TIME!”

He turned back to Jenna.

“MY FATHER, GRANT ME THE STRENGTH TO BRING YOU TO OUR HUMBLE PRESENCE! THEREFORE! I SUMMON YOU!”

He stuck his paw into Jenna’s chest.

Her mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came out.

A green light started to appear at the tip of Jenna’s tail and started to creep up her body.

“Jenna!” Balto yelled, but no one heard him, the wolves cheering drowned out all else.

Gareth smiled, as the light crept up Jenna’s back, and around her neck.

The bandanna that she had worn for as long as she could remember came undone, and blew upward.

The green light came from her eyes and her mouth, and she began to shake.

Her mouth was still open wide, frozen in the scream no one could hear.

Jenna arched her back, and a blue light came out of the green one.

It swirled around in the air for a moment, and then the green light wrapped around the blue light.

The blue light exploded, and the green one turned red.

Jenna’s mouth dropped closed, and she went limp.

“NOO!” Balto yelled, but just as before, no one heard him.

Gareth pulled his paw out of her chest, and Jenna fell to the floor.

Balto’s mouth dropped open.

The red light swirled around Gareth, and he screamed.

Gareth fell to the floor.

Tyrel ran up to his side.

“Sir?”

Gareth’s eyes opened and he stood up.

“Gareth?” Tyrel asked.

Gareth turned to him.

His eyes were red and he smiled.

“Not anymore.”

The other wolves were surrounded by a red beam of light that came from the wolf, who used to be Gareth’s, eyes.

Soon they too contorted and changed.

A flame surrounded them, and their skin fell off.

They quickly turned into the demons from Aleu’s dreams.

“Oh no…” Aleu said.

Balto just stared at Jenna, who hadn’t moved.

“… we’re too late!” Aleu said. “Shade!”

“Shade turned his head upward and shrieked.

The red demons looked up sharply.

Shade walked out of the chamber, followed by his new minions.

Aleu started to creep after them.

“Jenna…:” Balto said.

He started to walk over to her.

Aleu turned her head.

“Dad he’s going to get away!”

Balto got nearer to Jenna and stopped, almost unwilling to go any farther.

Aleu sighed and walked through the chamber, following Shade.

“Jenna?” Balto asked.

Jenna didn’t move.

Balto forced himself to take the last few steps to her side.

“Oh God…” Balto said softly.

Jenna’s mouth was open in a scream, and her soulless eyes stared back at him.

“No, no, no, not… not you…” Balto said.

He knelt down and nuzzled her, hoping she’d wake up.

She didn’t.

Balto fell to the floor beside her.

“I’m sorry Jenna…” Balto said. “…guess I came too late.”

He buried his head in her shoulder, as tears started to come to his eyes.

Suddenly, the fact that he would never again see her, hear her sweet voice hit him.

Jenna was gone.

Shade walked quickly up the chamber.

He suddenly felt something…. someone…

Shade turned to see Aleu creeping up behind him.

“If it isn’t my old friend.”

Shades demons were gone, and he was alone.

“Bring some new faces?” Shade asked, glancing at Kodi and Dusty.

“That just won’t do,” he continued. “This is between us.”

He nodded his head, and Kodi and Dusty disappeared in a red flash.

“No!” Aleu yelled.

A red smoke hung in the air.

“Aleu, allow me to introduce a few of my friends…”

Shade nodded again, and the same red flash occurred, but this time when the smoke cleared, eight of the red wolf demons stood in front of Shade.

“Have fun…”

Shade said, dissolving into a fit of laughter.

“…I think they want to get know you more personally.”

Then he turned and ran from the chamber.

Aleu stepped forward; her expression one of grim acceptance.

The wolf at the head shrieked, and they started forward as one.

Aleu didn’t wait for them; rather she leapt in and attacked.

Kodi and Dusty saw a bright red flash, and felt a great heat wash over them.

Kodi stepped in front of Dusty, and pushed her body behind his, willing to take the brunt of whatever was about to happen to them, rather than see her hurt anymore.

Kodi closed his eyes.

“If we die here, what will Dusty think of me?” Kodi thought.

