Disclaimer: I do not own either the characters from the movie Balto or the novel series The Wings of Fire, only the story. Balto and the characters of the franchise belongs to Universal Studios and The Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland.. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something. The dragons in this production will be wingless and the size of humans.

Chapter Four: The Race for the Kids

Later in the telegrapher's office, a message was being sent while the messenger was listening to what he should say. The man reading the message said, "Anchorage. Stop. Repeat, urgent request. More diphtheria antitoxin. Stop." The Gronkle in the telegrapher's office began to listen as the man continued, "Nome in grave danger. Stop. Please help. Stop." The Gronkle was soon worried when the word 'danger' was mentioned.

The incoming antitoxin went through many forms of transport, from sailing on a ship over the ocean as a blizzard blew through, to going through the air by plane, but it wasn't able to get off the ground, then they tried to use the trains. But it wasn't able to get far as a message about its arrival was read, "Nome, pack ice closing in. Cannot ship antitoxin by sea. We'll try by air. Nome, storm at airport. Planes grounded until storm clears. Many regrets. From Juneau, office of the governor. We are shipping antitoxin by rail. Stop. Train line ends at town of Nenana. Stop. Select fastest dragons for sled team… to carry antitoxin from Nenana to Nome. Stop. God willing, train will make it through. Stop."

Soon a race was being held to see who would be on the team to go and retrieve the medicine from Nenana. At the race a musher told everyone what the message said, "'Select the fastest dragons for the sled team… to fetch the antitoxin." He then talked about the race, "The race will run the length—"

Dragons were lined up at the starting line, getting ready to run the race. As Flame approached the dragons at the line, they all stood at attention. The black and white Skywing held his head high as he looked them over, "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm."

Across the street, Peril and Meatlug sat and stood on a pile of boxes and barrels, watching it go down.

"Just look at him." Meatlug said in awe, "He's gonna save the entire town." She looks to Peril and said with a ruffle of her scales, "He's positively 'magnesium.'"

"It's not exactly a one-dog show, Meatlug." Peril points out with a small shake of her head, "They're racing to see who's gonna be on the dragon sled team."

"What's with you, Peril?" Meatlug questions. She then sticks up for the black and white Skywing, "Flame's a genuine hero." She sticks her nose up as she said, "But do you give him a sniff?"

"That's because Peril is running with Clay." Stormfly jumps in beside the Gronkle. Meatlug shrieks as she looked at Peril with disbelief. Stormfly then tells how it happened, "She was seen in the boiler room the other night with Clay." Meatlug gasps as the Deadly Natter jumps off her box and continues, "And they went in together, and they left together. And I heard it all from a very reliable source. And don't bother to deny it."

"Well," Peril said, not bothering to lie, "then I won't."

This surprises both of her friends as Stormfly says with gasp, "I'm speechless."

"All mushers," Flame's musher yelled, "get your dragons ready! The race is about to begin!"

Clay and Rodan weren't that far from the race as they stood on a nearby fence. The fence wobbled as Clay walked on it. Rodan didn't like it one bit as he said, "Clay, racing is a spectator sport." The pterosaur kaiju wobbled as he made his way over to an open window while saying, "It requires very little preparation." He trips the last few steps with a squawk and sighs as he picks himself back up. He plopped himself into the window sill, picked up a box and said, "You sit, you arrange refreshments." He reaches into the box and pulls out a chip and offered, "Do you like potato chip?"

He pops the chip in his mouth and eats it. After swallowing it he, burps up a bubble which surprises him. Rodan looks at the back of the box to see that it was a box of soap flakes as Clay said, "I'm not watching the race, I'm running it."

Rodan gasps and then spits the rest of the soap before questioning, "You said what?"

Clay jumps onto the slanted part of a building and said, "Hey, look, I'm gonna help Rosy get better." He jumped off and walked over to Rodan as the kaiju wobbled halfway, "I can get that medicine through." He jumps over Rodan as he was about to say something. He jumps again as Rodan turned to face him while saying, "First of all, get it through your head…" But Clay had already jumped to the other side, making him turn to face the Mudwing as he said, "that they wouldn't put you in a sled team even if you did win, which won't happen. And if it did, it wouldn't matter!"

He crossed his arms and turned his head away from the dragon with his eyes closed. Clay then made a small joke as he leaned towards his friend, "Rodan, did you ever think maybe you're the reason the other pterosaur kaiju fly south?"

"If only your feet were as fast as your mouth." Rodan commented as he looked to Clay with squinted eyes. "Dragons to the line!" The man shouts as a whistle blows, making Clay know it was time to make his move, "Hey! They're starting."

Jumping off the fence Clay looked back and said, "Wish me luck."

"Luck?" Rodan questioned and then shouted as Clay made his way to the track, "I don't wish you luck! I wish you sense!" When the Mudwing was out of ear shot, Rodan softens his expression and then quietly said in support, "Good luck, kiddo."

