The Hushed Well

Sparse trees stood dark and silent in the dead night; snow weighed down their branches, so that the chilling breeze didn’t stir them. The trees were not the only things silent; the air was devoid of the usual sounds of the wild. The only noise was the mild crunching of snow under paws, the owner of which took slow, painful steps. He was a wolf, approaching old age but not yet there, and still quite strong. However, anyone who saw him in his current state would not guess the latter. He walked hunched down, almost limping because of a strange deformation in his right front leg that twisted his muscles and tendons. Other deformations that had a similar appearance were present in various places on his body; for one, his left ear was bent double and shrunken, and barely looked like an ear. All over him, portions of flesh were rotting, leaving hideous gaping wounds in several places, the ragged edges of which were ugly and blackened. One of these was on his muzzle, drawing his lips up and away from his teeth, giving him a frightful appearance. His eyes were alright, but they were filled with a look of one who is under constant torture, and indeed he was; his slow pace was partially due to the severe, unrelenting pain that wracked his body inside and out, even where he had no injuries or mutilations. He continued with a purpose, knowing that he now had a chance to end it.

A relatively large pack of wolves congregated in a sizeable clearing in the forest, moving about on casual business, eating food or talking to one another. All of them had stayed up that night to await news that they had been obsessively eager to discover. A sentry sitting by the trees not far from the group suddenly stood up and trotted back to them. “The Eye has returned,” he said.

The pack hurried to where the sentry was now standing, looking toward the forest, watching as the deformed wolf slowly walked out from among the trees. As he approached them, his pace began to quicken as his body was restored, his muscle building up again, the deformations undoing themselves, the wounds healing until he looked perfectly normal, except the look of pain in his eyes that hadn’t disappeared. “Well, Rodama?” said the sentry. The wolf paused for a moment, and then nodded. “I have found a way.” The entire pack uttered various sounds of relief. “How?” said the sentry. “What must we do?” “It is simple. All we require is a halfblood, one who is both wolf and dog. And…I even know where we shall find one.” Everyone began embracing each other, speaking words of celebration, some even beginning to cry with joy. “Yes…” said Rodama, looking beyond the pack to the object that all of them were being careful not to stray too far from. “We shall break this curse at last.”

Rodama, elder of the Sheruna pack, had spent the better part of two years waiting night after night for a message carrying the means of his pack’s salvation, a message he could only perceive by sitting alone and descending into the most extreme of concentration. He possessed an unusual ability, a combination of precognition and telepathy that allowed him to feel his way through the possibilities of events that had not yet happened, the application of which was to solve problems by using intuition alone, rather than by searching out information. In many cases, including this one, it took quite a long time for his powers to yield the results he searched for, but there had been no choice; there was no way on earth to find a way out of their suffering aside from his visions because the source of that suffering prevented all action otherwise.

The source of that suffering…

Rodama remembered it as clearly as if not a day had passed since it happened, the first moment the pain struck him, how it took him off his feet, forcing him to crawl along, wracked with horrible agony. He remembered the ghastly voice inside his head, telling him what had happened with an icy and unsympathetic tone. He remembered the first few desperate days that he had struggled to lead his pack along toward the place that the voice had instructed them to go. He remembered finally reaching it…and being trapped there for two years, not one in the pack escaping the curse, not even the puppies…

Now that his scattered perceptions had finally melded into a plan, however, there was indeed hope; no longer was the vague hope they had clung to aimless. He had been sitting in the long-empty home of Avantar the Moon Watch, an arctic fox so old no one knew how many years he had seen, and so wise that many sought him for advice, that had disappeared inexplicably quite some time before. Rodama found that being in that place tended to inspire his visions, making them clearer and more coherent. Suddenly, it had merely lined up for him; the way out of their nightmare, starting with the source, and shortly thereafter where it could be found. After his return, he promptly assembled the pack’s finest warriors into a raiding party. The first part of the plan was the most difficult; the vision had shown the wolf-dog to be several days’ journey away, and every step they took farther away from their pack’s resting place intensified the pain, damaging their bodies more and more hideously. The only reason they could endure was the fact that they were approaching the vessel of their freedom, which helped lighten the curse even before anything was done. Also, they knew that this was the only way they would ever end their pain, and they held on tenaciously for that chance. Finally, one night, they reached their destination, a small town on the shore of the sea. “Is this what you saw?” asked one of the wolves, and Rodama nodded. “Yes. He is down there somewhere. Give me a moment.” Rodama lowered his head, forcing everything out of his mind, leaving a mental picture of darkness for a moment. Then, the visions came, lining up as they had before, more quickly and clearly now that he had already seen them. All he needed was to find the next step…and then it appeared, the final clue, a picture of a house on a side street, with a porch, on which was lying…the vessel. “Good,” Rodama thought, becoming excited at nearly having their solution in their grasp. The vision didn’t stop, however; someone appeared next to the wolf-dog, lying next to him under the blanket. It was a beautiful female husky, who at that moment was sharing a kiss with the wolf-dog. Rodama assumed they were mates. “Pity,” he thought. “I hate to imagine how this will make her suffer…”

