- It’s okay. I’m fine.

- What will we do now? – Balto asked, remembering the urgency of what was still happening.

Dan thought about how they could be useful, and had an idea.

- You all look for Chaska’s pack. Tell them I need urgent assistance. Tell them everything as fast as you can, and make them rush to our aid before things get ugly there.

- But how will they know where you are? - Stella asked.

- That’s where you come in. You'll come with me and overfly the area and tell me when you see Ohanzee's wolves. Then you'll tell me their location and fly back to guide the pack there. Let’s go!

The sled dogs, Boris and the bears stormed in Chaska’s pack direction and disappeared. Dan ran following Ohanzee's scent, with Stella flying high above him.

Minutes passed, and Dan was still running at all speed.

- Can you see them? - Dan screamed.

She was flying high above him, searching the land below.

- No! - the goose screamed back.

Dan looked ahead, seeing only hills covered with snow. It was still snowing, making it hard to see, and the wind was making it harder to run. He prayed that he wasn’t too late.

Stella flew lower, near him.

- I see them! They're some yards ahead! - she alerted.

When they got down a hill, Dan finally saw through the snow rain a large plain. He saw some gray and brown spots moving far ahead, which he recognized to be Ohanzee's pack.

- Thanks, Stella. Now go and bring Chaska and the others here as fast as you can. - he said.

- Right away. - and she flew away.

Dan followed the pack carefully from far. He saw his parents being escorted by the wolves. Ohanzee was a bit behind, thoughtful. A brown wolf approached him and started to talk. Dan risked to get closer and sharpened his hearing to know what they were saying.

- Sir, are you sure you don't want to kill them now? - he heard the brown wolf asking.

- Yes - the black wolf answered. – I want to have revenge on those too. And it won’t be complete until I don’t make them scream and beg for death.

- What do you plan to do after that, sir? - the brown wolf asked, apprehensive.

Ohanzee scowled.

- We’ll recover and reunite more forces, and we’ll make those traitors pay for their insolence. And after that, when our forces are more powerful, we’ll be able to get rid of another problem. – a grin spread through his face.

- What would it be, sir? – the brown wolf asked, sounding scared.

- Humans. – Ohanzee answered, chuckling meanly.

The black wolf interrupted his malign thoughts when he was hit by some snow threw from somewhere. He shook it from his face and searched furiously the area with his eyes looking for the author of the prank, until he finally saw Dan, beside a big rock, staring at them, with a confident grin on his face. The black wolf widened his eyes.

- Dan! – Paula exclaimed, confused between happiness and worry.

- You’re alive?! – Ohanzee exclaimed.

- Sorry for disappointing you, Ohie, but I’m much tougher to kill than you think. – Dan replied, defiant.

Ohanzee growled in wrath and ran towards Dan. The hybrid was ready, and dodged, leaving the wolf to slide further.

- Oh, that was so close, I almost felt it. – Dan mocked.

The black wolf snarled harder, furious, and charged again. The younger canine dodged again. They kept like that for some more moments. Dan was doing that to tire Ohanzee, so they could have a more balanced fight. Finally, the attacker stopped his attempts to reach Dan and stood there, panting.

- Aww, already? I’m starting to think that you got a little old for this stuff... – the hybrid mocked again.

Ohanzee snarled again, offended, and charged at him blind of fury. Dan threw himself aside, letting Ohanzee miss him again. But in that he made a mistake. He ended up between Ohanzee and the rest of his pack. The wolves started to approach. Dan stepped back, but the sound of Ohanzee snarling behind him made him stop. The black wolf was up again, laughing malignly, seeing victory at his reach.

- You always knew I would win. – the wolf said, taking an offensive stance.

Dan heard howls coming from somewhere nearby, and grinned.

- On the contrary, Ohie. I always knew you would lose.

Chaska's pack rushed from behind the hills in their aid. They surrounded Ohanzee's wolves and engaged with them in fight, allowing Dan to sneak past between them and reach his family. They smiled seeing him. He made sign with his head for them to follow him. All of Ohanzee’s wolves were engaged in fights against Chaska’s, so they had no trouble getting out of the confusion between empty spaces. Dan led them to a safe place, far