Warriors: Empire's End ~Book 5 Series 3~

Chapter 29

Shadeheart's POV:

"You can't do this!" NoName growled, scurrying like a mouse around the various edges of the blue forcefield as if she was looking for a tiny hole to escape through. Zeye let her waste her energy, watching her in amusement.

"I'm quite sure I can, especially now that you murdered Skystar." He glanced at Shadeheart and added. "Right in front of her son." The Promethean knew Shadeheart still had loyalty towards NoName, and he wanted to get of that connection.

NoName hissed and turned to Zeye. "I-I still have Nutwhisker! Did you forget about that? You kill me and he dies! Everyone I have taken dies! All the souls, gone!"

Zeye's smile only widened. "I don't care about that anymore. NoName, you have crossed too many lines today. I think it's due time you were stopped."

"My warriors will kill you. Have you forgotten about Zephyr?" NoName snarled, glaring at Zeye threateningly.

Zeye considered the mention of Zephyr, his smile seeming to falter slightly. "I can take care of him." He meowed, his voice confident. "He may be strong, but I'm still better."

"The ones you love are dying, Zeye, you're losing allies." NoName bared her teeth, pacing closer to the white tom with her head held high. "Your powers won't he as strong anymore, especially with Skystar gone."

Zeye frowned, and flicked a paw at NoName. The menacing look was wiped off the red she cat's face as she was flung straight into the wall of the forcefield. Shadeheart winced as she let out a screech of pain and tumbled onto the boulder with a thump. "Sorry, what was that?" Zeye purred. "Your arrogance was getting in the way and it was making it hard for me to hear you clearly." He leaned closer to the red she cat as she lay panting on the floor, as if he was waiting for her to speak again.

Shadeheart winced at the sheer mockery his mother was enduring, but he didn't dare speak out. He was terrified of Zeye and what the Promethean would do to him if he said the wrong thing. He looked outside the blue mist to see Strike and Tyler banging against one side while Zephyr threw his burning red powers relentlessly against the other side. Dime clawed hopelessly at the mist, staring at NoName in fear. Nothing could shake the bright blue force field.

Zeye paced around NoName. "How should I choose to end you, hm?" He looked up at Shadeheart and nodded to the dark furred tom. "What do you think?"

"Don't hurt her." Shadeheart murmured, too scared to speak any louder to the Promethean.

Zeye heard him loud and clear, however, and narrowed his eyes before meowing sweetly. "If you want, I can break one of your legs. I think it will be great fun, and it'll teach you a lesson about the consequences of siding with NoName."

Shadeheart winced and lifted a forepaw from the ground, holding it to his chest as he imagined the bone splitting in half. "Please don't." He mewed weakly.

"Then help me kill NoName." Zeye replied, beckoning Shadeheart closer to him.

Shadeheart felt himself breaking down into tears as he stumbled over to Zeye's side and peered down at NoName. The red she cat lay on the ground with faint blue mist stopping her from moving. She stared up at Shadeheart in desperation, begging him silently to help her. How? What can I do against Zeye?

Shadeheart choked back a sob as Zeye meowed. "Go on, give her a little scratch. Think of this as making it all equal between the two of you." But when Shadeheart didn't move, Zeye let out a sigh and gripped one of the black tom's paws in his misty blue powers, forcing him to rest the paw on NoName's flank. "Now dig your claws into her." The white tom commanded firmly, the invisible grip on Shadeheart's paw tightening every with heartbeat that passed.

"I can't!" Shadeheart cried, trying to yank his paw away. "Stop this please. Don't make me do this!"

"You have to understand that she's not your mother anymore." Zeye snarled at him. "She's never been your mother!"

Shadeheart didn't know how to answer. He refused to unsheath his claws. He cared for NoName and it was unfair to harm her. She wasn't an evil cat, not truly. She was just troubled. Everyone hated her.

The pressure on Shadeheart's paw was released suddenly, and the black tom reeled backwards in surprise. Zeye seethed at him angrily. "You're a disappointment, Shadeheart. You are the reason your family is dying. You killed Blossomfur. You let Cinderkit die. You let Skystar die." He turned his icy gaze to NoName. "And now you will let NoName die too, because you are a coward."

Suddenly the blue barrier dropped, and an explosion of sound reached Shadeheart's ears as NoName's Enforcers charged towards them. Zeye seemed surprised by the sudden absence of his force field but he quickly threw up a smaller one around him and NoName, leaving Shadeheart out in the open.

Zephyr slammed into the new force field but he couldn't break through. Tyler grabbed Shadeheart and pulled him further away from Zeye, to the safety of the far corner of the boulder. The black furred tom fought against his uncle. "Help NoName!" He hissed, watching in dread at Zeye rested a paw over NoName's neck and started applying pressure.

The red she cat struggled but she was powerless against him. Her shadows swarmed the white furred tom but he stood tall and unaffected, his blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

Zephyr snarled against the blue shield. "You can't hide in there forever! We'll break through!"

"Not before I kill your leader." Zeye responded calmly, not bothering to evej glance in the other Promethean's direction. "And I'm going to be taking my time." He lifted up his paw to let NoName breath again. She gasped feebly for air, clawing at the stony ground.

Shadeheart cried out. "Let her go! She doesn't deserve this!" His last few words were smothered by Tyler's tail covering his muzzle.

"Shut up." His uncle hissed. "Do you have a death wish?"

"We can't just sit back and let this happen!" Shadeheart growled desperately.

"There's nothing we can do." Flare murmured, climbing over the lip of the rock to join her brothers. "We knew this day would come." The golden she cat sat near Strike, her feathered wings folding around herself.

Shadeheart slammed his paws into the ground, fighting his way out of Tyler's grip. "I'm not letting another cat I care about die!" He sprinted for Zeye's bubble and crashed against it with all his strength. Nothing happened. He tried again, trying to dig his claws into the transparent mist to rip it open. He barely felt the stinging on his body as he came into contact with the force field over, and over.

"Let me in!" He screeched at Zeye, who was watching him with slight amusement. NoName cowered on the far side of the bubble, distancing herself from Zeye as much as possible.

"I hold no sympathy for you, Shadeheart." Zeye murmured, striding to the edge of the shimmering blue barrier. "You failed to see how truly evil she was, and why she must now be killed."

"Look at her!" Shadeheart growled, lashing his tail. "She's helpless."

"It's all an act." The white furred tom snarled, whirling around to face NoName. "Isn't it? You're a monster!"

The red she cat kept her mouth shut, her white eyes darting between Shadeheart and Zeye. Genuine terror lay in those white orbs; there was no way she was pretending. Why would she?

"Get away Shadeheart." Zephyr shoved the black furred tom away. "Just let it happen. It's over." The grey furred Promethean gazed across the rock to the cats below them. Soon the Clan warriors would rise, once NoName took her last breath. Shadeheart swallowed a lump of fear in his throat as he wondered if the warriors would spare him.

He glanced back at Strike, Tyler and Flare. They showed little emotion on their faces. They were prepared to escape when their sister died.

This truly was it. Shadeheart sucked in a deep breath of the blood-filled air. The end of the Dark Forest's reign was here.

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