She broke off as a low growl sounded behind her.

Every cat spun around. A couple of fox-lengths away, a line of dogs was standing on the other side of the Thunderpath, blocking their way. There were five of them, al different shapes, from a smal , rough-coated brown-and-white one to a huge black-and-tan brute. Vicious hatred glared out of their eyes.

Hol yleaf heard Hazeltail whisper, "Oh, no..."

"Back away." Brambleclaw's voice was quiet but steady. "Don't turn and run."

Fear froze Hol yleaf's paws to the ground harder than the ice had trapped her tongue. She couldn't move. It was too easy to imagine the dogs' teeth ripping into her pelt, her blood streaming out....

She staggered as Lionblaze gave her a hard nudge. "Come on!" he hissed.

Suddenly Hol yleaf found she could move again.

Al her instincts were screeching at her to turn and flee, but she forced herself to retreat paw step by paw step; the line of dogs advanced, keeping the same distance between them and the cats. The big black-and-tan dog opened its jaws to show dripping yel ow teeth. A drawn-out snarl came from its throat.

Not much farther, Hol yleaf told herself. Once we're away from this Twolegplace, we can climb the trees.

Then every hair on her pelt stood on end as she heard another growl from behind. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that two more dogs had appeared, cutting off their escape route. They looked as vicious as the first dogs, with gaping jaws and lol ing tongues.

"We're fresh-kil ," Birchfal murmured.

At the same instant, the first set of dogs leaped forward.

"Run!" Brambleclaw yowled.

His hind legs pumping, he headed for a narrow gap with Twoleg nests on one side and a high wooden fence on the other. Hol yleaf and the rest of her Clanmates raced after him, with the dogs yelping at their paws. Hol yleaf had never been more terrified in her life, not even when Ashfur had held them prisoner on the burning cliff top. She expected sharp yel ow teeth to pierce her flank at any moment. Her paws felt as if they were on fire from running on the hard stone, and her breath tore from her chest.

Lionblaze was pelting along beside her, his fur fluffed up so he looked twice his normal size.

Hol yleaf knew that he wanted to turn and face the dogs. No! They'll tear you apart!

"Don't leave me!" she gasped between panting breaths.

Yet more dogs appeared ahead of them, crowding down the narrow al ey. Brambleclaw swerved through another gap onto a path between thick hedges; his Clanmates stayed hard on his paws, but the dogs were catching up.

Hol yleaf realized that their enemies were running steadily, not putting out al their strength, as they waited for the cats to tire so they could be picked off easily. That's how Crowfeather taught Breezepaw to catch rabbits, when we were on the journey to the mountains, she recal ed. But we're the prey now!

Suddenly Brambleclaw halted and squeezed through a narrow gap at the foot of the hedge, his hind paws scrabbling as he forced his body through.

"Come on!" he panted. "They can't fol ow us through here!"

Brackenfur shoved Hazeltail through next, then Birchfal . "Hol yleaf-quick!" he meowed.

Hol yleaf didn't want to leave her brother, but there was no time to argue. She pushed her way through the prickly bushes; Brackenfur fol owed and Lionblaze scrambled after him, so quickly that he left some of his golden fur behind on the thorns.

"Mangy crow-food-eaters!" he yowled back "Mangy crow-food-eaters!" he yowled back through the hedge.

Her chest heaving, Hol yleaf glanced around. She was standing on a smooth stretch of bright green grass, surrounded by low-growing bushes. At one side was a Twoleg den; al the doors and windows were shut, and there was no sign of any Twolegs.

"Maybe now we can-" Brambleclaw began.

He broke off, and Hol yleaf stared in horror as she saw that the hedge stopped near the wal of the Twoleg nest, leaving just a low wooden fence to fil the gap. The dogs were leaping effortlessly over the fence, and bounding across the grass toward the patrol. Their eyes were gleaming with hunger and scorn, and their growls had changed to joyful yelping.

They're enjoying this! Hol yleaf realized as she turned to flee.

Suddenly the door to the den burst open. A Twoleg rushed out, screeching and shaking a long stick at the dogs. Another Twoleg fol owed with a yowl, something shiny in his hands. He swung it toward the dogs; water cascaded out of it, but the dogs just shook it off.

The far side of the Twoleg territory was also bordered by a wooden fence. Brambleclaw raced toward it, waving his tail for the others to fol ow.

Breathlessly they scrambled up the slippery wood.

