was standing on a small rock island, surrounded by an orange liquid, liquid fire.

Shade leapt at her.

Aleu barely dodged, and Shade almost fell into the liquid, but managed to keep his balance.

“So nothing will kill you here huh? Aleu thought. “Then why are you afraid?”

Shade looked at her and laughed again.

“Let’s meet an old friend, shall we?”

Suddenly, a burning, burned wolf stood before her.

“Gia?” Aleu said.

The wolf growled at her.

Aleu didn’t know what to do.

Gia leapt at her.

Gia attacked with all the ferocity she could muster, which was quite a lot.

Aleu couldn’t even block the attacks, and was beat up badly.

Gia hit her again, and threw her to the ground.

She walked over to Aleu, and bit her leg.

Aleu screamed.

Gia’s teeth went to the bone.

Aleu started trying to kick her, to run away, anything to cease the added pain she was now feeling.

Gia took all of her blows, but if anything, her grip tightened.

Gia began tossing her head, first right, then left.

This caused Aleu even more pain, then there was a painful jerk and Aleu was free.

She rolled across the small island.

Aleu stared in shock at what Gia had in her mouth.

She looked down.

Her back leg was gone.

“Oh my God!” Aleu thought.

She screamed again.

Shade laughed.

“Good girl…” he said.

Aleu struggled to stand up.

Blood coated her fur now, everywhere.

It ran in a steady jet from her shredded leg, and seeped out of thousands of massive wounds all over her body.

She was standing, only by sheer will, the will to survive.

Gia tossed the leg out into the orange liquid, and it was instantly engulfed in flames.

Gia turned back and growled at her.

Then she attacked again.

Aleu didn’t focus on the fight, or her injuries and the overwhelming pain they caused.

In the middle of all this chaos, she began to think of her family.

Of her mother and father, of Shadow, of her kids.

Aleu opened her eyes to see that she was blocking Gia’s attacks.

The panic had left her, now, there was but calm.

Aleu blocked another of Gia’s attacks, and sent one of her own, with all the strength she had.

Her paw smashed into the side of Gia’s head, and went… through it.

Gia’s head collapsed under the force of the blow.

Aleu felt her paw burning, and realized that it was because she had touched Gia.

Gia just stood there.

Aleu kicked her with her back legs, and tore the wolf in half.

Gia’s back legs, skipped off into the liquid, and the rest of her followed.

Aleu thought she was going to be sick.

“Bravo.” Shade said.

He whistled.

Gia was before her again.

“What?!” Aleu screamed.

Shade smiled.

“I told you, you can’t die here.”

Aleu looked at Gia, as she growled at Aleu again.

“There’s got to be some way to stop this!” Her mind screamed at her.

She looked at Shade.

A tear came to Aleu’s eye.

“I’m sorry Shadow…” She thought.

Then she ran full out at Shade.

He stopped laughing.

Aleu slammed into him, and the two were rolling, rolling to the edge of the small island.

They went over, and Aleu heard him scream, heard herself scream too, as pain, pain that drowned out all else, consumed her.

Chapter 15

Balto and Jenna were still watching the spot where Aleu had disappeared, when they heard the same crackling noise.

He stood up.

Aleu appeared in the air, and then fell to the floor.

She didn’t move.

Balto watched her.

She wasn’t breathing.

“Oh no!” He thought.

He ran over to her.

Aleu opened her eyes.

The pain was gone.

She stood up.

She was back in the cave.

No orange glow, no screams of suffering… everything was normal again.

Alai walked up to her.

He looked upset.

She walked over to him.

“Alai, what’s wrong?”

“You did it,” Alai said, “Shade is no more, consumed by the very fire he once controlled.”

Aleu was confused.

“Then why are you so upset?” Aleu asked. “Shouldn’t you all be celebrating?”

“They are,” Alai said, “but I find little to be happy about.”

“Why?” Aleu said.

“Aleu…” Alai started.

Aleu suddenly thought of something.

“Alai…. why didn’t I go back to the cave, why here?”

Alai sighed.

“Aleu… you…. you died.”

“What?” Aleu said.

“Come here,” Alai said.

He walked over to the wall of the cave, and a blue glow appeared in it, through which she could see the cave.

