Hollyleaf and Dovewing lashed out, raking at their unseen attackers with claws extended. At first it was easy to push the WindClan cats farther down the tunnel, but after a moment they recovered and started to push back. Dovewing screeched as unseen claws slashed at her shoulder. Forcing her way forward, she felt chest fur against her muzzle, and stretched up to sink her teeth into the cat’s throat. Her opponent reared back; there was a dull thump and a shriek, and Dovewing realized her attacker had banged their head on the tunnel roof.
“You should have trained!” she hissed.
“Get back!” Hollyleaf ordered. “Let fresh cats come through.”
Remembering the battle plan Hollyleaf had worked out earlier, Dovewing flattened herself against the tunnel wall to let Cinderheart and Berrynose slip forward. She had a few moments’ respite, gasping for breath at the back of the patrol, while her Clanmates took on the WindClan warriors. Mousewhisker, Ivypool, and Sandstorm moved smoothly up to take their places, until the attackers were forced backward, toward the cavern with the river.
At last light began to filter into the tunnel from up ahead and Dovewing managed to make out the cats in the WindClan patrol. Breezepelt was leading them, with Whiskernose, Weaselfoot, and Harespring. Heathertail and Furzepelt brought up the rear.
The WindClan cats stumbled backward into the cavern and the ThunderClan warriors sprang out of the tunnel after them. Glancing around swiftly, Dovewing saw that they were the first to arrive; extending her senses she picked up the sounds of fighting in the other tunnels.
The WindClan cats bunched together, panting and glaring at their rivals. Their fur was ragged and several of them showed the marks of ThunderClan claws. Dovewing guessed they had expected to emerge into ThunderClan territory and launch their attack on an unsuspecting camp.
Then they had a nasty surprise, she thought with satisfaction.
Hollyleaf pushed her way to the front of her patrol and faced the WindClan warriors. “End this now,” she meowed. “You cannot win.”
“Mange-pelts!” Breezepelt snarled. “You tormented Sol!”
“We did no such thing!” Dovewing hissed. “We invited Sol into our camp. It was your leader who wanted him chased off.”
“And Jayfeather murdered Flametail!” Heathertail added, stepping forward to stand beside Breezepelt. Her eyes were blazing with hatred. “And you’ve been crossing our boundaries and stealing our prey!”
“That’s right!” Whiskernose put in. “You always think you’re better than us, just because we once needed your help before the Clans came to the lake.”
“What do you know about that?” Sandstorm challenged the young warrior. “You weren’t even kitted then!”
Dovewing was shocked at the strength of hostility directed at them from even the youngest cats. It’s so unfair! she seethed. We can’t even defend ourselves, because they won’t listen!
Suddenly Breezepelt let out a bloodcurdling yowl and hurled himself straight at her. Taken by surprise, Dovewing was swept off her paws and hit the ground with a thump. But before Breezepelt could pin her down, she rolled to one side and sprang to her paws again in time to catch him a sharp blow on his shoulder.
“You’ll have to be faster than that!” she taunted him.
With a snarl of defiance, Breezepelt launched himself at her, trying to force her back against the cavern wall. Remembering her training, Dovewing backed away, letting him think he was winning, then pushed herself off the wall and leaped over his head. The look of surprise on the WindClan cat’s face made her fur feel hot with satisfaction.
The other cats were battling it out alongside her now, and as Dovewing landed, Cinderheart and Heathertail knocked into her as they rolled past in a screeching bundle of fur. Dovewing lost her balance and as her paws scrabbled on the cavern floor, Breezepelt was on top of her.
“Think you’re clever?” he growled, his teeth gleaming close to her throat. “But you’re not clever enough.”
Dovewing battered at him with her hindpaws, but she couldn’t dislodge him. She could feel his claws digging into her shoulders and blood starting to flow.
I can’t die like this! she thought despairingly. Not under Breezepelt’s claws!
Suddenly Breezepelt’s weight vanished. Dovewing scrambled up to see that Ivypool had sunk her teeth in his scruff and was shaking his head from side to side. After a moment she released him, and while he was still groggy, she hooked his paws out from under him and dealt him a couple of hard blows on the soft part of his belly. Breezepelt rolled away from her, struggled to his paws, and fled.
“Thanks!” Dovewing gasped. “Ivypool, you fight really well!”
“You’re welcome,” Ivypool mewed, before spinning around and flinging herself back into the battle.
Dovewing realized that the sounds of fighting she had heard in the tunnel were all around her now. She didn’t need her special senses, as the other patrols were pouring into the cavern, filling it with fierce caterwauls and shrieks of pain. Everywhere Dovewing looked, she saw a mass of wailing, thrashing cats.
“No sign of Onestar,” Ivypool panted, reappearing beside Dovewing for a brief moment as she glared around to find her next enemy.
Dovewing nodded. “I can’t see Ashfoot either. This isn’t the whole of WindClan, just the cats Sol managed to trick.” And we outnumber them, thank StarClan! she added to herself.
She leaped forward and let the battle sweep her away, lashing out at any cat that dared to face her. As she grew tired, she kept forgetting to keep her moves small and tight, and her paws ached from being banged against the cavern walls.
How long can we keep this up? she wondered.
In a tight knot of battling cats she leaped onto a brown tabby’s back. A heartbeat later she was shocked to see Dustpelt glaring up at her.
“For StarClan’s sake, get down,” he snapped, shrugging her off. “Haven’t we got enough trouble with WindClan?”
“Sorry,” Dovewing muttered, jumping back into the fray.
Hollyleaf’s voice rang out above the sounds of battle. “Force them into the tunnels!”
Dovewing did the best she could, charging into the side of Owlwhisker and shoving him toward the nearest tunnel opening. Owlwhisker pushed back, but his paws were unsteady, and after a few heartbeats he turned and limped away. Glancing around, Dovewing realized that the other WindClan cats were on the run, fleeing into the tunnels. ThunderClan warriors screeched in triumph as they gave chase.
But then another voice was raised in a yowl. “WindClan! Stand and fight! You have no greater enemy than ThunderClan!”
Dovewing whipped around to see Sol standing in the entrance to the biggest tunnel. Defeated cats were stumbling past him; his eyes brimmed with fury, glowing in the half-light, as he tried to stop them.
“Traitor!” The shriek of rage came from Hollyleaf, who raced past Dovewing and flung herself at Sol. “Liar!”
Sol turned tail and fled into the tunnel; without a heartbeat’s pause Hollyleaf hurled herself after him.
“Hollyleaf, no!” Dovewing cried out. The black she-cat was so much smaller and lighter than Sol. “Wait!” she added. “Wait for me!”
Forcing her tired paws to move, she pelted across the cavern and into the tunnel. Almost at once she caught up to the two cats; Hollyleaf had trapped Sol in a side tunnel, a dead end still faintly lit by the light from the cavern.
Dovewing could hear Sol hissing in the darkness. Both he and Hollyleaf were moving confidently, striking out at each other as they prepared to come together in a close tussle. Dovewing noticed that Sol was unwounded, his sleek fur barely ruffled, while Hollyleaf had scratches over her shoulders and down one side, and tufts of fur missing from her hindquarters.