Pelt spiking with rage, Ashfur watched as Needletail scurried from branch to branch and then leaped into the next tree. “Go after her, you mouse-brains!”

Like sleepers waking, Berrynose gave chase; Stemleaf scrambled after him. As Ashfur’s forehead furrowed in concentration, the other spirit cats began to climb too, leaping into the branches around them as though weightless. In a moment, the trees were alive with cats. Conefoot pushed past Rosepetal. Softpelt leaped over Strikestone and flung herself into the next tree. Berrynose raced along a branch that reached deep into the withered oak beside it. All around Bristlefrost, branches shivered and dying leaves rustled as the spirit cats chased after Needletail.

Ashfur focused on them, his tail stiff, his body motionless as he willed them onward. Clearly, he was making his rage theirs. They raced recklessly through the trees, not seeming to care that a misstep could send them falling to their deaths.

Bristlefrost could see Needletail’s lithe frame streaking along a branch in the distance. The stars in her pelt glimmered between the leaves. Berrynose was catching up. Stemleaf had taken a route that shadowed hers, and now he pulled ahead and turned, ready to cut across her path.

Alarm shrilled in Bristlefrost’s pelt as the toms closed in on the StarClan warrior. There was only one way she could stop them from here. I must break Ashfur’s control.

A Light in the Mist, Chapter 11