Dagger

"The Earth-Dog must favor us[...] To bring you here alone and unprotected by those Leashed Dogs. Now, at last, Blade will be avenged."

— Dagger about himself and Pistol to Storm in The Exile's Journey, page 68

Dagger
Affiliations
Current: Past:	Fierce Dogs Fierce Dogs
Description
Species Breed Gender	Dog Doberman Pinscher Male
Names
Names	Member: Dagger
Family
Family	Unknown
Rank Positions
Rank	Member
Status
Status	Alive
Book Appearances
Living	The Empty City, Darkness Falls, The Broken Path, The Endless Lake, Storm of Dogs, The Exile's Journey
Dead	N/A

Dagger is a huge, glossy, muscular, short-furred, stubby-faced male Fierce Dog with light brown-and-tan fur, sturdy forepaws, long, sharp teeth, a pointed snout, pricked ears, and a lean body.

History

In the Original Series

The Empty City

Dagger appears, suggesting on how they should kill Bella, Daisy, and Alfie. Another Fierce Dog agrees with him.

Lucky comes to save the three Leashed Dogs, insulting the Fierce Dogs' bloodlines. Dagger starts to growl at him, but Lucky interrupts, saying that their parents were foxes and had worms. The Fierce Dogs start to chase Lucky in a fit of rage.

Darkness Falls

Dagger makes a rather brief appearance in this book. He takes part in raiding the Wild Pack's camp to retrieve Blade's pups. Mace calls for him, and together the two Fierce Dogs take Grunt, Wiggle, and Lick to the Fierce Dog camp.

The Broken Path

Dagger does not formally appear in The Broken Path but is listed in the Pack List.

The Endless Lake

Dagger first appears in one of Lucky's dreams, where the Fierce Dogs have attacked the Wild Pack. Blade and Sweet are seen fighting, and Lucky watches, overwhelmed, until he spots Dagger creep up behind Sweet, edging around a mound of snow. Lucky springs forward to help Sweet, but at that point, his dream changes.

Later, when the Fierce Dogs surround the Wild Pack, Lucky recognizes Dagger, who stands beside Mace and his alpha, as one of Blade's deputies, and he notes that their fur is extremely glossy. After the dogs start fighting, when Lucky goes to save Alpha, Dagger blocks his path. When Alpha begs Storm for help but she denies it, Lucky barks that he is coming, and dodges past Dagger.

When the Fierce Dogs attack the Wild Pack again, Mace blocks Lucky's exit, and Dagger appears at at the other end of the row, gnashing his jaws, while Lucky realizes that he is trapped. After Lucky jumps over the two, Dagger blocks the exit.

After the Fierce Dogs realize they have been tricked and Blade barks the order to go back to camp, the Wild Dogs chase after them, but after Sweet starts climbing a set of stairs leading to the camp, Dagger looms over her, and snaps at the Swift Dog's ears. Lucky knows that the Fierce Dog has the advantage, although Sweet parries Dagger's nips. When the Wild Dogs scent Alpha, Sweet glances at Lucky, but the half-wolf bounds to Dagger's side, before springing at Sweet.

Shortly after, when Storm takes the Trial of Rage, Blade announces that if she shows herself to be a Fierce Dog and fight Fang to the death, she will belong to them, and Mace and Dagger howl at this.

Storm of Dogs

When Fang has led Lucky into a trap where the Fierce Dogs will ambush him, Lucky spins around and his heart races at the sight of Blade, Mace, and Dagger. Blade orders Mace and Dagger to take Lucky, and although Lucky expects them to bite him, they only begin to march toward the Wild Pack Beta. Mace and Dagger shove Lucky toward a jumble of jagged black rocks up ahead, and as Dagger butts him closer, Lucky sees a cave in a shadowy opening, which the two Fierce Dogs push him into.

When Lucky refuses to move and Blade attacks him, he dreams where Mace and Dagger stand behind a group of dogs, ordering them to keep moving. There is a tear along Sweet's hip that bleeds badly, and there is blood running down Dagger's chin. Lucky howls at him to leave her alone, but the Fierce Dogs don't appear to hear him. The Fierce Dogs continue to bite the Wild Pack and order them to keep moving.

