Legend Of A Legend (Part 2)

XIII

Aniu awoke to see Sango gazing down at her, a concerned expression on his face. “Oh….” she groaned, clutching her stomach. “Did I make it?” she added a second later, a hint of humor in her voice.

Sango only bent down and brushed his muzzle over her face. “Everyone’s fine.”

Aniu struggled to her feet—she was weak, and her head still spun from the effort of a few minutes ago.

Sango smiled down at the small litter that lay on the ground before him. “Aniu,” he said, raising his gaze to meet her warm eyes, “they’re beautiful. But not as beautiful as you,” he added a second later, touching his nose to hers.

And the pups were beautiful. For the first time, Aniu truly took in the miracle that had been created two months ago. There were one brown and gray male and three females—two of them gray and white, and the last brown and white. Sango watched as the brown female crawled over one of her sisters to take a place next to her brother.

Aniu gently brushed her muzzle across her progeny and licked Sango’s cheek. “You like her, don’t you?” she asked him, motioning to the brown female.

Sango grinned in return. “So,” he began, “what should we name them?”

“Actually,” Aniu replied, “I’ve been thinking about that for a while. For him”—she lowered her head toward the lone male of the litter—“I like Balto. Then Ara,” she continued, pointing to the brown female, “and then Galena and Lyrie.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sango said, rubbing against Aniu’s cheek.

That night, dreams troubled Aniu:

She saw herself approaching a foreign town, traveling northward on some unknown mission. Looking around her, she saw Balto, Lyrie, and Galena; Sango and Ara seemed to be absent. Somehow, she knew that the Shiok, where she was now, was behind her. She felt a burning pain in her muzzle—it was almost as if she was wounded. Another look told her that not one of the pups was unscathed—each had cuts and bruises on their faces and bodies. But even as she watched, all their wounds disappeared, fading smoothly into nothingness.

Suddenly she heard a voice call out to her—similar to Sango’s, yet different in some way; more detached from the physical world. “Go north,” the voice said, “and leave Galena. It will be for the best.”

“But…why?” Aniu asked. “I don’t want to leave my daughter behind.” She stole a third glance at the pups and noticed that they seemed oblivious to the voice.

“All I can say I have already said, but I will tell you again: It is for the best.”

Aniu heard a snarl somewhere behind her. She turned and prepared herself for an attack, but no one was there. “What…?”

“You have no idea of what will happened if you defy fate,” the voice replied, a menacing tone hidden somewhere deep inside.

Now, for only the second time in her life, legitimate fear overcame Aniu. She turned away from where the snarl had come from and began to sprint toward her pups. But before she could reach them, they seemed to melt into thin air.

Aniu began to pant harder, and her eyes widened with shock at the loss of the rest of her family. She whirled back around, but again, there was nobody there.

The fur went up on the back of her neck as she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around once more, and this time the ghostly image of an old, decrepit wolf appeared a few yards away.

“Who—who are you?” Aniu struggled to form words as a feeling of trepidation crept over her.

“I have no name,” the wolf said, his raspy voice startling Aniu. “But I imagine you already know me well enough, for I am the reason you live. I am the reason you exist.”

Aniu gasped. “S…Sango?”

“I am not Sango,” the wolf replied, its tone of voice more menacing than ever. “As I said before, I have no name.” Suddenly the wolf rushed forward, lifting a claw to Aniu’s throat. “But you still know me.”

“What—what do you want from me?” Aniu asked helplessly, trying to keep perfectly still so as not to startle the wolf.

The wolf’s claw tightened against her throat. “I believe I already told you what I want. I want you to abandon Galena. “

“Wait,” Aniu interrupted. “Where—where was Ara?”

“That is none of your concern,” the wolf replied, lowering his claw but just as quickly twisting around so his jaws were inches from Aniu’s throat. “I can tell you, however, that you will have no need of your daughter on your jour—”

“What do you mean I don’t need Ara?” Aniu snapped, suddenly enraged. She’s my daughter, and I love her! I swear, if you do anything to her, I’ll personally tear your throat out!”

