Before we begin, I'd just like to make a quick announcement. My 101 Dalmatians/Alpha and Omega crossover "A Confluence of Hearts", staring Cadpig and Lilly, is now out. I am rather pleased with it so far and I've got some great things planned for it, so I'd encourage everybody to check it out.

Now, to what everybody has been waiting for: Humphrey's challenge.

"Man, you guys were luck-y!" Ginger said, splitting the last word into two to add emphasis.

Garth had just finished telling them the story of his trial and of the day's other events. Being Garth, he naturally had exaggerated several details of his own battle – the hulking brute was now fifteen feet tall and Garth's skin was practically made of iron – but after what he had went through, the other Jasper wolves were willing to let him have a little self-glorification.

"Unfortunately, luck has a tendency to run out," Lance interjected. "I'm glad I'm not the one who has to go log-sledding tomorrow."

Humphrey opened his mouth to say something incredibly flippant and witty, but before he could, Garth spoke again. "Ah, don't worry about Humphrey. He's the best log-sledder in all of Canada. He practically invented log-sledding!"

Garth put his foreleg around Humphrey's shoulder to emphasize the point. Humphrey smiled and added, "Practically? I did invent log-sledding. These Klondike cowards just stole it! No offense, of course."

"None taken," Lance answered, though in a way that suggested that he did take offence after all.

"Boy, you guys must be great friends," Ginger said, gazing at them with admiration.

Humphrey and Garth exchanged nervous looks. Garth pulled back his foreleg as though a tarantula was crawling on it and both wolves took a few small steps away from each other.

Overall, this did nothing to dampen the tone of general levity created by Garth's surprising victory in the day's challenge. For the first time since they entered the valley by the Beaufort Sea, our heroes felt as though they might have a chance of surviving after all.

However, there was one who did not feel altogether like celebrating. That was Kate, who had left the enthusiasm of the den for the cold majesty of the ledge outside, where an excellent view was offered of stunning peaks jutting upward toward a dreary sky.

She was torn just as the skies above were torn by darkening cumulous clouds. She was worried about these dreams she was having. They did not seem to be abating; if anything, the one last night had been the strongest and most vivid of all. What could it all mean? She did not have the answer. All she knew was that she was carrying the guilt of what had been done to Lilly, and she would have to carry it until the day she died.

"Sis, is everything okay?"

Kate turned swiftly to see Lilly sitting behind her. Kate had always been surprised at how, despite not having any Alpha training, Lilly could so often manage to silently sneak up on her.

Kate rapidly shook her head. "No… I mean, yeah, everything's fine. Why wouldn't everything be fine? Garth won his contest today and Humphrey is going to be fine tomorrow, so everything's fine, right? Why wouldn't it be?"

Lilly looked down and away. "Oh, okay. It's just… you've been acting kinda strange lately. I just thought that maybe something was bothering you."

Kate put on a large, fake smile. "Bothering me? Nothing ever bothers me, sis! I'm Kate the Great after all! He he, Kate the Great, that's what they used to call me at Alpha School. Yep, nothing ever bothers me!"

Lilly nodded slowly. "Okay then, I just thought I'd ask." Then she got up, turned slowly, and slowly walked back into the cave.

Kate let out a sigh of relief. She had thrown Lilly off the scent again, or so she thought. She did not hear Lilly whisper these words to herself as she walked back into the cave, "My fault for expecting you to trust me…."

More flames, more flames, more flames. Golden sun, deep blue sky. "Quickly and soon, quickly and soon!" These elements of the vision where the same.

But now, something different was troubling Kate's sight. There, in front of her, she saw the whole scene play out between Tarquin and the leaders of the southern pack. There was beautiful Rosaline, caught in suspense as Tarquin's forces poured out of the surrounding valley and down toward her. She tried to defend herself, her father tried to defend her, but it was all in vain.

Kate wanted to run in and help, but she found that she had no control. She was a ghost, viewing this action but not truly being present. She could only watch the horror or turn away. So she tried to turn away. And discovered that she could not turn away. She had to watch.

Then she noticed that the Omega who had come with the southerners was fighting back as well. He was doing everything he could to defend Rosaline, despite the fact that he was practically powerless against Tarquin's brutes and was repeatedly knocked aside. But for some reason, Kate could not break her gaze from him. He seemed somehow to shine with a light, bright and golden like the sun, and that light would not go out no matter how often he was pushed aside.

