“Wild Dogs: Attack!”
The dogs charged, kicking up clouds of snow beneath their paws. Sweet ran straight at Blade, and for an instant Lucky saw a look of shock cross the Fierce Dog’s face. She clearly hadn’t expected the Wild Dogs to make the first move. Then Blade’s jaw hardened, and she shrieked, “Kill, Fierce Dogs, kill!”
A tremor of panic rose among the two Packs massed along the riverbank as the attack-dogs charged out of the snow. Some had been badly injured by the giantfur, but this only seemed to make them more determined. There were fewer Fierce Dogs, but Blade was right—they were trained fighters. They held their ranks as they advanced on Sweet’s and Twitch’s Packs, their eyes filled with fury.
The Fierce Dogs slammed into the Wild Dogs with brutal force. Dagger went straight for Arrow, throwing the young dog against a tree and snapping long sharp teeth at his neck.
“Filthy traitor!” rasped the huge Fierce Dog. “You’ll see what we do to your kind.”
Lucky was about to run to Arrow’s aid when he caught a flash of gray fur out of the corner of his eye, just before Snap yowled in pain. The half wolf had slunk behind the Fierce Dogs, taking his former Packmate by surprise and sinking his long jaws into her back leg. Snap fought wildly, scratching her former Alpha’s face, but she couldn’t shake herself free.
“We were in the same Pack!” Snap gasped. “I followed your orders—I was loyal to you.”
“Your loyalty means nothing,” the dog-wolf snarled, biting harder.
Mickey bounded out of the blizzard, catching their old Alpha off guard with a thrust from his forepaws. The half wolf released his grip on Snap’s leg and rolled onto his side. “Leashed Rat!” he spluttered angrily. “I never knew you could fight.” He sprang up and made to lunge, but in a flash of pale fur, Sweet appeared from nowhere to put her sleek body between the half wolf and the Farm Dog.
Alpha’s lips curled in a cruel smirk. “So you’re the dog who took my place?” he growled. “You’re the new me?”
Sweet’s spine stiffened as a deep rumble sounded in her chest. “I’m nothing like you,” she snarled. “You were never a true Alpha!”
Then she charged at the dog-wolf, bundling him to the icy ground and sinking a deep bite into the dog-wolf’s hackles. As the two of them rolled over and over, snapping and snarling, Mickey stayed close, ready to come to his leader’s aid.
But I don’t think Sweet will need any help now.
Lucky’s attention snapped back to Arrow. The young Fierce Dog was whimpering as Dagger pinned him to the ground with his sturdy forepaws. Blood gushed from Arrow’s ear, which Dagger had torn. Arrow bucked and strained, but he couldn’t get free, and he was barking in alarm.
Lucky started toward him. The young dog has proven his loyalty to Sweet’s Pack. He deserves our help; he’s a Wild Dog now. “Hold on!”
“Going somewhere?” It was Mace, Blade’s Beta. His thick, muscular body blocked Lucky’s way. Arrow was still barking for backup, but there was nothing Lucky could do. He tried to slip past Mace, but the Fierce Dog was quick, despite his bulk. He sprang at Lucky, snapping and snarling with spit on his teeth.
The dogs tussled, Lucky bucking and leaping out of Mace’s reach. Bruno came to Lucky’s aid, baring his teeth and snarling, but even together they could hardly fend off the Fierce Dog’s frenzied attack. Mace was bearing down on them, shoving them back toward the river.
Another panicked howl rose from Arrow.
Lucky saw a flash of sandy fur dart toward the tree where Dagger had pinned the young dog down. It was Bella! She launched herself at Dagger, smashing his head against the tree with a powerful thump of her hind legs.
Arrow twisted out of the Fierce Dog’s grip. He planted himself at Bella’s side as Dagger rose shakily to his paws.
A searing pain flashed through Lucky’s leg, and his gaze shot back to Mace. Blade’s deputy had taken advantage of Lucky’s lapse of attention, ripping open the scar along Lucky’s leg where the dog-wolf had gouged out a chunk of flesh in the cave. The smell of blood filled the air, and Lucky staggered, giddy with pain. His pulse thrummed in his ears, and his throat was dry as sand. For a moment, the land grew dim, as though the snow had melted and the Sun-Dog had vanished for good.
