“A Dark Influence”

Almost half a year had passed since Steele’s return and leave of Nome. All five of Balto & Jenna’s third litter were worried to death about what he had said just before he had left.

“I’ll be back for you pups. Then I’ll have my revenge. Slowly, one by one, I’ll make you fall. You’ll wish you had never tried to fight it. You’d rather be dead.”

Denali shuddered as he walked along the snowy paths, remembering those dreadful words. He remembered the sentences in full detail. They were sickening to think about, but for some reason they wouldn’t leave his brain. Not without cleanly horrifying him first. The brownish colored wolfdog stopped right there in the slush.

His siblings stopped with him.

Taylor looked at him and tilted his head, clearly a bit confused. “You okay, Den?” He asked, concern tainting the words.

Denali shook his head. “To be honest? Not really. All I’ve been able to think about lately is what Steele said…” He trailed off, pretty much assuming his siblings would understand the meaning of what little he mentioned.

Lera didn’t say much, just stayed in the corner. Sam wasn’t really any better, but at least he spoke up. “Me neither…” He admitted.

Denali turned his head to see his usually timid, but a bit too trusting brother.

Sam sighed. “I can’t get it out of my brain! Is he even coming back for us? Or did he just say that so we’d wrack our mind for answers to questions we can never solve?”

Now it was Rika’s turn to say something. The intelligent female wouldn’t let it sound idiotic either, she made sure. “We can’t really know for sure. He could have just made those things up, he could have meant them, but either way it wouldn’t matter.”

Both Taylor and Sam turned to face their sister, a bit puzzled on what she had just stated as a response.

Rika sighed slightly and explained further. “It wouldn’t matter if it was true or not, because if it wasn’t: No big deal. Nothing’s ever going to happen. We can sit here and whine all we want about it, but that’s never going to change the fact his words were false.” She paused, taking a short breath to continue. “If it’s true? Well, we’ll be ready for him. Either way, it’s five against one. He may be big, but he’s alone too. Last time we didn’t get a chance to fight him as a team.”

Denali looked down at the ground, a bit ashamed at his past ignorance.

Rika continued, “And Denali paid the price for it.” She referred to the scars that sat right above his snout.

Taylor and Sam hung their heads low now, but kept their eyes on Rika. Lera’s eyes widened just the slightest when Rika said that last sentence. “And Denali paid the price for it.” Those big eyes were gone in a flash, though, for Lera had closed them forcefully. Her memories faded back and forth, reminding her of what she did that day. The second Denali began to fight Steele, protecting all of them from the huge malamute, while the others stood there, wanting to be by his side, she just fled the scene. She ran like a little puppy. She’d forever regret that mistake, but she wouldn’t let it haunt her for the rest of her life. Before a tear shed across her cheek and fur, she opened her eyes again to see Rika shaking her head.

“Who knows?” She asked rhetorically. “Only the hand of fate.”

By now, Sam and Taylor had lifted their heads, but Denali’s had hardly moved an inch.

“Den?” Rika looked at her brother, realizing something was probably off. At the same time, Sam turned to see Lela just as she opened her eyes again. Something was bothering her by the looks of it.

“You okay, Lera?” Sam said quietly, swiveling his body so that it was facing her. He sat down slowly, ears perked forward so he could hear her clearly.

She shook her head. “I’m fine, really.”

Sam gave a suspicious look and replied, “It doesn’t look that way. Seriously. Tell me what’s up.”

Lera sighed silently, making her eyes look straight into her brother’s. Sam was the one she connected with most. For some reason, he was the one she was able to talk to best. This was most likely why she decided to share what was on her mind. If it had been anyone else, she would have probably stayed iffy about revealing any information.

“I… just… I keep thinking about when he came. I was such a coward, it’s incredible. I’ll never be able to live it down. No matter how hard I try, the memory is always there to greet me with open jaws. It feels as if it’s waiting for me to crumble down into a complete and total fool. Either that or its sole intention is to haunt me for life.” Her eyes turned yet again to the white mounds below her paws.

