Balto heard Kale’s lamenting and glanced over at his friend, his eyes widening with shock and dimming with sadness and sympathy. His blood began to run cold, his mind wondering what Kale would do precisely in this predicament. Kale knelt there, sobbing and sobbing until he eventually got control again and sniffled, wiping away the tears from his face. His hand lay across Kira’s face as he closed her eyelids, looking up with a deadly, hate-fueled fire in his ice-blue eyes that made shivers run up even Balto’s spine.

Kale screamed out with an insatiable fury and lust for revenge, but his cry coming out more like a howl of rage. He grabbed his fallen rifle and reloaded it. He pulled the lever up then back in, getting it ready. He reloaded his pistols and pulled their hammers back, re-holstering them before checking to make sure his shotgun was ready for combat as well. Without thinking twice, he stepped out onto the porch once their was a lull in the fighting and faced off against the remaining dogs. As each one came out to shoot, Kale moved first, hitting one after the other with deadly accuracy, hardly missing except a few times.

Once his rifle was dry, Kale tossed it to the ground and began advancing toward the hiding dogs with his shotgun at the ready. One of Bill’s deputies who had disobeyed his orders ran around the side of the house, looking for the cause of the ruckus. He was shocked when he saw Kale and went to kill the husky, instead getting a shotgun slug right to the chest and flying backward. Kale turned back to his enemies, noting only three left. The two citizens exchanged nervous looks and went to run for their horses. Kale caught them in their dash and took them both down with one shotgun blast, growling angrily as he threw it to the ground and pulled out his twin peacemakers.

“STEELE!!!” Kale shouted, determined to finish the fight and avenge Kira, “COME OUT!!! SHOW YOURSELF!!!”

Steele gritted his teeth as he kept himself hidden behind the boulder he had chosen for cover. He glanced around at all the bodies, suddenly realizing that he was all alone now. Damn it! He thought angrily, sighing as he walked out into the open. He’d have to think of a plan, and fast!

“So, the brave Kale McGovern has decided to come out of hiding, hmm?” Steele asked patronizingly, “So where’s your girlfriend?” Kale snarled and shot the ground near Steele’s boots, kicking up some dust and startling the sheriff slightly.

“You just couldn’t leave us all alone, could you?!” Kale snapped back furiously, glaring at Steele with a fiery bloodlust in his eyes, “You just had to hunt us down from the moment you jumped me in my room! You had to put us on trial! You had to search for us down to River’s Edge and now you had to attack! Do you know what you’ve done?!”

“Ah, I get it…” Steele said with a cruel, wicked smirk as he tried to rile up the husky, “She’s dead, isn’t she? Well, she shouldn’t have decided to break an outlaw out of jail and runaway with him, should she?”

“She loved me!” Kale spat back furiously, shooting at Steele’s feet again, “And I loved her! Now because of you, she’s gone forever! How could you do that Steele?! Kira was sweet, young, and innocent!” Steele chuckled darkly and shook his head.

“So what? She’s gone and that’s it…” Steele replied in an uncaring tone, “And by the way, she deserved what she got for her actions…” Kale growled viciously, his eyes burning holes into Steele’s forehead.

“You bastard…” Kale snarled, holding up his pistol, “I know you, Steele… You enjoy challenges- I remember from the bar… What do you say to one final showdown?”

Steele smirked at Kale’s offer. It intrigued him greatly that a dog whose fighting side had such a huge advantage would simply throw it away for a fair one-on-one quick-draw match. He scoffed slightly and shook his head, almost not believing it at first. He looked back at the house and nodded slowly.

“Alright, but what’s a showdown without an audience?” Steele asked, waving to the house, “Bring your friends out… Don’t worry, there’s no trick this time… After all, what could I do?”

Kale hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly. He looked back to the war-torn house and motioned for the others to come out. The three looked to one another, then reluctantly walked out onto the porch and stood there, watching with interest. Kale glared back at Steele before walking up to him, the two standing back-to-back.

“Twenty paces…” Kale stated, nodding to Balto, “Balto, you count us off…” Kale and Steele walked forward as the grizzled gray-brown wolfdog counted off their paces. After the twenty pace mark, both huskies froze. Kale closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“For you, Kira…” Kale whispered and reopened his eyes, slowly turning around to face his enemy. Both dogs stared into one another’s eyes, tension filling the air around them. Time seemed to stand still for the sheriff and the outlaw, facing off against one another with the wind whipping around them. Steele grinned evilly, ready to put his plan into action.

