Murder in the Flames

Chapter Thirteen- Ambush

The dogs came from everywhere, and Flash's dogs hurried to defend himself. The pups and Frost! Princess sprang at Pumpkin who snarled savagely. Pumpkin slammed right into Princess, knocking the skinner dog over. She clawed and bit and the poodle savagely, and Princess howled in pain.

Dasher backed away, fear overwhelming him. I can't be afraid, not now! Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Tibetan sneaking up on Pumpkin. A fierce protective emotion surged through Dasher and he sprang, intercepting Tibetan just as he leaped on Pumpkin.

"Dasher?" Pumpkin gasped in surprise. Her distraction allowed Princess to slip away. Dasher growled a low growl, lips peeled back to expose all his teeth. He was motionless, staring down Tibetan. You will not hurt Pumpkin! Tibetan's eyes flickered with uncertainty. Dasher howled, exploding forward. Tibetan made up his mind, scrambling back and fleeing. He glanced over to Pumpkin, who was wagging her tail happily.

"Thank you!" she barked. Dasher nodded, feeling the rush of aggressiveness leave his body. "But this isn't over yet," she growled. "I'm going to reassure Frost, keep fighting!" Dasher nodded, turning back to the mass of fighting dogs. It was chaos.

No, I can't do this. But I can protect dogs! Dasher paused, listening. He heard a squeal, and his head whipped towards the sound. Samantha had picked up Sadie, and was shaking her in her jaws, while Mikee barked in panic. Dasher sprinted forward, ramming into Samantha. She stumbled, dropping Sadie, but she didn't fall. She instead turned on Dasher angrily. He took in her strong, stocky build. Oops. Wrong move.

Samantha lunged at Dasher, but he sprang away quickly. They snarled, circling each other. She fake-lunged to the left, but Dasher fell for it. She banged into him, teeth closing in on his ear. Dasher howled in pain, but suddenly Samantha yelped, leaping off of him. Pumpkin was there, a clump of black fur in her mouth. "You save me, I save you. We have each other's backs," she barked, spitting out a clump of fur. "You'll be defense and I'll be offense." A thought struck Dasher.

"Lucy! We have to find her!"

"I'm sure she's fine," Pumpkin barked, springing at Hail as he raced by. He snarled, shaking her off. "Help me, Dasher!" she snarled. Dasher wasn't paying attention, he was too focused on Flash and Sword. The two dogs were battling it out, and it looked deadly. Trip was fighting Gunner, the two betas were snarling viciously. Jessica and Bone were fighting near them as well, the rest was a blur as he scanned the battle field, looking for Lucy. "Dasher!"

"Oh, right!" he spun around, to see Hail pinning Pumpkin, the fox red lab desperately trying to keep him away from her neck. Dasher growled, biting Hail's back leg. Hail snarled through his pain, trying to jerk it away and pin Pumpkin at the same time. There was a thump, and something heavy landed on Dasher, slamming him into the ground and knocking the breath out of him. Sleet! The Rottweiler growled.

"Stupid dog, not looking behind you!" Her teeth dug into the back of his neck, and he howled in pain, thrashing madly. Sleet released him with a whine, as Boots appeared. He tackled her, rearing up and slamming his weight on her. Meanwhile, Dasher turned to help Pumpkin. His neck burned, and he felt hot sticky blood trickle into his fur. Pumpkin and Hail were both pushing at each other, his scruff in Pumpkin's mouth, him snapping and trying to latch on to Pumpkin's Flesh. Dasher growled and bit into his tail. Hail yelped, giving Pumpkin the chance to jerk his scruff, unbalancing him. He landed on the leg that Dasher had bit, and Hail collapsed. Pumpkin sprang, ripping a chunk out of his ear. Hail howled, a stream of blood flowing from his ear.

"Get out. Now!" Pumpkin snapped. Whimpering, Hail slunk away. Dasher looked around, trying to find Lucy. He spotted her, facing down a huge gray dog. She snarled at him and he laughed, jumping and knocking her easily out of the way. The new dog!

"Boots!" Dasher yelped. The big dog looked over, giving Sleet and chance to jump up and run. The big gray dog was slinking into Frost's den. Boots eyes widened, and he nodded. "Come on, Pumpkin! We have to help!" They raced over, breaking into the den to see the Great Dane Derek standing over Frost, who was snarling at him.

"Get away from her!" Boots boomed. Derek looked behind him in astonishment. Frost leaped, biting into his shoulder. The Great Dane howled, lashing out a paw to strike her. Without thinking Dasher leaped in front, taking the blow for her. It sent him flying and he landed hard, flank stinging. Boots and Pumpkin took turns running and biting at Derek. He snarled, frustrated, as he tried to bite them. Dasher watched Pumpkin with concern. The left side of her face was bloody, and her right paw had teeth marks in it. But she fought on anyway. Finally, the big Great Dane gave up.

There was a howl from outside. Dasher ran outside, to see that there were only six dogs left fighting. Bone and Jessica, Trip and Gunner, and Flash and Sword. The howl came from Trip, who was pinning a squirming Gunner. "You lost, Shepard. Get lost," he snarled. Gunner growled, slinking to the edge of the clearing. Now only Bone and Jessica and Sword and Flash were left.

Dasher watched both fights wide-eyed. With horror, Dasher watched as Bone sunk his teeth into his sister's neck. Jessica cried out, and Cookie sprang forward, knocking the Doberman off her. "What do you think you're doing, border collie?"

"She's your sister!"

"So? She betrayed me by leaving Sword's pack!"

"Well, I'm not just going to stand by and let you kill her!"

"Then I'll kill you!" Bone snarled, springing forward. Gobbler jumped up, intercepting his pack mate.

"That's enough, Bone!" he snarled, pushing the Doberman back. Bone pinned his ears back, giving Gobbler a defiant look. Then, to Dasher's relief, he backed down. Dasher looked back at Flash and Sword, feeling sick. Both dogs were bloody and looked exhausted. They broke apart.

"Leave," Flash panted, breaths heaving. "Leave now!"

"Never!" Sword hissed, leaping forward, fangs aiming for Flash's neck. Flash dropped to the ground, rolling into Sword and knocking him over. Then he sprang up again, putting a paw on Sword's neck.

"It's over," he snarled. "Leave my territory." Sword got to his feet, shaking out his gray pelt. His eyes were filled with hatred.

"I'll get you back. I know you're guilty, I know you are!" with a howl, he summoned his dogs to him, and they followed him out of camp. Their Alpha collapsed, exhausted. Dasher felt fatigue wash over him at that moment, and he collapsed as well. He heard a thump, and looked over to see Pumpkin by him. His wounds stung, and he knew he needed to clean them, but he was too tired to care. Despite the burning feeling, he closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep. We won. This time.

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