(Brent had added a few things to the steel to make it that way). Balto walked in and stared at the sled.

‘’I call it the Snow-shredder.’’ Brent replied. Balto smiled at his friend.

‘’Good thing he’s good with tools.’’ Balto thought as he helped Brent slide the sled out of the garage. Just as Brent started to harness up his team, Inferno and his musher were off. Brent sighed and ran to grabbed supplies as fast as he could. After about twenty of the teams had left, Brent came running back his fifth armful of supplies. He tied down the masses of supplies and told Balto and the team to take a dry run just to make sure the sled wasn’t too heavy. Balto nodded and began to walk forward. The team mimicked his every movement, and soon they were running in the opposite direction of the starting line.

‘’Well?’’ Brent exclaimed.

‘’It’s not heavy at all. We can get up to maximum speed if we wanted to.’’ Kodi yelled back. Brent nodded and turned the tam back toward the starting line. By the time the team arrived, they were the next to start. Brent pulled his team up to the line and waited for the official signal. The time between the team arriving and the starting pistol going off was nerve-racking for all of Team Nome. Finally, the official pulled the trigger. The flash soared into the air, and Team Nome was off. Balto lead the team into the unpredictable Alaskan North, where only your senses and instincts help you survive.

Checkpoint 4; Knik, Alaska,

March 28th, 4:03 am,

Team Nome pulled into Knik at around 4 am. Brent yawned and stopped the sled. He needed sleep, but he knew that in order to win, or at least make a good effort in the race. Balto stopped and waited for Brent to make the next move. But when he looked back to the sled, he saw that Brent was asleep. Balto barked and awoke his sleeping musher. Brent shook his head and saw a race official walking over.

‘’Team name.’’ he asked. Brent answered the question sleepily.

‘’Team…Nome… (Yawn).’’

‘’Wow, you’re in 24th place already. About six of the team strangely didn’t make it. They had to back out.’’ The man explained. Brent nodded and gave the team some food. He just wished they could hold on.

‘’Man, what a run,’’ Kaltag exclaimed, ‘’I haven’t had this much exercise since I ran with Steele!’’

Nikki glared at him.

‘’Seems your lips have gotten a lot of exercise since we last met.’’ He retorted. Kaltag frowned and ate his meat. On the sled, Brent ate his supper; a small piece of meat, coleslaw and a piece of bread. Balto, meanwhile, went for a small walk to get ready for the next leg of the race. Suddenly, he heard a ghostly voice.

‘’Balto,’’ it replied softly, ‘’Balto.’’

‘’Jenna?’’ Balto asked. He then remembered that Jenna was back at home in Nome. It couldn’t be her. Balto kept hearing the voice, until he held his head and yelled, ‘’what do you want?!’’

The voice went silent for a few seconds, and then started up again, only it said something different.

‘’Beware the blazing inferno on snow.’’ It said. Balto gave a puzzled look.

‘’What?’’ he questioned. Just as he was about to investigate further, Brent’s voice entered his ear.

‘’Balto, we have to go! C’mon, hurry up!’’

Balto turned and ran back to the sled. He got harnessed back in, but he still wondered what the voice had meant. Brent got into the ready position and yelled, ‘’mush!’’

The team leap from their standing position and went into a run. Team Nome was now on the way. Unaware to the team, a figure watched from the cliffs. It then disappeared in cloud of mist.

Checkpoint 9; Rohn, Alaska,

March 28th, 11:56 pm,

As Team Nome approached, the lanterns of Rohn came into view. They were a welcoming sign for someone who was running in the dark all night. The team had decided to run through the four checkpoint leading up to this one to get ahead some places. Team Nome had gained about three spots, putting them in 21st place so far. Brent suddenly saw the team ahead of him crash. The musher was thrown from the sled, and his ribs were slammed against the hard, icy ground. The sled itself crashed into pieces. The dogs were scattered in every direction. Brent jumped from the sled and ran to the musher’s aid. He called to his team, ‘’get those dogs rounded up! Make sure none of them get hurt!’’

He then bent down and helped the man to his legs.

