burns!”*

 Yedda flung her ball at where her enemy was. It hit its target with lethal accuracy. She hissed. She aimed her glowing ball at Wildflower, swinging it full power at them. “No one is touching her but me! This is my kill!” She turned to glare at Quintessa and started running again, ready to engage in close combat.

Quintessa got up. “Ain’t no she-cats or cats or toms killing me today!” She spat on the ground and flew up again. She pulled on her shield and flew away, looking for another target. Drip. Drip. Drip. She flew fast, glaring at enemies. Her fur was a mess. And nobody was dead. Drip. Drip. Drip.

That was just fine. Yedda could kill Quintessa’s friends off one by one, starting with her. She lashed her tail and turned to Wildflower, standing up proudly. She felt the best she had in, well, since she had joined the Tests.

With all of Wildflower’s powers concentrated on Quintessa, they were unaware of Yedda’s attack. The glowing ball whacked the side of their flank, knocking the air out of them. They let Quintessa go as they caught their breath. “You little — come back here!” they yelled after Quintessa. *Fine.* They would kill the gray one, then. “Come at me, Looney,” they spat. The honking intensified, and soon their geese flapped towards Yedda — three geese. “Attack!” they ordered. They took a step forward, preparing to leap onto Looney, but yelped as their paws touched something excruciating. “My paws!” they cried. They burned, though they were practically immune to fire. *No. This is poison. Whose? Who dares to attack me while lying hidden in the shadows?* They crept back as their geese tried to bite at Looney.

*“Stupid coward!”* Yedda’s face scrunched with concentration as she fought back the geese. One bit her face, another her back, and the other her tail-stub. Hissing and wriggling, she slashed the first one, grabbing hold of its wings and biting its neck, effectively killing it. The others proved more fight worthy, bearing their small, needle-like teeth with malicious pleasure. They obviously had joy in the act of killing cats. Swing. Swing. Swing. She swung her paws at the enemies. It only seemed to enrage them more. Flapping their wings in her face, honking obnoxiously, biting all her extremities. She suddenly remembered back to the fifth Test. Her loud screech was damaging to the ears. It was worth a shot. She took a deep, deep breath, then let out a high-pitched screech.

The geese stopped their incessant flapping and gestured covering their earholes, while honking loudly as if to say, *Make it stop!* They turned to their master, flying over to them.

Yedda noticed their movement. She leaped high, grabbing them and biting their necks, killing them. She stared at Wildflower, battered and bruised, and wondered why they weren’t attacking. She started running over to them when she felt an almost burning sensation on her paws. Hissing, she scrambled off, realizing her pads were a good deal “burnt.” She hissed again, then leapt over the poison. She managed to get right at the edge, but her back pads got damaged. She winced briefly, then flung herself at Wildflower.

Wildflower wasn’t ready yet. Their pads still burned and they were pretty sure a layer of skin had burned off, and their claws weren’t nearly as sharp as they were before. Engaging in close combat wouldn’t be the best idea, even if Looney had just battled three geese. But this she-cat. She had to pay. They needed to release all of their hate on this she-cat. All of it. They created a whip of fire and wrapped it around Looney, trapping her in it. Slowly, they pushed the ring of fire towards the poison.

Yedda struggled out of the vines, hissing violently. She leapt right out, then starting dealing blows, aiming at Wildflower’s head.

Wildflower wasn’t built for combat. All they could do was flinch instinctively, and the blows kept on landing on their muzzle. Instead of fighting back with their paws, they lit a wall of fire in between them and Looney the next time she tried to land a blow, hopefully singeing her. The sight of the fire sent their geese into flight, though they weren’t sure where they could go, honking in this dark cave of rage.

Yedda felt the fire burn her. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” She scurried away, hissing, then tried leaping over it. It singed her belly, and she winced at the sight of herself. But no time to dwell on that. She turned back to her fight, using her power to make the ground quake a bit while she swung her white ball of light.

All Wildflower could do was dodge Yedda’s claws and light ball. They definitely didn’t have the energy to do any fancy fighting moves. The quaking ground was also a problem. That dumb she-cat. She had already left too many scratches on their front side. How could they gain the upper hand again? Their new powers. *Yes.* They created a giant water bubble in the air, took a deep breath, then jumped into the water so that they hung above Yedda. When the ball of light swung around again, they let the water disappear and landed on Yedda’s back, digging into her shoulder with their forepaws and clawing with their hind paws.

“Owowowowowowow!” Yedda winced as she felt the full strength of Wildflower’s claws. She started bucking around, but realized quickly that it wouldn’t help. So she did the next best thing — she started rolling around on the ground, pressing her opponent’s face to the dirt.

Wildflower ate a mouthful of dirt. Quickly letting go and springing up on her paws again, they spat the dirt onto Looney’s fur. “That’s for killing my sister.” They grew a thorny vine and lashed it across Yedda’s fur.

Yedda just barely dodged the vines. Another mark on her. She created her ball again, swinging towards the enemy’s head. It was visibly smaller than before.

The ball of light whacked Wildflower on the head — hard. As they were struggling to regain their balance the ball whacked them again, though it missed slightly because they had been stumbling about. Growling, they grew their vines to trap the light ball, holding it and trying to slam it on Looney’s head.

“What the actual heck—” Quintessa screeched. A mixture of curses and words were shot out of her mouth as she fell out of her float. She slashed at the geese, who were pecking her everywhere. The geese honked loudly. “Honk honk yourselves!” she screamed. She was trying to fly, but they kept on attacking, attacking, attacking — until she bumped into something. Or should she say someone. She started running, then a few feet away realized the geese had already flown away. She then saw her next target. *Dune.* She faded into the shadows, then waited for the right moment to attack.

Kaz lowered his head, frozen in place. His eyes darkened and took on a glassy sheen. He saw his brother’s blue eyes full of fear, his father pleading as claws slashed his mother’s glossy pelt open. . . *No.* He clenched his jaw, eyes squeezed shut. This memory had plagued him for moons, but now . . . something was different. He saw the faces of the attackers, heard their voices, and he opened his eyes with a growl. They were all around him. And they needed to pay.

Thanya swung her head around. So many enemies. So many cats she knew had done her wrong. One stood out to her. A new tom. She recognized his face. He was the one who had tried to kill her! He was the cat who had forced her group of supporters to go into hiding! She flung herself at him, claws unsheathed, ears drawn back. She was ready to fight.

Kaz hissed, bristling. He swung a paw at Thanya’s head, eyes dark. *“You let them die!”* he hissed, limbs trembling with anger — or was it regret?

Kaz’s paw hit Thanya’s head and she fell back, crashing to the ground. She ducked under his legs and aimed to claw at his back leg. Hopefully he would fall to the ground. Hopefully he didn’t know that move. She turned to Merri. Her sister, full of herself and oblivious to all the pain she had caused her. Merri had never paid attention to the many times she had saved her pelt, and it was time for her precious little sister to learn that there wasn’t always someone there to save her. She charged towards Merri, shocked when her sister became slightly invisible. She knew it immediately. Merri had touched the stone. And she hadn’t. It was a fight of teeth and claws.

Merri kept hitting back with shadow.

Thanya knew she could never use her fire. Not as long as she remembered her old home. So she ran.

*I knew this would happen!* It was good that Fini didn’t get too attached to anyone, or she would regret this way too much. Unsheathing her claws, she kept telling herself in her head, *This is for Fir,* before searching for a victim.

Merri met eyes with Fini and charged, shadows dancing at her paws.

Frost and Flame exchanged a glance. *Why is everyone fighting?* they both thought. They walked to the corner and stayed out of the fight.

“Agh!” Pebble yelled. “Frost, where are you?” she yelled.

Frost heard Pebble yell. She wanted to run to her, but then she remembered that if she went up to her, she would maul her to death, because everyone was crazy now. She got halfway to her and stopped, slowly walking back to Flame.

