Balto (The Revelation)

Chapter 14 – Prepare to War

          There was only darkness. The cave seemed horrified just by looking the relief on the walls. Plus, many black wolves with vicious eyes stared at something. They all lined up beside the walls until end. Even black overshadowed this place, some crystals lightened it up, even in blurry and dimmed way. Then, a sound of steps echoed around. All of wolves then saw a male white wolf with black-colored diamond-shaped came in, walking through the line until he stopped before darkness.

          “I have failed you…” he started, bowing before darkness.

          “Then, you should fix it…” another voice came in.

          From beside the white wolf, a black wolf came in. unlike many black wolves, his face wasn’t black-colored, yet silver. The pattern was just like arrow, heading above. Except part of legs and bottom of body, all of him was black. He then looked forward, walking slowly with his silvery black feet.

          “Zin…” he started, “I think it’s my turn now to act. I will prepare a real battle.”

          “Don’t be too cocky…” Zin, the white wolf, replied, “You might hurt yourself, Kanto.”

          “You should remember,” the black wolf, Kanto, said coldly, “That my revenge to them shall be my greatest power.”

          “Well, if he says so…” a voice suddenly interrupted, “Then, so be it. It might be interesting.”

          The brown wolf then stepped in from behind them. All of his fur was brown, same for his eyes, except part of his legs were black. He then moved closer to both of them.

          “This is going to be fun,” he continued.

          “You don’t change…” Kanto replied, “If you’re not serious, you’ll be beaten easily.”

          “I’m agree with him,” Zin added, “So from now on, you should…”

          “ARE YOU DONE YET?” the loud sound echoed.

          “We’re sorry, Lord Shogun…” the three of them suddenly stopped their talk, afraid of the voice.

          They were silent completely. All wolves kneeled before him. Even they bowed to darkness, the one who they were afraid of actually never appeared. The Lord Shogun himself only talked from darkness, yet his sharp voice echoed greatly.

          “DO WHAT NECESSARY!” he continued from darkness, “I’M ALREADY WAITING FOR THIS TIME, SO I’M GOING TO EXPECT SOMETHING GOOD.”

          “Yes, Lord Shogun!” all of them replied together.

          “I’m so tired…” Balto thought.

          The brown wolf yawned, lying down without doing anything. He was so exhausted after what happened the day before. Many his fans questioned him, making Balto’s private seemed a bit smaller. He wanted to flee, yet he didn’t want to disappoint them. So at final, he must accept this condition.

          “Maybe, I’ll take a walk…” he continued thinking, “Who knows? I might come into interesting place.”

          He began to step out from where he stayed before. Even he wasn’t still familiar with the caves, his curiosity pushed him forward. The cave walls were dark, but soon replaced by shiny-dimmed crystals around. The enlightened ceilings made Balto’s feelings went into deep. Not far from there, he spotted several wolves ran. Those wolves ran not because they took an exercise, but they were panic. The brown wolf’s curiosity finally led him to catch up, following until came into the meeting hall. When he was there, many wolves were standing firmly before the great old white wolf.

          “All of you have already heard about this…” the white wolf started, “The shadow wolves is going to attack us…”

          The wolves remained silent, including Balto. The brown wolf understood nothing, except the attack. He was confused when everyone’s face looked serious. Moreover, they kept listening to their leader.

          “I knew it would happen long before you realized. The darkness finally came. The shadow wolves finally move their feet. Their frozen teeth finally melt, hungry for blood. Yet, I never think this war will be final because I don’t think they are going to win…” the white wolf continued, followed by much loud sounds from everyone, “The light shall never off. And so do we, we shall never… loose to them.”

          All of sudden, the hall was filled with spirited howls. The howls echoed greatly between the caves. Balto could feel their spirit was rising to maximum just by looking how confident they were. They were totally excellent.

          “Balto, what are you doing here?” Luka suddenly asked from behind, “You shouldn’t come here...”

          “Well… I’m just… curious, you know…” Balto answered hesitantly, “So, what happened? Why everyone looked serious before?”

          “The black wolves!” Luka exclaimed, “They finally come into battle. The war between us is going near.”

          “You mean the same black wolves before…” Balto replied.

          “Yes, Balto…” Luka nodded, “That’s why you shouldn’t come here. They might be searching for you. You have to hide now.”

          “But, I have to find Boris,” Balto began looking, but stopped by Luka.

          “He’s safe,” Luka replied, turning around, “Follow me!”

          Quickly, Balto ran following Luka who was moving fast from behind. They have to move swiftly in order to pass the crowd ahead. For Balto, it was the first time he must face something like this. He never dreamed anything like this. He kept thinking it until Luka slowed his step.

          “Here…” Luka mentioned, “Stay here with Boris…”

          Slowly, Balto then saw his old Russian goose was keeping safe the wolf’s children. They were far from adult. They were very young and afraid of what happened outside. Their parents were nuzzling them before went into battlefield. Now, they could only smile while crying.

          “Don’t worry,” Boris tried to cheer, “We’ll be okay. Trust me, I know that.”

          “Why you know that?” a female little wolf asked, shedding her tears away.

          “I’ve been already in this situation,” Boris answered, thinking for a moment, “Well, kind of…”

          “Kind of?” one of little wolf was confused.

          “Yeah!” Boris exclaimed, raising his wings, “Do you want to hear the story?”

          “Yes, yes…” all little wolves shouted at the same time, “Please tell us!”

          “Okay…” Boris then sat down, “Gathers here...”

          All of little wolves quickly gathered around Boris. They waited patiently to hear some of amazing stories. Balto was surprised to see the children suddenly forgot their fears.

          “Wow…”Balto thought while smiling, “They’re listening to him.”

          Balto then also sat down. He smiled over the little wolves around him. He ever had children so he had no difficult to understand how they felt.

          “Do you know when Balto went in search of antitoxin?” Boris started.

          “What is antitoxin?” one of little wolf asked.

          “Oh, yeah!” You don’t know what it is,” Boris chuckled, “So, just says that he was going to save the entire creatures in the world.”

          “Uh-huh…” several little wolves nodded.

          “So, when he was gone…” Boris motioned to Balto, “I’m so afraid that he won’t come back, but he did back.”

          “Why did you believe he would back?” the other one asked.

          “Because he’s a wolf,” Boris answered, continuing his story, “At first place, I said to him that a dog couldn’t make it. But, maybe a wolf could.”

          “Wow…” every little wolf said together.

          “And also, I know why he would come back so badly…” Boris added.

          “Why?” another little wolf asked curiously.

          “Because he loved his mate, Jenna, so much…” Boris whispered, making all little wolves giggled.

          “Boris!” Balto suddenly interrupted, his face reddened.

          “It’s alright, Balto…” Boris laughed, “Look! They’re happy. You don’t want to ruin their smile, do you?”

          Balto took a sight of little wolves and saw their pure smiles were breaking the brown wolf’s fear. They were so innocent. He didn’t dare to confront them, just staying at where he stood. Staring them, he acknowledged of what happened outside. Even the wind still blew and the weather was friendly, a wolf came up in view. His furs mixed with black and white. He stood alone not quite far from Balto’s place. Although he was at outside, he seemed didn’t have to worry about himself because all of sudden, an abundant numbers of black wolves viewed themselves from behind him. Their sharp claws and teeth were ready to tear everything. The leader of them moved forward a little bit.

          “This is the right time. This is the right place. For one who deny the power of Lord Shogun shall fall in despair…” he started, and then turning back to see his deadly army was ready to destroy, “Let’s begin!”