Clay moves in between Riptide and Deathbringer with determination on his face, bringing shock to the latter as he said, "You—Clay? What are you nuts?" He looks around for a specific dragon as he said, "If Flame catches you, he's gonna turn you into lamb chops."

"Let us let the wild dragon run." Riptide said, thinking that it might be fun, "It will be fun making him eat our snow." Deathbringer's face changes at the thought. Soon the musher begins the race, "Ready! Get set!" The race starts when the man fires the pistol. All of the racing dragons take off down the track. A few dragons on the sideline see Clay among the racers. Peril gasps, "Clay?"

"What does he think he's doing?" Meatlug questions at the thought of him in a race. As Clay runs behind Riptide and Deathbringer, the two dragons decide to prevent him from being able to get past them between the two, so they press themselves together to stop him. But Clay only runs around them from Riptide's side and starts to gain on them.

Rodan watches from up on the fence in anticipation, quietly rooting for the Mudwing, "Oh, Clay, come on, come on." Then thinking that no one was really watching him he cheers much better and loud, "Clay, go!"

The dragons soon come up on their first turn and grunted as they ran. As Clay and Riptide came up on the second turn, Riptide kicks Clay in the face with a laugh, making the Mudwing groan as he rolled down on to a frozen pool of water and started sliding.

Rodan gasps at the blow and shouts, "Hey! That's a foul! Where's the referee?! He's blind?!"

Clay kept sliding until he stopped on the ice. Clay looked up to the running dragons and with a more determined face, he gets up and starts to use an unconventional method to get back into the race. Sliding to some poles sticking out of the frozen water, he climbs up the first and bounds across the others as Rodan cheers, "Go, Clay, go! Jump, jump, jump!" The pterosaur kaiju laughs as he said, "That's… my boy!" Underneath the same fence, Peril sticks her head through and sees what Clay is doing and begins to cheer too, "Go, Clay!"

As Clay bounded across the poles he jumped onto a floating barrel and then onto solid ground. He didn't join back into the race just yet, for he had another idea in mind as Rodan questioned it, "Clay, where are you going? That's the wrong way."

He ran over and under boat parts as he ran beside the race. Rodan then yelled as Clay started climbing up a ladder to the top of a boat, "Clay, get back in the race!" Jumping from one boat to another, he ran to the railing of the second ship and sprang into the air. He came down right in front of Riptide, startling the dragon so much that he stopped, being confused all, "Huh?" But this proved to be a mistake as he was then run over by another dragon who yelled, "Sorry!" Riptide sat back up with snow packed into his mouth.

Rodan yelled in absolute joy, "Who's eating whose snow now, drake?"

All the dragons soon rounded the third and fourth corner's of the track as the crowd cheered. Clay kept the lead position as they ran the final leg of the race and through the finish line. Flame's musher snapped down on a stop watch, "Time!" Then looked down it in utter confusion, "What?"

Rodan laughed as he said, "Did I teach him well! I could kiss that crazy pooch."

Clay slowed to a stop on the track panting as he heard Peril grunting with joy. He looked over and saw her looking back him with pride. Clay turns to see Flame coming up with his head held high in the snobbish way, saying, "Okay, Riptide, Deathbringer, Qibli, move it. We're strapping up."

Clay, not liking what he was seeing or hearing, decided to set Flame straight, "Hey, now, just a second here, Flame." Flame was about to keep going when Clay pointed out, "I was the fastest dragon." This makes Flame stop in his tracks and decides to insult the Mudwing, "You were the fastest… what?"

Clay narrows his eyes his eyes as Flame comes up to him and with a circle around the Mudwing, he said, "Do you honestly think any musher would ever put you on his team?" He gets up in Clay's face as he said, "You're even more mixed up than I thought."

"Flame, it doesn't matter who's on the team." Peril said, coming to defend Clay. Clay smiles at the thought of her being a true friend. Peril then angrily pointed out, "So long as the medicine gets through." She got into his face as she sternly said, "Stop being such a glory hound."

Flame thought about what she said, but he didn't really care when he pretended to agree with her, "You're a hundred percent right, Peril." He lays his ears back flat as he said, "I, I wasn't thinking about those children. The important thing here is to get the medicine through, and that's just what I'm gonna do." Flame really gets into Clay's face as he threatened, "And when I come back, I'm gonna fold you five ways… and leave you for a cat toy."

"Good dragon, Flame!" His musher said. This makes Flame put on an act as the man comes over. The musher pats Flame on the head and then said, "Good boy. Now let's take a look at our winner here." The mere mention of Clay being a winner makes Flame's blood boil. Growling as the musher moves towards Clay, he man said, "Let's take a look at our winner."

Flame plays a dirty move and stomps down hard on Clay's forepaw. This causes Clay to snarl in pain, showing his teeth in a fashion that shows as if he were truly wild. The musher then said, "Ah, we can't trust this one." It causes Clay to become shocked and horrified while Flame smiles, especially when the musher says, "He's a wild dragon." The other man said, "See those teeth?" The musher said, 'He might turn on me."

