“Yes, let’s.” Mickey whined in relief.

Lucky continued to stare at the loudbird for a little longer. He wished he could understand what it was doing. Why were longpaws always such a mystery?

His ears pricked up and he spun around when he heard a loud rustling not six long-strides behind them. He saw a flash of shiny yellow.

“It’s the longpaws!” he whimpered as quietly as he could, eager not to draw their attention. “The ones who came out of the other birds.”

The longpaws were stalking through the tall grass, dipping down as though searching for something. They were drawing nearer.

Beside Lucky, Mickey pawed the ground, his eyes wild. “Let’s get out of here,” he begged.

Lucky gave a brief nod of his head. Keeping low to the ground, they slunk between the hedge and deeper into the forest. Lucky remembered that there were another couple of yellow-furred longpaws out there that they hadn’t accounted for. They would need to be careful.

The two dogs trod warily through the dense foliage, stepping over stout bushes and pools of ivy. Once Lucky was satisfied that the yellow-furred longpaws were safely behind them, he started to pick up the pace. Keen to avoid the mounds of foul ash he had passed before, he cut a sharp path between the trees, taking a new direction while circling toward the calmer section of the river. He could already detect its damp, earthy scent. They would be able to cross there and put a good distance between themselves and these strange longpaws.

As they reached the bank of the river, the dreadful whirring of the loudbirds’ wings began again. They were much farther away now, but they still whipped up a wind strong enough to pummel the branches of the trees. A moment later the birds rose to the sky, hovering over the forest threateningly before swooping back toward the city.

Mickey whimpered. “I wish we knew where they were going. And if they’re coming back. . . .”

The dogs stood and watched until the loudbirds were dots on the horizon.

Mickey turned to Lucky as they continued their journey through the forest. “Since the Big Growl, everything I thought I knew has changed forever.”

Lucky could only bark in acknowledgment. He was trying to make sense of what they’d just seen.

What were those huge loudbirds, and why did they land in the forest? The longpaws seemed to be looking for something. Lucky blinked back over his shoulder. All those longpaws had that horrible yellow fur. It’s as though they’re from a single Pack. But it was so . . . big. Normally a longpaw Pack is small—four or five at most. Maybe even the longpaws have changed their Pack rules after the Big Growl.

Lucky didn’t know why, but the thought made his fur bristle nervously.