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"Cast out of his coalition, Stride the cheetah embarks on a perilous mission for the Great Parent, accompanied by a honey badger burdened with a dark and mysterious past. Whisper the water buffalo has been searching desperately for her brother Echo, presumed dead after a terrible fall. And the hyena now known as Breathstealer finds herself courted by the Great Spirit at one moment and other times tempted by the Great Devourer...The balance of power...

"As the water buffalo prepare for their yearly migration, a terrible accident leaves their leader unable to go on--and in his place, young Echo is chosen by the Great Spirit to lead his herd. But the older buffalo can't believe such a young animal has been chosen--and refuse to follow his lead, threatening the migration that is necessary for the Great Spirit to bring the rains to the land. Meanwhile, Stride the cheetah is keeping secrets from his...

The author describes his close relationship to two water buffalo that were part of his family when he was growing up in a village in the central highlands of Vietnam.