Then the darkness dropped again, and Kate was alone in her mind. "Quickly and soon!" called the familiar voice, and Kate knew the vision was ending. Sure enough, she immediately opened her eyes into the pale dawn.

This was still troubling Kate's mind an hour or so later as the Jasper wolves made their way across the valley to where Tarquin was waiting for them. He sent Benny to tell them this but did not have him lead them there this time, apparently assuming that they should know how to find their way around the valley now.

But the Jasper wolves, having not actually explored much of the valley, were not sure about it. Lance and Ginger were there early to collect some caribou-meat for the starving Yukon "Omegas" (it being Lilly's idea for the Jasper wolves to share the supply with the needy locals so that everyone might be fed), and agreed to accompany our heroes part of the way.

This actually worked in Kate's favor. She wanted to ask the locals a question. And Lance was leading the way, so that meant that the ever-talkative Ginger was free to answer any questions Kate might have.

Kate walked up beside her and said, "Ginger? The leaders of the South Beaufort Pack, the ones that Tarquin killed, did you know them?"

Ginger shook her head, but was clearly happy to have something to talk about. "No, me and Lance never met them. We were northerners, so we never had any reason to. We saw them from a distance and we heard them speak when Franklin wanted to address both packs. They seemed nice, like good leaders. But we never actually met them or anybody from the southern pack. Well, that's not true; there was one southern Omega we knew."

"Hmph, I didn't know him," Lance said.

"Well, he didn't know him!" Ginger responded with a sharp glare in Lance's direction. "But I did. He was always funny and nice. I think he had a crush on Rosaline or something because he always seemed to be looking for an excuse to report to her. In fact, he was with her and her dad when they went to the marriage with Tarquin. And… none of them came back…."

Ginger fell into a moment of sadness, rare for her. "I miss him."

"What was his name?" Kate asked, interested now that she knew this was the wolf she had seen.

Her words snapped Ginger out of her mood. "His name? Um… oh… um…" The little Omega shook her head swiftly as she tried to remember. Then it occurred to her. "Oh, his name was Nicholas!"

"Ah," Kate said in response. She had somehow expected this answer to clarify the mystery of why she dreamt of him, but now realized that it would not have made things clearer no matter what his name was.

"Why are you asking about that, Kate?" Garth asked. Humphrey would have asked, but was too nervous.

Kate smiled over her shoulder, but it was smile that said she was hiding something. "Oh, no reason. I was just curious about them, is all."

"Ginger, time to go," Lance said. He had stopped in his tracks. Ginger and Kate looked up to see one of Tarquin's goons walking up ahead. Ginger and Lance both knew they had to get out of there before they were seen "fraternizing" with the enemy. Kate said a quick thank-you as they hurried away.

This left the Jasper wolves in the middle of a large, hilly forest. They still had no clue where they were, but they knew if Tarquin's thugs were about, then the self-proclaimed Emperor could not be far behind. They kept walking over the wide and steep hills in the dense forest and, sure enough, it was not too long before they witnessed Tarquin appearing over a nearby crag.

"Ah, my foolhardy friends, you've arrived," he said menacingly, his mouth upturned in a sinister grin. He seemed to be even more pleased with himself than usual.

Kate was about to answer but Humphrey stepped past her, hoping to avoid another verbal entanglement between the two. "Yes, we have, your bossiness! Now where's the race-course? I can't wait to get started."

The grin was gone from Tarquin's face, replaced with a sneer. "Just follow me and you shall see it soon enough."

They followed the Emperor across a few more very large hills until they reached a particularly large and steep one, the steepest they had come across in the whole forest, upon which a crowd of wolves was already waiting.

Kate looked down the hill. There was a very narrow indentation, almost a defile, in the hill which made the space for maneuvering a log-sled very tight indeed. Added to this difficulty, the indentation, into which an empty half-log had already been placed, was filled with all sorts of dangerous objects. Painfully sharp rocks jutted up from the ground at all angles and all points while a number of trees had fallen – or been knocked down – on either side of the defile. The trees had fallen into the defile and thus blocked off much of the path that was still useable. Here and there, a hole large enough to engulf a log made the track even more perilous. It was as though the spot had been chosen specifically to ensure that no one could ever log-slide down it.