“Funny thing to say,” the wolf remarked, “considering your current position. As punishment, Ara will be taken from you before the year is out. Do as I say, or the same will happen to Sango. Or even Galena, Balto, and Lyrie.” Then the wolf closed his jaws.

Everything disappeared.

Aniu awoke the next morning feeling as if she was forgetting something.

XIV

It was again night, and the stars shone brightly in the black sky. The Shiok’s territory was quiet, save for the gust of wind or call of an Arctic tern that would sometimes cut sharply through the cold air.

Sango stood at the mouth of the den, gazing at the many spots of light that dotted the sky, entranced. He turned as Aniu stepped to his side.

“Wow,” Sango said. “It’s so hard to believe that all of that could be out there, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been wondering that all my life,” Aniu answered. “Sometimes, when I was younger, I used to sit out in the middle of the woods and just stare at it all.”

“Yeah,” Sango said. I just wonder how it could all exist.” He glanced back at the pups, the awed expression still on his face.  “They’ve all grown so much,” he stated. “Only a few weeks old, and already they’re so big, huh?”

Aniu smiled warmly at her mate, and they turned to the pups in unison.

At that moment, Balto stood and made his way over to his parents.

“Come on, Balto,” Aniu said warmly, rubbing a paw across her son’s head. “What are you doing still up?”

“I don’t know, Mom,” Balto responded. “I guess I just couldn’t sleep.” His eyes suddenly widened as he glanced outside, and Sango followed his gaze.

He looked out through the entrance to that cave and gasped. “Look!”

Aniu glanced outside and gasped as well.

Spread out across the night sky was the aurora borealis, the most beautiful aurora either of them had ever seen. The vast expanse of night was filled with perpetual color. The greens flowed smoothly into reds, which even then were replaced just as seamlessly with yellows and blues. The shimmering stars accentuated the brilliant color, sometimes shining through it, other times tinted by the phenomenon’s amazing effect.

Sango and Aniu simply sat, entranced by the lights, for several minutes until Sango heard a soft giggle behind him. He turned and saw Balto staring at the colors in the sky, clearly mesmerized. He silently walked over to the pup, placing a paw on his son’s shoulder. “They’re magnificent, huh?”

Balto turned his head and stared up at his father. The grin that covered his face was enough. Then Sango beckoned for Balto to sit with him and Aniu at the edge of the den. Soon the pup began walking forward and sat between his parents.

Together they stayed, watching the Northern Lights, entranced by the boundless aurora.

It was several hours later when the lights finally ended, and Sango looked down and realized that Balto and Aniu were not there. He hurried back to the cave and found his family asleep. Balto lay apart from his sisters next to Aniu, the same smile on the pup’s face as when he first beheld the Lights.

Sango walked over to his family and lay down beside them, positioning his head between Balto and Aniu. Soon he, too, was asleep and dreaming peacefully.

The pups were now eight weeks old—and, Sango noted with a chuckle, more energetic and adventurous than ever. It seemed only Balto had inherited his father’s brilliant sense of smell, while Lyrie had developed her mother’s skill at hunting. Galena and Ara, it seemed, were more docile and calm, but even so, they bounded around with their other siblings.

Sango and Aniu watched them from several feet away as Lyrie chased a rabbit around the entrance of the den. Balto and Galena were engaged in some sort of play-fight, and Ara seemed to delight in simply exploring the land around her and her family.

Then Sango remembered something: though the pups were now old enough to be adopted, as they would if they were in a city, they still had not met Soren. And the leader was getting even older now, and he looked like he might die any day. “Balto, Ara, Galena, Lyrie!” he called out, “Want to meet Soren? He’s the leader of this pack.”

The pups erupted into simultaneous fits of laughter, their tiny bodies bounding towards their father, while Aniu watched from a few feet away, a warm smile on her