The dogs continued on even more alert then before, if that was possible. "I think we're close. Ah, yes, I remember this house!" Lucy yapped, but even her yap wasn't cheerful. Someone is purposely trying to sabotage our plan.

"Remember, we're in an out as soon as possible. Some dog could have heard us with all that racket we made with the cats," Pumpkin barked. Dasher and Lucy nodded. Dasher licked his jaws. Soon they'd be at the place of Trickster's death. What will we find? Will we find out who killed Trickster? He was dreading seeing the half wolf's body, but maybe they wouldn't have to. He liked telling himself that.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into any of Sword's dogs. This seems too easy," Lucy whined.

"Or, maybe we just came here at a good time. Maybe they're having a meeting," Dasher suggested.

"If they're having a meeting, it's probably about attacking us," Pumpkin barked dryly.

"Way to be optimistic," Lucy scoffed.

"There's nothing to be optimistic about!" Pumpkin barked. "This will end in death, either for the murderer or for us. Remember, they killed Dixie!" the fox red lab growled. Dasher could see the pain in her eyes, and had a feeling that she was also thinking about the death of her pups. After that they were quiet, until they found the alleyway that Trickster was killed in.

"This is the place," Lucy whined.

"We better start looking for clues," Dasher growled.

~~~~~~~

Fairy stood with Lilac, a Cane Corso on one side of her, and Samantha, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on the other. The rest of the pack was lined up as well, all of them facing Sword and the New Dog. Sword paced around the dog, while Gunner, their Belgian Shepherd beta sat quietly. "Everyone," Sword barked. "We have a new addition to our pack. He's going to help us take down Flash and his band of murderers. Tell us a bit about yourself." Oh no, this can't be good.

The dog was huge. He was completely gray and had floppy ears, and Fairy saw a shiny metal chain around his neck. He must have been owned by a human, then. "My name is Derek," the dog barked. "I'm a Great Dane. I'm here to help your pack, and as I've discussed with your Alpha, in return I'm given food and shelter until the humans return. My owner worked in the military, and specialized in war tactics. I learned from him, and with my knowledge I will help your pack," he finished.

Fairy studied him. I can't read his expression. Is he evil, or is he just doing this for food? He doesn't seem stupid enough to believe Sword's madness, but I've only just met him. But this is bad, very bad. "Yes. Now, let me introduce you to my pack," Sword barked. "This is Gunner, my beta. This is Bone, one of my strongest fighters. This is Dodger, Tibetan, Princess, Gobbler, Sleet, Hail, Samantha," Sword paused, eyeing Fairy. "My mate, Fairy, and Lilac."

Sword turned back to Derek. "I'm glad to have you in my pack. You are welcomed." The Alpha chuckled. "We're going to destroy Flash and his pack. We will finally avenge Trickster's death!" he ended with a long howl. The other dogs pointed their noses to the sky and howled. I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here! The walls of the den felt like they were closing in on her. Making a split-second decision, Fairy broke away from the group of dogs and ran.

~~~~~~~

"Do you hear that?" Dasher asked, tipping his head to one side and pricking his ears. Howling.

"Yes, I hear it," Pumpkin growled. "I think you were right about a meeting, and I think it's over! Our time is limited."

"But we haven't found anything yet," Lucy whined. That was true. They'd been searching and searching and the only thing that they had found out was that their muzzles were now stained with ash. Dasher narrowed his eyes, trying to think. There has to be something here..... I think we've been relying on our noses too much, and the soot makes it impossible to scent anything. Dasher looked around, and to his luck, he spotted something.

Dasher bounded a few steps over to see what he had spotted. At first glance it looked like a pebble, but when Dasher licked away the ash he gasped. "What? What is it?" Pumpkin bounded over, swiftly followed by Lucy.

"It's a broken dog claw." Suddenly Pumpkin jerked her head up, nose twitching. Dasher lifted his head as well. A soft breeze blew in their direction, sending up a cloud of ash, but bringing with it another scent: dog. Pumpkin growled, hackles raised. Lucy snarled, and Dasher hurried to follow their example. Paw-steps.

"On my count, attack," Pumpkin hissed. "One, two-"

"Wait!" came a high bark. "Please don't attack!" Dasher shared a confused look with Lucy. Out of the cloud of ash appeared a small Shiba Inu. "Wait! I come in peace!" she barked. Pumpkin lowered her hackles, head tipped.