Fang stood frozen as cats who had been friends and more just moments ago were at each others’ necks. What had happened? Suddenly, the power from the black stone thrummed through her. Her claws sank into the ground. She had the unsettling urge to sink them into another’s flesh. Blazing anger tore through her. Anger at Stick. She should have taught her better; then she would be able to take on Harnor. Anger at Loki. He should have known she was going to be here, should have fought harder to live! Didn’t he want to see her again? Anger at her parents, who had abandoned her when times got tough. *No.* She shook herself. Her parents had saved her life fighting off those foxes. They hadn’t left her behind; they had led the foxes away so they wouldn’t find her. It wasn’t her fault they had died. And there was no way Loki would have known she was coming. He had barely seen her when they were training with Stick. He didn’t even know her! Speaking of . . . Stick had taught her the best he could. He couldn’t have known she would come up against anything like Harnor. As she held onto these thoughts, the anger drained out of her. And she realized. . . *This is what’s happening to the others.* Except . . . the cats they were angry at were all around them. *I have to stop this. Somehow.* She was hit with the hopelessness of the situation. There was nothing she could do. As the battle raged around her, she sank to the ground. Harnor had won. She was helpless, powerless compared to the red god. Lying on the cold ground, she let the growing frost seep into her fur. She welcomed the ice that filled her veins. The shrieks and screams faded as the frost completely covered her, sinking her into the ground in a cocoon of ice.

Newt didn’t know who he was or what her problem was, but he knew that something was up with that she-cat. And she needed to pay for it. He slammed his foot to the ground, sending a spiral of ice out around him.

Fang felt another cat’s ice rolling over her, destroying her cocoon. She sprang to her feet. The cat — a tom — was one she didn’t recognize. Then again, she hadn’t been here long. “What the hell did I ever do to you?” she demanded.

Newt was too engaged in the fight to even answer the she-cat. He ran at her, trying to land on her back and claw at her pelt. “I’m going to make you pay for the time I spent frozen in the arctic!” he hissed. Ice was still appearing at his paws, but he didn’t care. He would win this fight.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Fang yelped, leaping back. She barely dodged the tom’s strike. His claws swiped the air barely a whisker from her face. She used the ice spreading around his paws to slide around him, aiming a strike at his flank.

Newt kept on fighting. Ice was all around the two cats now, and he had scratches all down his pelt. But he didn’t care. He would get revenge. He sent an ice spike towards Fang’s heart.

The ice spike spiraled towards Fang. She froze, eyes wide. *No. No. I’m going to die. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to—* The ice spike froze in midair, inches from her heart. She leaped out of the way. When she moved, the spike continued its flight, smashing into the cave wall behind her. Whirling on the other cat, she sent a flurry of tiny ice shards flying towards him. Though they wouldn’t kill him, she hoped they would scratch him up a bit.

Shards of ice pelted Newt’s face, scraping his pelt. He growled at Fang, lashing his claws out at her side.

Fang yowled as the tom’s claws dug into her side. She jerked away and performed a twisting leap, landing on his back and digging her claws in. She aimed a bite at the tom’s neck.

Newt felt Fang land on his back, and her teeth scraped the fur at the back of his throat. He managed to wiggle out from under her, panting. No sooner than he was free, he tried exactly the same move on her.

Fang realized that Newt was about to try the move she had just attempted to use on him. She flipped over, shoving her back paws at his underbelly, hoping to throw him off before he landed.

Moon was suddenly filled with rage. She turned to the nearest cat next to her. Panther. “You’re going to pay!” she screamed at Panther. “You left me!” She lunged at Panther and attacked him. She clawed at his pelt.

Panther spat in fury. “You think it’s my fault?!” he growled. He dived forward and clawed at Moon. “This is all your fault! All of it!” He saw a white-and-black she-cat that looked like her sister.

Moon turned around.

Panther realized it was his sister. *Moon.*

Moon saw him too, and fury blazed in her eyes. She launched herself at him and clawed at his pelt. “You left me!” she spat with anger.

“Me? *It was you!”* Panther hissed, and fought back, drawing blood from Moon’s pelt.

Moon wailed in pain and staggered back. Then she launched herself on Panther again, this time hooking her claws into his back. “You’ll pay for what you did,” she hissed threateningly into his ear.

Kousuke slid in front of Nol and Bonita. But he also was drawn under. And there it was. Why he couldn’t go home. *Bonita.* How dare she try and take Nol away — some random street stray. He gritted his teeth and turned entirely black.

“K-Kousuke?” Nol whimpered.

Kousuke whipped around and glared at Bonita before launching himself at her. He slashed at her side and lunged for her paw.

Bonita swung at him and deflected him easily. “What the heck is wrong with you, Kousuke?!” she snapped.

Kousuke only shook his head and attacked again.

This time, Bonita tried to grab his scruff.

Kousuke dodged, and thrusted upwards into her chest.

With the wind knocked out of her, Bonita struggled to get back up.

Kousuke started churning her stomach.

Yowling, Bonita weakly kicked him off and panted hard.

Nol dove between the two of them, shrieking that they stop.

Kousuke flicked him away as if he was a bug.

Nol landed with a *crack* against a rock.

Bonita looked at Nol and felt the blood drain from her face. She got up and prepared herself for Kousuke’s next attack.

Kousuke raced towards her.

Bonita spat out her poison into his eyes.

Kousuke groaned as he tried to wipe it out of his eyes.

Bonita formed balls of water around her ready to throw at Kousuke.

Kousuke snarled at Bonita and spirited away, hoping to regenerate his energy.

Bonita almost ran after the tom, but raced over to Nol and guarded the tom, ready to fight anyone who came near.

Before Robin could answer Nest’s question, the rage inside her started to expand rapidly. Her eyes started to glaze over and she fell to the floor, anger pulsating through her veins. She had never even touched the stone — but all she was inside was rage and regret at herself about her past. Suddenly, the unbearable pain that was in her leg went, even though she hadn’t been healed. Her head quickly scanned the barren land. Everyone had done her wrong. They ignored her cries for help, and she needed help in battle. More and more negative and horrible things others had done to her came flooding into her head. She looked straight at Nest standing straight in front of her. The negative was flowing in, but yet she had done no wrong to her — only kind and helpful things — so she just walked off, half of her hoping Nest would feel the same. . .

Thankfully, Nest felt the same way as Robin. She stayed at the edge of the arena and waited for a good opportunity to strike.

Anger was pulsating through Robin’s veins as she walked, pushing and shoving cats who were in her way. She looked around, stalking her next victim. She had never touched the stone, so she was weak compared to many cats, but that wouldn’t stop her.

Kousuke had to go out of his stronger form temporarily to regain his energy. He whirled around in anger as a she-cat shoved him. “I’ll make you regret that!” he snarled, launching himself at the she-cat.

Robin whirled around as a cat launched at her. In rage, she clawed at the cat, unable to stop, even though she didn’t know who it was. . .

Lantern’s mind blanked, then filled with power. Such power. He could do whatever he wanted. And he wanted revenge. To inflict pain on others. The Mandarin-speaking cats. *The Community.* That other cat . . . she spoke Mandarin. He suddenly put the pieces together — her voice, the one that took away their food. That pelt with the other pelts, bullying them. The silver, white, and red she-cat. Haunting yellow eyes. A flower tucked behind her ear. *Yin. I’m coming for you. For what you did to my father. My grandfather. My mother. Magnolia. And me.* He stopped time and padded around, slowly manifesting rage, and when he found her, he un-stopped time. He aimed a blow at her flank.

Yin turned around and saw a cat charging towards her. He had caused her so much pain. He was the reason she was stuck here. She reared and landed a blow on his flank.

Orchid ran in and attacked both of them.

Maya didn’t notice the fights occurring around her. She didn’t care. She needed to kill Harnor. He was the reason she was here. *It’s all his fault.* And these cats were in her way. Her heart filled up with rage and loss. Loss for all the things she had forgotten. She could die without ever knowing. It was Harnor’s fault. He would pay. They all would. She growled, ready to fight.