Balto and Jenna soon released their kiss, nuzzling one another as they lay under a blanket, listening to the night wind blowing, looking at the moon and stars as they hung in the pale black sky. “You know how people talk about their paradise, Balto?” Jenna whispered. Balto nodded. “Yeah. Why do you mention that?” “Right here, right now? This is mine.” “I couldn’t agree more.” They kissed each other again. “I confess I am greedy,” said Jenna. “Every moment I spend with you I want more.” “And that’s why this is paradise; because if we like, we can spend every moment of every day shutting out the world and leaving just us together in our love.” “You know, I find I don’t care what life has in store for me.” “No?” “All I want is to know that you’ll be at my side forever.” “You’ve got your wish. I’m never leaving you. Never.” “I know. I love you.” “I love you, too.” They shared several kisses, caressing each other softly. “That’s love,” said Balto. “That’s its beauty. It holds a rare promise.” “What’s that?” Jenna asked. Balto smiled. “Eternity. Love can be forever.” They moved closer to one another, their eyes filling with desire, beginning to draw heavy breaths. “Promise me eternity?” Balto said, reaching out a paw and pulling his body to Jenna’s. “I do,” Jenna sighed, letting Balto move onto her. “I most certainly do…”

“We need to wait,” said Rodama. “They will likely go inside and fall asleep before long. Then, we shall take the vessel, and no one will know what happened.” “And what of this girl?” “Leave her be. She is of no importance. Even if she tries to fight, we are too many.” The rest nodded, and they sat down to await Rodama’s signal. In about ten minutes, the elder felt something shift in his mind, and he focused his visions again. The pair had gotten up and were now entering their house. “We move,” Rodama commanded, and the group ran down the hill toward the flat expanse that led to the town, silent as phantoms.

Balto wrapped the blanket around Jenna, pulling her close to him with it. “You’re giving me the whole thing?” Jenna protested. “What if you get cold?” “Nonsense; you keep me plenty warm enough.” “Aw, you’re sweet,” Jenna said with a smile, snuggling up to her husband. “But even so, I don’t think the blanket is what keeps me warm. When you have to go on sled runs, the bed feels very cold, blanket or not.” “Well, it should be a while before the next one of those; most of the sled trips these days are mail.” They put their paws around one another. “Remember when we first fell asleep holding each other like this, Jenna?” Balto asked, a whimsical smile on his face. Jenna murmured assent. “It was beautiful, and it still is, every time it happens again.” Balto held Jenna close and kissed her ear and she pressed her head gently against his chest. “Goodnight,” he said softly. “Goodnight,” Jenna mumbled, already half asleep.

Rodama and his soldiers took little time to arrive at Rosy’s house. He ordered them to stand guard while he scouted the situation. He crept onto the porch and slowly looked in the front window with one eye. It was the wrong room, however; he saw nothing. He cursed in Itera, hoping that his last vision was still true; he couldn’t focus properly and be doing something else at the same time, and right now, he had to keep his mind on their task. “Let us go in quietly, and be quick about it.”

