Eostra's Dogs

Eostra's dogs are a pack of about half a dozen corrupted dogs that serve the Soul Eater Eostra in Ghost Hunter, the last book of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, (which takes place 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe during the Stone Age).

Description
These dogs are bigger than any dog or wolf Torak has seen. Their differently colored furs are tangled and full of dirty lumps. Their eyes are bloodshot and blank, reflecting their desire to destroy anything that moves. But they are not possessed by demons like the demon bear or tokoroths, but their bloodlust is similar. Torak finds the mutilated corpse of a rabbit that the dogs have killed without eating it.

These dogs are stronger than Wolf (or strong like a bear), but they are also heavier, slightly slower and unable to leap as far as him.

Role in the book
The dogs were originally from the Mountain Clans until Eostra started capturing them about an year and a half before Ghost Hunter. She turned them into vicious minions somehow (probably with help of the last Fire Opal fragment).

The dogs first make themselves known when Torak, Renn and Wolf are being led by the Mountain Clans to the Gorge of the Hidden People. When Renn is alone at night, she hears the dogs' howls and is chased by one of them. She injures her leg and hides in a hole until the dog is chased away.

When Torak and Wolf reach the Mountain of the Ghosts, they are attacked by several dogs. They hold their own for a while with the help of Dark - an abandoned albino boy - who throws rocks at the dogs from higher. Wolf then chases off with all but one dog behind him - as Eostra intended all along - that keeps an eye out on Torak who climbs up the Moutain's wall. Wolf leaps over a chasm, the dogs unable to follow him.

Seven dogs appear during the final confrontation in the Cave of Whispers. They keep Torak hanging from a boulder until Renn and Dark arrive to the cave without being able to enter. With arrows and rocks they kill four dogs. While two run away, one remains keeping watch on Torak. He kills it after he jumps from the boulder. After he has destroyed the Fire Opal, the two remaining dogs run towards him. One is killed by Renn and Dark's last projectiles and the last one is killed by Wolf.