Hazeltail started to slip back; Brackenfur gave her a shove from below, and Brambleclaw grabbed her scruff to haul her the rest of the way. Hol yleaf realized as she clambered to safety that her paws had left smears of blood on the wood.

For a few heartbeats the dogs jostled one another at the foot of the fence, whining and scrabbling as they tried to reach the cats. Brambleclaw gazed down at them, his back arched and his fur bristling with a mixture of terror and anger. "Leave us alone, flea-pelts!" he hissed.

Suddenly the huge black-and-tan dog broke away from the rest and raced back across the grass to the low part of the fence near the den. The rest of the pack streamed after him and began jumping, back into the al ey.

"They're coming to get us!" Birchfal gasped.

"We can't stay here." Brambleclaw's voice was tense. "Fol ow me."

He leaped down as the first of the dogs appeared around the corner, and took off down the al ey, his tail streaming out behind him and his bel y fur brushing the stones. Hol yleaf and the others pelted after him.

We can't keep this up much longer! Hol yleaf thought.

Brambleclaw swerved into another gap and immediately halted. The rest of the patrol piled into his back. Hol yleaf gazed ahead, terror pounding through her. This al ey was a dead end. Straight in front of them was a high wal built of the same red stone as the Twoleg nests, and almost as tal . We'll never climb that!

Brambleclaw leaped up at the wal but fel back, his straining paws nowhere near the top. Hol yleaf knew that Hazeltail would never manage it. And the hedge on either side looked too thick to get through.

"You go on," Hazeltail mewed bravely, even though she was shaking with fear. "Don't worry about me."

Brackenfur touched her shoulder with his tail-tip.

"We can't keep going," he murmured. "We're al too exhausted. There's nowhere left to go."

"What about there?" Hol yleaf had spotted a group of tal , shiny objects like very smooth boulders, standing together in one corner. Scents of Twoleg rubbish hung around them. She gestured toward them with her tail. "We can hide."

Brackenfur glanced around for other cover, but there was none. He nodded swiftly. "Go!"

Brambleclaw guided Hazeltail into hiding and shoved Birchfal after her into the narrow space beside the shiny boulders. Hol yleaf and Lionblaze fol owed, leaving Brackenfur and Brambleclaw to crouch on the outskirts of the space, their ears and whiskers twitching as they waited for the dogs to appear.

Hol yleaf was crowded up against Hazeltail; she could feel her Clanmate trembling and hear the whimpers of terror that she tried to stifle.

"I know I'l never see my kits," Birchfal murmured.

"I just hope Whitewing is okay."

Pounding footsteps and loud yelping announced that the dogs had reached the al ey. Hol yleaf could smel their stink even over the scents of the Twoleg rubbish. I guess that means they'll be able to scent us, too.

Then she felt Lionblaze pushing his way past her, toward the opening where Brackenfur and toward the opening where Brackenfur and Brambleclaw were crouching. With a shock like a rush of icy water, she realized that he was going out to fight the dogs.

"No! You can't!" she hissed.

"I can!" Lionblaze insisted, turning glowing amber eyes on her. "I won't get hurt, you know I won't."

He pushed his way to the edge of the silver boulder, squeezing past Brambleclaw and Brackenfur, and ignoring the Clan deputy when he asked what in StarClan's name Lionblaze thought he was doing.

"Lionblaze, no!" Hol yleaf screeched. "Stop!"

CHAPTER 11.

Lionblaze heard his sister screeching, but he ignored it. He knew, with every hair on his pelt, that he could fight the dogs. He could feel his blood pumping hot and fierce through his veins, and every fighting move he had ever learned was at his claw- tips.

The dogs seemed to approach in slow motion. He had al the time he needed to watch the drool waving from their lips and their paws pounding over the ground. His gaze flicked from one to another.

I'll take out that black-and-tan one first. When it falls, it'll trip the thin gray one, and the white one too, if I'm lucky. Then I'll go for that yapping little horror with the black paws....

He was dimly aware that his Clanmates were yowling behind him, but he stil didn't respond. This is my fight. I'm the only one who can save them!

Lionblaze braced himself to leap, spotting the surprise in the leading dog's yel ow eyes. "You didn't think a cat would turn and fight!" he taunted. "Wel , now's your chance to learn!"