Lantern flinched back as the she-cat tried to cut him, but she still caught his flank, leaving it flowing with red blood. Growling, he fled the two she-cats to try and recover near the edges of the battle. Flopping down on his uninjured side, flank heaving, he grew some frosty crystals around his wound, hoping to stop the bloodflow. Yet, amazingly, the shallow cut started healing on its own — fast. Smirking as the flow of blood stopped, leaving a line of pink flesh, he stopped time again and walked slowly towards his next target — Maya. That face that had taken away their food so that Father could starve. He let time flow again and tried to land a blow on the white she-cat’s back.

Maya sensed a cat behind her, whirling around. But not in enough time. A clump of her fur got taken out, and she winced at the pain. She had a feeling that she wasn’t used to fighting. She didn’t know what her power was. If she did, she didn’t know how to use it. So what was her advantage? The rage grew stronger and stronger in the pit of her stomach; her rage for Harnor, for herself, and for this cat. This tom that was attacking her was obviously following Harnor’s orders. She would show Harnor what she thought of him and of his cats. She hissed, throwing herself onto Lantern’s back, clawing and biting furiously.

Lantern had never been the most agile, but he had always been quite strong. He angrily flung the she-cat aside, but not before she had left many stinging cuts along his backside. He concentrated, and using his newly-learned power he inflicted pain on the she-cat that had bullied him nonstop. Inflict the pain she had inflicted on him before.

Maya screeched in pain as Lantern used his strange power on her. It felt like her insides were being torn to shreds. She started writing on the ground, her lips curled back in a snarl. *Stop! Make it stop!* she thought over and over again until it was the only sense in her mind.

Lantern smirked smugly at his magic’s handiwork. The struggling cat on the ground. Then, suddenly, a disruptive thought entered his head, pushing through the purpley, smoggy rage that had taken over before. The new voice told him to stop the pain. Very urgently. He couldn’t help but listen to it, and instantly, his grip on the she-cat’s pain loosened. His new powers no longer worked. Almost in shock, he stood still for a weak, exposed moment.

Maya didn’t waste any time thinking about what the heck had just happened. She bared her teeth, shrieking and sinking her teeth into Lantern’s shoulder. The pain from Lantern’s spell slowly started ebbing away, but it was still there like a nagging thought in the back of her head.

Lantern roared in pain as Maya’s teeth sank into his shoulders. He aimed a kick at Maya’s belly. What had prevented his magic from working? Was it this she-cat?

Maya huffed as a kick was aimed at her belly, her getting pushed to the ground by the impact. She saw Lantern staring down at her, and she expected that at the time of her probable death, her memory would rush back to her. It would all come back; her life would literally flash before her eyes and she would remember some fighting moves that would miraculously save her life. But nothing happened. She just sat there, cursing Harnor for the thousandth time for putting her here with no memory. She didn’t remember if she had ever fought before, but she doubted she had. She was soft and inexperienced and it just wasn’t natural. Then she remembered why she was fighting Lantern in the first place. He was working for Harnor. He was part of the mind tricks that Harnor was playing on her. With this thought, a new burst of strength overtook her as she leapt up from the ground, aiming a bite at Lantern’s throat.

Lantern flinched when Maya reached out to bite his neck, but Maya’s teeth still ended up on the side of his neck. Though not fatal, the bite hurt. Growling, he batted at Maya’s face with his claws.

Maya hissed in pain, the ginger-and-white she-cat’s eyes narrowing as she saw the scarlet drops of blood dribble down her long fur. She yowled in fury, launching herself onto Lantern and hooking her claws onto his shoulders.

The she-cat’s wounds weren’t as plentiful as Lantern’s, but his were healing much faster without him even thinking about it. Already, the scratches on his back had begun to stop bleeding. He had the upper hand if the battle went on for longer. But the she-cat was feisty. Her claws dug into his shoulders, right to the bone. He howled in pain and aimed a bite at her neck.

Arc was starting to wish he had kept the emeralds. Their powers would be nice to have, but he knew that he had made the right decision when he gave them to Mist. As anger began to course through his blood, he knew that he needed to let it. It was his only defense. He didn’t need a reason to fight; he didn’t need a reason to do anything. The only thing he needed to accomplish was not winning. The rage inside of him ignited into a fire, and flames sprung into life around him. A burning desire to destroy everything filled his mind as he walked through the fire surrounding him. His paws caught on fire, but he didn’t care.

Tess stared in horror as cat turned on cat, claws slid out, and everyone’s eyes began to fill with hatred. *Harnor must be doing this to them.* She waited for rage to overcome her, licking at her like flames or boiling in her blood like ice. But none came. Her eyes grew wide. Why wasn’t she affected?

*“It’s because you’re already filled with rage. You’re broken. Harnor couldn’t make you any worse than you already are.”*

Tess went still. She recognized that voice. She turned slowly around to see a long-furred brown tabby tom, his blue eyes hard with contempt. It was Kobi. Her brother. She had killed him. “How are you here?” she meowed, trying to keep her voice steady and failing.

Kobi sniffed. *“Maybe you’re going crazy.”* He paused. *“Or it could be Harnor, messing with your head. Either way, I’m here to remind you of what you’ve forgotten.”*

 “And that is?” Tess asked.

*“You killed me,”* Kobi meowed simply. *“And countless others. You could never have a life with these cats.”* His tail swept around in a flourish, showing the massacre taking place behind him. *“You’ve forgotten why you’re here.”*

Tess lashed her tail. “Harnor is a psycho,” she growled. “Who knows what he would do to me?”

*“Excuses, excuses. . .”* Kobi drawled. *“Where’d the fire go, Tess? The burning, raging wildfire that you were filled with when you murdered me in cold blood?”*

 Tess’s claws flexed in and out, her heart starting to beat faster and faster. Was that regret? Guilt? She didn’t remember a time when she had felt these emotions.

Kobi crept closer and closer to her, his eyes slitted menacingly. *“Don’t you want to sink your claws into these cats’ pelts? They’ve been so incompetent. So annoying . . . you deserve to be a god more than these mangy cats.”*

 “No . . . no, I don’t,” Tess meowed under her breath. “These cats have compassion, kindness . . . *goodness*.” Her voice grew steadily louder thinking of Palm, Ollie, and all the others. “They deserve to be gods a thousand times more than I do.”

Kobi sat down, looking disappointed. *“Then I guess you’ll join me in death.”* Then he disappeared.

Tess didn’t have time to think on what had just happened, however much she wanted to. She weaved through the shadows trying to find Palm. She had to know that he was okay. “Sparky!” she called. “Where are you?”

Ivy’s green eyes were full of rage as she looked at Tess. Now she remembered. Tess had been there too. In the flood where her brother drowned. The memory had been unclear until now. But now, the faceless rouge who had stood by on a rooftop while Dusk flailed around in the water became clear. It was Tess’s face. *You! You let my brother die! You’ll pay!* Yowling in rage and hatred, she launched herself at Tess.

Tess dodged, her moves precise and her mind clear. “Mouse-brain!” she hissed. She caused a swirl of shadows to block Ivy’s vision as she clawed at the other she-cat’s ears.

Ivy scanned the pelts around her, looking for Tess. *There!* She picked out her pelt among the battling cats. Still filled with rage and the desire to avenge her brother’s death, she again, more precisely this time launched herself at Tess, electricity flying from her paws.

Tess’s eyes widened in terror, turning invisible and streaking away from the electricity that seemed to be reaching for her. A small shock hit her tail, but she had bigger problems. Her invisibility began to wear off and she cursed herself for not having a stronger power. She whirled on Ivy, hissing. She launched herself onto Ivy’s back, raking her claws through the other cat’s fur.

Ivy yowled in pain as Tess’s claws ripped through her skin. Screeching in pain and rage, she flung herself, claws out, teeth bared, a storm of electricity flying from her paws at Tess.

