Only Jingo and Hussar seemed calm. Jingo meowed, “They can’t get in.”

Lionblaze jumped at the sound of scrabbling just outside the den. Hussar leaped to his paws, only to relax a moment later as a ginger-and-white she-cat poked her head through the entrance; a mouse dangled limply from her jaws. Just behind her, a young gray tabby tom peered over her shoulder.

“Oh, it’s you, Merry.” Hussar arched his back in a stretch, then sat down again. “And Chirp. Come and meet these new cats.”

Merry took a step into the den, her green gaze flickering from one Clan cat to another. Then she shook her head, mumbled something inaudible around the mouthful of prey, and retreated; Lionblaze heard the sound of her paw steps fading.

Chirp, however, padded into the den and sat down. But he stayed near the door and kept casting nervous glances over his shoulder.

“We’re all jumpy since the fight with the dogs,” Hussar commented.

“And can you blame us?” Pod emerged again and gave his chest fur a few licks, as if trying to pretend he hadn’t shot so quickly into hiding.

“Tell us what happened,” Lionblaze prompted. “After you heard the shriek…”

“We all raced into the den,” Jingo went on, digging her claws into the soft boulder. “Pepper was already dead. The dogs were tossing his body about. We attacked, but there were too many of them, and they were too big and fierce for us. Every cat was injured. The dogs ripped Frosty to pieces, and Jester was so badly wounded that he died after we brought him back here.”

Lionblaze felt sick. Sol had made a terrible mistake. Every cat could have died in that single battle, and it was obvious the dogs were still causing trouble.

“Ask me if Sol joined in the fight,” Pod rasped.

Brambleclaw cocked his ears. “Well?”

“He didn’t raise a single claw to help us,” the old tom growled. “He wasn’t even there to watch! He just strolled in here while we were licking our wounds.”

“What happened then?” Brackenfur asked.

Jingo twitched her ears. “If he’d admitted he was wrong, it might have been different. But he insisted that we were the ones who decided to fight, and it wasn’t his fault that we lost. Then he sat down and started washing himself, and asked Jet to bring him some food.”

“If I hadn’t held Jet back, he might have ripped Sol to pieces,” Hussar added.

Birchfall’s whiskers twitched. “I wish he had!”

Jingo looked surprised, but she didn’t ask the young warrior what he meant. “So we asked Sol to leave,” she meowed. “We would have driven him out if we had to, but he just told us we were making a mistake and went without a fight.” She sighed. “Maybe he was right. I don’t know anymore.”

“No, she was right,” Birchfall muttered into Lionblaze’s ear. “They’re better off without Sol, and so are we!”

Jingo rose to her paws, yawned and stretched, then sat down again. “That’s all we can tell you. Now tell us what you know.”