Book One of the How the Mighty Fall Trilogy
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Stonetail is a headstrong young warrior and the daughter of Greystar, a formidable she-cat known for her strict adherence to the code. All her life, she has practiced honor, valor, and fait...
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Between the rain and smoke, visibility is worse than limited. Stonetail creeps blindly around the camp's edge, unable to stop and scent for stragglers without drawing in a lungful of ash. The heat from the Great Timber licks at her pelt, even from a distance, and her eyes begin to water. What little light seeps through the smoke comes from the hungry flames.
"Stonetail?" She jumps at the sound of Coal's voice, but manages to hold back a shout. In the choking gloom, Coal's shadowy pelt is perfect camouflage from prying eyes. Only his voice and his amber eyes blinking out of the darkness betray his location.
"What?" Stonetail asks, collecting herself.
"I think I heard someone in the medicine den."
"Go look, and be quick." Before the loner can slip away, she adds, "Meet me in the spare den."
That's just where she's headed. It's far enough from the slowly growing blaze that someone may have tried to use it for shelter. The grass below Stonetail's feet crackles as she slinks into the den, and to her alarm, she finds a pair of burning amber eyes staring straight through her.
For a second, Stonetail is certain she has stumbled into a trap made by Torch, and that he is the cat cloaked in darkness. Her eyes adjust, though, and instead she discovers Beetlewhisker with one leg splayed awkwardly to the side. "I thought you were Featherstar," he growls, losing his alert posture.
"She's still here?"
"Trying to make a splint." He wiggles his injured leg, wincing. "Only way I'm leaving alive."
Stonetail bites her tongue, trying to remember when the WillowClan warrior injured himself. Maybe it's none of her business, but it troubles her that she can't see clearly through the haze of hunger and grief that surrounds the last few days.
Featherstar spares her further discomfort, though, peeling into the den with a drooping mouthful of leaves Stonetail does not recognize. "Eat these," she commands Beetlewhisker, shooting Stonetail a brief glance. If Featherstar is surprised to see her, she does not show it plainly. "I couldn't find any decent bark. You're going to walk out of here on three paws, splint or no splint."
As WillowClan's leader helps her warrior stand upright, Coal arrives, followed by the familiar tabby pelt of Mothmoon. Behind her is yet another cat, this one a dark brown tabby queen. The number of stragglers seems to grow by the minute.
"They're looking for Molepaw," Coal explains, but the brown tabby's wail cuts him off.
"He went looking for Lionpaw before anyone could tell him she went with WillowClan!"
Stonetail's stomach lurches. If Molepaw has gone searching for his denmate, she has a sinking feel that she knows where he stopped first. "Have you checked the apprentices' den?" she asks, mouth suddenly twice as parched as before.