A volley of frenzied barks caught Lucky’s ears, and he came to his senses. Mace was on the ground, pinned by a mass of dogs. Lucky spotted Whisper’s damaged gray tail. He made out the figures of Bruno, Rake, and Moon alongside him, beneath the spinning snow. They pressed against Mace, holding him back. Lucky regained his balance, heartened by how bravely the two Wild Packs fought side by side. Maybe we can beat Blade’s Pack after all. . . .
As Lucky dragged himself through the snow, he stumbled over something tough and heavy as a tree trunk. A Fierce Dog lay on her side, her eyes wide open and her pink tongue lolling between her jaws. Blood oozed from deep gouges in her belly.
The battle’s first death.
Lucky didn’t know the dog’s name. Sorrow tingled through his fur. Why did we have to fight? No dog should die like this. He reminded himself that the Fierce Dogs had brought the battle to them. We didn’t want this.
He licked the wound on his leg and looked out over the bloody scene by the riverbank. The dogs were fighting savagely, a swirl of colorful pelts in a blizzard of snow. The world was turning from white to red, the metallic tang of blood rising thickly. It was just like his visions. Worse . . . it was real, and it was happening to his friends. His family.
A whine rose from farther up the riverbank, and Lucky leaped up with a grimace, tensed to attack. He crept forward, blinking through the snow. Whisper was trapped between two Fierce Dogs. The skinny gray dog spun back and forth, trying to face them down while protecting his delicate flanks. His attackers slunk closer, their teeth bared. Whisper would be butchered! Forgetting the pain in his leg, Lucky crashed toward the closest Fierce Dog with a growl.
At the same moment, Storm pounced at the other attack-dog, knocking him down and biting his neck. She sank in her fangs and shook wildly, as though she was throttling a rabbit. The Fierce Dog’s eyes bulged and his mouth moved, but the only sound that emerged was a gurgling whimper. Blood spurted from the wound at his throat, and Storm pulled back. The Fierce Dog beneath her was dead.
The dog Lucky had tackled struggled away from him, watching Storm with shock and fear. “Storm is unstoppable,” she gasped. “We cannot win this fight!” The huge black-and-tan dog shrank away and vanished into the swirling whiteness, her tail clinging to her flank.
Storm turned away from the dead Fierce Dog to speak to Whisper. “Are you okay?”
Lucky felt a burst of pride in the young dog. She was bold and fearless, a true warrior, but with a Wild Dog’s loyalty to her own Pack.
Whisper gazed at Storm in awe. “Praise the Sky-Dogs! You saved me again!”
A howl of grief rose on the freezing air. Lucky spun around and made for the rocky outcrop with Storm and Whisper beside him, their paws slipping on sludge dyed red with blood. Even the sky had taken on a red tinge. The snow spinning against it looked ghoulish in the low light.
Lucky’s eyes trailed the jagged rocks, trying to find the source of the cry. Then he spotted Chase, the small ginger dog from Twitch’s Pack, shaking at the bottom of the rocks. Next to her lay Splash. Great bite marks appeared along the Beta’s foreleg, and part of his lip had been torn from his face. Even in death, it looked as though he was snarling, his teeth exposed in the bleeding gums.
Lucky recoiled as bile rose in his throat. Chase looked up at him. The small dog’s body was shaking so hard that her words were half-garbled. “B-b-b-lade,” she managed. “She . . . she k-killed him!”
Blade’s silky voice emerged from the snow. “And I’d do it again.”
Chase made a break for her, trying to scramble up the rocks, and Lucky threw himself in the way. “No!” he barked sharply. The small dog’s grief would get her killed.
Blade took a threatening step toward Lucky, gl
aring at him furiously. “At last I get to pick off the City Rat.” She pressed back on her haunches, preparing to pounce. Lucky’s heart pumped violently. His leg was bleeding, and his head felt light. He wouldn’t have the strength to fight her off.
For a moment he thought of the Forest-Dog, and the stillness of the woods in the snow. You have always protected me. If you can work a miracle, wise Spirit Dog, please save me one more time.
There was a dull thump overhead and a boulder tumbled from the rock face, smashing down in front of Blade’s paws. She sprang back, panicked. Suddenly she was a different dog—wild-eyed with fear. “The Growl!” she gasped. “It’s coming!”
The fighting paused as the dogs froze where they stood, their bodies heaving.
“Is it the Growl?” yipped Dart in terror.