Balto nuzzled Jenna, and she stirred, pulling him closer to her before settling again. “I’ll always love you,” he thought…before being seized by paws and teeth from behind. He uttered a startled shout as half a dozen wolves hauled him out of bed and dragged him toward the door. Jenna awoke, looking around in a sort of bewildered shock until she realized what was happening to Balto. “BALTO!” she cried, leaping out of bed and diving into one of the wolves, biting hard into its hind leg. It cried out, and Jenna released her grip, but not out of sympathy; the flesh on the leg had felt gooey, and she had reflexively spit it out. “Jenna, help me!” Balto cried, thrashing and struggling, unable to resist so many foes pulling him in one direction. Jenna attacked again quickly, determined not to let the dark assailants take Balto away. She jumped and bit again, and this time, she got the ear of another wolf. It yelped with pain, trying to shake Jenna off, but she bit harder, tasting blood leaking out between her teeth. Suddenly, Rodama grabbed Jenna from behind, wrestling her off the wolf. As soon as he was facing her, he slammed his paw into her nose. Jenna saw stars, and she fell back on her haunches, her eyes watering, but she soon stood again, charging at Rodama. She yelled and sank her teeth into his shoulder, but he turned to the side and flung her to the floor, putting both his paws on her throat, pressing until her breath was cut off. “Jenna!” Balto shouted, now not out of fear for his own safety, but hers. He tried to reach her, but a wolf kicked him in the stomach, and he bent his body as the breath left his lungs. Jenna struggled in Rodama’s grip, clawing at his face, opening several cuts and drawing shouts of pain from his lips. Finally, he yielded, backing away, and Jenna tried to run to Balto. He reached out his paws, and Jenna reached out hers. They touched for only a moment, and Jenna made a desperate attempt to take hold of Balto’s paws, but Rodama grabbed her again, this time dragging her backwards. He turned around, swinging her body, and her head cracked against the bricks of the fireplace. Rodama released her, and she fell unconscious to the floor. “JENNA!” Balto screamed, struggling furiously, but at long last tiring as the wolves overcame him, dragging him out the door. When they were on the street, Rodama shouted a command. “Ugaal! Put him on your back!” Balto could now see better because of the moonlight, and saw the snarling face of the huge, bulky wolf that hauled him up onto his back. “You struggle, I kill you,” Ugaal growled. “You make me drop you, I kill you. You try to run away, I kill you.” Realizing that he was in no position to argue, Balto decided to be complacent, at least until he found out why this was happening to him. He cared more about Jenna than that anyway. He watched the house as the wolves ran away into the snowy hills, hoping that Jenna would be alright. “She’ll come for me,” he thought. “I know she will.”

Jenna’s eyes opened slowly, though there wasn’t much change from them being closed; all she could see was a dark, blurry mass encompassing everything in the room. She struggled to her feet, crying out as a heavy pain hit her with the blood rushing to her head. Not wanting to imagine the size of the bump she must have gotten when Rodama ended her struggle, she walked forward unsteadily, making her way toward the place she thought the door should be, being careful not to hit anything. By the time she made her way into the living room, she could finally see clearly, although her head hadn’t stopped hurting yet. She looked at the large grandfather clock, which stood tall, methodically sounding deep ticks, and saw in the ambient moonlight that it had been about an hour since she had been knocked out. “Oh, that’s just perfect!” Jenna groaned, racing to the dog door. The last thing she needed to do to find Balto was fall behind in time. She was lucky in that the breeze outside was now dead, and unable to sweep away the tracks she found. For a moment, she considered finding someone to help her, but she realized it would take too long. “If only one of the kids were still living with us…they would come along in a heartbeat.” She shook her head and ran along, following the tracks by sight and smell. “If I have to go it alone…then so be it.”

Jenna ran for miles, traveling as quickly as possible, hoping that the scent trail wouldn’t die off; it was very difficult to see the tracks in places. As she ran, she considered what she might do if she did manage to catch up to Balto’s kidnappers. No solution came to mind; no matter what she tried to plan, she knew that she would end up dead. Still, she couldn’t merely stay in Nome and think while they were putting more and more distance behind them. It would have been nice to known anything about the wolves, but as it were, all she had to go on was that Balto was gone, and she was on the trail of those who had taken him. At least, she was on their trail until her worst fear came true; in an area where scattered trees began appearing, the snow vanished, leaving only scent. She was able to continue on that, but not for long; smells of other animals soon overcame it, especially when the wind picked up. Desperate for a clue, Jenna looked on ahead in the direction the trail seemed to have been heading, but saw nothing except for a gradually thickening forest, and a mountain in the distance. “Where?” she said to herself quietly, looking around the area where she had stopped. Fatigue struck her, and she sat down, tired from running so long; she wasn’t sure how far from Nome she had come already. Not only that, she hadn’t slept at all except for when she was knocked out, and now it was almost midday. “I can’t afford to stop,” she told herself. “No one else except me can help Balto right now.” She forced herself to stand up again and began trotting in the direction the trail was going when it vanished, knowing this was the best she could do at the moment. Eventually, when it was getting on to evening, she stopped again, exhausted and nearly faint with hunger. She curled up at the base of a tree, breathing hard and shivering, and quickly fell asleep.

