over his fur and spewing from his eyes, ears and mouth. When he spoke, his voice was like a thousand specters. “Now, see what you face.” She began trembling, causing confusion for the others, who weren’t certain what was happening. Inside her heart, she battled Niju’s influence with all her might, and finally gained back just a little control, but that was enough. She launched her influence at his heart, and he saw her transform into a creature with tattered skin, missing in some places down to the bone, especially on her face, with blue-white lightning lancing the air from her eyes. “Don’t underestimate me any longer, Niju!” she screamed. “You don’t know what you’re facing yet, either!”

They ran at each other and began swinging with their paws and biting, each skilled enough that the other could do little of any real consequence. Aleu sped up her attack and drove Niju backward, and he was reduced to merely defending instead of attacking. He ducked under one bite and tried to go for Aleu’s neck, but she jumped into the air, twisting her body around and coming down behind Niju, facing him. She jumped on him and began biting him over and over, drawing blood that ran over his back in bright red trails. He propelled himself up and backwards, and Aleu was crushed between him and the elder rock. She groaned, trying to breathe, and Niju kicked her in the stomach. He turned around and hit her in the face, but as he tried it a second time, Aleu ducked, and one of Niju’s nails caught on the rock, ripping from his paw. He yelled several times, backing up and hopping up and down. Aleu came at him, but he swung a paw, hitting her face so hard it split her lip. She yelped and jumped back, then charged at Niju, getting in a bite on his shoulder, but he pushed her back and reciprocated so violently that Aleu was forced to pull back, getting a wound on her neck for her troubles. Now, Niju charged, fueled by rage, and drove Aleu back. As they approached a wide, frozen river, Niju yelled and smashed his head into Aleu’s, sending her tumbling off the riverbank and onto the ice. “Now what shall you do, little girl?” Niju laughed wickedly. “There is no way you can get back up with me here.” Aleu knew this was true, and tried to figure a way out. Then, she thought if she couldn’t come up, she would make Niju come down. She used her Shirae skills and raised a flood of anger in Niju’s heart. He clenched his teeth, breathing hard, his eyes showing the wrath Aleu had aroused in him. He jumped down on the ice, just as Aleu had hoped, and they attacked each other again. They refrained from running at each other because the footing on the ice was so slick; instead, they stood face-to-face, making careful attacks. Niju was able to take Aleu off her feet, and she landed hard. He prepared to bite her, and she readied herself to avoid him, but then they both stopped, hearing something strange. A tremor ran through the ice under their feet, and a crack appeared between them. They looked downstream and saw that the ice was breaking off in chunks and floating away down the fast-moving river, and realized that their weight had sped up the process very quickly. They both took off upstream, running along the ice, which they could feel cracking beneath them. They kept separating by about a yard, then moving back towards each other, inflicting a bite, then moving apart again. Both nearly fell as a large chunk of ice gave way underneath, and they jumped off it, continuing to run. They looked back and saw that there was no solid river behind them anymore, merely chunks of ice being towed along by the current. They sprinted as fast as they could, trying to stay ahead of the breakage, but it was no use; it was moving too quickly, and the bank was too steep to allow them to get out. A massive chunk of ice broke, and both of them nearly fell into the river. They kept their balance, running up the tilting floe and jumping off the other side. By now, the entire river around them was reduced to ice floes, which they had to jump between to keep going. They jumped for new ones, bit at each other in midair, came down, and repeated the process, continuing up the river. However, the ice floes were becoming scarcer. Soon, there would nothing to jump for, and the current would surely carry them away if they fell in.