“The Earth-Dog is angry!” barked Dagger.
The Fierce Dogs started barking, and some of the Wild Dogs joined in, crazed with fear. Lucky nudged Chase away from Blade. When they were safely beyond the grasp of her fangs, Lucky stopped, sniffing the air. He sensed no vibrations. The ground felt steady beneath his paws. Did the Forest-Dog hear my words? He peered through the snow at the top of the rocky outcrop. Could that be . . . ? A bundle of snow seemed to shift between the rocks, scampering out of sight. Not the Forest-Dog—Sunshine!
He remembered what he’d told her: A dog’s duty may come in different forms. But what is my duty? he wondered again.
Blade seemed to jolt out of her panic. “The rats are getting away!” she boomed. “Stop them!”
At once the Fierce Dogs fell into line, hurtling toward the Wild Pack with deadly ferocity. The battle started again in a whirl of snow and blood. Snap and Mickey fought back-to-back, protecting each other but surrounded. Bruno was badly wounded. The old dog fought on, though he could barely drag his hind legs and his face was twisted in pain. Twitch was fighting with vigor, snapping viciously with his teeth and rearing up onto his back legs to swipe at a Fierce Dog with his good front paw, but the strain was showing in his exhausted body.
Fear clutched at Lucky’s throat, and his breath came in fast gulps. The Fierce Dogs were overwhelming them. He was thrust to one side as Storm tore past him, racing along the waterfront.
He sprang after her. “Storm? Storm, what’s wrong?”
Then Lucky saw it: Their old Alpha and two Fierce Dogs had converged on Martha at the edge of the frozen river. They snapped and wrenched at her flanks and she stumbled, struggling to keep her footing. Great clumps of her long black fur were sinking onto the bloodstained sludge.
“Bring her down!” snarled one of the Fierce Dogs, and the half wolf smashed his shoulder into Martha’s side. The two Fierce Dogs mauled her flanks, their muzzles soaked with blood. The black dog couldn’t defend herself against such a vicious attack. One hind leg collapsed behind her, and the Fierce Dogs barked in triumph.
“Get away from her!” howled Storm. She sprang onto the wolf-dog’s back, sinking her teeth into his neck, so wild with rage that the Fierce Dogs shrank back. Storm bit harder, releasing a dark river of blood that splattered onto the dirty snow. The half wolf shook himself free with a shrill whine and fled after the Fierce Dogs.
“Coward!” growled Lucky.
“I’ll kill him!” Storm shrieked.
Lucky placed a gentle paw on her flank. “Martha’s in trouble. . . .”
The great black dog had slumped onto her belly and was wheezing badly. Blood sprang from the deep bites in her flanks. She sank her head between her forepaws, resting it on the earth. A calmness seemed to come over her, and her breathing eased.
Then her eyes met Lucky’s, and her floppy black ears pricked up. “Where’s Storm?” she gasped. “Is she okay?”
Storm’s eyes were full of fear. She crouched in the snow, her muzzle close to Martha’s face. “I’m here.”
The great black dog licked Storm’s whiskers. “That’s good,” she murmured in her deep, soothing voice. “You have grown up to be so strong and courageous. We are all so proud of you.”
Storm no longer looked like a deadly attack-dog. She seemed to shrink before Lucky’s eyes, turning into the fragile pup called Lick, eager to prove herself, yearning for love. “It’s only because you believe in me,” she whined.
Martha’s eyes sparkled. “Continue to be loyal—to be the strong and kind dog I know you are.”
“I learned that from you,” Storm told her. “You have always been like a Mother-Dog to me. I need you here, I need you to remind me.”
“You don’t need reminding. The strength and kindness are in you.” Martha’s eyes began to close.
Lucky quivered with sadness, an ache tightening in his throat. He watched helplessly as panic crossed Storm’s face and she nudged the great dog with her nose.
Martha opened her eyes slowly. Her voice was light as the swirling snow. “I’ll be with River-Dog now, I will be free . . . and I will always watch over you and the rest of the Pack.” Her tail gave a jerk and settled on the snow as her eyes fell shut for the final time.
With a piercing howl, Storm leaped to her paws. “This is Blade’s doing! Her fault, all of it!” Before Lucky could stop her, she had spun around and leaped over the edge of the bank. She landed on the frozen river, sliding out into the center on braced legs. Her eyes were furious, her hackles high. “Where are you, Blade, you pathetic coward? Come and face me, if you dare!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The dogs rushed to the riverbank. The Fierce and Wild Packs snapped and snarled at each other, but the real fighting stopped as they jostled to see Storm. Thorn started climbing over the edge, onto the frozen ice.
