Fading Echoes

TORNEAR—tabby tom

RIVERCLAN

LEADER

LEOPARDSTAR—unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

DEPUTY

MISTYFOOT—gray she-cat with blue eyes

MEDICINE CAT

MOTHWING—dappled golden she-cat

APPRENTICE, WILLOWSHINE (gray tabby she-cat)

WARRIORS

REEDWHISKER—black tom

APPRENTICE, HOLLOWPAW (dark brown tabby tom)

GRAYMIST—pale gray tabby she-cat

APPRENTICE, TROUTPAW (pale gray tabby she-cat)

MINTFUR—light gray tabby tom

ICEWING—white she-cat with blue eyes

MINNOWTAIL—dark gray she-cat

APPRENTICE, MOSSYPAW (brown-and-white she-cat)

PEBBLEFOOT—mottled gray tom

APPRENTICE, RUSHPAW (light brown tabby tom)

MALLOWNOSE—light brown tabby tom

ROBINWING—tortoiseshell-and-white tom

BEETLEWHISKER—brown-and-white tabby tom

PETALFUR—gray-and-white she-cat

GRASSPELT—light brown tom

QUEENS

DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat

MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

ELDERS

DAPPLENOSE—mottled gray she-cat

POUNCETAIL—ginger-and-white tom

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS

SMOKY—muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace

FLOSS—small gray-and-white she-cat who lives at the horseplace

OTHER ANIMALS

MIDNIGHT—a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea

Map

Prologue

Trees whispered, branch to branch, above the lifeless forest floor. Mist wreathed their smooth trunks, pale as bone, and swirled through the night-dark forest. Above their branches, the sky yawned, starless and cold. There was no moon to cast shadows, but an eerie light glowed through the trees.

Paws thudded on the dead earth. Two warriors reared on their hind legs and launched themselves at each other, their bodies heaving and twisting like ghosts in the gloom. One brown. One black. Wind rattled the trees as the brown tom, his broad shoulders heaving, aimed a vicious swipe at his lean opponent. The black tom dodged, not taking his gaze from his rival’s paws for a moment, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

The brown warrior’s strike missed and he landed heavily, too slow in turning to avoid a sharp nip from the black tom. Hissing, he reared again, twisted on one hind paw, and lunged, his forepaws falling like rocks on the black tom’s shoulders.

The tom collapsed under the weight of the blow. Breath huffed from his mouth as his chest slammed against the ground. The brown warrior raked thorn-sharp claws along his opponent’s pelt, and his nose twitched as blood welled in the wound, scarlet and salty.

Quick as a snake, the black tom slithered out from his rival’s grip and began to swipe rhythmically with his forepaws, swaying one way then the other until the brown warrior flinched back. In that flinch—a single moment of distraction—the black tom sprang forward and sank his teeth deep into the warrior’s foreleg.

The warrior yowled and shook the tom off, his eyes flaming with rage. A heartbeat passed as the cats stared at each other, both gazes glittering with calculation. Then the black tom ducked and twisted, raking his way under the brown warrior’s snow white belly. But the warrior pounced on him before he could scramble clear, hooking his pelt with long, curved claws and pinning him to the ground.

“Too slow,” the brown warrior growled.

The black tom struggled, panic flashing in his eyes as his rival’s jaws began to close around his throat.

“Enough.” A dark tabby stepped from the shadows, his massive paws stirring the mist.

The cats froze, then untangled themselves. The brown warrior sat back on his haunches, one foreleg raised as though it hurt. The black tom scrambled to his paws, spraying droplets of blood across the forest floor as he shook out his fur.

“Some good moves, Hawkfrost.” The dark tabby nodded to the broad-shouldered warrior; then his gaze flicked to the black tom. “You’re getting better, Breezepelt, but you’ll need to be even quicker if you’re going to outfight stronger warriors. If you can’t match an opponent in weight, look to speed instead and use his weight against him.”

Breezepelt dipped his head. “I’ll work on it, Tigerstar.”

A fourth tom slid from the shadows. His silver stripes gleamed in the half-light as he wound around Tigerstar. “Hawkfrost can match any warrior,” he purred, smooth as honey. “There aren’t many cats with such skill and strength.”

Tigerstar curled his lip. “Quiet, Darkstripe!” he hissed. “Hawkfrost knows his own strengths.”

Darkstripe blinked. “I wasn’t—”

Tigerstar cut him off. “And there’s always room for improvement.”

A fifth cat slid from behind a tree, his night-colored pelt ragged against the smooth gray bark. “Hawkfrost depends too much on his strength,” he muttered. “Breezepelt too much on his speed. Together they would make a great warrior. Separately they are vulnerable.”