by Erin Hunter
“Of course, Mother.” Sweetsong’s eyes shone.
“Now, stay quiet and hidden until I bring you fat moths and beetles and spiders. There will be many of them, I know, because this news is a wonderful sign! Now Bravelands will thrive again, and there will be peace and plenty and—”
A cracking noise split the darkness, and Darktrill froze.
She swiveled her head, staring into the almost-black forest. What was this? Night had fallen so quickly, even one of its own creatures could be astonished.
And out there in the trees, there was something darker than night; she knew it instinctively. Darktrill felt her feathers rise in fearful apprehension.
“Mother?” whispered Sweetsong.
“Quiet, my dears,” she breathed.
Pawsteps. Heavy, deliberate, and ominous, their slow thunder made the ground tremble beneath Darktrill’s breast. For a long moment, she was immobilized by terror.
Then the scent flooded over her, a hot tang of earth and blood. This time, the fear was sharp and urgent, and she twisted back to her chicks, her big eyes widening with desperation.
“Hide, my little ones. Hide!”
They scurried back as she urged them with her wings. She watched them, her tiny heart thrashing, as they nestled deeper into the forest litter. When she was sure they were as well hidden as they could be—when only their fearful trembling could possibly give them away—Darktrill backed into the shadows with them. Turning her tail on her chicks, she crouched there in the dried leaves, her feathers prickling. She would, she thought fiercely, be a living barrier between them and the oncoming menace.
Rigid with anxiety, the mother bird gazed into the darkness. All was silent: even the crickets and tree frogs seemed to hold their breath and still their bodies. The marabou stork, high in its nest, clattered its huge bill in alarm; then it too fell quiet.
And then the lion came.
Massive, black-maned, its eyes glowing red as blood, it padded out of the shadows toward Darktrill’s cordia tree. Slow and deliberate, its paws struck the earth with a thunder like falling rock. Darktrill, huddled between the roots, could only stare up in awe and terror as the huge lion came closer. Her head seemed filled with the stench of blood and death, and for a moment she feared her small heart might stop.
The shadowy lion strode on right above her, oblivious to the tiny birds beneath. Darktrill shivered, cowering close to the ground, until it had passed. A flick of a powerful tail and it vanished into the forest, swallowed by night.
It felt like a very long time before the crickets began to chirp once more, hesitant and subdued. Darktrill shook out her feathers, trying to dislodge the terrible, cloying sense of dread.
“Mother?” came Sweetsong’s voice behind her, feeble with panic. “What was it?”
Darktrill could not answer. Her voice, usually so strong and beautiful, failed her.
She knew little of lions, but she knew enough. That oozing malevolence, that dark power, that aura of blood-soaked evil: it was not the spirit of a normal lion.
Thorn Greatfather, she thought, trembling, had brought the Great Spirit back just in time.
Now more than ever, Bravelands needed its savior.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ERIN HUNTER is inspired by a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior. She is also the author of the bestselling Warriors, Seekers, and Survivors series.
Visit her online at www.bravelandsbooks.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
BOOKS BY ERIN HUNTER
Book One: Broken Pride
Book Two: Code of Honor
Book Three: Blood and Bone
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COPYRIGHT
BRAVELANDS: SHIFTING SHADOWS. Copyright © 2019 by Working Partners Limited. Series created by Working Partners Limited. Map art © 2019 by Virginia Allyn. Interior art © 2019 by Owen Richardson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2019 by Owen Richardson
Cover design by Alison Klapthor
Logo by David Coulson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hunter, Erin, author.
Title: Shifting shadows / Erin Hunter.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : HarperCollins Children’s Books, [2019] | Series: Bravelands ; 4 | Summary: With the false leader destroyed, the animals of Bravelands are searching for the true Great Parent, but a mysterious new menace is threatening their lives.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018055880 | ISBN 978-0-06-264214-1 (trade bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-06-264215-8 (lib. bdg.)
Subjects: | CYAC: Baboons--Fiction. | Lion--Fiction. | Elephants--Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers--Fiction. | Africa--Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic.
Classification: LCC PZ7.H916625 Shi 2019 | DDC [Fic]--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018055880
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Digital Edition MAY 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-264217-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-264214-1
1920212223CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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