The beach felt in silent as the three wolves started scanning their new enemy, hoping that they would find the weakness of the one that had beaten them. Observing for a while, they started to move again, preparing their strategy to fight back.

Balto and Kodi who was behind Alex, felt amazed by the way he was appearing before. The way he lunged to the wolves, even they didn’t see it clearly, was marvelous. Even he was outnumbered, he was succeed to beat them.

"Thank you, Alex," Balto said, standing weakly with help from Kodi, "Be careful! They are very dangerous."

Hearing it, Alex just smiled back, giving Balto and Kodi a warm feeling. Meanwhile, both of them just fell in silent, wondering what he meant about it. Slowly, they backed away from the battle.

The situation became unpredictable for everyone now. Without risking the chance, the wolves that remained silent before, were getting ready to launch their paws again. They seemed to have an additional target now, gazing sharply at Alex. Time sure was terrifying to all of them, and without warning, three wolves that were surrounding Alex was lunging forward.

"Watch out!" Kodi shouted, horror in his eyes.

The attack seemed giving no chance for Alex to escape, just letting him to see the rest of his life before being lunged in pain. But, what Kodi thought was different, completely not same.

Alex, knowing it would happen, he soon span around his body quickly, circling himself. His action, by the way, wasn’t predicted by the enemy, making them shocked by his barrier. The impact itself made them who supposed to end his life, turning back to them due to the speed that he had made. Being thrown away, they fell far from him.

The wolves began to stand up to their feet again, dazed from the impact. They were very shocked, feeling that they almost hit him, but all of sudden, they were smashed away only on spinning move by their new enemy. Confused, they then believed that this one couldn’t be defeated easily, even they combined their powers.

"Wow…," Kodi was amazed, "It was so great and cool."

"Yeah…," Balto added, "I agree with you."

Instead of smiling back to both of them, Alex just still gave a serious look to his enemy. Even he had beaten them, still, he would never underestimate them. They just might come into something unpredictable if he let his guard down to this situation.

"Run now…," he started, ordering Balto and Kodi, "I will protect you."

"But, we just can’t leave you here alone," Balto replied, "You might…"

Before Balto could finish the sentence, Alex turned around to them. Gazing, Balto knew he meant it by looking his eyes.

"Just go…," Alex cut off, "Leave them to me."

Silent at them, they nodded then, understanding what he ordered for their safety. They started to leave, even just slowly while the wolves could only grit their teeth, thinking they had already failure.

"Not so fast," someone interrupted from somewhere.

"That’s voice…," Alex thought, startled.

From beside, a brown wolf suddenly lunged forward at him, trying to get him right now. Alex was shocked at first, facing that unexpected attack from close distance, but fortunately, he quickly jumped away, leaping to beside in right time.

Slowly but sure, Alex regained his balance, standing carefully. The brown wolf, by the way, just gave him a smile, an evil one. Rising his head, he gazed at Alex and his target who were still trying to walk away from there. The situation became uncontrollable now.

"I told you," he started, glaring, "I will be back."

Balto and Kodi became more confused than before now. They were sure they hadn’t met already, but it seemed this wolf had known them better than they thought.

"What’s the matter, Alex?" the brown wolf asked, gazing at him, "Why you don’t say anything?"

Alex, by the time he was hearing it, felt surprised a little, not knowing why he had already known his name. But, instead of thinking it, he then just focused all of his attention to the situation.

"Oh, I know…," the brown wolf spook again, "You must be surprised to see me again."

"How do you know my name?" Alex replied, "I thought I haven’t introduced myself to you."

"Maybe, you don’t know this, but…," he answered, grinning, "I spied you yesterday."

Alex began seeing the past in his mind. He remembered back the strange things that happened yesterday, racing his own memory. Somehow, he found a clue of when his enemy did it.

"At evening…," he replied, giving an answer.

Grinning evilly, the brown wolf just gave him a smile, the wicked one.

"What…," Balto began confused, "What is the meaning of this?"