“I can’t…no, stop…leave…don’t…Balto…let go…”

Jenna’s eyes opened, and she sat up, breathing hard from the night before last’s events replaying themselves in a dream. By now, it was late morning. The first thing that hit her was hunger, overwhelming hunger. Jenna could never remember wanting food so badly in her life. Unfortunately, she had no idea of what kind of food she could expect from her current location. Suddenly, an odor came to her nose. She sniffed it, and her head slowly turned in its direction. It was meat, fresh meat, and she was drawn to the smell; she couldn’t help getting up and following it at a quick pace. When she was able to see what produced the smell, however, she began to wonder if it might be wiser to look elsewhere. The scent was coming from a dead caribou, recently killed by a pack of wolves, which Jenna could hear speaking in the area beyond. Jenna was in a quandary. Stealing food from a pack of wolves might well be a death wish, but she was nearly going out of her mind with hunger. Finally, she decided it would be best to take some of the meat and slip away, knowing it was probably unlikely that the wolves would notice her if she was careful. She crept up to the carcass, keeping her ears wide open for the sounds of any wolves approaching. It seemed none were nearby, so she advanced the last few yards to the carcass with little further hesitation. At first, she was somewhat repelled by the prospect of eating off of the caribou; it was still rather fresh, and blood still dripped from some of the wounds the wolves had torn with their jaws, not to mention the fact that there were organs lying among much of the meat. It wasn’t long, though, before the tantalizing smell of the meat drove Jenna to start eating, ignoring the less appealing features of her meal. At home, she didn’t often get meat, and when she did, it was usually fish, and any meat she ate was cooked. Still, she soon decided that this meat wasn’t bad, especially now that her appetite could finally be sated. Before long, she was totally engrossed in eating, forgetting the idea of dragging a piece away and instead lying there, eating as much as she could get in her mouth as quickly as possible. It felt so good to be able to fill her horribly empty stomach, knowing that she could walk away afterwards and feel full for much of the day, and have energy to keep searching for…

“Vaqis?!?”

Jenna looked up quickly with a frightened shout at the guard’s startled cry. He had been speaking to others in the pack, not expecting that in the moments before he took his position, someone would sneak out of the woods and begin feeding on the caribou. Jenna could make no excuses; shreds of meat still hung from her teeth as she and the guard stared at one another. The wolf shook of his surprise and called out to some of the other wolves. Jenna considered trying to run away, but she knew that the chance of her being able to outrun several wolf hunters was remote. She stood up, looking around as the wolves surrounded her. One of them, a glossy black hunter who seemed to have a dark countenance, approached her, and she sat up, hoping he was more merciful than he appeared. He stopped in front of her, staring with an icy glare. “Are you going to kill me?” Jenna asked, trembling slightly with fear. The wolf raised his head a little, startled. “You do not speak Itera?” he asked. Jenna shook her head. “Only a little.” The wolves began looking at each other, confused. The black one stared at her a little longer, and then finally realized what was going on. “Oh, you are a dog.” “Yes,” Jenna said, still cautious, but believing that her situation may have improved. The wolves were no longer angry, but astonished. “I do not believe our pack has ever seen a dog before,” said the black hunter. “What is your name?” “My name’s Jenna,” she replied. “I live in a town called Nome…and I’m really hungry.” This was still true; even for what she had eaten, she was still famished. “I’m so sorry I had to steal some of your food; I know I didn’t earn it, but I was so hungry I couldn’t see straight, and I didn’t know where else I could…” “Please, please, there is no need,” said the hunter, whose manner had completely reversed. “If you are a dog, it is clear you are only out in the wild for a tragic or very important reason. You may eat your fill of the meat here. Come with me when you are done; the elder will want to speak with you.”

