Steel and his team were sitting around a fire, now a lot calmer than before. They were lost, with no way to get back. Steel felt disappointed in himself. He was team leader, he should have been more careful and now his musher was hurt. He wished Balta were with him. She seemed to know what to do in these situations.
"Steel!" a familiar voice echoed through the wind. His ear perked up, twitching as he tried to hear it again. "Steel?!" There it was again. He knew that voice. It was Balta. He remembered her telling him that wolves howled to each other to let their location be known. So, he threw his head back and howled. The others looked at him like he was crazy.
"Steel!" Balta called as she broke through the tree line. "Are you all okay?"
"We are fine," Steel reassured her, "but our musher hit his head. He hasn't woken up yet."
"The children are getting worse," Balta told them, "If we don't get that medicine back, they won't make it to see the next morning."
Steel caught a slight discoloration on her left shoulder. His blue eyes narrowed, and he moved closer for a better look. What he saw had his blood boiling. A long, deep gash on her left shoulder was bleeding sluggishly and her paw looked dislocated. Steel took a deep breath to calm down. It wouldn't do any good if he were to lose his temper, especially around her.
"How do we get back?" Steel asked her, knowing she had thought of something.
"I marked the trees by scratching some bark off," Balta explained, "Just follow the trail and we should get back to the town."
"Alright," Steel said taking command, "Lets get our musher into the sleigh and secure him. Balta! You are riding in the sleigh with our musher."
"But Steel . . ." Balta tried to argue.
"No arguing Balta," Steel said sternly, "You are hurt. You shouldn't even be walking on your left leg. I have no doubt you are also feeling the effects of blood loss as well. You are riding in the sleigh and that is final."
"Yes Steel," Balta said softly. She was slightly hunched into herself. She knew he was right as she was feeling dizzy from the blood loss.
The other dogs said nothing against her, as they watched Steel maneuver her onto the sleigh in a secured position. Once everything was secured, Steel started leading the team back, following the trail that Balta had marked.