Still, the brown wolf smiled, a wicked grin from his face that was showing to Balto that he wasn’t joking around. Slowly, the smile faded and was replaced by silent.

"You haven’t known it, have you, Balto?" he started, "That your friend is your guardian."

"My guardian?" Balto gave him a confused look.

"Yes," he replied, "The guardian is someone who will protect the other one with all of their life…"

"Even it means death too," Alex suddenly interrupted, adding the statement.

Balto remained silent, but still, his mind was racing through this to get the explanations. However, he couldn’t get it, only pretending to understand that he could show now.

"You shouldn’t be here," Alex started, threatening his enemy to leave.

"Why is that?" the brown wolf asked, snickering, "I had told you before that I would come back."

"So, if you still insisted…," Alex replied, assuming the position, "I had no choice."

"So be it," he answered, laughing.

The battle couldn’t be avoided again. Each of them prepared their move, thinking about how they would attack and defense themselves. A small move would be a start for everyone.

"Attack, now!" the brown wolf shouted loudly.

Three wolves that was behind him in silent, suddenly rushed and lunged forward. Instead of attacking Alex, they just passed him, running to different target. Alex, seeing an unusual move of them, knew where they were heading now, right to Balto.

"Balto!" he yelled, glancing back, "Run!"

Alex wanted to help, preparing the strategy to hold them back, but all of sudden, his true enemy appeared in front of him. Blocking the way, the brown wolf played a good role in order to make sure his plan to be success. He tried to stop Alex, preventing him to assist Balto.

"You must stay here," he warned, "I still have a business with you."

"I don’t have time for you," Alex replied, considering his own condition right now.

"Of course, you have…," he grinned, assuming attacking stance.

"C’mon, dad…," Kodi yelled, looking behind him while still running, "You must keep running."

Hearing it, Balto knew his son was right, but his legs were trying to stop him. Even he tried the best, still, the pain got more of him. The more he ran, the pain got worse. Just a couple of minutes then, he collapsed, hitting the ground as soon as the legs gave up. Slowly, he tried to stand up, rising himself so that he could get away from the wolves that were still following them. But, instead of it, he failed to do that.

"Kodi…," he called, panting weakly, "Save yourself."

"No, dad…," Kodi replied, looking at him, "I won’t leave you here alone."

"This isn’t the time to argue," Balto looked at Kodi seriously, "Go now!"

"But…," Kodi replied again, hesitated, "But…"

"Go now, Kodi!" Balto yelled, making Kodi felt in silent, "If you stayed here, you would be killed too."

Tears ran down from Kodi’s eyes, flowing to the face and falling to the snow. The snow itself began melting due of it. He knew his father was right that he could survive if he kept running away, but it just felt wrong. Could he just do it for his life?

Kodi remained silent with tears that were falling down, thinking hard of what he should do now. By the time he was still doing it, the wolves became closer, just a few feet from him. He closed his eyes, deciding something, and then, he opened it slowly.

Kodi took step by step, advancing forward until he was in front of Balto. Balto, by the way, was shocked to see that, gazing at his son who was protecting him. Hoping Kodi would change his mind, he tried to talk to him.

"Kodi…," Balto said, horror in his eyes, "What are you doing?"

"I will…," Kodi hung his head low, saying in low tone without mentioning his father.

Time became slow as the wolves just running and running, only a few inches away. It looked like they had prepared their lethal attack, targeting both of them. Balto, looking at them, became so terrified, calling Kodi in repeat in order to save him.

"Protect…," Kodi continued, still in low tone.

One wolf had already been there, ready to unleash his paws to Kodi. Whether he realized it or not, the wolf then leapt forward, lunging to launch a fatal strike to end his life.

"Kodi!" Balto yelled loudly, terrifying, "No…,"

"My dad!" Kodi shouted loudly, continuing his sentence before while swinging his right paw in full power to the wolf.

