I mean, seriously, why is he even in the Dark Forest when murderers like Ashfur and Hollyleaf get to lounge about in StarClan?

But more on that later.

First, I want to share with you want I loved about writing this arc.

Bristlefrost. Of course, Bristlefrost.

She is the best. A courageous she-cat, thwarted in love, striving to be the best warrior she can be, honest, bold, impatient and openly ambitious. I loved her from the moment she plucked Rootpaw from the lake and I adored her embarrassment over his way-too-obvious crush on her. It was great to have a strong, capable female character as the love object of a young tom still struggling to find himself. She risked her life to save his without a second thought but she was entirely uninterested in him. All Bristlefrost cared about was Stemleaf and becoming a warrior Stemleaf could love, while Rootpaw had to prove his worth and earn Bristlefrost’s respect. It seemed only fair to develop their relationship into one of equals before making them face—together—the challenges thrown at them by the imposter’s reign of terror. I can’t wait to share with you the final showdown in A Light in The Mist. If BristlexRoot hasn’t won your hearts already, it will when you see what they do next.

And yet, how will Bristlefrost and Rootsrping resolve the impossible conflict around their relationship? In The Broken Code, we ask them the same question we’ve asked every warrior who falls in love with a cat from another Clan: how can you still be a true warrior if you choose loyalty to your mate over loyalty to your Clan? I hope you will agree with the answer Bristlefrost and Rootspring give.

Of course, this question is not the only part of the warrior code we put to the test in The Broken Code. The very rules, which have for moons raised our characters above being simply loners or rogues, are suddenly used to send the truest and bravest of our warriors into exile and to punish cats who have risked their lives over and over again to protect their Clans. How is it possible for our warriors and our readers to believe in the warrior code when we see it so easily being used to condemn cats rather than guide them?

With StarClan unreachable and the warrior code in question, it seemed to me as we neared the end of The Broken Code that the Clans might never be the same again. I began to worry that so much damage had been done to the world we’d created that it could never be fixed.

And I worried too about Shadowsight. Dear, foolish Shadowsight. Killing any cat is a heavy burden to bear, but to kill Bramblestar —the bravest, noblest warrior since Firestar —revealed such naivety and poor judgment in this young medicine cat that I wasn’t sure if he could ever come back from such a mistake. He has always seemed to me to be a fragile, vulnerable character, swept away by visions he at times didn’t seem strong enough to bear. And it breaks my heart to see Ashfur prey on him so cruelly — exploiting his inexperience, amplifying his guilt and playing on his doubts — until Shadowsight is utterly overwhelmed. (And I can’t help feeling ShadowClan let him down and that a little more faith and support from Puddleshine or Tigerstar or any of his Clanmates might have led him to making better decisions.) So I began writing A Light in The Mist hoping against hope that our dear young Shadowsight would find the redemption and forgiveness he needed.

And talking about redemption, let’s get back to Snowtuft.

Surely, no cat in The Broken Code deserves a second chance more than Snowtuft? He must have done some pretty bad stuff to end up in the Dark Forest and yet, right from his first scene in Omen of the Stars, I felt, along with many of our readers, empathy for this minor character. So it’s been a pleasure to rehabilitate him in The Broken Code.

And yet, does Snowtuft deserve our sympathy? Unlike the other inhabitants of the Dark Forest, he chose not to follow Ashfur. Was this because he developed a conscience? Or, after following Hawkfrost into the Great Battle, had he simply lost his nerve?

I like to think that he developed a conscience and that he is finally becoming the true warrior he failed to be in life.

If that’s true, should we forgive him the crimes that landed him in the Dark Forest in the first place? I think we should. I’d like to give Snowtuft a small corner of StarClan, perhaps one that’s not quite as sunny and where the prey isn’t perhaps quite as plump and sweet, but somewhere he can find a little peace and happiness before he fades forever from the Clans’ memories.

But, as ever, it’s up to our readers to judge our characters and, if the storyline doesn’t take them exactly where they’d hoped to go, to imagine their own endings and resolutions and share them with me. Whatever you decide, I hope that A Light in The Mist will engage, move and inspire you as much as our other Warriors novels. Happy reading. I can’t wait to hear what you think.