The Kill Of Dawn- Book 2

Chapter 2

Spirit sat on his ledge, watching his clan as they weaved in and out of camp. He knew they were all itching for a battle. They wanted the forests as much as he did. 
And they'd get them. KillClan would rule the forests and Spirit would be in control of it all! The moors, the forests, the marshes, the river. All his! BloodClan was weak. Scourge was ruthless and powerful, Snake would never be able to exceed him. Many cats had left when Scourge was cast out too. Especially in the other camps. 
Spirit snapped out of his thoughts and leaped down into the hollow. Dagger greeted him at the bottom, followed by Cliff, a warrior in training. 
"How is he doing?" Spirit asked. The tom had a strong build to him, broad shoulders and enthusiasm in his eyes but he was softer inside. Spirit had seen him chasing butterflies and saying no to play fights with his siblings Burn and Iris. That's why he'd put him with Dagger. 
"Good. He is a strong fighter," was all he said. Cliff looked down at his paws, an ashamed expression on his face. Spirit narrowed his eyes.  
"Well tell Vine to go train him. He's the only Kill Warrior without a Kit-Warrior to train right?" Spirit questioned. 
"Correct. I'll go find him now," Dagger nodded, running off to find the pale grey tom, Cliff stumbling after him. 

It was Sun High now and Spirit had decided to have a check of the borders. He was considering expanding them but conflict with DawnClan wasn't what he wanted. Yet. Eventually they'd drive them out too,  their clan was still small. 
He was almost at the scent line when he heard leaves crunching from behind a bramble bush.
"Who's there?" Spirit hissed, unsheathing his claws as he braced himself to be launched at by a DawnClan patrol. Instead though, two frail looking cats emerged from the bush, a golden furred she-cat and a dark grey tom with a black mask. 
"Apologies, we did not realize this was clan territory," the she-cat retracted, ducking submissively. 
"We had been told of a new clan that offers a place for rouges like us. Is this the one?" the tom asked, eyes round. 
"Yes. I am Spirit, leader of KillClan," Spirit answered, rising his chin proudly. 
"Great! Then may we have the honour of joining," the she-cat asked. Spirit narrowed his eyes. 
"You'll have to prove yourself first, and know this; If you are spies from DawnClan or BloodClan then this is your chance to run because we kill traitors," Spirit growled, turning to lead them to camp. He smiled as he saw their fur begin to prick. 
"We'll do you proud," the tom vowed in a hoarse meow.
"What are your names anyway?" Spirit queered.
"I am Cleo and this is my brother Bandit," the she-cat replied. 

When Spirit got to camp he'd assigned Dagger to training the two new recruits up and teaching them the ways of their clan. Every other Kill Warrior was out training. 
Suddenly there was a yowl from across the camp. Clover came rushing over, another newer addition to the clan. 
"Spirit, hurry! It's Ember, she's giving birth!" the she-cat exclaimed. Spirit didn't reply, shoving past her and racing towards the den. Ember lay on the mossy ground, writhing and moaning, pain clouding her eyes. 
"What do we do?!" Spirit worried, pacing helplessly around the den. 
"I've had kits before! I know!" shouted a cat from behind him. It was Quill, an older she-cat who wasn't quite a Kill Warrior due to having a broken tail. She'd helped Takoda give birth too now that Spirit recalled last seasons memories. 
"Fetch her a stick!" Quill called, sitting down beside Ember and running her paw over Ember's twitching stomach. Clover ran over with a thick stick and placed it down beside Quill. Why in the name of the sky would Ember need a stick. Quill nudged it to Ember. 
"Bite this, it will help with the pain. It won't last too long and I'm here to help you," Quill whispered in Embers ear. Quill then stood up. "Would it be okay if you left the den, Ember will need plenty space to breath." 
Spirit was ready to claw her ears for telling him what to do but a loud groan from Ember was enough to get him to back off. 

He sat outside the den for what felt like moons, listening to Ember yowl in pain. It gave him flashbacks from battles he'd previously been in. There were a lot of them. They had attacked the moor camp only half a moon ago. They had won, sending them to the river camp. He had no interest in claiming their camp however. The chilling breeze and constant cries of eagles made Spirit's fur stand on end. 
"You can come in now," Quill suddenly summoned, breaking him from his thoughts. Spirit rushed in to see Ember heaving on the ground, three small kits on the ground. One had the midnight black pelt of Spirit, one had the fiery orange coat of Ember and one was pure white. It's eyes, unlike the others, were clouded. 
"What shall we name them? The black and white ones are she-kits and the ginger one is a tom" Ember rasped, lifting her head wearily to rest her gaze on her newborn kits. Spirit gestured with his paw to the black she-kit. 

"We should name this one Raven," he suggested. 
"Beautiful. We should name her Sky and him Inferno," Ember smiled, gesturing to the white she-kit then the ginger tom-kit. 

"No! Chance! Stop!" a yowl suddenly rang from the clearing. Spirit turned around, shocked as he saw Chance racing towards the nursery, teeth bared in a raging snarl. 
"This clan deserves no love! I owe KillClan nothing!" he screeched charging for the kits. Spirit retaliated quickly, raising his paw and slashing them down Chance's throat. This was no place for traitors. Chance fell to the ground blood gurgling from his parted jaws. His eyes quickly faded until his spasms stopped and he lay still, a snarl still frozen on his face. Spirit hissed in disgust turning away towards his den.