Shock in everyone, Balto couldn’t believe what he saw then, gazing at his son who smacked hard at the enemy. He was sure he never saw him mad like that before, even in his life. The wolves, by the way, were stopped suddenly, watching Kodi’s rage that was magnificent.

The wolf that was supposed to end everything, turned to be ended by his victim. It was so powerful, even he was thrown away by single attack that left him in lifeless body at the ground, near the others. Watching, the rest of black wolves were shocked, afraid of it. But, instead of escaping, they moved towards him.

The enemy just began their attack, spreading around to confuse Kodi. Then, one of them was heading closer to him from behind, but as soon as he glanced around, the wolf backed away. Seeing the chance, the other one quickly lunged forward, motioning to Kodi’s leg. Knowing it, Kodi then quickly turned around, facing the other one, making the wolf backed away just like his friend did. Suddenly, the other one before that was still in behind Kodi, lunged forward in full speed. Kodi then quickly turned around again as soon as he realized that they were taunting him while looking the chance to attack, but he was too late. The wolf bashed him hard to the ground, making his anger decreased in significant way. Falling down, he felt his anger was missing, away from his mind. He tried hard to stand up, rising at his own feet, but it was useless because the pain from the impact was too hard to him. Watching the wolves moving closer, Kodi could only remained silent, hoping this was just a dream.

"Can’t move again?" one of black wolf asked, snickering, "Too bad for you."

"Yeah…," the other one added, "You should know your anger can’t always help you."

Heading forward, they became closer to Kodi, ready to end his life. Every step they made was making Balto became furious. He tried to move, but unfortunately, the pain still could hold him longer than he thought before. Using his paws, he pulled himself, making his effort to be useful to reach his unconscious son. From what the wolves could see, they thought it was just useless effort from someone who had lost his spirit. They were just laughing, mocking their victims only to have a little fun before the final. They began rising their paws then, preparing the last strike to Kodi, but suddenly, a voice was heard by them.

"Stop there!" someone shouted from the distance.

Surprised, the black wolves looked at the direction, trying to find the source of that sounds. They began turning around, gazing at somebody who dared to disturb them after the last one. Balto, by the way, was trying to know it too. Looking around weakly, he found it was so difficult to him to see due the pain that almost reached the limit. Slowly, his eyes began to close, only hearing the mysterious sounds, and then, it was black.

"Not bad," the brown wolf started, gazing at Alex.

The battle just began in couple of minutes, but it seemed like a couple of hours. He and Alex, both of them had used their fighting skills well for all this time. Alex, by the way, wasn’t concentrated well during of worrying Balto’s condition, wondering if they made it or not. But, what he supposed to worry now was his enemy, right in front of him.

Gazing carefully, they started examine each other, scanning to get new strategy for facing in next battle. All of sudden, the brown wolf was rushing forward, approaching Alex in full speed. By the time he was doing it, Alex quickly backed away, realizing it might just a trap. True to what he said, the brown wolf unleashed a slash, but not quite strong because suddenly, he used that attack before for stepping the ground and turning himself around to kick Alex.

Seemed to have a little chance to avoid this one, Alex chose evading it by moving side instead of backing away again. The enemy, by the way, had predicted this before. He quickly pushed his paws before at the ground to Alex’s direction, giving him a momentum to attack once again by using his legs. Surprised, Alex then quickly responded it by crouching down, hoping it would miss just like before. The attack seemed could be anticipated by Alex, but without warning, his enemy used his tail, swinging and smacking hard to Alex’s face. Alex then couldn’t do anything, except accepting the attack.

Alex fell off then, accepting the attack made his face in pain. He struggled to open his eyes, seeing what the next of his enemy, but the impact made it difficult to do. Knowing it might be a good chance, the brown wolf suddenly running towards, rushing to attack again. He jumped then, lashing a slash right to Alex’s face in order to make him more difficult to see. Following the instinct, Alex knew he must avoid this one. He quickly backed away a few feet from his enemy, making sure he could get a clear vision before doing battle again. Shaking his head, he finally made it, gazing clearly at his enemy.

