Rokal’s surprise, after a minute of silent waiting none of the plans of the others would give a better result than Lyya’s already mad and suicidal plan.

“It is settled then,” Mista declared on her own, “we do our parts and we don’t complain. Please do not let us down.”

“There’s nothing we can do other than that,” Mukhas added, much to Rokal’s surprise, “So why not give it a try?”

“Agreed…” Kirdo mumbled reluctantly, Shadowfang nodded before he left again, probably to do his parts right away.

“What say you, brother?” Kirdo asked, the question was directed to Balto. Balto knew that eventually it will lead to some sort of vote, so he had make up his mind halfway when his brother asked for his opinion. To him, there was one thing he always regretted, that Steele never got a second chance from the dogs in Nome, he clearly predicted he would not get that chance, or he did not want that chance, and snuck away into the forest before the town’s dog returned to his last appearing ground.  He did not like Steele, but everyone deserved to get another chance to prove him or herself.

“Although I do not fully understand the conflicts that happened in your pack, Kirdo,” he finally voiced his choice, his voice clear and firm, “But I agree, and I will help in her plan.”

After Balto made his choice, everyone turned and looked at Rokal, the old wolf was appearing uneasy, as if he was trying to convince someone but no one would listen to him. “Fine!” He finally surrendered, “But if anything happen to anyone here, I swear I will tear you into a thousand pieces even if I am reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes! Mind this, white fox…”  

Lyya’s expression remained unfazed as her friends left the clearing, mumbling, while getting into their own positions to undergo her plan. Mukhas gave another smile to Mista before he trotted off to his location of action, meaning that he knew what Mista was thinking. Soon, only Kaltag remained, as he was not given any task to do, he decided to go back town and share the grim news with the dogs of the town.

Just then, he heard Lyya called for him, in a weird tone. Before he can ask why, Lyya got into a string of nearly inaudible mumbles; Kaltag could notice the sign of her voice shaking as she spoke. Kaltag focused on his ears but could only make out random words “They… sorrow… hate… help…”

Of course, no one could understand what those pieces of a sentence could mean, but before Kaltag could ask, Lyya pulled herself together and, in an instant, back to her usual, mysterious and keep to herself state. “I didn’t mention you throughout the whole plan, did I?” she said with a calm voice, as if nothing happened, “But I didn’t say you are not part of my plan.”

“Sure, my part would be, get out of the way and let the wolves and wolf-dogs do the job.” Kaltag answered sarcastically.

“Then my answer will be surprising to you,” Lyya responded with a hint of seriousness in her tone, “You’ll play the major role…”

Lyya explained the part she planned for Kaltag, and as he listened, his face turned from disbelief to shock and to fear. At the end, Kaltag could hardly apprehend the risk of the plan or the insanity of the wolf-dog that stood before him.

“This is the only way,” Lyya insisted, “We have to stop it somewhere, or they will haunt us to the end of time.”  

“But…” Kaltag stammered, he could not imagine himself doing such a thing, “Is this really necessary?”

Lyya nodded with her eyes closed, “You better hurry, the enemies are on the way and no one knows how long you’ll need.”

“I didn’t sign up for this!” Kaltag complained, “It’s nothing I will ever do! It’s the most horrible, the most terrible, the most regrettable to do!”

“Balto is out there, one of your friends is out there,” Lyya pointed out, much to Kaltag’s irritation, “If you don’t want to do it, then he’s screwed.” And in a much lighter tone, she said, “Consider this an effort to save a friend; this will make it a lot easier for you mind and your so called ‘morality’.”

“You…” anger started building up inside of Kaltag, “You left me no choice!” He gave Lyya a dangerous glare, and ran off toward the town without looking back.

