Shadows on the Mountain

**Shadows on the Mountain** - is the first book in the Curse of the Sandtongue arc.

* Bramble Greenback is shown on the cover
* Cassava Brightback appears behind him

## Blurb

*For generations, the Silverback troop has lived in peaceful seclusion high above the plains, but when a new evil descends on their home, one young gorilla must venture into the unknown to prevent darkness from taking hold of all they hold dear*

Erin Hunter's New York Times bestselling series continues! A brand-new epic adventure begins with the first book in the second action-packed story arc.

A gorilla with a deadly secret. A leopard struck by tragedy. A gazelle cast out of her herd.

For generations, the Silverback troop has lived in peaceful seclusion high above the Great Herd, adhering to one rule: “blood pools on the plains." But when a new and terrifying evil descends on their home, every animal must venture into the unknown to prevent darkness from overtaking all they hold dear.

Set in the African highlands and told from three different animals' points of view, Bravelands will thrill readers who love Spirit Animals and Wings of Fire, as well as the legion of dedicated fans who've made Erin Hunter a bestselling phenomenon.

## Plot Description

### Prologue

Freewing's point of view.

Freewing the martial eagle flies above the plains of Bravelands. She reminds herself of the long weeks she was confined to her nest, busy caring for her chick, Stormrider. She then tells herself that her mate, Strongbeak, will guard her son and nest until she returns with the promised treat of a monitor lizard. Freewing then begins to soar towards the Rock That Touches the Sky, where she believes she will find her prey. She finds a lizard basking in the sun next to a cave. Freewing swoops down to catch the lizard but a throng of bats clouds her vision.

Freewing unsuccessful in catching the lizard, perches on a nearby branch and listens to the bats' fear filled squeaking. Curious as to what scared the bats into fleeing in daylight, Freewing takes a glance into the cave. She is unable to see anything in the darkness of the cave, however Freewing is filled with a feeling of trepidation. Beside her, the monitor lizard continues to bask in sunlight indifferent to the bats and Freewing. Freewing turns to look at the lizard and is met with eyes filled with mockery. With a new sense of fear, Freewing quickly flies away and decides to hunt on the plains instead.

### Chapter 1

Bramble's point of view.

Bramble is hiding in a tree and is pulling pranks on Groundnut Blackback by dropping fruit on his head. Bramble's half-sister, Moonflower, swings from a neighboring tree and joins Bramble. Moonflower chastises her brother for teasing Groundnut and notices that Bramble is looking at the mango she is holding. Moonflower gives Bramble the mango but it slips from Bramble's hands and falls on Groundnut's head. Groudnut spots Bramble and Moonflower and chases them as they run away. Bramble's brother, Cassava, catches him and scolds him for behaving irresponsibly. Bramble implies that he is fearsome and would wrestle a lion. Cassava orders Bramble to take fruit to their father and troop leader, Burbark.

While Bramble chases a lovebird, he encounters a leopard named Chase, who is hunting the bird. Through a conversation where both sides try to come up with a better insult, a cackle of hyenas slowly appears. Chase climbs up a tree, while Bramble is left to die. However, in a last minute change of thought, Chase saves Bramble. After Chase returns home, her mother, Prowl, questions her why she did not catch any prey. Chase tells the truth of what happened, while Prowl is unhappy that she cannot find food for Prowl's sister-kit (nephew). Chase ventures again in search of more prey, and catches a bongo. A while after, Chase meets another leopard named Shadow, who is in a mocking stance and angers her. But to keep the prey, Chase heads home and feeds her family.

Meanwhile, two antelopes, Leap and Prance, find that they have lost their shadows. This is a curse of the Great Spirit, meaning that they are destined to die very soon. They are exiled from the Us, an essence of all of the antelope herd. As Leap is a old antelope, she accepts her destiny. However, Prance cannot believe that she will die so soon. Prance is suddenly chased by a lioness, but somehow manages to outrun it and cheat death, at least once. Leap has already died, but the fact that Prance is still alive makes her so excited that she decides to return to her antelope herd. But the antelope herd is angered, worried, and afraid that she will cause harm to them, and chases Prance far away. Prance concludes that she will roam throughout the plains alone.

After being attacked by hyenas, Bramble comes back home and brags about his fighting skills and bravery. He demonstrates his kicks and punches, and that he sent a hyena flying. Abruptly, a large sound ensues, meaning that there will be a ceremony in the gorillas' "Spirit Mouth," where an omen will be told. During the Spirit Mouth Ceremony, Dayflower, Burbarktroop's Mistback, warns that an unknown evil from their mountain home will spread across all of Bravelands. Bramble is concerned about this, but his father and most of his troopmates are skeptical about Dayflower's claims. The following day, Bramble wakes up in his nest to find his troop absent. After he spots them in a nearby glade, he rushes toward them, only to discover that his elder brother, Cassava, had been killed the previous night. After following Cassava's blood trail, they find the corpse of an adult leopardess at the base of Cassava's blood trail. Bramble returns to his brother's corpse as his troop-mates begin to desecrate the leopard's corpse.

### Chapter 2

Chase's point of view.

Back at the leopard den, Chase wakes up only to find that her mother, Prowl hasn't returned. She sets off to look for her and discovers a mob of gorillas desecrating the leopard corpse. Chase recognizes the leopard's body as Prowl's. Chase leaps into action and demands the apes to leave her mothers body alone . However, the gorillas don't listen, and they pursue Chase before a strange male leopard intervenes, saving Chase's life.

The male leopard introduces himself as Range Born of Sprint and claims that the gorillas had killed her mother. Chase returns to her den to inform her cousin, Seek, that Prowl is dead.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bravelands-curse-of-the-sandtongue-1-shadows-on-the-mountain-erin-hunter