At first, Palm didn’t understand it all. Why were cats fighting? Then everything clicked. Oh, it all made sense now. He saw it before his very eyes. Cobra’s blood staining the paws of not Alex, but Ollie. Ollie would pay for this. He searched around for the tom, which was quite hard at his size, but finally found him. Rage was the only important thing now. Rage, and killing Ollie. He knew that Ollie was a stronger cat, so it would have to be his powers that killed him, however much he wanted to feel that tom’s blood on his paws. He sent up a shield around him of healing power, not electricity — he wanted the best view he could have. He sent lightning crashing over by Ollie, hoping it hit him.

Ollie surveyed the battle going around him. He had a vague sense that something was wrong, but he couldn’t think it through with the rage pumping through his blood and the pounding in his ears. He had been a fool to think that the horrible actions of these cats could be excused. Goodness didn’t exist. Not in Tess, not in Ollie. Not in anyone. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck next to the tom, and he whipped around in fury. Palm was standing a few tail-lengths away from him. Goodness definitely didn’t exist in Palm. He had to pay. He let out a loud screech, charging towards the other tom. Palm needed to die. It was his fault that all of this was happening. Without him, none of the cats would be losing their friends, their family, in these awful Tests. He shot spikes of ice in Palm’s direction, but let out a growl when they bounced off of some sort of shield around tom. So he charged, his paws outstretched towards Palm and his claws out.

Storm snarled. *Palm.* The stupid fool had dared to look into her memories. She growled, lip peeled menacingly, and charged in his direction, blowing a gust of burning hot air at the tom as she charged.

Palm swung wrong, feeling Storm’s heat crashing into his pelt. It flung him back towards Ollie, and just as he made contact with the tom, he let out a burst of painful healing power. Sprinting back towards Storm, he froze time, summoning a spirit to his aid.

Harminbal attacked Storm with the same rage as Palm.

Palm un-froze time.

Ollie huffed, the pain seeping into his lungs and making him gasp for breath. “Fox-heart!” he hissed. He noticed that Palm was unprotected, so he flung shards of ice at the other tom, aiming straight for the heart.

Storm’s mind suddenly turned clear as she gazed at the spirit. *Don’t I know a spirit. . .?* But suddenly, her mind started pounding again, and she viciously swept water at Harminbal’s eyes while they were open. Seizing the opportunity, she lifted into the air before summoning another burning air wave and throwing it down at Palm.

Palm took a step forward towards Ollie. Suddenly, ice shot at him, as well as hot air. Luckily, the ice turned to water, but he was pressed against the ground by the wind. A burning sensation crept through his pelt and he hauled himself to his paws. An ice shard had cut him all the way from his paw to shoulder, but he had been so distracted. But now, something else was in the wound. Poison. He hurriedly tried to lick it out furiously, making sure to spit it onto the ground. That was it. He ran. Sending one last ball of electricity towards Ollie, he ran.

Harinmabal’s spirit vanished after taking a hit across the eyes.

Ollie’s eyes widened seeing the stream of poison trickling towards him. As he dodged, he didn’t notice that Palm had run away. When he had finally gotten up, he narrowed his eyes. He had lost Palm.

But as Palm ran, he jumped at Storm, trying to send a painful healing blast at her. Then he saw Tess. His claws slid out again and the anger returned. He froze time and charged at her. Every time he moved, time moved on a little as well. He put an electric shield around him, but this time, he didn’t stand back. He charged right at Tess, hoping to shock her.

Tess was about to land a strike at Ivy before seeing Palm racing towards her twice the speed of a normal cat. Her heart stopped when she saw the rage in his eyes. But she had rage too. But not for Palm or Ollie or any of the cats in the Tests that had done nothing to wrong her. She had rage for Harnor. And Harnor was the cat that was making Palm like this. She slipped away from Ivy, racing straight for Palm. She could see the tendrils of electricity moving towards her, and she knew that she was too slow to dodge. So she stood as still as possible, putting up a shield of darkness — not that darkness would shield her from the electricity — and let the shock hit her.

It was dark. Palm couldn’t see Tess. He clawed around in the dark, hitting nothing. He sent out bursts of electricity and caught glimpses of Tess. His spirits became lost in the darkness, so he made them disappear. Then he summoned only one this time, Dragon.

Dragon stood next to him.

Palm caught sight of Tess again. He charged at her.

Dragon charged with him.

Tess dodged, her paws scrambling desperately for hold on the slippery ground. *Why did I have to make everything dark?* she thought angrily. *Now I can’t see!* She didn’t have enough time to disperse the shadows. What could she do? She caught sight of a ginger she-cat — a spirit — that was charging at her. She took a quick moment to thank whatever almighty power there was that she had kept her fighting skills sharp. As Dragon charged, she met her in a flurry of claws and teeth.

Arc instinctively ran toward Palm. As he was running, his memory uncovered a moment from the Tests right before he fell into the gap that had nearly killed him. He was sleeping next to the edge when Palm suddenly came into view. Without warning, he pushed him in, thinking anyone who noticed would think that he had fallen. He had only helped because other cats were watching. He hissed. He wouldn’t get away with that. Weaving around the arena, he finally found the traitorous tom. He was locked in combat with another cat much bigger than he was. He decided that he would wait until Palm was weak. Then he would finish this. No matter the cost. He couldn’t wait any longer. If revenge came, it would come now. He stepped out of the shadows and stalked toward Palm and Tess. But that fire wasn’t enough. He needed more. He grew several vines out of the ground and wrapped them around himself. All at once, he set them ablaze, creating a barrier of flame around him. He jumped two tail-lengths away from the two cats, and lashed out at Palm with a flaming paw.

Palm saw Chao and kicked out his back leg at him at the same time, striking out at him with electricity. But his focus wasn’t on Chao. It was on Tess. As Dragon’s spirit disappeared, he was left facing her. “I can’t believe you! I love you, Tess, yet you always have to go and choose Ollie over me! I’ll make you pay for that and for everything you’ve done!” He hissed and spat at her with more ferocity than ever.

Cobra appeared at his paws. “Daddy! Don’t do this! Please!”

Palm made his spirit disappear, not wanting the tom to be hurt. “I know you killed Mirage. I know you were watching from the sidelines as Dragon died. I know you were there every step of my life. Every death you saw me face broke me. Yet you did nothing to stop it.” He unsheathed his claws and sprang towards her, his body growing weaker. Something inside him pulled him away. Suddenly, all around him stood spirits. Eleven spirits. He knew without counting. But as he scanned, there was something different.

In the middle stood one spirit. A blue-gray tom with spiky fur. Diamond. His form was flickering and dark, almost broken-seeming.

*“If you’re ready.”*

*“Heart is open.”*

 Palm remembered the song they had sung together.

*“I’ll be waiting.”*

*“Come and find me.”*

 Palm choked out the last words, pushing through the spirit, shattering Diamond’s spirit in the one time the tom had been able to reach him. His claws were pointed at Tess.

Tess’s eyes widened. She barely understood any of what Palm had told her. But she understood one thing. Sparky had told her that he loved her. She wasn’t supposed to be loved. It wasn’t possible. She was — she was rude and mean and awful. She had done horrible things. Unexplainable things. She didn’t deserve it. But she couldn’t think on it now. She unsheathed her claws, reluctant to hurt Palm, but knowing that she had to in order to survive. She ducked as he lunged at her, a large clump of her fur getting torn out in the process and two long scratches forming on her back. She thought that things couldn’t get any worse.

Then Ollie showed up. He let his unsheathed claws scratch along the ground, his icy-blue eyes suddenly cold and menacing. “I found you,” he meowed smoothly. Then he turned to Palm. “And you. What a treat it will be to kill you both.”

Tess’s breathing suddenly became quick. She had never seen Ollie like this. Pure evil. Was this something that Harnor created? Or had it been buried inside all along? “Ollie, Palm, please,” she begged, watching the two toms circle her, both of their claws out. “You don’t want to do this. You’re both too good.”

Ollie swiped a paw over his ear. It was covered in blood. “Goodness doesn’t exist, Tess. You should know that better than any cat. You’ve been overcome by evil.”

