With a furious roar, he charged into the enemy ranks, slashing claws and biting and kicking tirelessly.
None of the other cats could get near enough the infuriated whirling mass of claws and teeth to do any real damage, and Brambleclaw was causing mass destruction in the enemy's lines and their attack plan was breaking down.
The ground was littered with corpses and, as the ThunderClan and ShadowClan warriors advanced steadily into the fray, they were almost wading through blood.
Brambleclaw was fighting like a TigerClan cat and it seemed nobody could stop him. Mudclaw turned and looked at the huge tabby warrior, and his mouth curled more in contempt than fear, he crouched down, body tensed, eyes narrowed to fiery slits, before throwing himself at Brambleclaw with a blood-curdling hiss.
'It ends here, Brambleclaw!' screamed the attacker and brought his claws down. His fur was standing on end to make him look twice his size.
Nothing deterred, Brambleclaw slashed upwards and as his claws met Mudclaw's eyes, threw the WindClan warrior/deputy/leader off and into the dirt. The danger from Mudclaw was momentarily suspended. Brambleclaw looked up and saw Tawnypelt under Crowfeather and heard the dark warrior's hateful hiss, which turned his blood to ice, 'Leafpool is mine,' Crowfeather hissed. 'And I'm gonna show him what comes of trying to steal her. First I killed Brackenfur, now it's your turn... Wha?'
Enraged, Brambleclaw leaped up over two fighting cats and engaged Crowfeather in a separate mini-skirmish towards the edge of the main fray. He barely had time to feel annoyed that he had led him to her, when Crowfeather slashed at his belly and tore through his skin. Brambleclaw let out a scream of agony and dug his front claws into Crowfeather's face. Crowfeather fell to the ground and lay there, screaming a silent scream. Brambleclaw couldn't help collapsing next to him.
Then, things got worse. Onestar stalked up, Mudclaw only a couple of paces behind him. Brambleclaw watched in frozen horror as they walked through the heap of corpses. Oh no... He twice tried and failed to stand up. Then, on the third attempt, he kept his balance.
'Whaddaya want?' he asked weakly.
'Hmm... Where to start? ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan- though we've practically got them already- StarClan, the Dark Forest...' Onestar listed, Mudclaw helpfully offering suggestions from behind him.
Would it be easier to ask what you don't want? He wondered, but said nothing. Clearly, the two cats thought they could take it easy and kill him at their leisure. They were probably right.
He had to keep them talking if he was going to stand a chance. 'And how, pray, are you going to achieve all that?'
'Brute force.' Mudclaw said joyfully.
Onestar rolled his eyes. 'He means carefully planned tactics and a genius plan.'
Brambleclaw thanked StarClan as he saw help come up from behind.