"Riptide, Deathbringer, Qibli! Let's go!" The musher called as he gathered the team together. Flame looked at Clay frowning for a moment, but then the black and white Skywing then smiled as he snickered at Clay's misfortune. Then Flame turned and joined his musher. Clay can only watch as the team begins to head out. Clay sees Peril trying to come and speak to him, "Clay, I'm so sorry."

"Better not talk to me, Peril." Clay says out of anger and disappointment as he turns to leave, "I might turn on you."

Peril tries to get him to stop as he walks off, "Clay, wait. Clay!"

Not listening, Clay only proceeds to run, leaving Peril alone, sadly watching him go.

Around the time of night, the team had been brought together and waited outside the telegrapher's office. The telegrapher struck a match and lit up a lantern and said, "Yep. As long as there's hope for those kids, I'll keep this lit. It'll guide the team back."

The team had been strapped in and was waiting to get the mission underway. The dragons grunted as their musher said to them, "Easy, easy. Back, back."

As the crowd outside cheers and wishes them luck, inside the hospital Rosy and her parents watched as the team gets ready to head out.

The musher shouted the commands, "Qibli, Flame! Giddap! Yeah!" The dogs then took off into the frozen terrain. The crowd cheers as they leave out.

Clay watches the team rush off from the boat. Hearing them as they ran it made him feel deeply upset and crushed that he couldn't do what he was hoping to for Rosy. He looks down in shame and depression as he feels as if he has let her and Peril down.

The dragon sled team traveled far and long as they ran all the way to Nenana. They crossed over much terrain as they reached their destination. When they finally made it to Nenana, the train was there with the medicine in need. As the trains whistle blew, the trains crew began to load the crate full of medicine onto the sled. They had a hard time getting the crate getting onto the sled as the musher said, "Easy. Easy with that." As they started to tie the crate down the musher said, "Now, be sure you lash it down tight." When it was nice and secure, the musher then yelled, "Giddap, team! Giddap!" The men from the train wishes them luck as the team starts the journey home. The musher continues to give orders to the dragons, "Get on, boy! Go on, move along, move along!"

The team was starting to find the return trip difficult as the blizzard became worse. The team could barely walk as they trudged on against the harsh frozen winds. Grunting, Flame the others on, "Come on!"

"Flame!" Qibli yelled against the wind, "Maybe we should go back! We're lost!"

Growling, Flame turns and gets into Qibli's face, making snow fall into the other dragon's face and snarls, "I am not lost!"

"Lost?" Qibli nervously chuckled as he blinked the snow out of his eyes, "Did I say lost? No, you didn't let me finish. See, what I wanted to say was that I was gonna—"

"This way." Flame interrupted as he yanked the team forward. The team trudged forward.

Back in the telegrapher's office in Nome, a message was being sent out. The Gronkle, tried to use the dragon door, but became stuck. Trying to squeeze himself through, he couldn't free himself. He started rhythmically grunting to any dragon nearby its own message. Webs, an old Seawing, heard it from the boiler room and said, "It's terrible, my friends. Just terrible. Flame and his team are lost."

"No!" The dogs gasp and question Webs as a distraught Meatlug whines, "Flame!"

Webs then explains how the team is lost, "They missed their second check point. They're off the trail."

"Can't they send another team?" An Icewing suggests. Webs explains as Clay listens in from a window above, "It's too dangerous for us, and our men."

"What about them little ones?" The same Icewing asks. Webs hangs his head in sorrow as he said, "The medicine won't be here in time. We're going to lose them." Clay is shocked by this and horrified for Rosy and the other children. He looks to the hospital's direction and whispers, "Rosy."

In the hospital, the aforementioned little girl lay in her bed, wheezing and shuddering from the sickness. Her father tries to convince the doctor of something that might help Rosy, "Please, Doctor, it's the only medicine we got."

"Okay." The doctors says. Rosy's father goes to the door to let his wife and Peril in. Peril slowly walks to Rosy's bed, but picks up the pace to be by her girl's side. Rosy's wheezing continues as Peril stands up against the bed. Leaning closer the girl, Peril licks the side of her head to see if she can get a response. Rosy happily, and Peril back, as she looks to her dragon and said, "Peril?" but both of their smiles drops as Rosy falls into unconsciousness. Clay watches this from the window, but his attention is soon drawn to distant tapping sound. Moving off the log pile, he moves closer to the sound and finds himself at the woodman's shop. Clay moved to see what the man was doing as the tapping continued.

Mr. Johanssen had stopped tapping something with his hammer and lifted what he was working on off of the table with a grunt. Clay watches as the man puts it next to a set of similar looking things. He notices that they are coffins, one for a man, and three for what appeared to be children. Clay gasped at the sight, and then though Rosy, and that if she died she would be in one of those coffins. His eyes grew wide as he couldn't stand the thought as he looks back to the hospital and said, "Rosy."

With a new found resolve, Clay new exactly what he needed to do and left the woodshop with a plan.

Author's Note: I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See all of you next time.