Fire in the Sky

"It had to be a sign. The fire in the sky had been sent by the bear spirits, telling them that they needed to go onto the ice."

— The sign in Fire in the Sky, page 1

Fire in the Sky
Chronology
← Previous	The Last Wilderness
Next →	Spirits in the Stars

Fire in the Sky is the fifth book in The Original Series. Kallik is featured on the portrait, with herself, Toklo and Lusa in the background gazing at the Northern Lights.

Cover information

Inside

The spirits dance like fire in the sky...

The three cubs—Kallik, Toklo, and Lusa—along with their shape-shifting companion, Ujurak, stand on the edge of the sea-ice under the blazing Northern Lights. The land has come to an end, but the bears' journey is far from over. Now they must put their trust in Kallik's paws, as she feels the ice pulling her out toward the ocean.

 Life on the ice is more difficult than the bears imagined. While Kallik struggles to remember her polar bear roots, Toklo bristles in the unfamiliar territory, and Lusa gets weaker by the day; black and brown bears don't belong on the ice. Meanwhile, Ujurak learns firsthand what lurks beneath the whorls and bubbles of the ice, and what he discovers will change everything.

 Just when it seems like they'll never survive in the frozen wilderness, a mystical encounter with a bear spirit assures them that all will be well. But this strange vision leads to even more questions, and ultimately it might tear the bears apart—this time for good—as the next steps of their journey come into focus.

Outside

When the land comes to an end, Kallik, Toklo, Lusa, and Ujurak venture onto the ice as a new path spreads out before them. But the ice is more dangerous than the bears expect, and all must put their trust in Kallik's paws as they struggle to survive the bitter cold. Just when they think they'll never make it, an encounter with a mystical star-bear brings the same message: All will be well, if they go to the place where the sun rises...

Detailed Plot Summary

At the start of the book, the bears are watching the fire in the sky. Ujurak says that they must go onto the ice much to Kallik's delight, and after some hesitation, the others agree. Lusa looks in a pond before they go, and sees how much she had grown.

 The next morning, they leave the land to go onto the ice, with Kallik to lead them. All the bears are having trouble, except for Kallik, who feels at home on the ice.

 Toklo gets frustrated with not finding any prey for many days, so he tries to hunt for seal. He sees breathing holes with bubbles, as Kallik sees whenever a seal is going to pop up. Toklo gets impatient and sticks his paw in the water only to brush against a seal. Toklo begins to break the ice in anger, and the seals all leave. Toklo's paw gets stuck in the ice and his pads start to bleed.

 Toklo gets mad and starts running ahead of the others; he looks back and sees that the others are far away. Out of nowhere, he then hears a crack and then he falls under the ice. He tries to come up for air but can't find the hole fell from, so Ujurak runs in the hole and turns into a beluga whale to save Toklo.

 After saving Toklo, Ujurak forgets who he really is, so goes under the water and forgets he is a bear. He meets another beluga who mistakes Ujurak for her son Pukak. Uglu, the whale he just met, reminds Ujurak to go up to breathe, which most likely saved Ujurak's life. Ujurak eventually remembers he is truly a bear and resurfaces to find his friends.

 After many more days of starvation, Toklo decides to take Lusa to land. Lusa is sick after eating seal, is falling into longsleep, and can't survive the harsh weather of the Endless Ice. They find an abandoned boat on the ice and go inside. Lusa and Toklo find flat-face food on the boat that they eat. After eating some fruit, Lusa feels much better. The two bears spend the night there, but in the morning, den starts flipping so they get out.

 Later when they think they are about to get to land so they swim but get covered with oil. Some flat faces take Lusa to clean her off. They get confused when her fur remains black and realize she is actually a black bear.

 Kallik and Ujurak miss Lusa and Toklo so they decide to go find them. They find Toklo and Toklo tells them what happened, so Ujurak turns into a flat-face and goes to rescue Lusa. Ujurak meets a human girl named Sally. He helps Sally and many others to clean oil off other animals.

 At the end of the book, Ujurak transforms in front of Sally to her shock and saves Lusa, and leaves the place with her. The bears then return to the ice and continue their journey.

Characters

Polar Bears

• Kallik
• Silaluk
• Iniq
• Unnamed male bear
• Unnamed she-bear
• Unnamed Cub

Black Bears

• Lusa
• Arcturus

Grizzly Bears

• Toklo
• Ujurak
• Ursa
• The Lonely Bear

Beluga Whales

• Uglu
• Kassuk
• Pukak
• Several Unnamed Beluga whales

Humans

• Sally
• Craig
• Erica
• Tara

Sneak peeks

• There is a sneak peek of this book in the back of Spirits in the Stars.

• There is a sneak peek of this book in the back of Warriors Super Edition: SkyClan's Destiny.