Though of what happened before, it seemed the brown wolf had made some advantages during this fighting, making Alex more difficult to defense himself. The situation became calm again, only the sea that was making the sounds.

"I have to use it," Alex thought, preparing something.

He slowly closed his eyes, started to crouched low, ready to do something while his enemy was wondering of it. But, instead of thinking further, the brown wolf just lunged forward again, leaping to Alex who was still crouching.

"Die!" the brown wolf shouted loudly.

"Not this time…," Alex replied, opening his eyes quickly.

All of sudden, Alex leapt, bashing in full power while his enemy was still in the midair. Shocked, the brown wolf didn’t have time to protect himself, making him thrown high to the sky. Alex, by the way, quickly shifted his position, crouching very low in this time. He then was running, rushing faster than before to his enemy. By the time of it, his enemy just could see Alex was approaching towards him, not knowing what he would do next. The only thing he could do now was trying to block it by using his paws, but unfortunately, it was useless.

Alex knocked him hard, right before he touched the ground below, making him spinning around due of it. The brown wolf, by the way, didn’t know what happened to him. The world seemed to spin around until he crashed to the ground hardly, making a loud sound of it. Once again, the silent appeared.

Checking, Alex moved closer, examining his enemy. From what he could see, the brown wolf looked unconscious, seemed lifeless in this world. Slowly, he circled him, scanning if there could be any movement. He then stopped, ensuring himself that the danger had passed. But, he couldn’t relax now because he must save Balto. His effort would be in vain if he couldn’t protect him just because he was too late to appear. Running fast, he quickly rushed, trying to know of what happened to Balto and Kodi. Only miracle that could save them from the killers now.

"Kodi…," Balto thought, "Kodi, where are you?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking around while still dazed from the pain of his legs. Glancing, he could make sure he was still alive, gazing at his boat that he called home. Even his head was still spinning, he insisted to stand up, examining everything of what happened after he collapsed.

"Kodi?" Balto thought again.

Panic in his mind, he quickly shook his head, trying to get a clear vision. After remembering back, he knew he must find Kodi, afraid of losing him. Running around the boat, he tried hard to find his son, even he was still weak, but his feeling was stronger than his body.

"Balto…," someone said from behind, "You should take some rest."

Turning around, he saw Alex, standing in front of him with smile as usual. Balto then quickly moved closer to him, demanding of where his son would be.

"Alex…," Balto started, still in panic, "Where is Kodi? Where is he now?"

"Calm down, Balto," Alex replied, trying to calm him down, "He is outside now with Lani."

Hearing what Alex said, Balto slowly took step by step until he could see clearly at outside, looking both of Kodi and Lani that were talking each other. Suddenly, the panic was gone from him, relieved to see Kodi was just fine. He then laid down, trying to get some rest from what happened today.

"So…," Balto said, gazing at Alex, "What happened?"

Alex just gave him a smile, knowing he might want to know everything that happened before. Slowly, he laid down too beside Balto, sighing for preparing himself to explain everything.

Meanwhile Alex and Balto were sharing each other, both of Kodi and Lani were sitting down, gazing at the moon that seemed so beautiful tonight. There was a moment of silence between them, not knowing how they would start to speak. Slowly, Kodi looked at her.

"Umm…, Lani," he started, looking at her, "I’m sorry."

"Sorry?" Lani seemed confused, "For what?"

"For yesterday," Kodi replied, explaining to her, "That night when you came, I shouldn’t mad at you. I just…"

Kodi was stopping for a moment, trying to find some reason of what he talked about, but it seemed he couldn’t lie to her after how he treated her yesterday. Lani, by the way, was still looking at Kodi, trying to know what he was thinking about.

"Yes?" Lani demanded the rest of him.

"I just hate to be weak…," Kodi answered, looking at the other direction, "When the incident happened, everybody looked after me, and it made me felt helpless."

