ran pass her scouting point furiously, without the lead of Semas. Judging from their fur, which were in a mess, with signs of fighting on it, and their eyes, which were widen with shock, their mission must have failed miserably. Siria let them pass without asking anything, for she also knew that she would know what happened eventually.

True enough, Karani the insane alpha’s speech was an enraged one. He briefly related the three wolves’ order in the enemies’ territory, how they met a seasoned warrior of the enemy side, their fight, the new wolf who interrupted the battle and finally, he exaggerated the part of how Shadowfang, or in their tongue, the Assassinator, killed Semas dishonorably when the latter was not ready.

His words had succeeded in raising the anger in the pack, and finally, gave them a truly logical reason to chase down the deserters. Karani knew that well and easily persuaded his pack members to undergo the old, imprudent custom. He soon gathered his followers and ready to move out the next dawn, but he sent Siria back to her scouting point to gather more information, as even in his unstable state, he still remembered that no one can make Siria kill another wolf.

He might be unhinged by the lost of his mate and half of his pack, but his cunningness that inhabits the depth of his mind remained unchanged. Siria thought as she arrived in the rocky terrain where she stayed. She double checked the surrounding, made sure there was nothing hostile to her around, and laid down below the biggest rock, pondering.

Originally, there were many wolves that were against the idea of hunting down the rest of the Valley’s End Pack… because there was no reason to do so. Siria thought, she was one of the most loyal follower of Karani, but she did not follow him blindly, she clearly knew which of his decision was right and which was wrong. As for this one? There was no right or wrong, this was downright insane.

But now… they have… to avenge Semas, who was actually sent by Karani to wipe out the survivors… Siria thought as she watched a bird flew over her head. All Karani said was ‘Semas and his two comrades were ambushed by the Assassinator’, he did not tell why they were there… and he raised the anger in the pack quick enough to make the wolves forget about it…

The alpha just crushed the remaining hesitation in the pack, Siria realized to her dismay, this must be the reason Karani sent Semas and the other two wolves! Surely he would not believe that three wolves, stepped into the Assassinator’s territory, can make it out alive!

Karani used a trick and blinded his wolves from the truth, he just wanted the culprits of his mate’s death dead. It might not be the first time Siria disagreed with her alpha’s plan, but it was the first time Siria felt she needed to do something. Despite her fierce loyalty to her alpha, she felt that it was just plainly wrong and evil, and for the first time, she would go against her alpha that she so loyally followed…

Not far west from Siria’s scouting point, in the lovely clearing where the remnants of the Valley’s End Pack reside, Balto and Kaltag were being introduced to a new black colored wolf who has got a constant smiling face as if he could not feel anything but happiness. The other wolves and wolf-dogs were all there; even Shadowfang crept around the corner of the den.

This black wolf, named Mukhas, as Kirdo said, was the brother of Shadowfang, and he was the one who was thought dead by all except for Rokal, who insisted he saw Mukhas fled the battlefield. His fur was shiny, as if it was covered with oil, just like his brother’s. However, that was the end of the similarity. His body was a more elegant build, and his eyes were a beautiful woody brown. The greatest different Mukhas had with his brother was their demeanor. Mukhas was always cheerful, or so as Balto and Kaltag seemed, while Shadowfang hardly ever smiled.

The two did not get the chance to know more about this new, friendly wolf, nothing more than a few enthusiastic courtesy. As Kirdo informed him of a much important thing, which was inevitably the reason Balto came to them.

Kirdo explained what Shadowfang had found out in his investigation, his entire encounter with the wolf he spared in the past, the breaking of the Eastern War Pack and finally the insane pursue ordered by a crazed alpha. Everything Kirdo told was in great detail, to the point Balto began to question, just how Shadowfang related this all to Kirdo without saying a word, and just how Kirdo translated Shadowfang’s gestures into this detailed information. There must be a strong bond of friendship between the wolf-dog and the shadowy wolf, Balto decided.

