Chapter 15

The young wolf sat with his back up against a large boulder at the base of a several thousand foot boulder field. He sat under a large pine which protruded from under the rock at a angle. He sat, his back slumped over his shoulders in a very lazy, tired, manner.

The wolf was young and had never experienced the grace of summer across his fur. He had heard the stories of how the summer brought much meat and warmth to the clan. He had heard the stories so often, and in such detail, that he would sometimes sit up at night and dream of a full belly.

Agrona had known that the dogs would most likely come after one of their own, so he set up a defensive perimeter. He sent sentinels upstream and downstream of the den. But as Agrona sat looking up at the side of the mountain he realized that an attack could come from up there. He sent a sentinel to the opposite side of the valley under the only possible way that they could attack from, the boulder field.

And that's what the young wolf had been doing for the past eight hours, sitting in the darkness with a hungry belly and tired mind.

A gust of wind blew the tree above him, sending a pinecone plummeting from the top of the tree to rest between his feet. The falling pine cone had awoken him from a long odd slumber where he was awake, but yet he wasn't. he looked down at the pinecone between his front feet and looked at the paw sized pinecone in anger. He raised his right paw and smacked the pinecone away through the trees.

"why do I have to be out here? Nothings going to happen." the young wolf said as if someone was listening to him and would quickly answer him. "I should be out hunting. there not going to try and fight their way down this boulder field. That would be suicide."

The wolf glanced about the forest again as another gust of wind blew the tops of the trees.

"I should just go to sleep." he stated defiantly. "who's going to notice if I do, huh, that's right, no one?"

He began to stretch his legs out in front of him in preparation for a nap when his stomach let out a furious growl. The wolf glanced at his belly. His belly was sunk up against his backbone, and his ribs were washboards across his side. He ignored his empty belly like he had for some time and lay down with his paws crossed under his chin.

"I do wish I had something to eat…yeah something nice and fat, like a caribou." he closed his eyes and dreamed of the red delicious meat, fat, plump, and warm. It had been so long since he had eaten caribou meat that he wondered if he remembered what it tasted like.

There were three quick scratches along the side of a nearby tree. The wolf threw his eyes open to it. He scanned the forest around him for the source of the noise, but everything was silent. He was just about to close his eyes when he heard it again.

"what is that?" he raised his head up off his paws and looked around

Then he saw it, a squirrel.

The squirrel came running down in a corkscrew motion around the tree, making the same scratching noise as he moved down the trunk. The squirrel paused about four feet from the ground, chattered a few times in the search of a friend, or perhaps danger. The squirrel then dropped from the tree and landed firmly at the base of the tree not more than ten feet away.

"a squirrel." the wolf said, his eyes wide, his jaw dropped and saliva gushing forth. They were very rare to see in the winter, but not uncommon. He was now standing and didn't know exactly how he had come to this point without knowing it. He looked at the plump little morsel of food bounding through the forest floor and thought of the great taste he would bring to his taste buds. He had to have him.

The wolf instantly went into stealth mode. His ears pointed straight towards the sky to catch every sound he could, his paws became light for the crunchy snow, and his fur became the forest and snow for the hunt.

The squirrel stood with it's left side to the wolf, never once looking in the direction of the wolf, probably to busy searching for a hidden stash of nuts to look out for danger.

The wolf took one step forward and listened to the snow crunch up around his feet. He stopped before he could put his foot all the way down into the snow and raised his eyes to look at the squirrel. That squirrel must be deaf he thought. The squirrel hadn't moved an inch.

The squirrel took off bounding away from the wolf towards some unseen place. He bound through the deep snow making crunching sounds as his tiny feet broke through the hard pack layer of snow. He ran twenty feet through the forest before coming to a stop in between two large trees. The squirrel paused for another moment, this time he might have been searching for danger. The squirrel then dove his head down into the snow to find his secret stash.

The wolf saw his opportunity. He ran, keeping one eye on the squirrel, the other on the trail in front of him. He moved over to the tree that the squirrel had originally come down, perhaps if the squirrel returned he could get a quick grasp at him. He paused behind the tree which was half as thin as he was. This wouldn't work, the squirrel would see him a mile off.