“Draw!” Balto shouted loudly, mentally praying to God that Kale would win.

As soon as Balto called to begin, Kale’s hand gripped the wooden butt of his pistol, pulling it up and cocking it on one smooth, fluid motion. Steele moved at the same speed, both dogs leveling their guns on their targets at the same time. Then they pulled their triggers.

Two gunshots sounded through the still, silent air. Kale’s shot went off target by an inch. However, Kale wasn’t hit. Steele had never aimed at his opponent. Instead, his bullet had found its mark in the dog Steele was aiming at: Jenna. Jenna gasped and gripped her chest before falling forward to the wood.

“JENNA!!!” Balto screamed and dove beside her. Kaltag growled and knelt down beside his wolfdog friend. Kale growled angrily and aimed at Steele again. Steele grinned and pulled his trigger first.

Click! Steele’s gun was empty. The husky looked at his empty pistol in shock as Kale’s gun went off, sending Steele’s knee into a splash of red blood. Steele cried out in pain as his right knee gave out beneath him and he fell to the bloodstained ground. Kale then ran up to Steele, the sheriff trying to desperately reload, but wasn’t fast enough. Kale was on him in seconds and kicked his enemy’s revolver away from his hands.

Steele whimpered in fear as he tried to push himself away from the enraged husky towering over him. Kale growled and placed his boot on Steele’s chest, pushing back down to the ground and holding him there. He opened up his gun and let the remaining bullets drop out of the chambers, landing on Steele’s chest.

“See these, Steele?” Kale asked, his fury clear in his voice, “Any one of these bullets could have killed you, but they didn’t… No, I’m going to wait until it’s the right time to finish you off, now I suggest you stop your whimpering and just lie there!”

Steele whimpered once more and silenced himself. Kale glared and nodded approvingly. His icy stare then softened as he looked back to Balto, Kaltag, and the injured Jenna, knowing what was to come next. Balto had tears in his eyes as he held Jenna’s trembling hand.

“B-Balto?” she asked faintly, “D-Did Kale win? Did we get away?” Balto chuckled softly and nodded slowly.

“Yeah Jenna… Kale won…” Balto answered, his voice soft and weak, “We’re safe now… It’s over, it’s all over…” Jenna smiled slightly and coughed violently. Some of her blood splattered up onto her shirt as her coughing slowly ceased. She shook terribly again and swallowed hard as a pool of deep red blood formed beneath her. Balto could tell she was dying, but like Kale, he wasn’t ready to give her up.

“This last w-week was… amazing B-Balto…” Jenna managed to spit out, her breathing heavy and labored as she struggled to stay awake and alive, “Thank you….. For everything…..”

“C’mon Jen, don’t go!” Balto begged, fully crying now as he held her lovingly, “Please don’t die on me… Not now… Not after all we’ve been through…”

“I’ll be waiting for you, Balto…” Jenna whispered, her voice barely there as her strength began to fade away from her body, “I… love… you… Balto……” Balto leaned down toward Jenna and kissed her gently, feeling her last gasp of breath emit from her body as every muscle inside of her went limp. Balto slowly pulled back and stared down into her closed eyes, knowing they’d never open, nor would she breathe or move again. Balto howled with sadness, carefully lowering Jenna to the porch.

“I love you too, Jenna…” Balto whispered to her body, “I’ll be with you again soon… I promise…”

Now rising to his feet, Balto’s hands clenched tightly into fists as his sorrow was replaced by a white-hot anger toward the dog that had killed her. He walked toward Kale and Steele, pulling out his revolver and pulling the hammer back as he approached the two. Kaltag followed behind Balto and soon Steele was staring down the barrels of three pistols.

“Remember this Steele?” Kale asked, pulling out a bronze bullet and showing it to him, the sheriff’s name carved into the side, “I never miss with a named bullet… Never…” Kale loaded it into the chamber of his pistol and pulled the hammer back, pointing it back at the husky’s forehead.

“For Jenna…” Balto muttered.

“For Kira…” Kale said afterward.

“For us, the trio that can’t be stopped…” Balto, Kaltag, and Kale said in unison before pulling their triggers, the valley echoing with three synchronized gunshots. Steele’s head was lost to a spray of gore as the three friends took their revenge, once and for all. Balto and Kale then went back to the