Storm of Dogs
Authors: Erin Hunter
For Noah Alexander
WILD PACK (
IN ORDER OF RANK
)
| ALPHA: | Â |
| Â | small swift-dog with short gray fur (also known as Sweet) |
| HUNTERS: | Â |
| Â | SNAP |
| Â | LUCKY |
| Â | BRUNO |
| Â | BELLA |
| Â | MICKEY |
| Â | STORM |
| PATROL DOGS: | Â |
| Â | MOON |
| Â | DART |
| Â | MARTHA |
| Â | DAISY |
| Â | WHINE |
| Â | BEETLE |
| Â | THORN |
| OMEGA: | Â |
| Â | small female with long white fur (also known as Sunshine) |
IN ORDER OF RANK
)
| ALPHA: | Â |
| Â | sleek black-and-brown female with a white fang-shaped mark below her ear (also known as Blade) |
| BETA: | Â |
| Â | huge black-and-tan male (also known as Mace) |
| Â | Â |
| Â | DAGGER |
| Â | PISTOL |
| Â | BRUTE |
| Â | RIPPER |
| Â | REVOLVER |
| Â | AXE |
| Â | SCYTHE |
| Â | BLUDGEON |
| Â | MUSKET |
| Â | CANNON |
| Â | LANCE |
| Â | ARROW |
| Â | BULLET |
| Â | FANG |
| OMEGA: | Â |
| Â | half wolf with gray-and-white fur and yellow eyes |
| ALPHA: | Â |
| Â | tan chase-dog with black patches and three legs (also known as Twitch) |
| BETA: | Â |
| Â | small, wiry-furred black male (also known as Splash) |
| Â | Â |
| Â | CHASE |
| Â | WHISPER |
| Â | RAKE |
| Â | WOODY |
| Â | BREEZE |
| OMEGA: | Â |
| Â | small black female (also known as Ruff) |
Lucky awoke with a start, springing to his paws. Fear prickled along his back and gathered hotly in his throat. He felt dizzy with the urge to run, but there was nowhere to go. His eyes darted to the metal bars that blocked his way.
The smell of other dogs rose on the air with their terrified yips and whimpers. Lucky shook his fur in confusion. He knew this place
. . . .
The Trap House!
How had he found himself back in here? He twisted toward the next cage, sniffing urgently for Sweet. He picked up her friendly, comforting scent, his whiskers trembling.
“Sweet? Sweet, something's on its way. Something bad.”
“Yes, I feel it! What's happening?” Sweet's yelp was sharp and panicked
.
Lucky threw his forepaws against the wire door, but it wouldn't budge. Whimpers rose along the wall of cages. It was just like beforeâthey were all trapped.
“Sweet!” he barked. “It must be happening againâthe Big Growl! Can you feel it?”
He could hear her shuffling, squeezing against the metal wall that separated them. “But it's over, Lucky,” she whined. “It already happened. It
can't
happen again.”
Despite the dread in her voice, the swift-dog's words reassured him.
Sweet's right. The Big Growl came and we escaped. We don't need to worry this timeâit's just a bad memory.
The ground began trembling, and he could hear the crack and hiss of splitting hardstone overhead. The other dogs in the Trap House started howling in panic. Their fear-scent rose in sickening waves.
Lucky barked over the howling dogs. “You're right, Sweet! It's happened before, it can't happen again!” His voice wavered with uncertainty. “Even if it does, we escaped last timeâwe survived.”
With another crack, a billow of dust tumbled from the ceiling like snow. Lucky blinked furiously, hardly able to see.
“But something feels different this time,” whimpered Sweet.
Lucky's throat tightened, and his tail shrank against his flank. The swift-dog was right. In all the times he had dreamed about the Big Growl, Lucky had known they would escape. This timeâ
He didn't have a chance to finish his thought. The ground began to shake violently and he lost his footing, skidding onto his side with a thump. He heard a shriek of tearing metal and shattering clear-stone. Dogs were howling in terror as the traps started tumbling and smashing against the splitting ground. Through the mist of white dust, Lucky saw one cage drive into another, crushing the dogs inside. He scrambled onto his paws, eyes wide in horror. Then his own cage started shaking and shifting.
“Lucky! Help me!” barked Sweet, her claws scratching against the door to her cage.
He pressed forward at the sound of her voice, poking his paw through the wire mesh at the front of his cage and scrabbling to get out. “I'm coming!” he assured her. But as he worked at the wire, prickles of doubt ran down his back. Part of the Trap House wall should have fallen in by now, knocking Sweet's cage to the ground and breaking it open, and ripping loose the corner of the wire from Lucky's cage. That was how they'd escaped. It was different this time
. . . .
The ground was shaking harder now, and the sounds of tearing, smashing, and barking was deafening. Lucky's cage lurched forward with a sharp jerk, and another shove sent it plummeting toward the hardstone floor. It landed upside-down. A searing pain shot along Lucky's back, and he howled.
I thought this was a dream!
he told himself.
I'm not supposed to feel pain in a dream!
Was he wrong? Was this really happening?
Wincing, he clambered to his paws, preparing to escape. Chunks of debris were falling from the ceiling, raining down on the broken cage. Lucky shuffled forward and extended a forepaw, preparing to climb out.
But the door of his cage had not sprung open.
He squinted through the dust and debris till he spotted Sweet. She was furiously kicking her forepaws against the walls of her cage, close to Lucky but divided by walls of mesh and
crumbling hardstone. Her dark eyes met his, and she threw back her head and howled. “This isn't how it happened! We escaped the Trap House! We're supposed to get away!”
“We did get away!” he barked back. “We
will
survive!” With a huge effort, he threw himself against the door of his cage, working furiously to force it open. He felt it creak beneath his paws with a wave of euphoria.
Thank the Sky-Dogs,
he uttered silently.
Then the ceiling started rumbling, and Lucky shrank back in confusion. The walls were shaking dangerouslyâthe cage shuddered like a leaf in the wind. The air was pierced with the screech of tearing hardstone, and Lucky's whole world collapsed.