When members of the Wild Pack come to save Lucky from the Fierce Dog lair, after Blade kills Fang, the air starts shaking. Dagger whines like a pup, saying that it is like before when the longpaws left. When the Wild Pack try to escape as the Fierce Dogs are distracted, Blade commands that the Earth-Dog will kill them if Storm is alive, and Dagger starts down the tunnel, running after the Wild Dogs. However, he pauses, one paw raised in front of him, and whines that the air is trembling. Blade howls that she doesn't care, and orders him to get the pup, but her Pack recoils in fear.

When the Pack decides to fight for Storm, Bella suggests ambushing the Fierce Dogs and isolating the leaders, although she is unsure of what Blade' deputies' name are. Lucky remembers Dagger and Mace, and answers. Bella begins that they can isolate them, although Whine interrupts that the plan is stupid and he doesn't plan on sticking around to be slaughtered by Fierce Dogs.

When Lucky goes to the Fierce Dog lair, Blade is seen with Mace and Dagger standing right behind her. When Lucky offers that Storm has challenged her to a fight, Blade sneers and mocks that the pup couldn't defeat her, and Dagger, along with Mace and the rest of the Fierce Dogs, bark in agreement.

When the Fierce Dogs meet the Wild Pack, Blade appears first, with Mace and Dagger right behind her. When Blade says that Sweet is desperate for teaming up with a Pack led by Twitch, a "cripple", Mage and Dagger bark with cruel amusement. When Blade calls Arrow a traitor, she howls that she will kill him, but when Sweet snarls that he might kill her first, Blade's hackles rise, and Mace and Dagger flank her.

Once the Wild Dogs and the Fierce Dogs begin fighting, Dagger goes strait for Arrow and throws that young dog against a tree, snapping at his neck. He calls Arrow a filthy traitor, and tells him that he will see what they do to his kind. Lucky is about to help Arrow fight Dagger, but it distracted when he goes to help Sweet fight Alpha. However, once Sweet begins to handle her fight well, Lucky's attention snaps back to where Dagger pins Arrow to the ground, causing him to whimper. Dagger had torn Arrow's ear and blood gushes from it, and Arrow can't free himself from underneath Dagger. Lucky starts toward him, but Mace blocks his path. Bruno helps Lucky get through Mace, and Bella launches herself at Dagger and smashes the Fierce Dog's head against the tree with her hind legs. Arrow manages to twist out of Dagger's grip and stands beside Bella as Dagger shakily rises to his paws.

Later in the battle, once the earth starts shaking, the dogs freeze, and Dagger barks that the Earth-Dog is angry. At the end of the battle of the Storm of Dogs, when Blade is dead, Dagger is seen looking fearful as a pup, and he backs away from the banks, slamming into the other Fierce Dogs who had gathered around him to watch the fight. Dagger gasps that Blade is dead, and the Fierce Dogs echo him. Dagger shakes his fur and seems to calm down, then tells the Fierce Dogs to come. He says that there is nothing for them there anymore and spins away from the bank, starting to march. The other Fierce Dogs follow him into the forest. However, Whine runs after the Fierce Dogs, and calls to Dagger to wait, as he can help them. Dagger pauses but doesn't even bother to turn as he snarls to the small dog that he is nothing. He says that if he takes one step closer, he will show him how little his help means. Dagger starts moving again and leads his Pack into a red horizon.

Later, after the Wild Pack is back in their camp, when Arrow says that he will show loyalty to Sweet and Lucky, Bella assures him that Lucky is nothing like Mace or Dagger.

In the The Gathering Darkness

The Exile's Journey

Dagger and Pistol fight Storm and try to kill her to fill Blade's prophecy. However, Storm is able to trick them and get away.

Trivia

• Dagger was described as having a dark body. This was later changed to his current description.

Quotes

"And they eat. A lot. They're as greedy as if every meal could be their last. A waste of rations is what they are. Pathetic mutts."

—Dagger about killing Bella, Daisy, and Alfie

"Filthy traitor! You'll see what we do to your kind."

—Dagger to Arrow

"The Earth-Dog is angry!"

—Dagger when a boulder falls

"Blade has fallen! Our great leader is dead!"

—Dagger when Storm kills Blade