managed to yell hoarsely, before collapsing back down, panting from both the yelling and the impact. Luk glanced down at him worriedly, throwing his sibling a worried glance accompanied by a short series of whimpers.

Momentarily startled, Muk frowned and crossed his arms. “Well, you were runnin’ right at him! A’course he was gonna get knocked over!” What Muk failed to mention was that he had been moments away from doing that exact same thing.

He might have gone on if Balto hadn’t suddenly coughed again, a wet, hacking noise that immediately drew the bears’  and Jenna’s attention. “Muk… Luk…Jenna… Boris,” Balto rasped, face contorting in pain from the effort. “Glad to see you guys here.” Balto curled up tighter, shivering. “Really…means a lot.”

Jenna padded her way over to Balto, nuzzling him gently. “Don’t talk like that, Balto. You’ll get through this; I know you will.”

Balto glanced at her, smiling. “Thanks… for the vote of confidence, Jenna.” A shudder ran through his body, causing it to contort and contract. Jenna gasped in alarm.

“So…cold…” Balto whispered in a shockingly weak voice, beginning to shiver. “Hurts…”

Jenna couldn’t stand it any longer; she dropped to the deck and curled her body as tightly and gently as possible around the dying wolfdog. “Balto, please…” she pleaded. “Don’t…” she faltered, unable to continue.

Muk, Luk, and Boris (who had finally gotten up) watched anxiously.  Luk whimpered something to Boris.

Boris, not in the mood to berate the young polar bear, merely shook his head. “Hey, is Balto. He trekked miles through freezing coldness, he can get through this.” Despite the confident words, Boris’ tone and face betrayed his uncertainty and dread.

“Only one thing we can do now…” the goose muttered sullenly. He searched about the boat until he located Balto’s blanket, draping it over Jenna and the wolf dog, the latter of whom was lapsing into a troubled sleep.

Jenna, though she was beginning to doze off as well, began to silently comfort the hybrid. “It’s okay, Balto… It’s okay…”

She continued in this fashion for a few minutes before falling silent, sleep having finally claimed her.

 Boris stood for a few minutes until he was certain that, for the moment, all was relatively well. He then turned to the bears, both on the verge of frightened tears. “Come on. Is getting late.” He began heading  for the ship’s cabin, throwing one last worried glance at Balto before entering. The siblings glanced at each other, desperation and worry etched on their faces. They both turned their heads to look at Balto, who had now completely fallen asleep. They both winced as the wolf dog whimpered in his sleep and muttered something unintelligible.

Boris’ voice brought them back to attention. “Oi! Idiot balls of fluff!” The goose’s voice was quiet but forceful. “Leave them be.”

The bears, mildly chastened, sighed and reluctantly followed Boris’ voice into the cabin, where they immediately plopped down.

In a few minutes, only troubled snores and Balto’s pained whimpering broke the night’s silence.

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A few hours later, very little had changed. Jenna was still curled about Balto, the former’s body attempting to provide some comfort to her mate’s ravaged being. Boris and the polar bears still slept fitfully, their dreams filled with uncertainty and fear over the fate of their shared friend.

None of them could have anticipated that, on this dark and tragic night, a miracle could occur.

A gust of wind whipped through the previously still night. It started out gently at first, but began to pick up speed and intensity in the course of a few seconds. Soon, it grew from a simple gust to a veritable blizzard, whipping up the snow and blowing it about.

Not one of the sleepers stirred.

The blizzard began to shift and grow smaller, though it lost none of its intensity. It became more compact and localized, until it took the form of a wintry sphere, right on the ship’s deck.  As the winds and snow whipped about, a four-legged shape began to resolve itself into existence, gradually revealing piercing yellow eyes and thick, white fur. The tiny blizzard finally began to lose its momentum as the creature appeared, before finally dissipating entirely to reveal the animal within: a large, majestic white wolf.