"Who are you?" she asked. The dog came closer, tail wagging faintly. Pumpkin squinted. "I feel like I've seen you before." The dog nodded.

"My name is Fairy. I'm from Sword's pack." This dog is from Sword's pack?! I thought he only chose fierce dogs! Despite her size, Pumpkin still growled threateningly. Fairy's ears flattened. "But I'm not there by choice. Sword chose me to be his mate, and I'm too afraid to leave." Pumpkin relaxed, but her gaze was still guarded.

"Why are you here now?" she demanded.

"To help you!" Fairy barked. "But I don't have much time, Sword will be mad I left at all."

"How did you know we were here?" Lucy asked.

"I didn't," Fairy responded. "I left because I couldn't stand being in camp any longer, but I picked up your scent and followed you here. I know you're not bad dogs. Sword is wrong to attack you, and that's the thing! He's recruited a Great Dane named Derek- a huge dog, and he has some ideas about attacking you guys. You need to warn your pack!" she yapped.

"We will," Pumpkin growled. "But first we need to do what we came here for. So far we've only found a broken claw. Can you take us to Trickster's grave? We're trying to find out who killed him and end this once and for all."

"I can do that," Fairy barked, nodding. "Follow me." The smaller dog scurried away, and Dasher and the others had no choice but to follow. They didn't have to walk that far and soon reached a garden.

"This would be nice if everything wasn't burned," Pumpkin commented.

"Yes, that's what Sword barked. Here's where Trickster is buried," Fairy replied, pointing her paw at a mound of dirt with a piece of wood sticking out of it.

"We need to see his body so we'll have to dig him out," Pumpkin barked, not seeming to happy about that. And neither am I. I'm going to have to see a dead dog, ew!

"And that's exactly what I barked!" The four dogs froze.

"Quick, hide!" Fairy whispered fiercely. There wasn't many hiding spots, so the dogs rolled in ash to hide their bright pelts and scents, and hide behind some burned bushes. Two poodles pranced into view, one brown and white one and one gray and white on. The brown and white one- Dasher recognized Tibetan- barked something that made the female gray and white one laugh. They trotted out of view. "Luckily it was just Princess and Tibetan," Fairy barked, as they all stood up and shook ash out of their fur. "They never take their patrol seriously."

After that the dogs didn't discuss digging up Trickster for any longer, they just dug. "This feels wrong," Lucy muttered. Fairy clearly never had to do any work before, and got tired quickly. At least she's trying to help. Dasher's paws hit something solid, and he held back a gag. Pumpkin and Lucy bent down, dragging out Trickster's decaying body. Worms and grubs had been working away at the body, and there hadn't been that much flesh to begin with.

"This was pointless," Pumpkin growled.

"Wait, look," Fairy said. The face and neck were still pretty whole, not that Dasher wanted to be studying it. Pumpkin peered at the neck, which held the two fang marks.

"See the size of those fangs? The dog who did this has to be at least as big as me, Dasher, or Lucy." So that rules out Mikee, Sadie, Fairy, Peanut Butter, Popper, Sam, and Sunny. And it leaves half of our pack and pretty much all of Sword's. But it's not one of Sword's dogs. It's whoever was stalking us. Dasher shook that thought away, and helped push Trickster's body back in.

"Thanks for helping us, Fairy," Lucy barked.

"Yeah, thanks," Dahser chimed in.

"You're welcome. I spend most of my days being useless, it feels good to help," Fairy yapped.

By the time they reached camp and cleaned off all the soot and ash from his fur, Dasher was hungry and exhausted, and the meager prey didn't do much to fill his belly. Dasher stepped into the den, only to find ash already stuck to his paws.

"Ugh, who tracked ash into the den?" Dasher barked.

"It was Oz, he brought it in after guard duty," yawned Peanut Butter, who was already in the den. He reached his leg up to scratch behind his ear.

"Oz was on guard duty? I thought Jessica, Mikee, and Sam were on guard duty?" Dasher whined, puzzled. Peanut Butter shrugged, scratching hard at his itch. He put his foot down and sneezed.

"Well, I dunno, he went on guard duty soon after you left." The corgi yawned again before curling up in his moss bed. Well, Oz must have just wanted to help out and guard. He's such a good dog.

There should be more dogs in this world like Oz.

By the way, here are the new dogs: 

Lincoln: 

Pip:

Derek: