Arthur, John and the rest of the group climbed the mountain, heading to the top. John remembered when Jack was clawed by Dutch, and they nearly killed Arthur too.
You guys ready?
Ready Arthur, Sean hissed. Molly and the rest nodded. The buck followed John as Rachel struggled in the snow.
Then they reached the den at the top. Everyone looked around. Where was Dutch? Suddenly a wolf jumped on Arthur and the two rolled a few feet away before the buck kicked the carnivore off.
The wolf landed in the snow and quickly got up, snarling at him. It was Javier!
John aimed his gun at the gray wolf, be stopped when they heard growing from around them.
Micah and Bill slowly came out from behind the rocks and Dutch came out of the cave.
Dutch! Molly sqwaked. The animals were now in a circle, facing the 3 wolves. Arthur kept his eyes on Micah.
The grizzly roared. ATTACK!
The wolves immediately tackled the animals, Hosea being one of them. Jenny rear kicked Bill in the face, making him whimper. Micah and Arthur were on their back legs, jabbing each other with their hooves and claws. Arthur was able to get the wolf down and jab him in the ribs with his hooves.
Molly, Lenny and Kieran were being circled by two slobbery wolves, their jaws gapping and promising death. On my mark, Kieran said. The wolves ran at them and the birds launched themselves into the sky, and Bill and Javier clashed into each other. The 3 birds laughed from above.
On the ground, Sadie, Simon and John were using all their bullets to take out the grizzly bear. Unfortunately, Dutch wasn't taking that much damage.
He laughed. Is that the best you got? He charged at his old gang members, pinning down Sadie.
She took out her knife and slashed at the bear's stomach. Dutch got off and just as he was going to end the woman, Pearson shot him, the bullet going through his skull. The beast fell to the snow covered ground. He was dead.
Davey, Susan, Hosea and Sean were helping Arthur deal with Micah. The opposum was on the wolf's back, biting his ears. He threw the critter off and bit Davey in his leg, who bellowed in pain.
Arthur rammed his enemy in his side and threw him into a rock wall. By now, his golden pelt was stained with his own blood from his deep wounds.
"Arthur! Dutch is dead," John called, causing him to look away. Micah got up and ran at the deer, then slashed his claws across his throat. Arthur gagged and tried to breathe, coughing up blood.
Everyone froze. Sadie grabbed her knife and slashed Bill and Javier. John took his knife and slashed through Micah's throat.
Everyone joined Arthur. He collapsed to the ground, still coughing. "Arthur! Oh God!" John tried to stop the bleeding while Sadie looked in her saddlebags.
The sun shone down on him, and he remembered the last time he died...
Not again, he tried to say but he had lost his speech. Then everything went black.
Lenny and the rest bowed their heads in sorrow and pain. Some of them cried.
"John..."
The man looked up. It was him. Arthur, in his human body. The ghost walked to him
"Micah's dead. My soul is finally free."
The rest of the animals felt faint and collapsed. Sadie moved to help them.
"No, it's okay. They're free too. Free from the body's that imprisoned us," Arthur explained.
"Daddy!" a voice called. A 4 year old boy came from behind a tree and Arthur smiled.
"It's Isaac!"
Isaac came up to his father and hugged him. Arthur put his hand on his son's head.
John smiled, even though his heart was breaking. "So, I guess this is goodbye."
Arthur gave a slow nod. "Thank you, brother."
A spirit horse and a dog trotted over to the two. It was Arthur's horse that got shot and his dog, Copper.
"Hey boy!" he said putting his hands on his knees. Copper licked his face. His horse pressed against him and he slowly petted it's coat. Arthur helped Isaac on his horse then got onto the saddle himself.
As John and the others walked away, they could hear the father and son talking while the horse turned around and started walking twords Heaven:
"Daddy, what took you so long?"
Arthur chuckled. "Im sorry Isaac. I had to wait 8 years to put an end to a rat."