Kate gritted her teeth as she looked upon this. Humphrey gulped as he saw the same thing.

"Here is where you shall race, Omega!" Tarquin announced, pointing with his scepter to the empty half-log.

"You're joking!" Kate barked. "There's no way that anyone could ever ride a log down through here! It's impossible!"

"Well, I guess if your Omega is not the greatest log-sledder ever, well…. It might be difficult," Tarquin said.

Kate was about to fire back when Humphrey stepped forward. He knew he had to keep her from digging themselves into bigger holes than this one. He had to do whatever that took. Even if it meant doing this.

"Don't worry, Kate," Humphrey said, trying to hide his own worry under a smile. "Me and the boys took on much deadlier stuff back home! We'll be fine!"

He walked over and felt the log for any sign of sabotage. Finding none, Humphrey began to slowly enter it. As he did so, he looked at Tarquin.

"And where, if I may ask, are my opponents?"

Tarquin silently pointed his scepter over to a nearby hill, which was mostly hidden in woods. But from what Humphrey could see, there were four large brutes setting up a log to ride in at the top of the hill and then a calm, easy slope going down. There were absolutely no rough spots or challenges of any kind there from what Humphrey could see.

"You know what?" Humphrey said. "I'm going to take that as a compliment. I'm so skilled, you felt the need to handicap me. I get it, you wanted things to be fair. But I'm still going to win."

Tarquin growled as he sat down on his rock, which was then lifted into the air. With his scepter, he pointed to a small lake far in the distance. "Whoever gets there first wins!"

"This is completely unfair!" Kate protested. It seemed as though another shouting match with Tarquin was about to begin.

But Lilly came to Kate's side and said, "We can't do anything about it and arguing won't make a difference. Let's just support Humphrey in the only way we can."

Kate nodded as she realized the wisdom of Lilly's words.

All the Jasper wolves gathered around Humphrey's log to wish him a good send-off.

"Good luck, Humphrey!" Lilly said with a charming smile. "I just know you're gonna win!"

"Thanks, Lilly," Humphrey said with an equally charming smile.

"Humphrey," Garth said. "Um, er… this is hard for me to say, but… do Jasper proud out there!"

Humphrey winked at him. "You know I'd never disappoint you, buddy!"

Garth shuttered.

"Hey, who wants to bet Humphrey loses badly today?" Edgar said. "It's a sure-fire deal! There's no way he can win!"

"Shut up, Edgar!" All the Betas yelled together.

"At least I have somebody's vote of confidence," Humphrey said sarcastically.

"Now remember, Humphrey," Kate said, "if you get yourself killed out there, I'll kill you."

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Humphrey responded playfully.

Kate smiled at his always-upbeat attitude and how, even when facing death, he would not give in to despair. It was one of the things she adored about him. So it was only fitting when she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"What? That's all I get?" Humphrey said. "Not even a kiss on the mouth?"

Kate smiled furtively. "Get back here in one piece and maybe I'll think about it."

Humphrey smiled. "Well, now I have to survive this race!"

Tarquin looked in anger at the attention Humphrey was receiving. There was no way, he felt, that an Omega should receive such support and affections. He was going to end this now. "It's time to get things started," he said. "Justin, will you do the honors?"

Justin was standing nearby, waiting for the moment to fulfill his role. He nodded at the command and then tilted his head back. As the Jasper wolves quickly stepped back, Justin let out a loud yelping howl. The race was on!

The course did not start off easily, as Humphrey had to immediately dodge a large rock that seemed to be pointed right at him. If he had any doubts about Tarquin's ill-will in choosing this course, they were gone now, because he could clearly see how the maneuvering he had to do was causing him to lose speed and momentum.

Nor did the course get any better. Humphrey had to continually slide around rocks, avoid holes, and roll under fallen trees. It was a miracle, all things considered, that he was able to maneuver at all. But all that dangerous log-sliding in Jasper had served him well; he reacted on instinct and was able to skim off the obstacles, thus keeping himself moving while avoiding the pain of hitting them head on.

