Thunder And Shadow

WHITETAIL—small white she-cat

RIVERCLAN

LEADER

MISTYSTAR—gray she-cat with blue eyes

DEPUTY

REEDWHISKER—black tom

MEDICINE CATS

MOTHWING —dappled golden she-cat

WILLOWSHINE—gray tabby she-cat

WARRIORS

MINTFUR—light gray tabby tom

DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat

APPRENTICE, SHADEPAW (dark brown she-cat)

MINNOWTAIL—dark gray she-cat

MALLOWNOSE—light brown tabby tom

PETALFUR—gray-and-white she-cat

BEETLEWHISKER—brown-and-white tabby tom

CURLFEATHER—pale brown she-cat

PODLIGHT—gray-and-white tom

HERONWING —dark gray-and-black tom

SHIMMERPELT—silver she-cat

LIZARDTAIL—light brown tom

APPRENTICE, FOXPAW (russet tabby tom)

HAVENPELT—black-and-white she-cat

PERCHWING —gray-and-white she-cat

SNEEZECLOUD—gray-and-white tom

BRACKENPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat

JAYCLAW—gray tom

OWLNOSE—brown tabby tom

QUEENS

LAKEHEART—gray tabby she-cat (mother to Harekit, Dapplekit, Gorsekit, and Softkit)

ICEWING —white she-cat with blue eyes (mother to Nightkit and Breezekit)

ELDERS

MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Maps

Prologue

Sun split the branches above Echosong’s head and sliced through the shadows dappling the forest floor. Echosong relished the ray s as they warm ed her back. She swished her tail happily as a soft, warm wind rustled the leaves. Overhead, birds chattered, and she licked her lips hungrily. She would hunt before the sun set.

She paused.

Before the sun sets?

Hadn’t it set already today? And hadn’t rain been lashing the j uniper bush where she’d made her solitary nest?

Yes! She’d fallen asleep to its thrum m ing, wondering where her scattered Clanmates were sheltering as the storm swept the forest.

This is a dream.

Yet it felt too real to be a dream. A vision? Her heart lifted. It had been so long since she’d had a vision. She was beginning to think that StarClan had forgotten Sky Clan, just like the other Clans had forgotten them countless moons ago.

Ahead she heard fur brush the undergrowth. Paw steps were stalking toward her. Danger?

Echosong froze, fear clutching her belly. No. She calm ed herself. This is a vision. I’m safe here.

And y et she didn’t m ove. Instead she waited, her paws pricking with expectation.

A broad-shouldered tom slid from between the ferns and stopped a few tail-lengths ahead.

Stars sparkled in his pelt, and his blue eyes shone like the sky.

“Who are you?” Recognition itched in Echosong’s paws. His thick gray pelt was fam iliar, and he blinked at her softly, as though they were old friends. She’d seen him before in a vision!

“Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky,” the tom m urm ured.

Her thoughts quickened. “What shadows? Who are they?”

He gazed at her, not speaking.

“And what does clear the sky mean?” Frustration tightened her chest. This cat had brought her a prophecy before: What remains when the fire has burned out? It had baffled her. Why couldn’t he ever say what he meant? “Just tell m e.” Was he try ing to give her a clue about what had happened to her Clan? The cats she’d known her whole life had scattered when the rogues had driven them from the gorge. She didn’t even know if any of them were still alive.

The gray tom lifted his gaze and stared into the oak canopy. As he did, a sharp wind whisked through the branches. She followed his gaze. He was watching a flurry of leaves as they fluttered toward the ground. Dancing, the leaves twirled between them for a m om ent before drifting onto the forest floor.

Echosong blinked at the leaves. They were not oak leaves. They were bigger and didn’t have softly curved edges. Each of them had five points, more like m aple than oak.

“Now you’re scattered like leaves, blown by the wind.” The tom’s mew broke into her thoughts. He reached out a paw and swept the fallen leaves, piling a sm all heap in front of him.

Another five-pointed leaf was falling, larger than the rest. It fluttered toward him like a moth.

Deftly he reached up and hooked it from the air. He laid it on top of the pile. “Look.”

Echosong leaned forward, excitem ent tingling through her pelt. What did the leaves mean?

Why were they m aple and not oak? As she gazed at them, try ing desperately to understand their meaning, she saw them fade.

“No!”

The vision was blurring. Darkness clouded her sight. It mustn’t disappear y et. She didn’t understand!