The squirrel stopped momentarily to look around for danger. But again he didn't see the wolf, even when he looked right at the wolf. The squirrel quickly finished his diggings and buried the hole he had just dug. The squirrel paused once again to look around for danger. Then he moved back towards the tree.

The wolf could see the squirrel running towards him. He would only have a moment to grab the squirrel. He peaked his head around the edge of the tree, his teeth drooling with yellow saliva.

The squirrel stopped a foot from the tree. He looked around, sensing the danger and impending doom. The wolf lurched around the edge of the tree and had the squirrel in his mouth before the squirrel even knew what was going to kill him.

The wolf chomped down on the squirrel, making sure that it was good and dead. He paused for a moment to smile at his catch; and to feel the squirrel's blood running across his tongue. The blood made him involuntarily chew. But why eat standing?

The wolf turned in the direction that he had come from with the prize held high in his mouth. He closed his eyes to taste the blood rolling across his tongue better.

The wolf opened his eyes and dropped the prized catch in the snow in front of him. Around him were thirty dogs, all snarling with their heads held low to the ground, ready to strike at an instant. The wolf moved his gaze across the half circle of dogs that surrounded him. The dogs all had a evil sly grin on their faces showing their blood thirsty eyes with eagerness.

The wolf knew what he had to do. He had to send out the call in order for the other wolves to come to his aid. He cocked his head back in preparation to howl but the dogs were on him in seconds.

They bound, ripped, tore, and killed the wolf in just seconds. None of the dogs stayed to even see if they had finished the job off. They had bigger fish to fry. They moved through the forest in a wide, sweeping fan formation stretching nearly thirty feet wide and ten feet thick.

Balto glanced back as they ran and could see that alliances had been made between dogs. The dogs would run together, shoulder to shoulder with spaces between this set of dogs and the next. Balto turned and looked at Kodi who was running in front of him. Balto wished that he could protect Kodi and make the same sort of alliance with him, but knew that Kodi had to do this on his own.

They ran through the forest towards the river. They dropped down the bank of the river, across the ice, and up the other riverbank. They continued on through the forest, when they came across a trail in the snow.

The trail was cut nearly a foot deep into the snow. It had been used quit often judging by the fresh tracks and fresh scent.

All the dogs lined up along the trail in one straight line and looked to Kodi for their next move. Kodi leaned over and sniffed at the bottom of the trail. Balto carefully watched his facial expressions as he did. Kodi stared straight, then lowered his brow, he then turned his head to Balto with a firm stern look on his face. Balto knew that she had passed here.

Balto was the last one to fall into the trail because he wanted to be in the very back to make sure that they were all ready to fight and that he would be able to be with any of them who had a last minute thought.

The team was lined up nose to tail in one fifty foot long line that snaked through the trees. Balto watched the dogs and could smell their fear. He could hear them wining and whimpering, but couldn't tell exactly who it was coming from. The trees closed in ominously around them making the already dark night even darker.

The trail moved up and down small mogul like hills. Then Balto could see it. The trail opened up ahead of them to a large field that was curved into the hill by the stream.

They came into the clearing in one long train. Within moments of being in the field a loud gaping howl was sent out from the top of the hill. The dogs all turned and broke into a spread out stride up the hill.

From the top of the hill where the howl had come from wolves began to flood down the hill. First ten wolves came running out from the tree line fallowed by another ten, than another ten. All surging and hopping down the hill through the thick powder which flew up around their body's as they ran.

The dogs bound up the hill through the deep snow which limited there movements and kept them from getting to far up the hill.

They collided a quarter of the way up the hill in a fury of growls and snarls. They dogs seemed to be instantly beat down, but it was just the fact that the wolves had just jumped atop the dogs and it only took a moment for the dogs to throws the wolves to the ground.

Balto watched as Kodi burst through the line of wolves and continued up the hill. Balto tried to fallow him but the wolves that Kodi had burst through instead leapt atop Balto and began to bight and fight.

Balto snarled, the wolves snarled, and blood began to fly. Balto fell back into the snow with one of the two wolves atop him. They wolf tried to bight desperately at Balto's throat, but couldn't because Balto's paws were jammed inside the wolves mouth. Balto could feel the blood beginning to surge from his paws. It hurt and he knew that he had to get the wolf. Balto rolled over, jamming his paws deeper into the wolves mouth. The wolf gagged on his paws as another wolf jumped on Balto.

The wolf bit down hard on Balto's back. Balto, with his front paws still in the wolfs mouth, jumped with his back feet, flipping the wolf over his back, and also freeing himself from the first wolfs teeth.

The second wolf began to roll down the hill and Balto knew he couldn't let that wolf get away. Balto made two leaping bounds down the hill and managed to grab the wolf by his neck. Balto squeezed tighter, feeling the blood flow into his mouth, feeling the energy of knowing that he was about to take another's life. He did.

Balto's jaws bit down with a sudden snap. He let go as quickly as he had snapped down onto his neck. Balto looked down and could see blood flowing from the tooth holes that he had left in his neck. The wolf was still alive, but was unable to move, Balto must have broken his wind pipe and he was suffocating.

The first wolf recovered quickly and jumped atop Balto and sunk his teeth into Balto's neck. Balto could feel the wolves teeth sinking down, nearly to the bone in his neck. Balto made another jump with his back legs but the wolf was already prepared for this and held tight to Balto's back. Balto then made a roll with his shoulder, forcing the wolf up over his front shoulder and Balto coming down on top of him.

The wolf let go and Balto slid further down the hill, but only far enough that his head was on the wolves soft underbelly. Balto seized the opportunity. He opened his jaws and sunk his teeth down into the wolves belly. The wolf let out a howl of pain. Balto ripped across the wolfs belly with his front left Canine. The wolfs gut came wide open in a steaming mass that poured out onto the snow. The wolf laid on his back and refused to move, even though it was over for him.

Balto stopped momentarily to take in all the action around him. The fight had only been going on for thirty seconds but already the snow was covered with blood and dead animals. There were dead dogs and dead wolves, lying sometimes with their jaws around one another's throats, a few others with each others severed throats in their mouths. The ones who were still alive had their jaws wrapped around each others muzzles and shaking each other around like rag dolls. Blood flew from all around Balto and fell on him like rain.

Balto looked up the hill and could see Kodi just making his way up into the tree line. Balto had to go up there and help him. Balto took four steps uphill before three blood covered wolves surrounded him.

One of them was clearly missing an eye while the second one looked much older than the first. The third one was right in the middle, not to old and not too young.

They lowered their head and flattened their ears back against their skulls in a threatening manner. Their body's were hung low to the ground.

Balto knew that he couldn't take all three of them on in one shot, he had to run.

Balto took off through the crowds of fighting growling blood slaughtering dogs and wolves. He led the three wolves, who ran one in front of the other, out away from the large mass of dogs and wolves and towards a steep looking area where the river cut into the bank.

Balto glanced off to his right and could see that he was running along the top of a cliff, he hadn't expected there to be a cliff here; the river was nearly fifty feet below him and he could see that it would get higher the further he went. Then the cliff took a dramatic turn up the hill and Balto found himself stuck at the edge of the cliff.

Balto slid to a stop and looked over the edge of the cliff. He could see the snow lining the slightly flat spots on the cliff where the snow would collect.

Balto turned and lowered himself to the snow, with ears down, teeth bared, and growling. The wolves slowed up but didn't stop. The one with one eye jumped up into the air and landed atop Balto.

Balto felt the weight of the wolf push his feet back through the snow and begin to slid over the edge. His shoulders suffered and creaked under the weight of the wolf and were on the verge of collapsing. Then he slipped.

Balto felt his left back foot drop out from under him and his belly slam into the earth. His shoulders broke away under the weight of the massive wolf and Balto now lay on his stomach, slowly beginning to slide over the cliff. Balto struggled to get the weight removed from his shoulders before he, and the wolf on him, slid over the edge to there certain doom.

Balto's mind raced. Neither he or the wolf were trying to fight, but why wasn't the wolf trying to get off. Why weren't the other wolves trying to attack him? Unless they were waiting to see what Balto was going to do.

Balto tried to remember the lay of the cliff below him. He thought back in his mind, there was no place that he could hope and jump to because it was too steep. But then he felt it, a rock on the edge of the cliff under his belly, a smooth round granite rock that he could somehow grasp onto and send the wolf to the ice below. It seemed to be his only chance.

Balto no longer tried to hold himself up, but let himself drop over the edge of the cliff. He grasped his paws against one another in preparation to catch his, and possibly the wolfs, weight on the rock. Hope it would hold. Balto caught his weight with a heave from his chest, his arms grasping the rock and holding tight.

The wolf slid over the edge with Balto and when Balto caught himself the wolf fell. He tumbled over backwards once, he hit headfirst on a sandy side of the cliff, and flipped end over end at least three more times before slamming through the thick river ice.

But Balto hadn't a second to even see if the wolf came back to the surface. The wolves were instantly back on him growling and snarling literally just in front of his nose. The older wolf snapped down and sunk his teeth into Balto's paw. Balto screamed out in pain and could feel his grip loosening. There was no way that Balto was going to be able to save himself, he needed help.

"get away from him." he heard the small easily recognizable voice of star.

Balto glanced out of the corner of his eye and could see star running up to the wolves. Balto winced at the thought of the wolf just whipping around and ripping stars head from his shoulders.

Star ran up and bit down hard on the back leg of the older wolf. The older wolf turned, and without even taking a glance at star, flipped him over with his front paws and crushed him down into the snow. The other wolf turned away from Balto and proceeded to watch the older one attack the young dog. It was time for Balto to move.

Balto heaved with his muscles, the burning sensation ripping at his shoulder muscles and making him want to scream out. He kicked his legs at the cliff face under him, pushing his hips up and out away from the cliff. Balto brought his front feet up onto the snow atop the cliff and dug forward.

The second wolf noticed Balto to late. Balto was already standing at the edge of the cliff and snarling at him. It had only taken Balto two, maybe three, seconds to get up the cliff but it felt like forever.

Balto instantly dove onto the wolf who was attacking star and ripped at the wolfs back. The second wolf leapt atop Balto and bit down hard on his shoulder. Balto had had it. Something inside Balto had broke, something inside his mind had broke, it was time to fight. Balto turned, red eyed, to the wolf who had just sunk his teeth into his shoulder and with one quick strike left the wolf lying on the ground with a throat slashed ear to ear.

The second wolf had seen this and knew that he didn't want to mess with Balto. He turned and ran down along the edge of the cliff with his tale between his legs. Balto hadn't expected it to be that easy.

Then Balto heard a scream from the top of the hill just down under the trees. Balto turned his head up the hill. at any moment he expected to see Kodi and clover come running side by side down the hill, each smiling and elevated excitement over their victory. But they didn't come.

Several seconds passed and still nothing happened. Balto gave a short gasp of shock just before running up the hill. He ran forward, his paws reaching out for every inch of ground that he could put under his toes, his mind revolving around the thousands of ways that this could turn out. He kept imagining that Kodi was held down by the leader, or that the leader was holding clover to the snow and Kodi stood by growling at him. But the one that he wanted the most was to come over the rise and see Kodi nuzzling clover and that it had been a victory.

Balto bound up the hill and could see the bases of the trees just coming into sight. And as quickly as Balto could see it he knew what had happened.

The leader of the pack lay dead, his back up against the base of a tree in a puddle of his own blood, there was a long gash across his throat from ear to ear, and some bloody piece of flesh in his mouth that oozed a slow trickle of blood.

Balto turned his head and could see Kodi in between two large pines nearly twenty feet away. He lay with his back to Balto over a large furry mound. Clover. Balto slowly stepped forward through the snow towards Kodi and stopped ten feet from him. Clover lay on her left side, a pool of blood beginning to form under her fur. Balto glanced back at the alpha male and remember the bloody tissue in his mouth. Her throat.

Balto listened to Kodi sob and whisper tiny little, useless, words of hope into her ear. Balto shook his head, he couldn't stand to listen to his son loose his entire future. His entire life.

He turned and walked back down the hill to greet the dogs that had just won the battle of their lives.