Almost as soon as it appeared, the wolf set its eyes on Balto. The strange creature strode up to the prostrate body, its footfalls so light they made practically no sound. It was almost as though it didn’t even exist. The wolf craned its head downward to gaze at the quietly whimpering wolfdog. At first glance, its stare appeared impassive and serene; however, if one were to look closer, they would notice a distinctive spark of tenderness in the wolf’s eyes.

“Balto.” The wolf spoke gently, its voice ethereal and otherworldly, but at the same time soothing and calming. Balto stirred, but remained asleep.

The wolf closed its eyes. Good; waking Balto was not its intention. Opening its striking yellow eyes again, it continued. “Balto, you cannot die; it is not your time, yet.” Balto whimpered in his sleep, but quickly settled down.  Nodding, the wolf continued.

“There is still too much left for you here, Balto,” the wolf intoned softly. It looked about, eyes skimming across its varied inhabitants. “There are those who care for you…” its eyes ran over the cabin. “…and above all, there are those who love you dearly, and who wish for a future with you.” The wolf’s eyes rested on Jenna, who was still sleeping fitfully.

The wolf took a deep breath, having finished speaking. As it did so, it reached its snout towards Balto and touched his forehead lightly. When it pulled its snout away, the area it had touched had begun to shine with a soft, white light.

“And so I give to you the gift of life.” the wolf softly whispered, the light beginning to spread about Balto’s body.

Balto snuffled, then settled down with a peaceful, smiling expression. The light was almost finished spreading.

The wolf looked on, satisfied, as a soft wind began blowing about it. As the wind picked up speed, it gave a few final words:

“Sleep well, my son, and awaken to a new day.” Then, just like that, the wolf was gone, and only the cool night breeze remained.

*************************************************************************

As bright, early morning sunlight broke over Nome, Jenna stirred, blinking her eyes open. She quickly squinted them shut as the sun’s rays entered her vision.

‘It’s morning…’ Jenna quietly mused. As she yawned, something entered her mind.

“Balto!” Alarmed, and dreading what she would find, Jenna craned her head to the side, where the wolf dog had been laying.

To her horror, the space next to her was empty.

“Balto?!” Jenna cried out frantically. She quickly scrambled up and began swinging her head every which way, looking for sight or scent of her mate.

‘Where did he go?’ Jenna thought to herself, concern quickly overtaking her. He couldn’t have walked off, not in the condition he was in. And even if he was able to get up and leave, Balto was not the kind of dog who would do that sort of thing.

As Jenna lowered her head, panting, something caught her eye. She looked towards the blanket.

Contrary to what she had believed, the space underneath the blanket was occupied. More specifically, it was occupied by a small lump that shifted and moved every now and then.

Now both nervous and curious, Jenna walked to the edge of the blanket, gripped it in her teeth, and pulled it off, revealing…

Jenna gasped softly, the blanket falling from her mouth. Through her shock, she managed only one word:

“Balto?”

Jenna gaped at the peacefully slumbering form before her. She was certain it was Balto; his paws were rather large in proportion to his legs, his fur was a mix of gray and brown, and his face, peaceful and contented, was unmistakable.

The only difference was the fact that the Balto she saw in front of her was a pup who couldn’t have been more than eight or nine weeks old, ten weeks at most. The bloodied bandanna he had previously worn about his neck now covered him like a blanket.

‘What happened?’ Jenna thought to herself, incredulous. Just the other night, Balto had been a young adult wolfdog, barely clinging to life. However, the puppy she saw snoozing before her was unharmed, without so much as even a scratch. The relief this brought to the husky balanced out Jenna’s shock and disbelief. And her disbelief was considerable.

‘How does something like this even happen?’ a part of her thought. True, she was no stranger  to amazing and unbelievable events-Balto’s ordeal a month before was proof of that-but until now, she had never even imagined anything like this being possible, much less actually occurring. Despite that, Jenna was still happy beyond imagining at the fact that her mate was no longer in danger of dying.

As Jenna continued to take the sight in, gape softening to a warm smile, Balto snuffled, lightly hitting his snout with a paw. The impact, inconsequential as it was, began to wake him up.

Jenna noticed this, and kept silent, watching as the pup began to force himself to