[gs29513]

The howls woke Fleetwind almost instantly. He knew instinctively that something was wrong, horribly wrong. Leaping to his paws and sprinting out the door, his jaw momentarily dropped open in horror. Coyotes, dozens of them, were flooding into the camp, destroying the barrier and edges of dens with their huge paws. He could see Splitstorm already fighting to protect the nursery. Of course the great brutes would go for the weakest and most vulnerable members of the clan. It made sense, as awful as it was.

Shaking his head vigorously to clear his head, he took in the clearing got only another moment before heading for a coyote. Splitstorm might need help, and he felt bad leaving the molly to fend for herself, but he wanted to make sure none of them entered the nursery. Other cats were sure to become aware soon and come to their aid, but for now the kits needed protected. He sped forward as quickly as possible, hoping to slide under the belly of the beast. His speed wasn’t quite great enough to keep him safe and the slavering jaws yanked a painful chunk from his fur, but before he was attacked again he managed to bite down strongly on the canids hind leg.