“What are you talking about?” Tess meowed, her voice shaky.

“After I touched the stone,” Ollie meowed, his claws glinting with the scarlet shine of blood, “my power became more powerful than ever before.” He let a circle of ice form around him. “My ice power, of course, but also my time power.” He narrowed his eyes. “I saw a vision, Tess. Of your past. Of what you did to your brother.”

Tess’s heart stopped.

“Goodness doesn’t exist. There will always be Tesses, there will always be Ollies, and there will always be Palms. Some cats, like Tess, won’t try to hide their evil. Cats like Palm lose everything, but still find a way to fight. They still find ‘hope.’ Because they believe that goodness exists. Cats like me — like how I used to be — think that evil doesn’t exist. That every cat is good underneath. But that’s not true. It’s all fake. False goodness. It’s just evil in disguise,” Ollie meowed. And he lunged for Palm.

*Oh, shoot.* Ollie was heading towards Palm, claws unsheathed. He was never going to be able to stop that blow. So he let it come. Crashing to the ground, he had a stinging cut on his side, but his healing power kicked in right away. He sent bolts of electricity towards Ollie, and when he saw Chao’s first whips heading towards him he ducked, but one still caught him on the face, hurting his already-scarred skin. He didn’t know what on earth Ollie was talking about. What had Tess done to her brother? He ran towards her, making contact with her pelt, and saw everything. What he didn’t know was that in return, he had shared his past. His father leaving, attacking Alex, Diamond being flung against the rocks, Harminbal dying alone in the desert, and him running as Mieginck and Kinkaroy faced death. Cobra being killed by Alex and him killing him in retaliation. Mirage dying of sickness, the tree crashing down on Lmanamly, Wolf dying of thirst after refusing his aid. Jarbil’s body at the bottom of a cliff, Stormfrost’s blood coating a cat’s paws — yet the only crime she committed was asking to share. Him waiting patiently to see if Quixgee’s kits would survive, hoping she would be happy with her mate. Quixgee dying during childbirth. Kuvibac-Fox killed by his own tribe letting him escape. Goldenshade. And the scale bracelet found in the desert, no body, no nothing apart from the one trinket that would never have been left unless he had died. Harnor agreeing to travel with him. Harnor turning into his god form and him accepting the offer. He pulled away without even realizing he had shared any of it.

Ivy’s paws trembled with fury. Tess thought she could just get away! *You’ll pay! You killed my brother!* She spotted Tess through a storm of fighting cats. *“Coward!”* she spat. Letting electricity flow freely through her paws, she shot a well-aimed swipe at Tess.

“Oh, come on!” Tess hissed. “I’m trying to save my friendships!” Then she blanched. “Never mind. Kill me. I’ve fallen down the hole of sparkly rainbows and friendships.” She was almost bowled over by the electricity. She had been shocked so much lately, she felt like one more hit and she would be killed. She weakly landed a blow on Ivy’s shoulder. She growled. Stupid Harnor. She blinked. Then blinked twice. Had . . . had she just seen Palm’s past? This was too much for her. She backed up, her ears pressed to the back of her head. Palm looked equally as shocked. Had he seen something from *her* past?

Ollie was lying on the ground, unmoving.

Tess thought that Palm had shot him with electricity, but she couldn’t remember. For a moment, she just stood there, Palm across from her, completely still. Ollie to her right, the slow rise and fall of his snowy-white chest the only sign that he was still alive. Who would make the first move?

Anger clouded Arc’s mind more than ever before as he realized that Palm didn’t see him as a threat. Rage blinded him so much that he didn’t see a paw coming at his face. Pain corrupted the anger as he was hit in the eye. Slowly, like the sun setting into the ocean, the fires around him died away. As he recovered, he could see Palm running through a flickering blue spirit. He didn’t know why, but it saddened him. That feeling didn’t last long, however, and he threw himself back into the fight. He flung a whip at his opponents, but it felt like his power was slowly ebbing away. . . He stood low to the ground a small distance away from Palm, Tess and Ollie. He tried to make a fire start near the three cats, but it only lasted a few seconds before its bright flame went out. He froze, realizing that he had given himself away. He took a small step back, knowing that he couldn’t use his powers to get himself out of this mess.

Was Mieginck crazy? How had he not seen it before? Eclipse had killed Kinkaroy. His best friend, like a sister to him. The two might have even become mates if it wasn’t for her. He sprinted towards Eclipse, ready to bite down into her pelt with his strong jaws.

Tears filling Eclipse’s eyes, she dodged Miegnick’s attack. She reared up to attack, but ducked down once again. “Mieginick! What are you doing? I am your mate, for Heaven’s sake!” she called, reluctant to hurt another one she loved.

Snarling, Natrix threw a gust of wind to separate Mei from Eclipse. “What the heck, man?” she barked.

Mieginck hissed at Natrix before charging towards Eclipse again. But then, after he had stuck out at her, he turned to Natrix, charging at her with all his might.

Natrix threw four rocks that were behind Mei at him, hoping he wouldn’t break through.

Mei stumbled, the rocks hitting him hard on his shoulder. He half-collapsed to the ground, ready to use one of his favorite tricks on Natrix. But no. He remembered Harminbal and how he had injured him so terribly. Instead, he simply let out a load of sleeping gas around the two cats, slashing at Natrix and Eclipse in a whirlwind of claws.

Though Natrix suddenly became woozy, she tried to find something near Mei while trying to endure his slashes.

Eclipse drew water from the air and splashed herself with it. Then she was really, really mad. She clawed at Mei with all her might, not caring if she hit him or not. She let a bit of poison run down her claws and kept slashing. “You abandoned your kits! You abandoned me! I wish I had killed you, not Black Bird!” she yelled.

Mei felt weak. Eclipse’s poison seemed to be seeping into his blood. As he crouched again, ready to pounce at her, a face appeared before him. *Kinkaroy.* Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks.

Kinkaroy seemed to cry out to him, yet no words came out.

“I’ll avenge you,” Mieginck whispered. Leaping into battle, he was a whirlwind of claws striking out at Natrix and Eclipse, whatever pelt he could get his claws into.

Kinkaroy watched on helplessly, her eyes wide in shock.

Mei leapt at Eclipse one more time.

Kinkaroy gritted her teeth and leapt.

Mieginck’s claws met her throat.

Kinkaroy fell to the ground. She knew there was something after this. Diamond had found his way back after Harnor killed him a second time. But she knew that giving herself for Eclipse was the right decision.

Natrix’s eyes flickered upon seeing Eclipse. *No.* Attempting to fight against the sleeping gas with all the might she had, she hurled some sand into Mei’s eyes so that he couldn’t see for a bit.

Tawny felt rage at everyone. But mostly someone. She thought she had recognized that face — she thought she did the first time she was him. She remembered a shadow and a cat as Luca died, but she hadn’t cared. Now she realized why Thunder looked so familiar. She slid out her claws, then collapsed to the ground, somewhere between life and death. . .

Jay attacked Thunder.

Thunder saw Jay, and anger surged through him. He could feel the strength of hatred course through his veins like a snake’s venom. He took a few steps back and charged at Jay, his enemy, the reason for all his pain. His fur formed spikes with ice. He threw himself in the direction of Jay.

Jay attacked Thunder more, feeling his powers spring up. “See, I’m stronger than you. Even with a lower power level, I can kill you.” He shrugged. He shot sparks at Thunder.

Thunder felt immense pain when the electricity hit him, causing him to nearly collapse. The pain only made him angrier. In one final strike he created hundreds of razor-sharp icicles and shot them at Jay with as much force as possible.

Jay was unbalanced and unprepared. An icicle struck the side of him and he died quickly.

Tawny gasped. “Th-Thunder?” She ran to him and bowled him over. “You’re the best!”

Thunder threw Tawny over and lashed out at her, hitting her in the face with his claws out.

“H-hey! What?” Tawny asked.

Breaths came heavily as Rosica tried to make sense of everything. Hallucinations overcame her, and she thought of all the cats around her and what they had done to her. After hours and hours of covering her ears with her paws and squeezing her eyes shut, she finally stood up on shaky legs. Fire blazed in her eyes, though not for these cats. For Harnor. Everything happened too quickly; she felt like what the so-called Wren would have — a demon flickering in the shadows with blazing amber eyes. Was she going to turn out just like her?

Frostsong whipped around, and her eyes locked on Rosica. Rage pulsed through her pelt. Rosica was the one who left her to die. It was her fault she was even here. Rosica needed to be punished. She flew at Rosica and wildly swung her claws at Rosica’s pelt.

Ambi was terrible at fighting. But he fought anyway. He blinked. The voices in his head silenced. He wasn’t here to fight. He ran to Rosica. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Rosica hissed angrily, her eyes shooting daggers. “Get out of the way!” She threw Ambi to the side. “Go before I hurt you.” She smirked. Her shadows flickered. Her whole *body* flickered. She was something she never thought she could be.

Aquanetta looked around. Cats who had touched the stone like her were busy fighting . . . and yet . . . she wasn’t. Surprisingly, she could feel blood and anger in her. But she couldn’t direct it at anyone . . . because there was nothing these cats had done to her. Maybe not having friends and enemies here was doing her a favor. Fear. That was the emotion overtaking her. She had to fight. . . She turned herself into a lizard. No feeling. Just a desire to run away. She scurried into a crack in the stone walls.

Sunflower had turned himself into a falcon, circling above the cats and searching for the face that had wronged him — the silver she-cat with startling blue-aqua eyes. The one that had entranced Father so that he left his kits, his own kits — for this new she-cat. Aquanetta. He knew her scent. He knew she had transformed into something small. She was hiding. Now he listened — for tiny pawsteps. Tiny claws. A tiny tail. And — there. In that crack. He flew down and used a power he had never used before, but one he knew he had. He used telekinesis to lift his prey out of the crack.

Iyda turned and saw the first cat she had ever wanted to hurt. She ran, eyes gleaming with pure hatred, to her sister. And attacked Heidi while she wasn’t paying attention. With little effort, she killed Heidi without hesitance. She turned, looking for someone new to attack.

*“They wronged you. They were the ones to cause you pain.”*

No they weren’t! What was the voice?

*“Kill them. Get revenge.”*

No they wouldn’t! Suddenly, life came back into focus. Some of the cats knew their past again.

Marina flung around, claws stretched . . . and stopped. It was like snapping out of a dream as she faced all of her once-friends. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.”

One minute, Yedda’s gaze was clouded. All she could see was her enemy, the brownish she-cat in front of her, the one that had led her sister away. The next, she felt as if something was twisting her insides, sucking out all that hatred. Her ball evaporated as she was liberated. She was free from her demons. She looked down. Her claws were encrusted with dark blood. Her legs were covered in scratches. Heartbeat picking up, she looked up, distraught. “Wildflower? What — what’s happening? Why am I—” Her words were caught back by tears. Her friend was covered in scratches — scratches that she had inflicted on her. Her memories came flooding back in. Quintessa. The stone. Her friends. Harnor. The Test. How could she be so full of herself?! Another memory flickered. One of a cat, a cat she didn’t remember, a she-cat. She remembered a dark place. There was no time to dwell on that, though. She needed to get somewhere safe. She started running. Running farther away. She knew it was cowardish, she knew she should find her friends, but . . . *bump!* She suddenly felt fur and realized she had bumped into Marina. She remembered her. Another friend. “Marina! Marina, are you okay? We need to get out of here!” Her face contorted with worry.

Marina spun around to see Yedda, panic strewn on the she-cat’s face. “Yedda! Calm down. What’s going on?”

“I don’t . . . exactly know . . . I just woke up! Everything feels like a bad dream! I — I was fighting cats! *I don’t fight cats!”* Yedda felt hot tears start coming down her face. A sob racked her body. “Everything is wrong . . . I’m wrong. . .”

Wildflower sprinted after Looney. *You get back here and fight me, Looney.* The gray she-cat was heading towards . . . Marina? No matter. She needed to pay as well. They slunk into the shadows as Yedda started talking to Marina, getting ready to pounce, killing Looney first. Perhaps they would snap Looney’s neck first. *Yes.* Time slowed as they jumped into the air, and suddenly, the darkness fogging up their head and vision lifted. What were they doing? They couldn’t kill Yedda! Screeching, they twisted midair and landed beside Yedda so close that their bodies were touching. Their claws scratched against the cavern floor, a reminder of what they had almost done. “Y-Yedda? Marina?” they asked shakily.

“Wildflower? Are — are you better?” Yedda looked shaken. She hadn’t even seen Wildflower come out of thin air. *Everyone is wrong.*

“Y-yeah,” Wildflower answered shakily. “Did — did I attack you?” Everything was a bit muddy, but they knew clear as day that they had attacked two cats — Yedda and Quintessa. Where was Quintessa? Sunflower? Frostsong?

Marina stared shakily. “Yedda, Wildflower . . . did you feel like you snapped out of a dream? Where you said wrong things and fought wrong cats?”

Yedda nodded a bit. “You did, but it’s okay. You didn’t mean it. You were under a spell,” she murmured. “Did I hurt you? Oh, gosh, please tell me I didn’t hurt you. . .” She looked about to cry. *Everyone is hurt.*

Storm glanced around, blinking. She saw it all. Destruction. Death. Blood. Ruins. Some cats were still fighting, but most looked broken. Tearful. Confused. She remembered one thing. She had attacked a cat. . . “Palm?” she yelled, hoping the tom would hear her.

Palm stared at Tess in shock. The anger that had once boiled through him was gone. “Oh my gosh,” he whispered, and walked towards her slowly, hoping she didn’t back away. “Tess, what did I say to you? Whatever it was, I’m so sorry.” One question played in his mind. “Did you see my past?”

Tess backed away, her eyes narrowing. “This isn’t a trick?”

Palm stopped, scared of what he had done. “Shadows, I promise it’s not a. . .” He stopped. Looking behind Tess, he saw a body. Tears formed in his eyes. “Mei. Mieginck. Oh my God.” He sprinted over, burying his face in his friend’s fur. For the second time, he had lost Mieginck, and this time, it really counted. Slowly, he walked towards Tess again. “Tess, I need you to scratch my palm earring. I can’t reach my leg up without the pain nearly killing me.” He began to sob more. “And this time, I won’t let Mieginck’s death go unmarked. Just one little scratch in line with the others.” He looked down at the ground. Shock still had a good hold on him.

Tess’s eyes misted over. She hadn’t known Mieginck, but she knew he was a father and had a mate. And friends. Palm had been one of them. The tabby she-cat nodded numbly, gently unsheathing her claws. She placed a scratch on the small palm in Sparky’s ear, her head hanging low to the ground. “Palm . . . do you remember what happened at all?”

Palm sighed. “I remember snippets. I remember seeing you past. I remember being mad at you, but I don’t know why. I screamed something at you, but I don’t know what it is. I remember getting the scar down my leg.” His head hung down. “I hit Ollie with lightning. I know that much. I don’t know where he landed. I don’t know where I am! I mean, I know I’m in the arena still, but I’m disoriented.” Reaching up to the palm branch, he felt the new scratch. “But I failed. I came here to protect my friends, and I failed! Now Mei’s dead and I hurt you! Oh, gods, I’m so sorry.” His legs began to buckle under him and he broke down into tears. He padded over to Tess shakily and leaned on her, hoping she wouldn’t move away, as he was certain he would collapse to the ground. “Can I ask one more thing?” His voice was croaky from crying. “Did you see my past?”

“Yes,” Tess meowed gently. “I . . . um . . . I saw your memories.” She chuckled nervously. “I guess we’re even now, huh? You got to see the cats I killed and I got to see the ones you killed. . .” She trailed off. Not the best choice of words. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Palm mewed, his eyes still focused on the ground. “I obviously learned nothing from what happened in my past. Mei still died. I couldn’t save him.” As hard as he tried to summon his spirits for comfort, he couldn’t. He reached out and touched Tess’s paw, yet saw nothing. His power was gone. “So, uh, I guess now we basically know everything about each other. We don’t really have many secrets.” His voice was barely a whisper. “What did I say to you when I was under the spell?” He tilted his head up to meet her gaze, wiping away the tears from his eyes with one uninjured paw.

Tess choked. “You said that you loved me, but that I kept choosing Ollie over you.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I would never choose any cat over you. I love you. But . . . I also love Ollie.” She gasped. “Ollie! During the battle, you struck him with a lightning bolt. . .” She looked around wildly. “I hope he’s okay. I hope he’s. . .” She searched for the right word. *“Sane.”*

*Kill them. Kill them all!* The voices echoed. But in there, a light. Tiny at first, but it grew. Everyone knew darkness hated light. A thick cloud full of utter fury and hate and evil seeped out of Quintessa. Her fur became dark brown again, her eyes no longer covered. Chains were lifted. Her whole body lifted into the air as it crawled out, her demons in tow. She fell to the ground coughing. “What — where—” Questions rolled in her mind. She didn’t know where or what or even who she was. Then it hit her like bricks. Yedda. The stone. Darkness. Harnor. Harnor! Fury filled her up again; not at her friends, but at the one who had enslaved them. Taken their minds and replaced them with killing machines. All for his entertainment. That was all the Tests ever were, anyway. All for his entertainment. She knew she needed to find her friends. She already knew where Dune was, right behind where she was, fighting Luana. She winced as she heard their yowling, yowling of fury and harm. She needed to find Wildflower. And Frostsong. And Yedda. Especially Yedda. Ever since Yedda had become part of the Tests, she had felt a connection to her. Small at first, but it grew. It felt as if . . . she were family. *No.* She *was* family. Mind racing, heart pumping, she used invisibility to sneak past the fighting cats. She saw a group not far from her, the one that Yedda had sang to. Maybe they knew where she was. Running over, she took off her cloak. She panted slightly as she asked Palm, “Do you know where Yedda is?” She saw the two together. One fallen, the others gazing into each other’s eyes. Half internally gagging, half *ah*-ing, the dark brown she-cat slipped towards them, mostly towards Palm. She didn’t exactly trust the other two, even if one had . . . well. . . She hoped she wasn’t intruding. But she needed to find Yedda. Every step made her feel inferior, as if she were trespassing some bubble. But she needed to find Yedda. She stopped a few yards away, hesitant. But she needed to find Yedda. She continued forth.

Palm turned his head to see Quintessa padding towards him. He hobbled over, trying not to put much weight on his injured leg. His head still hung low and his eyes looked like they were staring into space. “Quintessa, are you okay? You look like you’ve lost someone.” As he spoke, he scanned the area for Ollie. He couldn’t see him! He called out to Tess, “I can’t find him!”

Tess backed away awkwardly. She looked around wildly. “Has anyone seen an orange tom? Possibly unconscious?” She glanced at Palm, worried.

Storm stood up. Palm was over there near Tess. The black she-cat padded over. “Palm? I wanted to apologize about that, even though it was Harnor’s fault.” She sighed. “I don’t know if I can fully forgive you for looking into my past. I know that it was unintentional, but that doesn’t make it better for me. I felt — and still do — invaded. But I know that I’m not going to let that get between what little friendship we had.” She extended her paw. “So friends?” Glancing at Tess, she mewed, “And yeah, I saw Ollie.”

“You did? Where?!” Tess exclaimed, whipping her head back and forth. “And yeah. He saw my memories too. It kind of feels weird.”

Palm looked from Tess to Storm. “Storm, I’m so sorry. I wish . . . I still had that power. I could have shared mine as well. Tess saw everything from my past.” He touched her paw briefly. “Friends.” He scanned for Ollie, not sure where he was. “I just want to say — if you ever want to know anything about me, I’ll tell you.”

Arc was about to attack Palm again when he saw the moment in the second Test again. This time he saw that no cat had pushed him down, but Palm still stopped to help him. The voice inside of his head subsided to a whisper, then faded away entirely. He suddenly felt exhausted and pain began to flow through him. The last he saw of Palm he was apologizing to Tess, though the powerful she-cat was too hard to make out as black crept into his vision and he fell to the floor. The fighting around him did nothing to stop his deep sleep.

Quintessa nodded at Palm. “Have you seen Yedda? I can’t find her.” She glanced at Tess just for a moment. She realized she didn’t know Palm very well at all. Quietly, she thought of Yedda smiling softly, singing. She took a deep breath.

*“If I could*

*begin to be*

*half of what you think of me,*

*I could do about anything.*

*I could even learn how to love.”*

*In Quintessa’s heart, she knew.*

*“What makes you think I’m so special. . .”*

Yedda picked up something. A sound. A faint sound. She looked around, padding quietly. “Quintessa?”

*“I always thought I might be bad.*

*Now I’m sure that’s it’s true,*

*‘cause I think you’re so good, and I’m nothing like you.*

*Look at you go, I just adore you.*

*I wish that I knew.”*

 A single tear fell down Quintessa’s cheek as she let out a sigh.

Yedda could see her. The dark brown tabby she-cat. Singing.

*“What makes you think I’m so special?”*

 A sniffle. Wait. Where was that shouting coming from? Yedda? Quintessa turned. “Yedda. . .?” It was.

Yedda ran towards her.

Quintessa ran too.

“Yedda!” Quintessa said.

“Quintessa!” Yedda said.

Quintessa nuzzled her friend. “Did they hurt you?”

Yedda smiled, purrs erupting from her. “No. No, I’m okay. Did they hurt you?”

“Who cares!?” Tears streamed down Quintessa’s face.

“I do, silly!” Yedda sniffled.

And there Yedda and Quintessa stayed, one pure emotion, the other reason. Halves of one. Sobbing tears of joy.

Wildflower smiled slightly at the two bringing so much light in a time so dark. They turned to Marina. “What happened?” they asked quietly. “Was it because of the stone, do you think?”

“Yes. It was,” Marina whispered. “I regret ever touching it. My powers are gone too . . . the extra ones, you know.”

“I don’t remember,” Wildflower muttered, “if I got any new powers, but I did get many new scratches. Oh, and I lost my brother. Wait, uh, let me just — Sunflower! Sunflower?!”

Aquanetta blinked. She had been slightly clouded, but now everything was clear. Thank goodness she hadn't done anything. . . But wait. Something was happening. She was lifted. By a bear. No, another cat. Who could also transform? She looked at him. Was he feeling clear too? Or was everything cloudy for him? She writhed and turned into an eagle. Flapping her wings, she soared far away enough that nothing too painful would hit her, but close enough that she could still hear him. “How do you feel?” she asked. She shook her head. What a silly question . . . but she couldn’t take it back.

Sunflower as a bulky black bear reached out to bat at the bird with his huge paws. Angrily, he growled when he missed. “How do you feel?” the eagle asked. “How do I feel?” he answered with a heavy bear accent. “How do I feel? Well, I’ll tell you. I feel devastated that my sister died. That you killed my sister, you shape-changing dumb cat — if you’re even a cat, you evil jerk!” He took a deep breath to continue, to tell this eagle how much she needed to pay, to tell her that the only acceptable date for what she had done was death. But wait. What was that? A light at the back of his mind, chasing away a black fog. *No, no. What — no.* This light was good. He let it wash over him, cleansing him of his evil. “I — I think I’m fine now, actually.” He was kind of confused still, as to where the evil thoughts had come from. Harnor. “Sorry. Uh, what’s your name?”

“No. It’s alright . . . the same thing just happened to me. And all of the cats, I think . . . I’m Aquanetta. You’re Sunflower, right?” Aquanetta asked.

“Yeah, that’s me. Look, uh, sorry I tried to murder you. I, um, need to find my sibling. Do you need to find someone else as well?” Sunflower asked.