Sam shook his head. “That wasn’t your fault. It was an instinct, nothing more. The rest of us were scared too. We were just frozen there, though. That’s why we didn’t run. We couldn’t find the power to. You were the only one who had enough sense to find your feet and run. The real brave one was Den. The rest of us were all turned back to little pups that day. So believe me. It wasn’t just you. Never try to tell yourself that. It won’t lead anywhere good.”

Lera managed a smile as Sam finished and looked him straight in the face. “Thanks Sam.” That smile grew larger until it was practically on both ends of her snout.

Sam winked teasingly. “Don’t mention it. I am the master of talks, remember?”

Lera let out a slight laugh at Sam’s comment, and the dark red husky laughed along with her.

Denali looked up at Rika and sighed. “It’s nothing, Rika. I just can’t seem to get past my idiocy.”

Rika chuckled as softly as she could manage. “Believe me, Den. What you did wasn’t stupid. If you think it is, that’s what makes you an idiot. Not the fact you faced a malamute and the result was a draw.”

Denali’s eyes seemed to shift in mode. In that moment, Rika knew she had won him over.

Denali tried to refuse her words, though. “But…”

Rika’s response was firm, but loving at the same time. “But nothing. You didn’t do a thing wrong. In fact, you were the only one of us who did something. Not to mention it was a good thing. If it weren’t for you, we probably would have all died that day. Then where would we be? Heaven? Hell? Somewhere else that no one knows about?”

Denali’s smile tried to surface its way up, and somewhat succeeded, but he wouldn’t allow it to show any further. “Alright, alright. You win again, Ms. Know It All.”

Rika chuckled. “Well I wouldn’t say know it all, but thank you.” She smiled.

It wasn’t more than a month later that rumors started spreading around about Steele’s return once more. Apparently, either someone had seen his figure or a lie was becoming more and more frequent. Sam whimpered like a small puppy when he heard the news. Could it really be true? No… no! He can’t be coming! His mind wheeled. “No…” he whispered. He didn’t even know who he was talking to. There was no one around but him. The dog who had told him nodded and stalked off.

Rika had heard the news too, as did Denali, but since the two had been walking together when they heard it, Rika was able to convince Denali it was nothing more than a tall tale the dogs wanted to use to scare the town..

When Lera heard it, her reaction was much like Sam’s. She was terrified of the truth, hoping and praying it wasn’t.

Taylor on the other hand? He was way too busy with sledding to even think about gossip. He didn’t listen to anything the other dogs tried to tell him, even when they said it was urgent.

“But, Taylor-“ The swing dog tried to say.

The lead dog turned his head quickly to face the one behind him. “But nothing. If it’s just talk around town I don’t wanna hear it.”

The swing dog turned his head to face the floor. “Alright, fine.”

Taylor nodded. “That’s more like it.” He turned back, trying to see his brother, Sam, who was supposed to be at the end. “Sam? Are you there?” He called.  When there was no answer, he bit at his halter until it unlocked and slid off his form. He padded slowly to the back of the team, all of them ready to go practice… except his brother. He looked at the empty harness and his mind raced a bit. Where was he? His brother never missed practice. Not once. He looked around, trying to see if he was stuck somewhere in the crowds. “Sam!” He shouted.

The other dogs on the team looked at Taylor, a bit bewildered. They didn’t know why the lead dog was so worried about a mere wheel dog. Taylor didn’t pay any heave to their glances, though. He went straight to the others.

On the way to meeting up with his brother and sister, he found Lera standing by the sidelines. “Lera, come quick. We need to get to Denali and Rika!”

Lera ran beside Taylor, wondering to herself why Taylor seemed so crazy and desperate. “Taylor, what’s wrong?” She asked a she ran. While she did, she let her tongue hang out so she could breathe a bit better. Taylor did the same.

“I can’t find Sam anywhere! I’m afraid something may have happened to him!”

Lera tilted his head a bit.