dragging…It was all she could do not to scream for mercy.

Steele’s cold voice pierced her fiery mind, running through and cooling it like an ice-shaven stream: “I’m disappointed in you, Chase. I thought you were stronger than this, not so weak so you would let your emotions get in the way of following orders. Maybe I was wrong about you. To put this…mutt before the army, before yourself…I’ll give you one more chance, and this time, let ME decide when or when not to fight…”

As the strokes came down like tarred ropes set afire, Chase glanced over at Ketch’s hunched form beside her even as her own body fought against her. Had they both been strong to stand up to a higher authority like Steele, or weak to let their careful friendship stop them from doing what was best for the army? Chase felt confused, as if a black hole had whirled inside her and sucked up everything she had known before, anything she was sure of, and every single ray of good judgment.

Finally the eight hits were done.

Chase lay on the ground, panting, covered with sweat and blood. Ketch managed to lift his head to look at her, and for some reason when Chase saw Ketch’s face she knew the pain had been worth it. She knew she would hurt herself before fighting Ketch, and somehow she had done something good.

That night Chase woke late to a white-hot pain in her crippled leg. She groaned softly and shifted her weight, but tiny volcanic eruptions seemed to explode inside her crooked limb. She twisted around and began licking the tortured leg, but the explosions kept coming. The darkness of the living room made the pain even more unbearable. A fiery bolt shot through Chase’s leg, and she whimpered.

“Chase?” Jenna’s voice drifted quietly in the silence as the husky entered the dimly lit room. “Chase, what’s the matter?”

“My leg,” Chase whispered tightly, “It’s acting up again.”

“Oh, my girl,” Jenna sighed as she came up beside her daughter. Even now Chase could feel how warm Jenna’s body felt, too warm to be normal temperature, and see the glassy glint of her red-brown eyes in the little light there was. Jenna was sick, there was no doubt…but Chase had other things to worry about, like how to get this darn leg to relax!

“I hate nights like this,” Chase complained, “Remember when they started when I was little? I thought my whole leg was going to fall off!”

Jenna nodded, obviously revisiting the past. “Yes, those nights were bad. But at least you’re more used to them now, and now you know your leg won’t fall off unless you get frostbite there!”

Chase snorted. “Always looking on the bright side of things, aren’t you, Mom?”

Jenna laughed. “It’s better than the alternative…Do you remember a certain song I used to sing to you and Copper and Kaila and Dusty before you went to sleep each night? When you were pups?”

Chase stretched out on the red carpet and winced when she stretched her twisted leg a little too far. “Barely.”

Jenna smiled gently, and Chase knew it was time to take a step back into the past. She settled herself down into the soft carpet and made herself ready to let her mother’s singing voice wash over her. All was quiet in the house as Jenna’s voice wisped around the living room like invisible gold.

‘Deep in the night, the winds blow cold,

And in a heartbeat, the fear takes hold,

Deep in the storm, there’s a place that’s soft and still,

Where the road waits to be taken, if you only will,

The voices inside you can lead you so astray,

Believe in what you dream,

Don’t turn away, don’t you turn away

Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are

Somewhere in time, the truth shines through,

And the spirit knows what it has to do,

Somewhere in you, there’s a power with no name,

It can rise to meet the moment, and burn like a flame,

And you can be stronger than anything you know,

Hold on to what you see,

Don’t let it go, don’t you let it go…’

Chase felt her tense muscles unclench, her gnarled leg go limp, her breathing get slow and relaxed. Something about listening to her mother’s beautiful voice soar to the high heavens calmed her.

Chase jerked in surprise at the touch of human hands on her back, but it was just Rosy, only half-awake and blinking with sleepiness. “Poor Chase,” the almost-10 year old murmured, “That leg must really hurt. Well, you’ve got your mom taking care of you now, so everything’s going to be okay. Right, Jenna?”

