She bowed her head, and Fritz nudged her shoulder.

“So how did Sol react to that?” Brackenfur asked, after a moment’s respectful silence.

“He told us we needed to show the dogs that we had the right to live here.” Hussar took up the story. “So he made a plan. He found a small unused den beside that stretch of stone where the monsters sleep. He said if we could lure the dogs in there they wouldn’t be able to get away while we fought them.”

Fritz shuddered, letting out a frightened mewling sound, and sank his claws into the soft boulder underneath. Jingo pressed up against him comfortingly.

“It didn’t work?” Brambleclaw guessed, though Lionblaze already knew the answer to that question.

“What do you think?” Pod spat.

“Sol showed us how to fight,” Jingo went on. “We spent a lot of time training—”

“Which meant there wasn’t enough time to hunt,” Pod interrupted. “My belly thought my throat was clawed out.”

Jingo ignored the interruption. “Then Sol said we were ready. He chose a tom called Pepper to go out and catch some prey, and then get the dogs to chase him to the small den. We were all lying in wait, ready to follow the dogs in and fight them. Sol was with us, and when—”

“Why are you talking about that piece of fox dung?” A new voice spoke from behind Lionblaze, who glanced over his shoulder to see a black tom standing in the entrance to the den. His fluffed-out fur made him look twice his size, and his tail whipped from side to side.

Lionblaze’s muscles tensed; a cat who looked like that was ready to attack. But then he realized that the black tom’s anger wasn’t directed toward him or his Clanmates.

“It’s okay, Jet,” Jingo replied. “These cats asked about—”

“It’s not okay,” Jet hissed. “It’ll never be okay. I don’t want to think about that cat ever again!” Still bristling, he whirled around and disappeared.

“I’m sorry if we’ve upset him…” Hazeltail mewed, gazing after the black tom.

“It’s not your fault,” Jingo assured her. “Pepper was his littermate, and now he can’t bear for any cat to mention Sol.”

“Pepper died?” Hollyleaf asked.

Hussar nodded, his eyes clouding. “Before we ever made it into the den. We were hiding on the roof of one of the other dens, and we saw Pepper streaking across the stone space with the dogs on his tail. I’ve never heard such a racket as they were making! Then we heard this awful shriek—”

Lionblaze’s paws tingled as a yowl sounded from outside the den, almost as if Hussar’s words had called it up. It was followed by an outbreak of barking, drawing rapidly closer. All the Clan cats crouched closer to the ground, frozen by fear, their claws scraping on the hard floor. Pod whisked back underneath the Twoleg thing, while Speckle gestured urgently with her tail. “Kits—come here quickly.” The four kits scrambled back onto the soft boulder, and Speckle circled them protectively with her legs and tail.