fell as he held his head low, following his lead away from the scene, while Steele took in his new victory. He knew that Kaltag was going to get in trouble for this, and that was what he wanted in the first place. 'That dumb dog is going to get it this time - and I get away scot free! Should I go watch him have the riot act read to him? Nah, I've had enough fun for one day. Then again, it serves that idiot right. Going off and trying to slander me like that - maybe now he'll remember to shut up and mind his place in things.'

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It was happening again; he was running with everyone across the land, including the stranger. This time, the unknown husky seemed to be trying to tell him something. His mouth was moving, but Balto's ears could barely pick up what he was saying, as though the stranger was talking to him from far away. He tried hard to focus the unknown dog, but his attention would be broken by screaming in the distance. He glanced back and saw the shadow, striking dogs down with impunity. The nightmare had returned, claiming one dog after another. The mysterious husky leapt to defend him once more, but he was no match. Balto was alone again, alone against this terrible threat. He shut his eyes in fear, but the screaming continued, ringing in his ears.

'No, it can't end like this. Help me! Help!'

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"Help!"

Balto's eyes snapped open, but the yells were not his own. It was someone else, screaming, begging for anyone to come to his aid. The reaction was instantaneous; he bolted up and charged ahead, determined to help. His sudden movements jolted his teammates awake, and when they heard the yells they leapt into action. They didn't need to ask to know what was going on. They knew another dog was in trouble, but this time would be different. This time they wouldn't be caught unprepared; they would charge ahead and stop the madness once and for all.

'It's happened again,' he thought as he ran, his legs surging him forward, hoping to reach them in time. They expected to arrive in the middle of a fight, able to see who their attacker was, but by the time they arrived, it was too late. The assailant was gone, leaving a trashed team in its wake. Dogs were lying in the ground, moaning in pain and nursing fresh wounds. Somehow, their attacker had snuck up on them, before delivering quick, but damaging blows to them. Deep cuts and bites oozed on several of the dogs, mainly around their necks. Several had leg wounds as well, and a couple looked like the bone had been broken too. Those that didn't have any wounds to lick were either trying to help the injured, or were too scared to do anything. Who could blame them - they'd been attacked by something that came out of nowhere, inflicted serious harm and then left just as suddenly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It… went… that way," one dog said, wincing from the pain in a deep shoulder wound. "It's… still close." With that, a surge of adrenaline pumped through his body. The assailant was nearby, and they had to take a chance to catch it. Three incidents were three too many in his book, and they would have to be stopped one way or another.

"Alright, Nikki and Dale, you're with me! Everyone else, try to help the team, and see if you can get any more clues," Balto instructed, and they all nodded. The Chow and malamute were the two biggest dogs on the team, meaning he'd have all the muscle he needed to catch the assailant. They started down the alley, and he couldn't help but smile when lights started to come on in the houses. More people awake meant more light to see, and more eyes to search with.

Turning a corner, they heard the voices of a few other dogs. They were also taking part in the search, but seemed to have hit a dead end. "He's got to be somewhere around here," one voice said.

"Can we help?" Balto offered, catching their attention.

"I don't know, the scent trail here is all messed up," the malamute replied. "It was definitely here, but it's like the trail vanishes."

"Hang on, maybe I can see something from higher up," he suggested, before heading towards some crates. The boxes were stacked against a wall, arranged such that they formed a rough staircase to the roof. Most dogs wouldn't think about anything like this, but Balto was one who thrived running along the rooftops of Nome. He scaled the boxes before peeking along the surface of the roof. His eyes panned to the side, when he found that there was someone already up there. He almost missed it, but when the double-take hit, he saw how the trail had suddenly vanished.

Perched on the roof was an unknown figure, the dark obscuring everything except its outline. When his gaze locked onto it, both froze. Neither expected to see the other, and as the shadow went on alert, Balto's heart jumped when he saw it had a very similar profile to the shadow from his dream. It didn't take him long to realise that he was staring down the one behind all of these attacks, and it had been right above his head only moments ago. It easily could have jumped them if it wanted to.

The moment only lasted a moment before the shadow darted away, flying along the rooftops to escape him. "Hey!" he called out, before pursuing the shadow, clambering onto the roof to give chase. The other dogs heard his cry and tried to follow him from the ground. The assailant would have to climb down at some point, and they hoped to catch him when it did.

Across snow-covered rooftops and the gaps between them, Balto and his quarry sailed along. All that mattered to him was catching the assailant, an instinctual drive similar to the one felt by a wolf on the hunt. This shadow was his prey, and if it slipped away again, who knew what it would do afterwards. It swerved and zigzagged along the rooftops, trying to throw him off, but he still gained on it. He was getting so close, his heart racing as he anticipated the moment where he would catch it, ending the hunt. Up and down the sloping surfaces of the roofs they went, with his prey appearing and disappearing with every peak they cleared. Seeing his prey disappear sent a jolt through him that was only relieved when he saw it reappear on the other side. This went on for longer than Balto kept track of, his sense of time lost with his determination to catch the culprit. He jumped another gap, his claws digging into the shingles as he scaled yet another slope, but… his quarry was nowhere to be found. He saw no prints on the next roof, or any sign of its retreating tail.

Once again, it was gone as soon as it'd arrived. Balto initially feared a surprise attack before reason hit him - it had jumped down in a bid to escape. They'd long left his backup behind, meaning it would have a clear dash to escape the town. His eyes darted every way, desperate to catch the suspect. He scanned up and down streets and alleys, before he saw it, a dark shadow right below him. Without a second thought, Balto lined himself up and jumped. This was the make or break time, when he would either catch the fiend or let him get away. He made no sound on his jump, only braced himself for the impact that the one below never saw coming.

The fact that he landed on something soft told him he'd hit his target, which let out a startled yelp on impact. He quickly got up and looked at what he'd caught, but he was in for a surprise, and feared that he'd jumped the wrong suspect… or that the real culprit was someone he didn't want to suspect.

That was because, lying on the ground beneath him, was Steele.

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Chapter Nine: Keep Friends Close, and Enemies Closer

The barking and howling of the dogs was enough to wake the entire town, and there were even a few who swore something had been running across their roofs. It didn't take then long to find the wounded dogs, and as the humans tended to the injured, the others gathered to spread the news. As before, rumours and stories started bouncing back and forth, with many conflicting reports. Some thought one attacker, some thought many. Some thought it escaped into the wilderness; others thought it doubled back and was hiding in town, while one thought the culprit was sitting right with them.

They gathered in an unused harbour station by the frozen river. Ruby was another town in Alaska that sprang up due to the discovery of gold in the north. Its position on the Yukon River meant it was a vital supply stop for ships going between the other river towns and the end of the rail line in Nenana. However, much like Nome's harbour, the winter ice locked up the river, shutting it down until the spring.

Balto was trying to take accounts from two different dogs, a task made difficult by the fact that they were arguing with each other over whether it came from the east or the west. Beside him, Kaltag lay down, silently staring across the room. His eyes were locked on Steele, who was telling his own account to his team. Through the background noise, only snippets of what was saying reached his ears, but he distinctly remembered him describe 'some dumb wolfdog jumping him' and growled a bit.

'You're just trying to cover your ass because you got caught,' he thought to himself. 'If it was me, we wouldn't be wasting time with this discussion. We'd be getting right to the point – why you got caught in the act.'

Realizing he wasn't going to get anything more useful from these two, Balto dismissed them before getting everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone listen a moment," he called, and the room fell silent. "I know we've had a rough