Aleu looked ahead desperately, trying to find some way, any way out. Up ahead, there was a log stretched across the river, with some branches that could provide a means to hang on. However, by the looks of things, there would be only one floe near it when she arrived, and she could tell that Niju had gotten the same idea. They both jumped faster and faster, ignoring each other, merely trying to reach the floe first. Both jumped for it at the same time, flying through the air. Aleu twisted her body, lashing out and kicking Niju in the side. He yelled as he flew off course, headed down towards the rushing water. Aleu landed on the floe and jumped again, looking over to see if Niju was floating away. Much to her chagrin, he had managed to reach out and catch one of the log’s branches in his teeth. He was now half-in, half-out of the water, thrashing and struggling to find a way to get up. Aleu’s distraction suddenly seemed a deadly mistake; she looked forward to see that she was about to miss the branch she was aiming for. She lunged with her neck and just barely got a hold of it, nearly losing her grip when her body, unbalanced by her kick, swung beneath the log. She managed to find footing with her paws and began climbing the side of the log. She looked to her left and saw that Niju was already atop the log, and she gasped, struggling to get up. Niju approached her, rage in his eyes, determined to send her into the river. Aleu scrabbled hard with her paws, trying desperately to mount the log, but it was no use; Niju reached the part of the log above her position. He leaned down and calmly took the branch Aleu was clinging to in his jaws, cutting into it with his teeth and beginning to work it loose. Knowing that movement would only speed up the process, Aleu could only watch, breathing hard with terror as the branch began to break…and suddenly, Niju went flying off the log, tackled by someone. “Dad!” Aleu thought, having seen him as he flew by. She finally managed to hoist herself up onto the log, and looked to the left bank of the river, where Niju and Balto had landed. “Now it’s my turn!” Balto shouted, hitting Niju in the face and knocking him up against a tree. “I heard what you tried to do to her!” He bit onto Niju and tossed him over his head. “So let me tell you something…” He stood over Niju and began yelling, pounding the wolf’s head into the ground with each word. “NO…ONE…TOUCHES…MY…DAUGHTER!” Aleu ran to the bank. “Dad, stop! I have to do this.” Balto looked up at her, and she continued. “I know you want to help, but I challenged him. This needs to be my fight.” Balto thought for a few moments, struggling with himself, then nodded slowly and backed away. “Believe me,” said Aleu, “I’m going to make him pay for that.” Niju stood up slowly, shaking his head to clear the dizziness from being struck so many times. “It is wise to tell your father to stay out of this. I shall spare him after you are dead, if that is comforting.” “What makes you think you’ll even have the opportunity to spare him?” Niju growled, bristling furiously at Aleu before lunging at her in a rage. They crashed together, snapping at each other’s faces, shoving each other back and forth, finally losing their footing and falling to the ground, where they rolled back and forth, scuffling and biting for a few moments. Finally, they got up and separated again. Aleu gasped in pain, feeling the sting of claw cuts on her bloodied face and the throbbing of her front left leg, which had been bitten. Niju had gotten a cut shoulder, a clawed neck, and an injured ear for his trouble, but his anger was keeping him going. Not knowing how she could possibly defeat him, Aleu ran across the log over the river and sprinted toward the pack, hoping to come up with a plan in the limited time she had now bought herself.

Niju ran after Aleu, aiming to take her down and bite her neck, but when he was a yard away, Aleu kicked a shower of pebbles in his face, and he stumbled, forced to stop his pursuit. Suddenly, Aleu’s paw struck his face, and he fell backwards, now bleeding from his lip. She tried to pounce on him, but he shoved his hind legs into her stomach, tossing her over him, and she landed hard on her back. As she coughed weakly, trying to catch her breath, Niju got to his feet and jumped on her. She scrabbled desperately at his face with her paws, trying to keep his lethal teeth away from her own face. When he raised his head, she rolled to her right, knocking Niju’s feet from under him, and he fell against the side of the elder rock. By now, Balto had joined Nava and Muru again, and was watching the battle. Aleu ran around the elder rock, climbing up on the other side, hoping to keep some higher ground, but Niju, with one powerful jump, made it to the top himself. He and Aleu ran at one another again, colliding in the middle of the rock, pushing against the front of each other’s bodies, each trying to make the other fall from the rock. Their upper bodies rose up as the force of their struggle increased; their back paws still had enough grip to be unmoved…at least temporarily. Soon, Aleu found herself beginning to slip. Niju was just too strong for brute force to succeed, and he knew it. He smiled as he prepared to push Aleu off the nearing edge, but suddenly, she summoned all the strength inside her and gave a mighty shove. Niju began to tip backwards, unable to cease the motion as he was now practically standing on his hind legs. With a yell, he lost his balance and fell head over heels down and off the rock, landing on the earth below. Not hesitating a second, Aleu leapt down onto Niju and closed her jaws