It was about twenty minutes before Jenna stopped eating; when she felt like she had eaten half the carcass, she finally got up and followed the black hunter to the place where the elder was waiting, thanking him many times for his generosity on the way. The elder greeted Jenna warmly. “I am Drezan,” he said. “Welcome to our place of rest.” Jenna nodded. “My name’s Jenna. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality.” “Think nothing of it. I hope the hunters did not frighten you?” “Oh, it’s fine; I just didn’t know how they would react to me stealing your food.” “It matters little; the caribou are plentiful these days. Now then, I must say I am rather curious about you. What is a dog doing this far from any place where humans live?” “Well, it’s, um…it’s my husband.” It suddenly struck Jenna how much she missed Balto, and how she feared for his life, so much that she had to pause a moment before continuing. “The night before last, we had just gone to bed when about half a dozen wolves came into the house. They just…grabbed him and dragged him away. I…I tried to stop them, but one of them knocked me out. They were long gone by the time I woke up. I was only able to follow them as far as this place.” “Wolves, you say? Half a dozen?” “Yes.” Drezan called out for the sentry that had found Jenna eating, and he ran to them. “Yes, Elder?” “When you spotted those wolves running past here last evening, how many do you think there were?” The sentry thought for a moment. “About half a dozen, I suppose.” “You saw them?!?” Jenna shouted, excited by the prospect of hope. “Did you see them…pulling someone along, or something like that?” The sentry nodded. “One of them was carrying someone on their back.” “It seems we did see them,” said the elder. “Obviously, we cannot be certain who they were, or what pack they belong to. Is there a reason you can think that wolves would want to kidnap your mate?” “I’m afraid not; he’s a wolf-dog, but the only contact he’s had with wolves since he was a puppy was with a pack that one of our daughters joined, and they wouldn’t do a thing to harm him. All I know about the wolves that carried him off was that the skin on one of their legs was…slimy. It felt rotten.” The elder seemed now to be deeply lost in thought. “So familiar…” “What is?” “That makes me think of some kind of story…but I cannot seem to recall it. Something from the elder before me…” He shook his head. “I simply cannot remember; it was a vague story not often spoken of. I may not be able to tell you, but I know who can. I have heard tell of a great sage that lives many days from here, someone who knows all the stories of the elders. I do not know his name, but I know where you may be able to find him. I will tell you what little I know.”

Jenna set off that afternoon, having been sent by Drezan in the direction of Killatch Plateau, a forested landform several miles away. Supposedly, the sage he spoke of lived in a bizarre turret-like rock formation somewhere among the dense woods there. Though distinct, the “structure” was rumored to be impossible to find if one did not use a certain dead tree as a directional guide. Thus, Jenna was headed for this tree, known to be somewhere on the south end of the plateau. Reaching the plateau wasn’t the problem, though; it was when she managed to climb it that the difficulty began. The forest covering the top of the plateau was so thick it was impossible to see anything from a distance. Making a note of where the sun was in order to tell how to make her way south, she headed straight into the trees. The situation made Jenna a little uneasy; since everything looked the same, and the trees were so closely spaced, she had to rely on her sense of smell to tell her if anything was nearby. Fortunately, she detected nothing, but that didn’t do much to comfort her, because the farther she went on, the more she felt like she was going in circles. She decided to have faith that she was on the right track and forged ahead, but deep down, she still had a feeling that she was getting nowhere. Just as she was about to sit down and try to think of what to do next, she heard a rustling in the bushes ahead. She snapped to attention and stood up, shocked that she had been so distracted as to not have smelled such a nearby creature before. She backed up a couple of steps, uncertain of what she was about to face, but suddenly, her fears were alleviated as the creature came out of the bushes, and she saw that it was nothing more than a lemming. It started when it saw her, and then tried to flee, obviously considering her a predator. “Wait a minute!” Jenna called urgently. “I’m lost! I need help! I’m not going to hurt you!” For a moment, there was silence, and then the lemming emerged from the bushes again, slowly. “Who are you?” it asked, with a timid voice. “I’m Jenna,” she replied. “What’s your name?” “Zimm. I’m Zimm. You’re lost?” “Yes. I’m looking…” “I…I’m sorry, but…I’m not sure I can help…” Zimm looked like he was about to cry. “What’s the matter?” Jenna asked, concerned for the poor lemming. He looked up at her. “There was a stoat. It attacked my family and me. We all tried to run, but…I think I might be the only one that got away…” He was shaking with fear and grief now. “I need to run, or it might come after me.” Jenna shook her head. “Not if I can help it. Where’s the stoat?”