The soothing rhythmic motion of Rosy’s hands rubbing against her back almost sent Chase to sleep, but she forced herself to stay awake long enough to hear the end of the song.

‘There’s not turning back now,

Your destiny is calling,

Listen to the thunder roll,

And let your heart break free,

Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are

Yes, reach for the light…’

Jenna’s voice faded into the dark, and Chase slipped into a dreamy, blissful sleep. In her dreams, she ran through the snow on the outskirts of town, feeling no pain, with her twisted leg flying behind her. The white snow swirled around her and melted into thin ribbons of soft colors, pink and red and green and blue. The colors, the Northern Lights, whipped in the wind and pushed her from behind until Chase was running through the sky. Her white paws skimmed the blackness and touched stars like hot white stones, and still the Aurora whirled behind her, pressing her to run. Chase mounted the wind and raced it until it broke from under her and she began to fall, but the Lights caught her and lifted her to the heavens where a dusky white moon shown.

The Northern rainbow propelled her around the eerie glowing sphere, and as Chase passed each rounded side she gasped softly as she saw the faces of her family appear and disappear like ghosts on the lunar surface. Jenna’s face gazed sadly out at Chase with a small smile; then her image melded into Balto, his jaw set and determined and his golden eyes narrowed, but then his expression turned as sad and as pleading as Jenna’s. His face disintegrated into lunar dust, and Chase found herself staring into the face of her older sister, Kaila. Kaila wore a confused and helpless expression, and then Copper appeared with an almost identical face. It went down the line from there: Dusty, Kodi, Saba, Dingo, Aleu…Dogs she had almost completely forgotten about resurfaced and stared at her, all with the same sad, lost look. Chase could do nothing but stare back. This was her family.

At the end she was left looking at a reflection of herself in the moon. The picture didn’t surprise her: she was small, with dark red and white fur, and red-brown eyes with pale yellow irises. What did surprise her was the shock of emotions that burst through her when she looked at herself. She felt angry, but she wasn’t sure why; sad, but she wasn’t sure why. Ultimately, she felt hollow inside. She could almost hear the echo of her heartbeats.

Then, slowly, her face seemed to peel away to show another figure underneath: a white wolf.

Without thinking, Chase jumped forward. “Who are you?” she shouted.

“Who are you?” the echo came back, but the voice was not Chase’s; its warm, rich tones set Chase’s heart battering against her chest.

Two golden eyes watched as the colors underneath Chase’s paws threaded upwards to spin and twist around the small wolf-dog, faster and faster. The surging colors left only just enough space for Chase to see the white wolf turn to the side and raise her head.

“Wait!” Chase yelled, somehow knowing the old wolf was leaving. But the white of the wolf’s fur and the white moon melted into one, and the wolf vanished.

A wolf’s howl rang out through space as the Northern Lights spiraled upwards into the black. Chase began to fall…

Chase awoke with the call of the wolf still ringing through her ears. She got up and ran over to the window. It was morning, and Nome was beginning to come to life.

Chase tried to remember her strange dream, but it slipped and slid away from her until she had no memories of it at all. That’s when she remembered: today was the day Steele was going to get revenge on his enemy.

Steele had gathered all the dogs into a crowd, and he stood at the end of the alley with Chase by his side and every dog facing him. “Listen,” he shouted, “Today’s the day, D-Day if you have to call it something. Today’s the day for pay-back.”

Chase glanced around the room without turning her head. All the dogs seemed to be listening with an earnest, hungry interest, Ketch among them. Chase wasn’t sure what his past had been or how he had ended up on this side of town, but she knew enough to suspect he had something to be bitter about with humans or dogs…Every dog here seemed to.

“When we get out of this alley,” Steele continued, “There’s nothing you can’t do. Get out in town and make as much of a mess as you want. Steal, taunt, cause chaos, just like I promised you could. By yourselves every dog could laugh in your face; but together with all of us we’ll be the ones laughing.”

Chase could see some