I.
The clouds fell back towards the sunset, darkening and dissipating with the waning light. As Togo slowed to take in the beauty - the only time he ever slowed - he felt his throat tighten. A growl rolled out of his teeth just as something nipped the back of his ear. Togo whimpered.
"This is my job," Sam brought the rope holding his neck as far back as it would go, sounding grimly determined as Togo was forced to face forward. "I'm not going back to my father and his shop." Another snap at the back of Togo's legs made him yelp and bolt forward. "Mush!"
Togo saw a log cabin briefly in the distance, half-obscured by a small spruce. That's when the yelp of another kind caught his attention. It was hard to see at first because of a second path that diverged off into the base of a mountain, but through the brackets of uneven snow Togo saw the wolf pack running through the trees. Sam yelled his name and slashed at his ear to keep him on their path. The husky flashed his teeth when the discharge of a gun made the wolves move faster. A brown one passed, then a very dark black and grey one...
Even as Sam was ready to whip him again the husky didn't stop searching.
After a few moments, he knew no other wolf was coming.
He knew nothing except she was no longer there.
"Rrrr-RA!" A wolf brought up the rear, it weaved and bobbed as if to throw someone off.
"Togo!"
The husky saw nothing now, except the Goddess. He heard not a sound but his hammering heart and the muffled noise of yelling. Togo wasn't aware he was pulling the elderly woman and young man sideways until much a sharper, more painful slash behind his ear made him growl furiously. Togo charged forward under a barrage of skin-cutting whippings. The white wolf appeared one more time before disappearing into the trees. Desperation flooded Togo and he pulled for all he was worth, trying to escape. Sam had discarded the useless trigger tool at that time and was just trying to keep his client from falling out as his husky rebelled.
"Togooooooo!"
As the dog pulled harder and raced even faster, the place where he had bitten earlier on his harness striped down thin to the string. Togo was almost able to reach flat enough elevation to pursue his Goddess and topple over his forgotten charges. Sam clutched onto the husky's rope with grizzled determination and made one last ditch effort to make the dog obey. Togo made one final pull of his own and snapped off his harness. The dog running free caused the sled to careen off into a snowbank at the bottom of the trail. Togo streaked up to the forest.
"You useless cur!"
He slowed to a steady jog, looking back over his furry shoulder.
"You thoughtless, heartless creature! Don't ever come back."
Togo looked down at his bare chest and was struck with jubilation.
"I'm free?" He said to himself. "Haha!" The husky couldn't contain his joy. "I'M FREEEEE!"
He did notice the leather collar still constricting his throat and the rope flying behind him. The husky bit and ripped at it with all his grit before finally making it undo itself. A flash of dark red was all he saw as he tossed it away gleefully and cleared the few remaining feet he had to get to the start of the new trail. Togo charged like a proud, powerful steed to his new freedom. The deep blue glow surrounding him darkened and settled, leaving the plateaus in the distance a dark, foreboding purple. Trees around him grew more shadowed as all of the clouds from earlier moved in from the west. But he didn't stop to search for any light; Togo had no use for the lights from lanterns or even the stars. He had his Goddess to find. Even the strange smells and sounds of the forest didn't deter him. She was the moon, his moon.
Togo knew she would guide him.
To be continued...