Zimm led Jenna back to his home as quickly as he could, stopping a short distance away and gesturing forward. “There it is,” he said quietly. Jenna could see a long white stoat digging at a tangled bunch of tree roots, trying to get at something inside. Judging from this, Jenna assumed that at least someone from Zimm’s family was still alive. “What are you going to…” Jenna was off before Zimm was even finished, charging the stoat and barking angrily. The minute the stoat saw her, it jumped a foot in the air and took off with a squeal, cutting a trail through the snow as it dashed away. Jenna followed it, but only for a short distance, to make sure it was gone. She turned around to see Zimm slip into the tree roots, which seemed to serve as his home. “They’re alright!” he called happily, and Jenna walked up to look. Through some holes, Jenna could see Zimm kissing his wife and children. “I thought it killed you,” Zimm said, almost crying with joy. “Well, it would have,” said his wife, “if not for her,” she said, nodding towards Jenna. “Thank you so very much.” “Oh, no, it’s nothing,” Jenna said. “I would like to repay you,” said Zimm. “Did I hear you say you were lost earlier?” “You did. It feels like it’s been days since I first entered this forest.” “Yes, it can be confusing, but I’ve lived here my whole life. Where are you trying to go?” “There’s a dead tree on the south end of the plateau. I’m looking for it.” “The Broken Angel? I know where that is. Come along; I will guide you there at once.”

Balto couldn’t figure out where he was, or how long it had been since he had been borne away from Rosy’s house on Ugaal’s back. It was no use trying to talk to any of the wolves; they were all silent. With nothing to do, he slipped in and out of sleep, thinking of why such a thing could be happening to him during the hours he was awake. However, he also thought of Jenna. There was no doubt in his mind that she was already on his trail, but with the speed the wolves were traveling, he did doubt she could catch up. “I hope someone from out here will help her,” he thought. He dearly hoped no harm would come to her as a result of her pursuing him; he was far less concerned about his own safety, at least until he knew for certain what was happening. He counted several days’ worth of travel, over harsh terrain and barren land. The wolves were skilled hunters, and in spite of the hostility of the environment around them, they were able to catch sufficient food for themselves and Balto. “At least they’re feeding me,” he thought. “That might be a good sign.” As time passed, he wondered more and more what sort of situation he was being brought into. The gruesome appearance of his kidnappers had hardly escaped his notice, and neither had the fact that the farther they went, the more normal they appeared. When they finally stopped, and Ugaal dropped Balto to the ground, they looked just like any other wolves, though it was clear something was still wrong with them. As Balto looked around, he realized he had never seen a pack so gloomy. Everyone walked about with heads hanging. A few, especially the puppies, even had tears in their eyes. Their manners changed whenever they looked at him, though; their faces would light up with some kind of fanatical hope, as if they were an oppressed people for who a hero suddenly appeared. Rather than think them strange, Balto was inclined to feel sorry for them, even though he had no idea of what brought them misery.

“Welcome to the Sheruna.”

Balto started and turned around, surprised at hearing one of the wolves speak to him. It was Rodama, who stood by wearing a strange smile, the emotion behind which Balto could not detect. “I am Rodama, elder of the pack.” Balto nodded. “Well then, with all due respect, why did you kidnap me?” “It is not nearly the time, wolf-dog. There are still three days left.” “Until what?” “The full moon. That is all I am inclined to say right now. You are not going anywhere, so you may as well make yourself comfortable.” Rodama walked away, and Balto shook his head, heading off into the pack, wondering if he could find some answers among the rest of the wolves. He said hello to a few of them, but received no response; they merely stared at him with that strange fire in their faces. One, however, was different. She was an adult female who sat miserably, staring at something Balto thought odd to find in the wilds. It was a well, four feet in diameter, made of plain stone and mortar. However, there was no device for collecting water, but that didn’t seem to be necessary; the water in the well reached very close to the top, only one row of stones away from overflow. The water itself was a cold black, and was as smooth as a polished stone, undisturbed by the breeze. Balto reached out a paw and cautiously touched the water. Instantly, he felt as if his paw was frozen stiff, and lances of cold reached up his leg. It felt as if icy fingers were gripping him, and terror swept over him. Hideous visions leapt into his mind: living wolf skeletons with shreds of gray flesh hanging from their bones, and a great, writhing, slimy black beast that snarled at him…