Maya stopped short in the middle of dodging one of Lantern’s attacks. She let out an involuntary wail. What had she done? This cat wasn’t working for Harnor; he was a victim, just like her. She crouched low to the ground, her hazel eyes as round as saucers. “Please stop!” she shrieked.

Lantern growled softly. What was the she-cat doing? Hissing, he lunged his paw across the top of her head.

Maya whimpered, hoping the killer fighting instinct she had just been filled to the brim with would come back so she could at least distract this tom. But it wouldn’t. She ducked, throwing her paws over her head. Wait . . . hadn’t she used some kind of power to stop him before? She had been so distracted by her anger that she had barely noticed. But if she just figured it out . . . maybe she could hold him back.

Lantern hissed when his paws barely missed the she-cat’s head. He needed to kill this she-cat. *Why?* a voice inside his head asked. *No. Go away,* he thought. *I need to kill her.* His amber eyes glowed a cold, cold yellow. Ice started to creep from his paws, quickly making its way to Maya and hopefully trapping her. *Wait. Who’s Maya?*

Maya stumbled back, the ice beginning to incase her. Her fur tingled with the freezing cold and her hazel eyes widened. “Please stop! I never did anything to deserve this — or at least, I don’t think I did.”

Lantern’s mind blanked again and the urgent voice came back. *Stop,* it said. *She’s innocent. You’re innocent. Stop.* And he did. The ice stopped growing. And the hazy purple fog that had taken over his mind disappeared with it. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, though slightly unsure what he was sorry about. Sorry about something more than the ice . . . more than the scratches all over her body. “I’m so sorry.”

The red left Thunder’s eyes as the anger drained away and the realization of what he had done washed over him. “No, no. Nononono!” he said, shaking his head and taking steps backwards. He turned around and ran away. All the ice he had created melted instantly. He just ran as far and as fast as he could, terrified and ashamed at what he had done.

Nest crouched at the edge of the arena, looking for Robin. Ever since she had snapped out, she had been trying to find her. She scanned the area nervously. Her greatest fear was that Robin had been killed in battle, but that just couldn’t happen. She was the only nice cat she had met in her life. She stopped cold when she saw an angry-looking cat about to leap at her only friend. They were at the opposite side of the arena through a sea of fighting cats, but she ran anyway. The cat leaped and she was still too far away. She was about to give up when she shot forward faster than she should have been able to, clearing the distance in a second and putting herself in front of the attacker. The cat slammed into her and knocked her off of her paws. At least Robin could fight back now. . .

Mieginck suddenly felt shock. *No. Why?* Eclipse’s blood coated his paws as he stumbled from side to side, weak from the poison. Ground met fur, and he closed his eyes from exhaustion and pain. Yet he never rose again. And his eyes would never open.

With hazy eyes, Natrix looked at the two bodies, still on her side. “Mei . . . Eclipse . . . can you hear me?” she said, just in case they were just weak.

“Mei . . . Mieginck?” Eclipse whispered, looking at him. “I . . . I’m so sorry. I don’t know . . . why . . . I promise I didn’t mean to. I love you. . .” Tears filtered out of her eyes as she didn't see him rise up. “No! No, no, no!” she whiper-yelled to herself. “No. Why? This is all my fault . . . it was all me . . . he’s gone. . .”

Natrix curled her tail around Eclipse’s. “I’m sorry,” she choked.

*Mei rose up above his body, and looked down in shock. Now he saw it. He saw Kinkaroy’s spirit fading. He had lost her and Eclipse in one blow. Gently, he placed one starry paw on Eclipse’s shoulder. Then the stars called him, and he was gone.*

Eclipse grieved.

Iyda pushed through a few cats. Noticing the weak she-cat, she yelled, “Your kits!”

Eclipse snapped up and ran after the she-cat.

As soon as they were away from other cats, Iyda attacked.

It was a whirl of claws, and Eclipse accidentally activated her poison.

It seeped into Iyda’s fur, making her weaker by the moment. Her teeth snapped, ready to kill.

Eclipse aimed to slam a paw onto her side, unbalancing her. She dragged her paw down.

Iyda moved to dodge the wrong way.

Eclipse’s paw hit her neck with the same stop in her heart as the two times she had accidentally killed before.

Iyda hit the ground with a thud.

Eclipse realized what she had done and cried out. Once again, she had hurt someone. Once again, she had managed to hurt them on accident too. Once again, she had killed.

*Suddenly, after visions of evil and revenge, everything went dark.*

*Rosica heard echoes . . . fading, then rising again.*

*Small pictures started to form.*

*Then one big one shot across, pushing apart the others. Rosica closed her eyes. “Stay,” she said to Ambi.*

*Ambi.* How could Rosica hurt him? He meant more to her than anything! She had always questioned love. It was something . . . odd. Was it forced? Were you instantly happy? She had thought it was forced when Ivajlo had requested her to be mates with him. She had actually considered it. Now she knew that love didn’t just come. Love built. From a small friendship. And that friendship had to be a special one. One that she had shared with Ambi. She saw him as her vision cleared. His dark red pelt with white spots. His pine-green eyes. Yes. That was love. And she loved Ambi. “Ambi!” she shouted, running to him. “Ambi! I — A-Ambi. . .” Suddenly, her energy drained almost completely. She let out a gasp, seeming to throw away the last of the life in her, and collapsed. Her breathing became rapid. “Ambi. . .” She closed her eyes. “Harnor’s . . . spell . . . took my. . .” She coughed. “Ambi, while I can, I want to tell you something.” Suddenly her voice became clear as if nothing was wrong. “I was kicked out by my owners. They . . . I don’t know. So I joined my brother’s group. He . . . was the leader. I started getting special treatment. The others didn’t think this was fair and they threw my brother out. Ivajlo, the main rebel, led the group. He made me work for everyone but secretly admired me . . . he gave me a chance to be in the same position I had with my brother, Ivan. I. . .” She stopped, choking and looking into Ambi’s eyes. “. . . I actually considered it. I then refused and battled him. There, I . . . killed him.” She closed her eyes in pain. “I hope you don’t think me evil. Because now, I would do anything to destroy these horrible Tests! And I would do anything. . .—” she smiled at him. “—. . . for us. Because I love you. Always.” Her eyes closed gently. “Stay. . .” She whispered, her mew barely a whisper. Her next word was almost inaudible. “. . . Ambi.” Then her breathing stopped.

*Rosica’s spirit rested its tail on Ambi’s shoulder. She blinked once and disappeared.*

“Rosica? I would never think of you as evil!” Ambi said, laughing nervously. “Rosica? Rosica! Rosica!” She’s . . . dead. He sobbed, pushing his muzzle into her fur, trying to find warmth in her pelt. It was cold. Freezing. His heart dropped. His eyes clouded. “No, no, no. . .” he sobbed. Tears streamed down his cheek, splashing Rosica’s pelt. “Why, Rosica? We could have had kits!” he whispered, sobbing into her fur. His legs buckled, bringing him down to his knees. “I love you,” he murmured. “Always.”

*High above, in the stars, Sunny watched the rage and chaos. The golden she-cat shook her head. She had to do something. But what could she do? She could make her spirit appear in the cave, using the powers while getting brighter. It was a simple trick.*

Suddenly, the cats felt like something inside them had clicked. What had they done? Blood stained their paws. They could still taste it on their lips, metallic and horrible. Dead cats. Could they have been the one to kill them? In their heads, they knew they would never hurt these cats, but everything had made so much sense. They barely had any time to think on this.

A spirit appeared above and water rushed through the arena.

One of the gates swung open with the shear pressure of the water, and all the cats crashed through. Blood seemed to disappear into the water, yet they still didn’t want to breathe it in. Finally, they found something to cling onto. Then the waterfall appeared. They crashed over it, their fall only slightly slowed by the power of air. Dry land. Their feet hit the ground.

The cats were in the middle of a savannah, but there was one thing missing. Harnor.