When Ratha admits an Un-Named stranger to the clan, he brings a change as great as Ratha's taming of fire. Does the orange-eyed newcomer understand the power of Ratha's fire-creature and the hearts of her people better than she does?

Maimed and traumatized by a childhood incident too frightening to remember, a solitary cat named Newt struggles to survive, haunted by nightmares of a huge monster she calls the Dreambiter. In spite of the trauma, Newt lives a peaceful life in harmony with the sea creatures of her ocean beach. When the Named arrive on her beach in search of a temporary refuge from drought, Newt clashes with Ratha, leader of the Named, over the sea animals that Newt protects. The two cats have more in common than either of them suspects, and to resolve the present, Ratha and Newt must face the demons of the...

Ratha is a young herder of the Named, a clan of intelligent prehistoric wild cats who keep deer and horses. The Named fight for survival against Un-Named cats, enemies who raid clan herds. Meoran, leader of the Named, claims that the Un-Named are no more intelligent than herd animals, and Ratha believes him, until a clash with an Un-Named raider who taunts her in Named speech forces her to question everything. Then Ratha tames a power that could upset everything. Threatened by her discovery, the tyrannical clan leader banishes her from the clan. Can a young clan herder who doesn't know...

The Named believe that they are the only cats who can think and speak, so they are shocked and intrigued to discover a mammoth-hunting tribe of cats who also speak. The other tribe, united in a kind of group mind, is so different that understanding them appears impossible, and conflict threatens. Should Ratha increase her efforts to talk to these strange cats, or should she destroy them with the Red Tongue so the Named can take their mammoths? Ratha's daughter Thistle-chaser, has strange gifts that could lead to a solution, but she can't do it alone. Mother and daughter must challenge the...