without leaving our families, our pups, without protection.”

“Then we’ll go,” said a voice from the entrance.

Cloud and Desai looked, and there stood Sadera.

“My troops are rested enough to move,” she said, “and we’ve been idle too long anyway.”

“Sadera, we couldn’t ask that of you,” Cloud said. “There must be some other way.”

“No one’s asking me, Cloud,” Sadera replied calmly. “You and Desai are needed here for the good of your clan. My troops and I have no clan, and no families to speak of.”

“Sadera…”

“No, Desai, I’m going,” Sadera said firmly, “I’ve been denied my vengeance twice; do not think that you can keep me from Nemec a third time.”

Desai sighed, and twin trails of vapor curled from his nose.

“Alright.”

Sadera smiled and nodded.

“Wish me luck.”

 

And, within a few minutes, Sadera and her unit marched out of Cloud Runner’s clan, bound for Ice Mountain territory.

 

 

Jenna felt someone push her against Balto, and she woke to see several wolves glaring at them.

“Get up,” one of them said gruffly.

She got to her paws and Balto did the same. The wolf who’d spoken gestured outside the cave, where two more waited. Jenna and Balto looked at each other and padded out. The rest of the wolves filed out behind them. As they were led down the rocky incline, they heard Tes call after them,

“Don’t worry, my friends, we will not desert you.”

            When they were led the bottom of the incline and through a large common area, Balto and Jenna looked around in surprise. There were many small groups of wolves huddled on the floor, most bore scars. This, they decided, was the Ice Mountain clan.

            The two barely had time to glance once around the cave before they were led further into the cave system and down into what must have been the bowels of the entire place. Their front guards stopped where the passage split in two and motioned to Balto and Jenna. Then, four wolves moved around each of them and moved them roughly down the separate passages which in turn led to two small dens.

            Balto was pushed inside, and as he turned around he saw several wolves pushing a large boulder over the entrance, plunging his cave into darkness. He walked around slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the lack of light, when suddenly, he heard Jenna’s voice.

            “Balto? Are you here?”

            He turned toward the sound, and through the darkness he could make out Jenna’s outline.

            “I’m right here, Jenna,” he said. “Just stay there, I’ll come to you.”

            He padded up to her, and was about to nuzzle her to comfort her when he ran right into something hard and cold. He put his paw against it and sighed.

            “Jenna, there’s a wall,” he said, “a wall of ice. I can see you, but I can’t get to you.”

            “Then we’ll just stay as close as we can,” she replied, lying down next to the wall.

            Balto did the same, and found that he could finally see Jenna’s face, and make out the color of her fur again.

            “We’ll be alright, Jenna. Don’t worry.”

            “I’m not afraid, but why do you suppose they moved us?”

            “I don’t know, Jen, but…” He squinted through the darkness toward the other end of his cave and he felt shivers shoot down his spine.

“Oh no,” he whispered.

“What? What is it?” Jenna said as she turned and tried to see further through the ice.

“Jen, there’s…bodies in here.”

 

 

Tes felt his heart thumping furiously in his chest as he tried to advert his eyes from Belle. She was turned away, so she couldn’t see him watching her, but he was convinced that if he stayed silent much longer he would die of it, so he worked up the courage to break the silence.

“Belle?”

He saw her ears perk up and she turned around.

“What is it, Tes?”

“I…” He hesitated. “I’m worried about Balto and Jenna.”

“So am I, Tes,” she replied. “But all we can do is pray.”

Tes nodded slowly, mechanically, and Belle tilted her head in concern.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes…” he said softly.

Stop lying.

“No,” he admitted, giving in to his thoughts.

Belle moved a little closer and waited expectantly.

“You can tell me,” she said reassuringly.

Tes gulped and nodded.

“Belle, I…I’ve been trying to avoid this, but I can’t,” he said. “I admire everything about you, everything, and I would do anything to protect you.”

“Tes…”

“I know how much you loved Ryder, and I’ll always respect him because he was a brilliant leader…but I’ll always be jealous of him because he was always with you. My heart is burning with this secret I’ve been holding, and although I’ve hoped it would never come to this I can’t ignore it any longer. Belle…I love you. Not just as a follower, but with all the passion in my heart.”

Belle sat silent for a long moment, and then began to shake her head in disbelief.

“No…no, Tes, I can’t. I can’t!”

Tes stood slowly and took a tentative step toward her.

“Belle, I…”

She leapt to her paws and back away hurriedly.

“No, Tes, stay back! Don’t come near me,” she cried. “Ryder may be dead, but I’ll not betray him! Did you really think I would?”

“Please, Belle, I didn’t mean-”

“How long have you been eying me like that?” Belle interrupted. “Why are you doing this to me? Why do you insult me?”

Tes stepped back as though he’d been struck, and he felt tears coming.

“Insult you? Oh, Aniu, no Belle… Please…” he whispered.

“I don’t love you, Tes,” she growled. “Now turn your eyes away from me.”

At this, Tes fell back a few steps more on shaking legs, breathing raggedly. He felt as though he heart would burst; all the pain was growing, spreading… He looked up, but Belle had turned away. He wanted to scream, but when he opened his muzzle the word came out in a croaked whisper.

“Belle…”

He closes his eyes as the all the pain in his heart tore through him…and suddenly he felt nothing at all. As he opened his eyes again, three guards stood in front of him.

When Belle finally turned around, Tes was gone.

 

            Elsewhere within the caves, Nemec made his way up the rocky incline to where his lord waited. He’d been summoned again, and he expected orders, but in the back of his mind, he could help but think that this might be his promised punishment.

            Reaching the top of the incline, he stopped and sat down.

            “My lord, you sent for me?”

            “Yes Nemec,” Lord Shadow said from within the darkened cave. “Do you wonder why?”

            Nemec felt his heart sink.

            “Yes, my lord,” he replied reluctantly.

            “I told you I’d think of a way to punish you for letting Sadera escape,” Lord Shadow said. “But I’m very pleased with the two prisoners you found for me. So pleased, in fact, that I see no need to punish you any more.”

            “Oh, thank you, my lord,” Nemec replied, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.

            “But since we captured those two, there’s been talk of rebellion among the rest of the prisoners. So I want them dead.”

            Nemec couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but after his narrow escape, he dared not question his lord.

            “Do you…mean the few that you wanted rounded up?” he asked.

            “No, Nemec, I want you to bring out the two you captured tomorrow morning. We’ll make an example of one of them.”

 

 

Chapter Eight

 

            Jenna shivered in her cave. Though she was glad to still be able to see Balto, what she wanted was to curl up beside him and wish all this death away. She looked around her and sighed in despair as light began to filter through the crack in the cave wall.

            “Balto, can you still hear me?” she asked, turning to see him through the ice wall.

            “Yes, Jenna,” he replied. “Didn’t you sleep at all?”

            “I couldn’t,” she said. “I was afraid that when I woke up, you

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