Chapter 7: The Shadow of Shadowfang
The next day was a very good day in winter. Balto brought some more food for Kirdo and him from the town; it has become very easy to do that lately, with so many children in Nome owed their lives to him.
"Don't stay too long in the woods, got it? Else you might lose yourself in it, and Jenna will be heartbroken." Said Boris with a laughter he tried to conceal with a cough, but failed completely.
"C'mon Boris, I'm not going into the forest for the first time, you need not exaggerate it, and I see no point it can be, too." Balto answered, and he turned to Kirdo, who was stretching him body after two days of lying still on a hard deck, "You're ready to go?"
"Fully!" answered Kirdo, "Now I know that I'm making progress, the sooner I settle the problem with my pack, the sooner we can discuss and maybe search for our family."
As they were ready, they started out for the forest, just like the day Balto found Kirdo. The air was a bit warmer than before, and the sky is clearer, which means they can have a good search without being cut off by bad weather.
As they entered the woods, Balto asked "So how are we going to search for them? The forest is wide; do you have any idea where they might be?"
Kirdo stopped and think for a while, and replied "Base on their preference, I can think of several kinds of places they might want to stay, but several for each of them makes a lot. Or, we can go after the easier, yet the hardest to find."
"Who is this hardest one to find? And why would finding him be easier when he is the hardest to find?" asked Balto curiously.
"Ah, you need to know him before you can understand the answer you seek," Kirdo said with a smile, as if he knew a lot that Balto don't. "His name's Kamsa, but everyone, except me, called him by his nickname, Shadowfang; this nickname fit him too well. His fur is black and dark grey at the belly, which give him a great camouflage in the shadows. Better still, he knows it and trained himself to stay in the shadow and tread lighter than any living wolf around here. Due to his damaged voice box, he can make voice no louder than a whisper. While he can still speak with the normal volume of us, the voice that comes out is hoarse and sometimes inaudible, so he seldom talks, except for absolute emergency. And as if these can't make him stealthy enough, he found a way, one of the many secret he most prized, to cover up his scent."
"So that means we can't see him or smell him, so finding him is hard. But you haven't answer why it's easier to find him instead of the other three." Said Balto.
"Because Kamsa is also a great tracker, his complete silence movement with his smell covered make it too easy for him to track someone without being noticed. He likes to keep track of those around him, near or far, so he must have known all the location of the other already."
"I see. So how are we going to find him?"
Kirdo thought for a while, and answered "Well, bring us to one of the places where the shadow is thick enough to cover a black wolf presence. That's the place he most probably would be in daytime. At night, however, there's no telling where he can be. So lead on, brother!"
Balto led him into one part of the forest where the branches are thick enough to provide a reasonable shade in the leafless forest of winter. "This is the closest one I can think of; there are lots of places like this one here and there in the forest."
Kirdo didn't reply, his ears were perked up, and he looked alarmed. Balto looked around and when he saw nothing but snow and trunks, he sniffed the air, and one scent caught his nose, one that he almost lost his life because of it, a grizzly bear!
Before they can make preparations, the grizzly came into view, crushing its way through the woods and headed unmistakably on the two wolf-dogs. "Ever fought a grizzly?" asked Kirdo, never took his eyes off the bear while growling.
"Once, but resulted in we both fell into a frozen lake, and I have to be rescue by a pair of polar bear cubs, which you saw back in my boat." Balto answer, they were starting to retreat back as the grizzly came even closer.
"Is there any way we can get out of here?"
"There's only one way, but the grizzly had blocked it, all other directions will end up at a cliff!"
"Well, then," said Kirdo with a sign of sarcasm, "Guess we're doomed. We cannot fight a bear in such an enclosed area. And you are not experienced."
However, just as Balto going to suggest a not-so-reliable plan of his, he spotted something, creeping in the shadows below the trees. Before he can see what it was, it lunged towards the bear with great speed, tackled and bit the back of the bear, then jumped off and hid in the shadow again. Now Balto saw what it truly was, a black wolf. At the same time, he heard Kirdo shouted "Now we have the chance! Come brother, let's show this old bear how wrong he had chosen his prey!"
The grizzly was shocked by the impact and the pain that the mysterious black wolf dealt on him, and two more charging wolf was not a good sight, so he retreated, and Balto and Kirdo stopped pursuing.
Kirdo looked around for the sign of the black wolf, but seeing none. "Come on, Kamsa! It's time to walk out of the shadow! This is my brother, he proves no harm!" he said aloud.
From the left of Balto, under the shade of some trees, a piece of the shadow moved, Shadowfang silently walked towards them, his eyes glowing. He stopped in front of the two of them, and whispered something to Kirdo unmistaken as if the two brothers were very much different.
Kirdo gave Shadowfang a strange look, and he said to Balto hesitantly "This is indeed strange, even Kamsa haven't found all our pack members, one's missing. I'll have to meet with my pack mates, we'll discuss the matter; do you wish to come along?"
Balto was going to answer but was cut off by a growl from Shadowfang. "Looks like you have yet gain Kamsa's trust, brother. There's no way I can help you to gain that. You should go back to your boat now; I'll bring news to you tonight or tomorrow." Said Kirdo, although he looked absolutely against the idea.
Balto looked at Shadowfang, who was still eyeing him with unfriendly grace, and nodded before leaving. It had been a long day, it was already after sunset and he needed some rest after the encounter with the bear.