‘’Are you okay?’’ Brent asked. The man nodded and put his arm around Brent’s shoulder as he limped into the town.

‘’What happened anyway? That was some wild crash!’’ Brent questioned. The musher shook his head.

‘’I don’t know. All I remember was the dogs suddenly veering off the trail, and the crash. The rest is just a blur.’’

Brent kicked the door opened in the Iditarod office in Rohn, and the man behind the desk stood up.

‘’Who are you?’ he asked angrily.

‘’Forget my name, this guy need help. His ribs are broken!’’ Brent exclaimed. He man nodded and called for some medical workers. Brent then ran out of the office. The official then walked out and asked, ‘’hey, aren’t you that guy from Team Nome?’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Brent answered. The official looked in both directions.

‘’Where’s your dogs?’’ he questioned.

‘’I told them to round up that guy’s team.’’ Brent replied. The official gave him a serious look.

‘’You do realize that if you abandon your sled, for any reason before the checkpoint, you are disqualified.’’

Brent was thunderstruck. He was disqualified. He had let Nome down. Brent was about to walk away, when the man he rescued weakly pleaded, ‘’no. Let him race. He jumped from his sled to save me. If he hadn’t, I would have died. Please sir, let him race.’’

The official sighed.

‘’Okay, gather up yours and his dogs, and bring ‘em here. You can race. But this is your last change. Jump off again, and you’ll be out of this race. Got that?’’ the man pointed right at Brent’s face. Brent nodded and whistled for the dogs to come. After only a ten seconds wait, Balto, and the rest of the dogs arrived at the office. The musher smiled as his team lay down beside him. He then looked up at Brent and Team Nome.

‘’Thank you. Thank you all. And good luck.’’ He said in pain as Brent and Team Nome sped out of the town of Rohn.

Checkpoint 13, Ophir, Alaska,

March 29th, 2:38 pm,

After running through the dark Alaskan wilderness, Team Nome arrived at the town of Ophir, which lay at the intersection of two of the Iditarod race paths. Team Nome arrived at the town in 13th place. Balto stopped near the checkpoint office to let his team catch their breath. On the sled, Brent could no longer stay awake. He fell backward off the sled and landed on the snow, fast asleep. Balto knew that if the race official saw his musher fast asleep, they’d be disqualified. Balto quickly un-harnessed himself and dragged Brent into an alley. Balto stuck his muzzle into one of Brent’s parka pockets. Pulling out the small gadget that Brent used to turn himself into a human when he was a dog, Balto aimed the gadget at himself. The beam shot from the small gun and struck Balto. He clutched his teeth together as the collapsed onto the ground. A few seconds later, Balto got to his feet. Before thinking, he grabbed the gadget and shot it at Brent, turning him into his dog form. Balto suddenly caught a glimpse of himself as a human. He had high cheek bones, and his arms and legs were quite muscular. Balto knew that he would never be able to see himself like this again, and quickly grabbed Brent and put him in the sled. A race official came over and saw the dog in the sled.

‘’What happened to him?’’ he asked.

‘’He’s way too tired to go on. I’m letting him rest while the rest of the team continues on.’’ Balto replied reluctantly. The official nodded.

‘’Hey, what kind of pelt is your parka made of?’’ he asked. Balto said the first thing that came to his mind.

‘’Wolf.’’ He answered. The official nodded.

‘’Wow, it’s really good quality. You must have imported it from Canada or something.’’ He replied.

‘’Nope, it’s my own.’’ Balto answered. The official smiled.

‘’Kill it yourself, huh? Well, you’re all clear. Have a good trip you guys. Oh, and watch for the sign just up ahead. It’ll tell you which way to go.’’ The official explained. Balto nodded and got onto the sled.

‘’Mush!’’ he yelled. The team did not move. Balto leaned over the sled and whispered, ‘’guys, it’s me. Just do as I say until we get to the intersection. No one else is behind us, so we can still win this thing.’’

The team barked and sped forward, almost throwing Balto off the back of the sled. Little did Team Nome know that they were heading for a trap.

Just