His last words were drowned by a shattering crash; he glanced behind to see that one of the silver boulders had toppled over, sending a silver disc spinning across the ground. It rol ed into the pack of dogs; they swerved to avoid it, the rush of their attack halted.

To Lionblaze's surprise, a dark brown tabby she- cat popped up from behind the fal en boulder, closer to the fence than the terrified Clan cats were.

"Quick!" she meowed. "Help me push this one over."

She reared up, resting her forepaws against the side of the next shiny boulder. Brambleclaw sprang up beside her, and together they pushed. The boulder crashed over like the other one, the silver disc on top of it spinning away. Twoleg rubbish spil ed out from inside.

The dogs were yelping in frustration, scrabbling at the boulders in their efforts to get around them and sink their jaws into their prey.

"Come on!" the strange she-cat ordered. "It won't hold them off for long."

She dove through a narrow gap at the bottom of the hedge that had been hidden by the silver boulders, and the patrol fol owed her at ful pelt, racing across a wide stretch of pale gray stone.

Renewed barking made Lionblaze glance over his shoulder as he fled. The smal brown-and-white dog and the thin gray one had pushed their way through the gap and were bounding across the expanse of stone.

"They're coming!" he gasped.

"This way!" the she-cat mewed tersely. She led them down a narrow path between two high fences and halted beside a smal hole with jagged edges.

"Through there."

Birchfal bundled through first, fol owed by Hazeltail and Hol yleaf, and Lionblaze squeezed through after them. He let out a yowl of alarm as he crashed hind legs over head into brittle grass. Head spinning, he staggered to his paws to see Brambleclaw already beside him and the strange she-cat scrambling through the hole.

"Brackenfur?" he asked anxiously.

A screech answered him as the ginger tom hauled himself through the fence, paws flailing as he tugged at his tail. "Fox dung!" he gasped, col apsing on the grass. "That flea-ridden brute bit me!"

Brambleclaw gave his Clanmate's tail a quick sniff; Lionblaze could see that some of Brackenfur's fur had been stripped off, but there didn't seem to be any blood.

"You'l be okay," the deputy decided. "Where now?"

The she-cat's reply was drowned out by a flurry of barking. The fence creaked and bent as the dogs flung themselves against it.

In the Twoleg nests around them, lights began to In the Twoleg nests around them, lights began to appear in the dark holes in the wal s. Lionblaze heard a Twoleg shouting angrily, but the dogs went on barking and pounding at the fence. His bel y lurched when he saw that the smal brown-and-white dog had stuck its head through the gap and the wood around it was starting to splinter.

The dark tabby she-cat darted forward and slashed her claws at the dog's nose. Yelping, it pul ed back.

"That'l teach you," she meowed with satisfaction.

To the cats she added, "Quick, fol ow me!"

They raced after her to the entrance of a Twoleg nest. Brambleclaw skidded to a halt.

"We can't go in there!" he protested. "It's a Twoleg nest."

"Fine!" the tabby snapped. "Stay out here and get eaten." She squeezed through the skinny gap at the side of the flat piece of wood blocking the opening and disappeared.

Brambleclaw and the rest of the patrol exchanged confused glances; then the deputy shrugged and raised his tail, signaling his Clanmates to fol ow.

Lionblaze paused to look back across the grass, and saw that the smal dog was stil scrabbling at the gap. It had managed to get its shoulders and one paw through the hole.

Lionblaze felt his fur bristle and grow hot again as he braced himself to fight. He could almost taste the blood and hear the terrified yelping as his claws ripped into his enemies' pelts.

Then he heard a crash and a Twoleg shouting; it sounded much closer than before. The dogs' fierce barking turned to frightened yelps; the little dog struggled backward to free itself from the hole in the fence, then vanished.

Lionblaze's fur lay flat again as the noise died away. He started to feel disappointed that he hadn't managed to try out his battle skil s against the dogs, then jumped as Brackenfur nudged him.

"Come on," mewed the ginger tom, angling his ears toward the entrance to the nest. "What are you waiting for?"

The other cats had already gone inside. Lionblaze pushed his way through the gap, with Brackenfur close behind him. He found himself in a smal , straight-sided den; his Clanmates huddled together in the middle, casting nervous glances around them.

He tasted the air: There was a strong scent of cat, but only a very faint, stale trace of Twoleg.

"That's unusual," he began. "Why...?"

The brown tabby she-cat paid no attention to him.

"This way," she mewed briskly. "Since you're here, you may as wel meet the others."