He cried out and pulled back, and the strange effects of the water left him instantly. His paw felt perfectly normal, not cold at all, and the visions were gone. In fact, though it had been only seconds ago, he could barely remember them. Suddenly, the female wolf spoke. “It will not harm you.” Balto turned toward her, and she spoke again, now looking at him. “It causes fear, but you are not in danger merely by touching the water.” Balto looked at the well again. “What on earth is this thing?” he asked quietly. “Evil,” the wolf whispered. Balto looked at her and saw that she was once again staring at the well. “There is nothing innocent about this. It is evil…and we all of us are cursed.” Balto became even more disturbed than he was already. “How?” he said. The wolf shook her head and walked away. “You will know soon. Watch tonight; there may be one then.” With the wolf gone, Balto was left to stare at the well, trying to figure out the reasoning behind the mystery he had been cast into.

“There it is! Just ahead!” The forest had finally thinned out, allowing Jenna to see what Zimm was gesturing at. It made sense that the dead tree had been christened The Broken Angel; it had been cloven in half by a lightning bolt, which left telltale scorch marks on the bark. Now, all that was left was the stump and two large, sweeping extensions, each formerly a half of the lower trunk. It looked just like an angel bending down, with two wings stretching out to either side. “Thank you,” Jenna said. “I doubt I could’ve found my way here without you.” “Think of it as repaying you for saving my family. Will you be needing me any longer?” “I think I’ll be alright; the tree is supposed to show me where to go next.” “Very well; I’ll go home. Good luck.” He scurried off quickly through the bushes. “Thank you again!” Jenna called after him. She then turned to look at the tree, examining it closely. She expected to find some sort of message scratched into the bark, or a map of some kind. However, there was nothing. She sat down, puzzling over the problem. She remembered Drezan telling her that the tree was supposed to send travelers to the sage’s home. “Send,” she thought. “That must be important. How can this thing send me somewhere…” As she observed again the shape of the tree, it occurred to her to look in the direction the angel’s “head” was facing. Walking around behind the tree, she looked out between the split halves of the trunk. It was only now she noticed how regular a V shape was formed by the sundered wood. Looking ahead, her mind was telling her that she saw something, but she couldn’t quite place it. Suddenly, she had an idea, and took a step backward. Now, it came clear. The distribution of trees of similar height on the plateau was such that from Jenna’s current position, the woods looked to be formed into a giant V shape themselves. Jenna moved her head until the two Vs were lined up, and then, in the very center of the two, a tiny flash of light came, obviously a reflection off of some distant object. “That has to be it!” Jenna thought, going around the tree and running straight ahead. “Maybe I’m on track for some answers.”

The trek to Jenna’s destination was only half a mile, and she covered the distance quickly. She only hoped this sage could help her find Balto; she didn’t feel she would be lucky enough to meet two animals that had seen the wolves she was chasing. Still, if this sage was so wise, he could likely offer some sort of advice. Before long, she reached the rock structure. It was a hollowed-out cylinder of gray stone, with a large chunk taken out of one side. With the way the chunk had fallen, it now acted as a ramp of sorts leading up to the hole. Atop the cylinder, one of the broken stones glittered brightly, which Jenna assumed had produced the flash she had seen. She climbed the ramp, looking cautiously into the cylinder. To her surprise, no one was there. The inside was bare rock, with a few jutting projections that would allow anyone within to climb out. It certainly didn’t appear to be a place someone was actually living in. Jenna hoped desperately that the one who was supposed to be there was not dead or gone, as she would then essentially be at a dead end. “Maybe he just went to do something,” Jenna thought. “He might not really be gone.” She sighed and lay down at the base of the ramp, preparing for what she feared would be a long wait.

The whole day Jenna waited, trying to keep herself from nodding off, fighting her boredom and anxiety and thinking of Balto almost constantly. All she wanted was to be home with him again. She knew it was very possible that might never again happen. “I don’t care what happens to me,” she thought. “He’s all that matters. As long as I can save him, nothing else is that important.” She remembered how she and Balto had made love that night, less than an hour before he was taken away, and this made her think of how much she missed the beautiful love and intimacy of their life together, even though it had been merely a few days since they had been parted. It made her think of how blessed she felt to be able to share her heart with such a wonderful husband, who loved her more than life, and how good it made her feel to know that he, like she, valued their relationship far beyond the physical aspect. “Although…if I don’t make it…I’ll never have that again. Same thing…if I can’t save him…” A few tears dripped down her cheeks, and she lowered her head, starting to sob. It occurred to her that she hadn’t cried yet, even when she had felt so hopeless the night she slept under the tree near the wolf pack. Now that everything that was at stake was in focus, however, it was too much to bear. She wept quietly for several minutes, allowing herself to wish Balto was there, even for the futility of doing so. She wiped her eyes and sniffed, looking out at the forest. Twilight was coming quickly by now, and she wondered how long she had been waiting, and how long she had still to wait. “Please…” she called out softly to the air. “Please…come soon. I need your help…”