“My cave.” Aleu thought.

Then she gasped.

Her mother and father were there, and they were crying…. In the center of the room was…. was……..

“Me,” Aleu said.

Alai sighed again.

“Aleu… you… you died.”

“What?!” Aleu yelled.

“You took out Shade,” Alai continued, “but in doing so… you sacrificed yourself.

Aleu looked down at herself.

There was a blue glow, an aura around her, the same as was around Aniu… and Alai.

“No!” She said, “I… I can’t die.”

Tears came to her eyes.

“I’ve… I’ve got kids… and a family… I’ve got the pack that needs to be run and…”

Alai cut her off.

“Aleu, none of that matters anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter?” Aleu said.

Alai sighed.

“Come here my child.” Aniu said.

Aleu turned around.

“Aniu, why… why like this?” Aleu asked.

Aniu sighed.

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this.. but it did, and now you must come with me.”

Aleu looked back at the window.

“No,” she said, “I can’t leave.”

Alai smiled.

“Come on Aleu, we can be together again, together for all eternity, nothing… nothing will ever separate us again.”

A blue window, through which Aleu could not see, opened up next to the one Alai had created.

Aniu stepped through.

Alai walked up to it.

Aleu stared at him.

“Come with me.” Alai said.

Aleu sighed, and with tears streaming down her face, stepped forward.

“How am I going to do this?” Balto thought.

He stood in Aleu’s chambers.

He still couldn’t believe what had happened.

“I guess I knew it had to happen sometime, but…. But God I wasn’t ready… not yet.”

Shadow walked into the room then.

He was smiling. He saw Balto.

“Hey Balto,” he said, “guess what Sheik did on the hunt?”

He fell silent when he saw the look on Balto’s face.

“Balto?” Shadow asked. A distinct pain beginning to form in his chest.

“Where’s… where’s Aleu?”

Balto sighed and stepped forward.

“Here goes…..” He thought.

“Shadow….”

Steele opened his eyes.

The first thing he felt was the heat.

He looked around him.

He was on a ledge, a ledge of rock, overlooking…. Hell.

Steele began shaking.

“Curse you Jenna,” he said. “How could you do that to me?”

Shade walked in front of him.

“Oh there you are,” Steele said, “what happened.”

“You died.” Shade said.

“Yeah I know that,:” Steele said, “I mean why didn’t you kill Aleu.”

“She… she killed me.”

Steele laughed.

“So what now, Demon Boy?”

“Now we suffer.” Shade said, “for I am here forever as well now.”

“Nice to know I’ll have a friend.” Steele said.

The fiery liquid rose up higher and higher, closer to the top of the ledge.

Shade grinned at him.

“You ready?” Steele asked, beginning to shake.

“Oh I’ve been here before,” Shade said, “trust me, you’ll never be ready.”

The liquid reached them then, and they both screamed.

Steele could feel his skin curling up, the fur melting.

A great wave of the liquid washed over them,

and all Steele could feel was pain.

Chapter 16

Dash stood at the river, looking down at the five bodies on the shore.

“How could this happen?” He thought.

He looked at Shasta.

She looked so peaceful now.

The fact that he was never again going to hear her sweet voice, or wake up to see her smiling down at him…. the fact that she was gone, gone forever suddenly hit him then.

He started crying even harder than he had been.

June stood beside him, staring at Dalchei, or what they could find of him anyway.

Every wolf in the pack was alongside the river today.

Usually the memorials were small, limited to family and friends, as it was dangerous to have a large group of them out of the cave at once, but today… today they were all friends… and family.

Dash started crying anew, when his gaze fell on his sister…. leader…. and friend.

It seemed so odd.

Dash knew that no one lived forever, but Aleu had hardly been around forever.

Balto stood up.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” he said, “I’ve never done this before, so… so if I make a mistake, just bear with me.”

Dash looked over to where the pack’s new Alpha, Shadow stood with his three children.

“God, Shade managed to hit all of us.” He thought

Balto began.

“We are gathered here today, to remember a sister, a leader, a daughter…. and a friend.

Balto had to stop speaking then, afraid that if he started crying now, he’d never stop.

Aleu watched the proceedings from the cave.

“This is so weird,” she thought,