Lyya stood alone after Kaltag left, her face showed none but the void of expression. Softly, she said, “I hope you can all forgive me… in time you will know why…”

 

Chapter 11: A Flawed Plan

 Dawn arrived soon enough, and before the sun showed his face above the mountains, Karani had muster his pack, prepared for a massacre. Now he scanned his remaining pack, and was pleased; all the wolves looked as savage as they were in any battle, even in this one which they had the utmost chance of victory. If only I have the full pack back… we could have conquered this whole region, with our original territory under control… upon thinking this, he could not suppress a smile, but he shook the thought away. There will be other time for this, right now, I must savor the sweetness of vengeance.

“All is ready,” After what seemed to Karani an eternity of waiting, Dakea finally showed up with this most long awaited news. “Good… we march in there at first light. They should be wide awake that time, I want them to see it coming, I want them to know the WE killed them, and I would really love to have them knowing why we kill them.”

Unbeknownst to Karani and his pack of wolves was something that might send his entire pleasure taking plan down the river; one of his most loyal subjects betrayed him… and the traitor would be the one leading his pack in the attack…

A short distance due west, where Karani would thought his easy preys now dwell, was very busy with actions. What he once believed to be simple targets with no defense nor any knowledge of what was coming for them, were making some sort of plan, but Karani was blind to this all, of course, for he believed that even if they have preparations made for their arrival, his forces could well crush them with their number; Karani had got them outnumbered two to one. No… they will perish today.

“Alright!” Karani cleared his throat, as his followers quieted down to hear from their leader, “It is time, let us march into the enemies’ lair and teach them a lesson about messing with us!” A heartless smile spread on his face as the wolves roared, agreeing with him.

The first few minutes of their march for vengeance were uneventful; their quiet steps scared off nothing but birds and rodents. Every now and then, some of the more cautious wolves would start to wonder if they were marching right into a trap with their eyes opened, but their mutters of discouragement were cut short by the fearsome glares from their vengeful pack mates.

The first surprise was not one to their preference. As they approached a wide and seemly unwatched path, the ground beneath one of the wolf in lead suddenly gave way, and two of Karani’s most influential followers fell into the hole that just suddenly subsided.

The pit was not very deep, but the impact managed to knock one of the two wolves unconscious, the other was luckier, as she landed on top of her not-so-lucky friend.

The whole pack stopped to check on their trapped brethrens, “It is impossible for our enemies to make such a hole in the hard soil, and it is obvious that this is no natural formation.” Dakea stated, carefully not to slip on the edge and fall into the trap.

“Enough of talk, get back on the path and we march forth!” The wolves  unanimously looked at the source of the speaker, who turned out to be Karani himself, he looked not at one bit concerned for his own two wolves in the trap.

A flash of black.

A wolf yelped and fell unconscious. A deep scratch mark, flowed with blood, appeared on this back, just narrowly missed the neck. Before the other wolves could get what happened, another wolf fell.

Everyone was panicked, they turned from places to places, trying to find the one behind this silent yet deadly attack. The wolves’ pack disordered quickly, Karani and Dakea tried furiously yet futile to get the pack back to order. At first it seemed their number will go down one by one until no one is alive… or awake, but Karani was a great leader, he knew what had to be done in such situation, leaving the command to Dakea—whatever command that was still in effect—and ran to a higher ground.

He reached the top of a slanted rock that impaled on the ground like a giant icicle that fell from the sky in ancient time. There, he scanned the whole visible surrounding. At first he saw nothing but turmoil amongst his wolves, but then he spotted it. Under the tree just a few yards from the nearest wolf, a shadow was moving.

‘’Assassinator…” The alpha hissed the name with pure hatred. This demon had cause his pack troubles way too many, no more. Anger and near insane hatred rushed through his body, granting him strength to achieve what most others cannot.

From the top of the rock he leaped, flying through the air for an impressive length of time, and landed right on top of the ‘shadow’. A near impossible distance for a simple jump from a higher ground. The black wolf grunted silently, and slipped away so fast Karani could not catch up. Karani cursed, he

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