Kate looked on in fear as Humphrey tumbled around the course. But what could she do? She looked around for some way to help him but knew that any interference would cost Humphrey the match. She either would have to do something without Tarquin noticing, but she could not see anything to do. Perhaps the only thing was to pray that Humphrey would somehow survive.

Humphrey looked over through an opening in the trees to see that the Klondike wolves were far ahead of him. He knew that things were looking bad. Having an easy, gentle ride down – gentler than even his first log-slide as a pup – they would be at the lake in no time. Humphrey had to catch up to them somehow. But how?

And then he noticed a tree which had fallen over at just the right angle. It was facing him just enough and had just enough of an arc to be used as a ramp. He swiftly maneuvered his log in that direction and prepared himself for the great leap. In an instant, he was up in the air, zooming higher and higher, breaking through the trees, and disappearing from the sight of the crowd.

"A tree-ramp?" Kate said. "That's brilliant! That's why I love you, Humphrey!"

"Go, Humphrey, go!" Lilly shouted.

"Even I have to admit, that was pretty clever!" Garth added.

Behind them, Tarquin smiled. "Just as we wanted him to do," he whispered to himself.

Humphrey flew through the air and could tell that he was speeding past his competition. He looked forward with a wide smile. Not only was this experience perhaps one of the most thrilling log-slides he had ever engaged in, but he was practically assured of winning now. He could see a smooth ride up ahead. All he had to do was land properly and he would be fine.

Humphrey came down with a perfect landing. But then something happened which he did not expect. The ground gave way and he fell crashing into a pit several feet deep. It was a perfectly square pit and Humphrey noted as he fell that the walls had been smoothed. This was no natural occurrence – it was a prepared trap.

Not that Humphrey would be doing much escaping. He landed at a poor angle and most of the log came down on top of him. His head was given a particularly bad smack. Try as he might to prevent it, he could not overcome the rising tide of unconsciousness.

What happened afterward, Humphrey only witnessed in snippets as he flickered in and out of consciousness. At some point, he felt himself being lifted upward, as though someone was carrying him.

He heard someone say, "Hold the rope steady, Pico, we're almost up."

He blacked out again, but later he felt them running through the forest at a swift pace. He was not running, but he was on somebody's back. This somebody was not alone. There were several more about them. But Humphrey could not get a good look at any of them, for he soon fell back into darkness.

The last thing he heard before he passed out was the same voice commanding, "We've passed them. Hurry, make the turn and cut them off!"

When next he awoke, he saw the Klondike team of wolves flying down their own slope on their own log-sled. But he was on their slope also, as was the host which had apparently collected him. And then he saw wolves from that host jump out and knock the northern team from their sled. The log itself was kicked up into the air and smashed against a tall tree. And then, back to blackness.

He awoke again to feel himself being lowered into something. Even in his stupor, he could tell the familiar feel of the inside of a log underneath him. Instinctively, he grabbed on as though he was going to ride it down.

"Now, send him off," the voice said. "We've got to get him going and get out of here before they see us."

And with those words, Humphrey felt his log fly into motion as he left the world of light once more.

He awoke for a final time to see all of his friends and their new enemies waiting for him at the bottom of the lake. Within a few seconds, he arrived in their midst. His friends let out a cheer of excitement. Humphrey had won!

As Humphrey staggered out of the log, he tried to piece together what had happened. Things were just a blur of scattered images in his head. But before he could make sense of them, Kate wrapped her forelegs around him and gave him a big kiss.

"What was… what was that for?" Humphrey asked, still partially out of it.

Kate chuckled, thinking he was playing with her. "Don't you remember, silly? I said you might get a kiss if you got here in one piece!"

"Oh, right!" Humphrey said as he felt mental stability return. "Sorry about that. Not that I didn't want it or anything, but I just got a nasty bump on the head and had trouble remembering a few things. But I guess that's what happened when your opponents set traps in the middle of the race-course." At these last words, he turned his eyes toward Tarquin.

Had Humphrey been completely himself, he never would have said those words. As it was, he had also forgotten about what was guaranteed to happen next.

Kate burst into a fury at Tarquin. "You evil cur! It isn't enough for you to make things hard for us? You have to try and deliberately kill us too?"