"Huh?" Lani seemed didn’t understand, "Why did you feel like that?"

"I don’t know for sure, but…," Kodi answered, trying to explain, "It just make me feel like a little pup when someone cares too much for me."

Lani then just gave him a smile, chuckling a little for hearing the reason while Kodi was feeling embarrassed due of it. He knew it looked like ridiculous, but after all, he was honest in this time.

"So…," Balto started, gazing at Alex, "That’s what happened before."

"Yeah," Alex replied, "I and Lani brought you and your son here."

"Well…," Balto smiled, "That’s good to hear after all, but I still don’t understand how Lani could beat them."

"Me too," Alex replied, smiling too, "When I came, the wolves just fell to the ground. Nothing else."

"She sure has a lot of strength inside," Balto added, wondering something.

For a moment, they were just laughing, happy to know that the danger had passed. Still, Balto felt curious inside about something. He had already knew what happened before when the black wolves almost got him from Alex, but in his mind, there were much question that needed to be answered. He then slowly looked at Alex, gazing him seriously.

"Alex, I wanted to know something…," he said, demanding the explanation, "Something about me."

Alex just gave him a serious look, knowing what he meant. After all, he must know the truth sooner or later.

"I mean why they were looking at me, and…," he continued, "What is the meaning of the guardian?"

Not surprised at the question, Alex then looked at the sky, thinking something. Slowly, he took a deep breath before answering the question. The answer itself might change Balto’s life forever.

"They were looking you because…," Alex explained, trying to get a good words, "You are Aniu’s son."

"What?" Balto looked surprised, confused, "What’s wrong with that?"

"I don’t know…," Alex replied, gazing seriously at Balto, "And nobody knows it for sure."

He slowly took step by step, approaching Balto until he was in front of him. Looking Balto’s eyes, he knew Balto needed to know everything, but still, he only knew a little about everything.

"Listen to me, Balto…," Alex began to explain, "Aniu is a great wolf, a true leader of all. She is very wise, knowing everything that we don’t know. Her wisdom has led us to the peace for a long time."

Balto, by the way, felt amazed for hearing it. He didn’t know that her mother was a great wolf among the others. Wondering her, Balto could sense she was marvelous and amazing.

"Many have believed that Aniu has mystical powers, dwelling inside her. For all this time, we respect her wisdom and her power…," Alex continued, explaining more, "And because of that, you are in a great danger."

"Huh?" Balto looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Since Aniu was disappeared suddenly, everyone thought she had already died. But still, her power gave a huge influence for everyone," Alex answered, "And from what I know, there is someone who want the power. Since Aniu is nowhere to be found, the only thing that they can do is chasing you."

"Me?" Balto asked, looking at Alex, "Why?"

"Maybe…," Alex continued, "They believed her powers were possessed to her son after all. But, for sure, I don’t know exactly what they have planned."

Balto felt in silent, knowing the truth after all. He really didn’t know that her mother was powerful, even he was thought of it. For a moment, he just kept thinking, wondering how it would change his life forever. But, instead of regretting it, he chose to believe that it was his fate, a blessing to him.

"Mother…," he thought deeply.

As soon as it, he took step by step, climbing down slowly while Alex was still looking him, wondering what he was thinking right now. He kept walking until he touched the ground, sensing it with his own feet. He took a look towards the outskirt, a huge world in front of him.

"Mother…," he thought again, "I won’t regret it because without you, I can’t stand right here now, enjoying my life in this world."

Without any last thought, he quickly swept away those memories from his head. Glancing, he took a look at the moon, shining in his eyes. And with that, a flash of memory came to his mind, reminding him something that had been forgotten for a long time.

"I wonder…," he thought, gazing at the moon, "What is Aleu doing now?"

Slowly, he turned around, heading towards to his boat. After all, he needed the rest to welcome the new day, preparing himself for tomorrow.

To be continued…

Any similarities in this story are purely coincidental and not intended.