Then there was nothing but pain.

Jenna still lay exactly as she had fallen, and Balto laid right beside her.

He didn’t know if he’d be able to get up.

He’d tried several times, but he couldn’t get his legs to work.

A new wave of tears started then, and Balto buried his face into her neck.

“Jenna…” Balto said.

It seemed to be the only word he could say.

He thought of what life without her would be like, and decided he didn’t want to imagine the reality of his life.

Balto heard something rustle then, and looked up to see the red bandanna, Jenna had worn since she was a pup, hanging from the cave roof.

As he watched, a breeze blew through the chamber, and the bandanna fluttered gently to the ground beside the fallen husky.

Balto stepped over Jenna’s body and slid the bandanna over his head.

He looked at it, and his tears started anew.

He shook his head and turned to walk away, when he heard something.

“It’s not possible…” Balto thought. “I saw her…”

He spun around.

Jenna was standing up!

Balto ran at her.

Her head was down, and she appeared to be in pain.

As Balto neared her, he felt himself lifted off the ground, and thrown through the air.

He rolled, and finally stopped when his side smacked into a stalagmite.

Balto stood up and shook himself off.

“Jenna?” Balto said.

Jenna looked up then, and Balto saw…

“Oh God…” Balto thought.

“No…” He said.

Jenna’s eyes glowed green.

As Balto watched, they turned blood red.

“I can’t do this….” Balto said to himself. “This cannot be happening….”

Then Jenna charged him.

Aleu was losing her battle quite badly.

She had been cut at least five times, and she could feel blood running down both her front legs.

Aleu ducked a bladed tail from the wolf in front of her, but the one behind her stuck his blade about four inches into the top of her shoulder.

Aleu screamed as the thing pinned her to the ground.

“I’m not going to make it…” Aleu thought.

Then she heard a cry… a familiar cry.

“Oh no!” She thought.

The demon fell off of her, as Shadow crashed into it.

Aleu could barely stand, the combination of exhaustion from her battle, and the wounds it produced, making her weak.

The demons shifted the focus of their attack from Aleu, to this new attacker.

As one of the things leapt through the air, Shadow sprung, colliding with it, and crashing to the ground, a blur of flashing blades and snapping teeth.

Shadow got his jaws around the demon’s throat, and bit down.

The demon shrieked, and Shadow bit down harder.

The demon exploded into a flash of gold light… and was gone.

Shadow turned, just as the other seven barreled into him. 

Kodi had no idea how long it had been since Shade had attacked them.

Time in this place seemed to be meaningless.

All there was was pain.

No light, nothing, just pain.

Kodi couldn’t see Dusty, but hoped she wasn’t here.

Kodi looked in the direction he thought was up, and saw a bright light approaching him.

The light got brighter and brighter, and then with one last burst of pain, Kodi found himself standing in front of Dusty once again…

“Home.” Kodi said disbelievingly.

Sure enough, they stood back in the dog shed.

Dusty looked at him.

“How’d we…”

“I don’t know.” Kodi said.

Dusty looked around and sighed.

“Well thank you for coming after me.” Dusty said. “I guess I’ll be getting out of your way…”

She felt tears come to her eyes again.

“I hope you have a good life…. Kodi.”

Then she turned and started to walk away.

Kodi sighed.

“Dusty, where are you going to go?”

She stopped and turned.

“I… I…. don… don’t know.”

She stopped to calm herself.

“I’ll find somewhere.”

She managed a faint smile.

“Don’t worry about me Kodi, I can take care of myself.”

Then she walked out the door.

Balto was suffering under the force of Jenna’s attacks.

He found himself unable to fight her.

Even though he knew that it wasn’t Jenna he would be fighting…

He couldn’t do it.

Jenna’s next attack caught him off guard, and he was knocked to the ground.

Balto stood up shakily.

There was but one way that this would end.

He looked up.

“I’ll see you soon Jenna.” He said.

Aleu was impressed.

Shadow had managed to get down all of the demons but one, and he was on top of it.

Shadow sank his teeth into the demon’s neck.

It disappeared with a