Tarquin shrugged. "Home team makes the rules, and the rules say I can do whatever I want."

"I should show you a thing or two about breaking rules… and bones!" Kate barked.

But Humphrey quickly grabbed hold of her again. "Kate, Kate, I'm fine! There's no need to get ourselves into further trouble. Just calm down."

Tarquin smiled viciously. "Your Omega is right for once. Don't dig yourself a deeper grave, Kate. Or do; it's more fun that way."

Kate snarled. Yet, Humphrey's words and the balanced side of her judgment told her that nothing more could be gained from it. She resigned herself to the fact and regained her composure.

But behind her, Can-do was not ready to be so agreeable. "I say we knock all their blocks in!" shouted he. "We've put up with this stuff for too long!"

"Not now, Can-do!" Hutch chastised. Most of the other Jasper wolves exchanged uncomfortable looks as they knew Can-do was just causing more problems.

But it was too late. Tarquin had heard them. "Well," said he, "the little tiny barrel-dog wants to start something. He must have a Napoleon complex!"

"Says the wolf who calls himself an Emperor!" Can-do shot back, despite Hutch's attempts to stop him.

Tarquin growled. Now Can-do had made him mad. "Oh, if you have such a problem with me, my friend, then I shall give you the opportunity to do something about it! You can take the next challenge!"

"Bring it on!" Can-do barked in response. "Me and Hutch can take on anything, can't we, Hutch?"

Hutch, meanwhile, was shaking his head at his leaders and Tarquin. Though he was as brave as any wolf, he did not want to be a part of whatever mess Can-do was creating for himself.

But Tarquin had gotten the idea. "Ah, so you're a team, then. Excellent. Then both of you can play together tomorrow."

Hutch planted his face in his paw upon hearing this. Not for the first time, Can-do had dragged him into a very bad situation. But Hutch knew he had to face it, it was his duty. He tried to cheer himself up as he lifted his head up. "Well, it's only one challenge and there will be two of us, so how bad can it be?"

Tarquin grinned. "Only one challenge, yes, but since there are two Jasper wolves, it shall count as two. So, if you win, you win two, but if you lose, well…. I trust you can do the math!"

"Is it just me or are these rules completely arbitrary without making any sense at all?" Humphrey quipped.

"He's right," Hutch protested, trying to maintain as calm a demeanor as he could. "That hardly seems fair or fitting."

Tarquin looked down on Hutch haughtily. "What's fair and fitting is what I say it is! Goodbye!"

He ordered his wolves to depart, so that our heroes would not have a chance to respond. The four wolves carrying him walked away as fast as they could, with the other wolves surrounding him.

Once they had gotten safely out of our heroes' earshot, Tarquin told Justin, "Those two Betas must lose tomorrow, no matter what!"

The Jasper wolves proceeded back toward their own cave. Despite the trouble Can-do had caused for himself and Hutch, a general feeling of elation prevailed. Everybody, with the exception of Hutch, was now in even higher spirits over the fact that two challenges had been successfully faced and overcome. It seemed like there might be a winning chance for Jasper after all.

But Humphrey was not paying attention to any of this. He was lost in his own thoughts and began to fall behind. He knew clearly that someone had been responsible for saving his life and helping him to defeat the Yukon wolves. Someone had taken pity on him, someone had taken the Klondike thugs on at their own game so that Jasper could win. But who would want to do that? Who in the Yukon even had the power? And why would they care about the contest? Or about him? Humphrey had no answers.

But he did not have much chance to think because Kate had noticed that he had fallen behind. "Humphrey, you coming?" she called back.

Humphrey realized now how much distance the others had advanced beyond him. He mentally laughed at himself for getting so caught up in his thoughts that he had not noticed it before. That was not like him.

"Just a moment, Kate," he called forward. He banished the haunting questions from his mind and hurried to catch up with his fellows.

But as he did so, he could have sworn he heard from somewhere in the forest the faint sound of faraway voices singing:

"Under the Sun we'll crush the Scorpion,

And when we win this war

Our foes will fear the name of Rienzi

For a thousand years or more!"

Jasper: 2

Yukon: 0

Who were the mysterious strangers who saved Humphrey? And how shall Hutch and Can-do fare in their challenge?

Read on.