It appeared that Kirdo had translated the gestures of Shadowfang into words and told them to the rest of his pack before Balto arrived for his share of the information, as some of the wolves were already argue over this matter, especially Rokal, who was having a fiery conversation with Lyya.

“Blast it! Blast them! There is no way we can fight an insane wolf with a whole pack of blind, mindless, retard wolves at his disposal!” Rokal completed his lines with a few curses. His voice was rising, and he sounded more angry than worry.

Even though a furious Rokal was a pretty scary thing, but Lyya stayed as cool as ice, as if she did not pick up the trace of anger in Rokal, “Calm down, warrior. If you do so you might figure a way out besides killing your way out of this.”

“Calm down?! Calm down when we are pinned between the great water and a pack of bastard wolves that follows him blindly? Are you out of your crafty mind?”

“You are out of your mind, old grandpa,” Lyya shot back with equal force, “I really want to see how long you can hold a whole pack of wolves! Five seconds? Ten seconds?”

Balto turned his head away with disappointment as the wolf-dog and the wolf went for another round of argument. He found himself facing Kirdo, who was listening to the argument with amusement on his face. Beside him, Mukhas seemed to be day-dreaming with Mista leaning against him. As for Shadowfang… he was again nowhere to be seen.

“Is this how your pack settles disputes? By putting two headstrong pack members and let them argue to see who will triumph?” Balto asked his brother jokingly.

Kirdo chuckled a little, “Not really, our alpha was a wise wolf, he could always talk sense into us. But he is no longer here to help us…” The brown colored wolf-dog lowered his head, saddened by the thought.

Balto was sympathetic for his lost-and-found brother, but he also knew that it was not the right time to be drowned by the past while the present was about to crumble down upon them. “Is there anything we can do?”

Unexpected by Balto and Kaltag, Mukhas spoke, “We need a plan, and I have one... but I need everyone here to make it work, including you, Balto brother of Kirdo, and you, Kaltag master sled dog of Nome. And I need Lyya to help me improve it.” Even when he spoke, he still had a small smile on his face, which made him quite charming. No wonder Mista fell for him… Balto thought.

“However, I said everyone.” Mukhas continued, “And that means including my brother.”

“Kamsa won’t go anywhere without a clear reason,” Kirdo said, looking around in case that Shadowfang was around, “I am sure of that.”

“Perhaps Lyya can make some adjustment to your plan so we can exclude Shadowfang if necessary.” Balto commented.

“If you have a plan, we best hear it now. There’s not much time left.” Mista said, finally giving out her opinion. She only seemed to be comfortable with Mukhas’ presence.    

Chapter Nine: Of Trust and Duty

Fighting a battle was easy, you kill your opponent, and he was dead and would never get up again. If you were strong, you would be rid of enemies as soon as you knock them all senseless. However, fighting your own thoughts was a totally different thing. You struck a thought that hurt your mind, it would simply get up again with another reason and hurt you again, it took a great deal of time and vitality to overcome the thoughts and memories that went against your will, and this was what Siria experiencing now.

 The tan colored she-wolf was trailing the way deeper and deeper into the territory of the feared ‘Assassinator’, as her pack called. She had made the decision to alert Shadowfang and his friends about the oncoming onslaught a moment ago. Putting her tracking and scouting skills to use, she followed the path the survivors of the Valley’s End Pack took about a week ago to reach their current home.                 

Even if she had decided to try and help the survivors, her mind still struggled against her loyalty to Karani. She remembered everything she did under her alpha’s command, and how she did them without hesitation. She felt worse and worse for her action now to ruin her alpha’s plan, as ridiculous the plan was, she felt as if she was betraying her alpha and joining the rivals of her alpha and her pack.

However, her alpha was no longer wise, but a maddened devil, consumed by hatred, sadness and the lust for vengeance. He pursued a debt that was never made, and his anger blinded him from a fact of battle, that is a battle or a war, no matter how high your rank was, you were another enemy ready to be put down in your enemies’ eyes, they will not avoid you even if they know how high your rank was, and it was actually the direct opposite; the higher your rank, the