Storm of Dogs (22 page)

Mother lived in different times,
thought Lucky sadly.
When longpaws controlled the city . . . when the Earth-Dog was peaceful and on our side.

That world had gone.

He shivered, trying to rid his fur of the thick white flakes, but they just kept coming. Sweet stood very still at his flank, squinting through the snow. Twitch was sitting on her other side, his sensitive ears alert for sound and his nostrils pulsing.

“Anything?” asked Sweet.

The floppy-eared dog sighed. “Not yet.”

There was a murmur of disquiet from the Wild Packs gathered behind them. Lucky longed for a bird to shrill, or a mouse to scamper along the riverbank—anything to interrupt the creepy silence.

What's taking the Fierce Dogs so long?
Could it be possible that the giantfur had killed
all
of Blade's Pack? Or that the beast had scared them so badly that they'd chosen to run away?

Then Lucky picked up the faintest sound—the soft crunch of a paw in snow. Brittle fear caught at the back of his throat. Sweet tensed, and Twitch's head rose sharply. They had heard it too.

There passed a long moment when all they could hear was the whisper of snow as it spun from the sky and fell to earth. Then there was another crunch of paws, and a dark shape loomed out of the blizzard.

Blade's eyes were bloodshot, and her lip quivered with rage. But her muscles flexed, and there was no sign of injury beneath her glossy fur. She scanned the Wild Dogs, her lip crinkling with disgust, as her deputies, Mace and Dagger, appeared behind her. A jagged wound ran along Mace's cheek and the fur hung off his shoulder, revealing a hunk of skin as pink as a dog's tongue. Lucky shuddered. The giantfur must have done that. . . .

Behind the deputies, Lucky could just make out the silhouettes of other Fierce Dogs. He couldn't tell how many through the swirling blizzard, but he thought it might be fewer now after the Fierce Dogs' battle with the giantfur.

“You!” snarled Blade, her red eyes locking onto Sweet. “Swift-dog! I saw you run past before the ice monster attacked. You led her to us. It was your wicked plan.”

Sweet's face was tight with tension. “And I would do it again.”

Blade thumped one dark paw on the snow, sending up a cloud of white. “That trick shows you for the cowards you are, and so does your filthy plot to ambush us by the rocks. Your Pack is too weak to fight us in open combat. I hope you will continue to be cowards. Hand over Storm—she belongs to me.”

“My Pack has been joined by another,” Sweet growled. “Twitch is a brave fighter, and his dogs stand alongside mine.”

Blade took in the floppy-eared dog, her eyes widening with surprise. She snorted in amusement. “Swift-dog, I knew you were weak, but I had no idea you were
that
desperate! A cripple? Leading a Pack?”

Mace and Dagger barked with cruel amusement. Lucky felt anger replace fear, gushing hotly through his limbs, but Twitch did not respond. Instead he watched Blade with a sort of cool detachment. It seemed to unnerve her, and she ran her tongue over her muzzle.

Blade's eyes trailed across the frozen river, and her voice became grave. “There isn't much time. I predicted another Growl, and it came. In my dreams last night the Spirit Dogs warned of a third and final Growl. Earth-Dog will perish and night will fall, perhaps forever.” She met Lucky's eye. “The City Rat knows. He has seen it too.”

A bolt of fire shot between them, like Lightning's flame. Lucky could hardly breathe.
I never told her about my dreams. How does she know?
Had Whine told her?

Blade gave him a curious look and shifted her attention back to Sweet. “The blood of the pup is needed to appease Earth-Dog. Another Growl is coming. I know the City Rat can feel it—but can't the rest of you? Only Storm's death will stop it.”

Lucky felt a strange tingling in his fur, a familiar agitation. Beyond the twisting snow, the air seemed to tremble. His hackles rose, and the fur along his spine felt frozen like whiskers of ice. He rebuked himself.
It's a trick. She's got me imagining things. She probably knows about my dreams from Whine. Sweet shared them with the Pack, and now Blade's trying to scare us into giving up Storm.
He took a deep breath, his hackles rising.

Sweet showed no sign of fear. “We will defend Storm and our territory with our lives. There are more of us now, with Twitch's Pack fighting alongside us. He is a brave, honorable Alpha, and his dogs are fierce in battle. There are fewer of you since your tussle with the giantfur. You are greatly outnumbered.”

Lucky admired Sweet's determination. He knew her words about Pack numbers would encourage the Wild Dogs.

And she wasn't done yet.

“Your Pack has been bullied and oppressed under your leadership,” said Sweet. “Many witnessed the savagery with which you murdered Fang, a pup who was ever loyal to you. Some have had enough.” She nodded at Arrow, and the young Fierce Dog stepped forward.

Lucky held his breath.
If Arrow is going to betray us, now would be the time
. . . .

But to Lucky's intense relief, Blade's ears shot back as she saw Arrow approach, and she spat with rage. “You traitor!” she howled. “I will tear you limb from limb.”

“If he doesn't kill you first,” Sweet snarled.

Blade took a step closer, hackles high and lips curled back. Mace and Dagger flanked her and other Fierce Dogs stepped forward, taking position. Lucky could see his former Alpha's wolfish outline near the back and felt a pang of anger.

Blade glared at Sweet with contempt. “Don't you get it yet? You may have more dogs, you may play more tricks. But we are natural fighters, while your pathetic Pack is nothing more than a band of rejects—a bunch of Wild Dogs without dignity or discipline and the lame, weak, and cowardly runts that the longpaws left behind. We are trained and prepared. We were born to kill, and we will destroy every one of you.”

The Fierce Dogs snarled and barked in agreement as a creeping dread ran along Lucky's back. Some of the Wild Dogs had never killed anything larger than a rabbit. He thought of Daisy, of Moon's pups. . . .

He hid his fear, barking at Blade. “Enough talk! You have heard our Alpha: We will not give Storm to you to slay in cold blood. We are
not
scared of you. Our dogs are ready to fight to the end.”

A clamor of growls and barks leaped from the Wild Pack. The Fierce Dogs answered with their own furious snarls.

Sweet's voice rang out over the baying dogs, crisp and clear on the freezing air.

“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.