Murmurs of agreement rose from the assembled cats. They waited, quivering with anticipation, a few tail-lengths inside ShadowClan territory. Bramblestar’s ears were pricked for the first sounds of battle, but he was still aware of Dovewing by his side. She was shaking from ears to tail-tip, and working her claws frantically into the loose earth.
“Are you okay?” Bramblestar whispered, pressing himself against her for a heartbeat.
Dovewing gazed up at him, her blue eyes wide and scared. “I don’t know how I can fight without being able to see or hear,” she confessed.
“Like any other cat,” Bramblestar told her. “Dovewing, you’re an amazing fighter. I know you can do this. You won’t let ThunderClan down.”
To his relief, his words seemed to calm Dovewing. Her trembling died away and her chest heaved as she took deep breaths.
Dovewing had distracted Bramblestar briefly, and an outbreak of distant screeches, ripping through the dusky air, took him by surprise. A heartbeat later he recovered himself. “The battle has begun!” he hissed. “With me—now!”
Waving his tail for his warriors to follow him, Bramblestar leaped forward through the trees, charging around bushes and pushing his way through sodden, rotten-smelling undergrowth. His Clanmates raced behind him, silent except for thudding paws and the splash of wet ground.
The sounds of battle grew louder as they bounded on; the shrieks and yowls of fighting cats mingled with deeper growls and snarls from the badgers. The scent of blood and badgers was so thick that Bramblestar almost thought he could see it in the air like fog. He and his Clanmates pushed through a stretch of thickly growing hazel saplings and burst into a clearing. Bramblestar realized they were close to the Twoleg dens where they had met the hostile kittypets.
At first Bramblestar could see nothing but badgers: their broad shoulders and blunt claws; their pointed black heads with a white stripe down the nose swinging from side to side as they searched for their prey; their enormous teeth gleaming in the moonlight. Then he noticed the smaller, swifter bodies of ShadowClan cats weaving in and out among the badgers, darting forward to slash with outstretched claws, and just as quickly falling back out of range.
But there are so few of them! Bramblestar thought in horror.
With less than a heartbeat’s hesitation the ThunderClan warriors leaped forward, letting out furious screeches of challenge. Bramblestar heard yowls of amazement coming from the ShadowClan cats as they realized they were not alone. Rowanstar whirled around from the badger he was facing and glared at Bramblestar.
“We didn’t ask for your help!” he spat.
At the same moment the badger lurched forward and swatted Rowanstar across the head with a powerful forepaw. Rowanstar staggered and fell.
Bramblestar sprang forward to stand over his body and bared his teeth at the badger. “Get back or I’ll slit your throat!” he snarled.
He knew the badger wouldn’t understand his threat, and bunched his muscles to spring, hoping to avoid those terrifying teeth. But before he could move, Owlclaw darted in and slashed his claws down the badger’s side. The badger, distracted, swung around and lumbered off after Owlclaw.
Bramblestar helped Rowanstar to his paws. “You may not have asked for our help,” he panted, “but you’ve got it.”
Rowanstar didn’t reply. For a heartbeat he stood dazedly shaking his head, then flung himself back into the battle.
Bramblestar paused to let his gaze sweep around the clearing. In the shifting moonlight and shadow he couldn’t be sure, but he thought he could count eight badgers. Two of them look young, he thought, spotting two smaller black-and-white shapes. They might not give us too much trouble. No, who am I kidding? he added to himself, noticing two old, ferocious boars that roared and trampled through the undergrowth, fighting as if they belonged to the legendary LionClan. They’re all trouble!
Bramblestar let out a fearsome screech and hurled himself forward. The badger closest to him had picked up a gray-and-black cat by his scruff and was shaking him like a piece of prey. Bramblestar recognized Ferretclaw from ShadowClan. His paws flailed furiously, but he couldn’t reach the badger to strike a blow.
Bramblestar launched himself upward and dug his claws into the huge beast’s shoulder. The badger jerked its head and flung Ferretclaw away; Bramblestar lost sight of the warrior as he plummeted into a clump of ferns. Scrambling up to avoid the creature’s snapping jaws, Bramblestar balanced on the badger’s neck and raked his claws over and over again through its thick fur. He felt fierce satisfaction as blood welled up from the marks of his claws. With a bellow of pain the badger reared up on its hind paws. Bramblestar lost his grip and slid to the ground, landing with a thump that briefly drove all the breath from his body. He staggered back to his paws to see his enemy lumbering off.
By now the clearing was full of battling cats and badgers. ThunderClan and ShadowClan fought side by side. Their nimble shapes wove between the clumsy forms of the badgers, using speed and skill to avoid the badgers’ slashing claws and teeth.
Bramblestar spotted a badger looming over Poppyfrost, who stood bravely in front of it, hissing defiance. He raced across the open ground to help her. But before he reached her he tripped and rolled over, hitting the ground hard, with rocks driving their sharp points into his side. Springing up, he found himself at the foot of a bank, the steep slope hidden by a thick growth of fern.
This is what we get for fighting outside our territory, he thought, shaking his pelt. We don’t know where the hollows are, or the brambles, or the fallen trees that could trap us in a corner. The battle inside the ThunderClan camp had been hideous, but at least they had known their own terrain well.
Poppyfrost had disappeared in the moments it took Bramblestar to recover. Now he spotted Dovewing dashing up to a badger and raking its side with her claws before leaping back out of range. All her fears seemed to have vanished in the heat of the battle. As she prepared to dart in for a second blow, she seemed to notice a ShadowClan warrior writhing on the ground with the foot of another badger planted on his back. Dovewing whirled and raced toward the huge beast, sinking her claws and teeth into its leg. The badger shifted to attack her, raising its paw enough for the ShadowClan cat to crawl away, and Dovewing ducked away from the badger’s snapping jaws with one last well-aimed blow at its muzzle.
She may have lost her powers to see and hear afar, Bramblestar thought, but she’s managing pretty well without them.
A few tail-lengths away Lionblaze was fighting with one of the old badgers, snarling defiance as he leaped up over and over again to slash his claws across its eyes and ears. The badger lurched from side to side, swiping with its huge paws, but it couldn’t land a blow on the whirling, dodging, golden-furred warrior.
“He’s being too reckless!” Squirrelflight gasped, appearing at Bramblestar’s side. “Doesn’t he know that he can be hurt now?”
“Oh, he knows,” Bramblestar replied, pride in the young warrior warming him through. “But he’s going to be a father. He’s fighting to protect Cinderheart and their unborn kits. That gives him all the courage he needs.” He hesitated, then added, “Once I felt the same.”
Squirrelflight’s green gaze rested on him for a heartbeat that seemed to last for seasons. “You are still their father,” she meowed. Then she darted away, back into the chaos of the battle.