“We’ll help!” she yapped.
Beetle scrambled after her. “You don’t need to fight alone!”
“I do,” Storm barked. “Get back on the bank—please. I know you mean well, but this isn’t your battle.”
Reluctantly the young dogs turned and climbed back onto the snowcapped bank, where Moon was waiting anxiously.
Lucky squeezed a path between the Packs. “The ice . . . it could crack! You don’t have to do this, Storm!”
Storm showed no hint of fear. She stood glaring at the bank. “I do have to, Lucky,” she replied. “It’s time to settle this fight, once and for all.”
Blade sauntered along the riverbank, ignoring Martha’s prone body. Her eyes were fixed on Storm. “Finally the pup has the honor to confront me. I thought you would try to run away forever.”
A hush fell over the dogs lined up along the bank.
Storm’s muzzle wrinkled. “I have been longing for this moment. It is time for you to pay for what you did to my litter-brothers—time to avenge Martha, my Mother-Dog, and all the other dogs you killed without a moment of remorse.”
Blade took a step onto the frozen river. The ice creaked beneath her paw, and Lucky’s ears flicked back as he wondered if it would hold her weight. It must have been frozen solid—it held fast as Blade crept closer to Storm until the two Fierce Dogs were squared up to each other.
Blade made the first move. She lunged at Storm and their bodies slammed together. The two dogs skidded on the ice and rolled into a frenzied tussle. The dogs along the bank started barking and snarling, calling out support for Storm or Blade.
Lucky pressed his forepaws deep into the snowy bank, his whole body throbbing with tension. The sky was silvery, and the snow was still falling so hard that it was difficult to see what was happening. Blade had pushed Storm down onto the ice and was bearing down on her, snapping at her face. Then Storm scrambled free, sliding over the ice and tripping Blade off her hind legs with the swipe of a paw so the bigger dog fell with a thud.
Lucky’s ears pricked up. He’d spotted a flash of a familiar gray pelt stalking through the snow by the rocky outcrop. What’s our old Alpha up to?
As Lucky watched, the dog-wolf looped through a patch of heavy snowfall along a ridge of rock, approaching the edge of the frozen river farther downstream. He’s trying to creep up on S
torm and Blade.
The other dogs hadn’t noticed, focusing on the fight ahead. At this distance, the dog-wolf was almost invisible through the blizzard, but Lucky could make out a faint movement of gray fur as the half wolf edged closer to the tussle, keeping low to the ground.
With a vicious jerk of her head, Storm ripped off one of Blade’s pointed ears. Blade howled in pain and head-butted Storm, sending the young dog spinning across the ice toward the rocks.
Suddenly the dog-wolf leaped from the rocks onto Storm’s back, angling his long muzzle to bite down on her throat.
Lucky’s world froze as he stared from the riverbank. Blade was rearing on the ice, Storm buckling beneath the half wolf’s grip. In that instant, no dog moved. Even the snow seemed to stop falling, each flake suspended and glinting like clear-stone. Terror surged through Lucky. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! The final battle between Blade and Storm would be cut short—the young dog would fall because of a cowardly attack. Martha and Splash would have died for nothing.
Blade will win the Storm of Dogs.
A light seemed to rise through the icy air, the last sparkle of the Sun-Dog outlining the trees of the forest. He was there all along—the Spirit Dogs never deserted us. Clarity came to Lucky. He knew what he had to do.
This is my duty.
The dogs along the bank were barking again, the snow was falling, and their old Alpha was peeling back his lips, preparing to bite. In an instant Lucky was flying over the edge of the bank, skidding onto the ice. He threw all his weight against his old Alpha, knocking the half wolf off Storm’s back. The Storm of Dogs would be a fair fight—whatever happened now.
The wolf-dog landed hard but rolled back to his feet, spitting with anger. “City Rat! Will I never be rid of you?” He lunged at Lucky’s injured leg, but Lucky threw himself forward, fighting harder than he had in his life. His teeth snapped feverishly until he found flesh. He bit hard, then drew back before the dog-wolf could strike, starting forward, then ducking away, doing his best to confuse his opponent.