Then, for the first time since her arrival, she spotted another creature. It was an arctic fox with blue fur that almost seemed to shimmer and eyes like a winter night sky. He walked slowly, and Jenna could tell that he was extremely old. She couldn’t guess how old he was, but she almost wondered how he could still be walking. She wasn’t sure if he had noticed her before, but it was made clear that he had when he spoke. “Sorry if you had to wait. I hope it wasn’t long?” He had a calm and pleasant voice. “Just part of today,” Jenna replied. The fox nodded. “No doubt you believed this to be my home?” Jenna nodded. “Well, you are correct, dear. I do live here, but I’ve been forced to avoid it for years.” “Why?” “Someone was coming here seeking me, someone I would rather burn alive that give aid to. He came very regularly, so I would stay away from my home on the days he would come, and only come close enough to see if he was there. For years it went on like this, until yesterday, when he did not arrive as he usually did. Hence, I checked again today to make sure he was gone, and now I find you. By the way, I’m Avantar. They call me the Moon Watch.” “My name is Jenna. Drezan the elder told me about you. I’m here because I hope you’ll be so kind as to give me some help.” “Yes; I heard you call out when I was walking up.” Avantar suddenly looked very suspicious. “You aren’t with him, are you?” “With who?” “Rodama, the wolf that kept coming here.” “I don’t know anyone by the name of Rodama.” “Very well. I suppose I can trust you. Tell me how I may help you.” “A few days ago, my husband was kidnapped from my house by about half a dozen wolves. I couldn’t see them very well in the dark, but one of them that I bit had…gooey skin. I know that sounds silly, but that’s what it…” “Wait a moment,” said Avantar. “Its skin felt rotten?” “Yes. Is that…important?” Avantar sighed. “Very. I can tell you with absolute certainty that it was Rodama and his soldiers that kidnapped your husband.” “Can you answer a question for me? Since this wolf Rodama took my husband from me, I don’t exactly have reason to like him, but why would you rather burn alive than help him?” Avantar sat down. “Make yourself comfortable, miss, and I will tell you a tale.”

“Many years ago, Rodama was a young, happy wolf, who enjoyed the privilege of being an aide to the elder of the Sheruna wolf pack. The elder was very fond of him, and truly believed in his potential to be a great leader. In fact, he believed in him so much that when he became too old to lead the pack, he named Rodama as his successor. At first, things weren’t that bad; Rodama certainly had the competence to be an elder, and the pack began flourishing. It was while they were growing this way that the trouble started. No one knows for sure whether Rodama’s newfound power brought arrogance and corruption into his heart, or whether that was his true character from the start. In any case, he changed. He began taking liberties, defying the laws of the wolves, and by his example and indeed his invitation, the rest of the pack began following suit. You see, Jenna, wolves don’t only have laws pertaining to the system of rule and other such things; they also have moral laws, which are considered even more important. It was these moral laws Rodama broke; he seemed to derive some sort of sick pleasure from it, as if he were celebrating the wickedness he brought into the pack. It is difficult to describe how horrible it became. They killed helpless creatures of the forest merely for the fun of the cruelty. The filth of fornication ran rampant; it was not uncommon to even see it happening in plain sight during the day. They spat foul words at other wolves, laughing with mirth, completely pleased with themselves and their new lack of restraint. Rodama himself had two mates at one time, and he hurled profanity at any elders who tried to speak with him about the moral state of his pack. The elders were angry with Rodama for the atrocities he and his pack were committing, but they were unsure of how to stop them; not one in the pack would listen to reason. Everyone among the Sheruna who refused to be led astray by Rodama had long since left. The culmination of the evil came when Rodama began sending small numbers of his wolves to visit other packs, trying to seduce the younger, more vulnerable wolves and persuade them to join their pack and lifestyle. This infuriated the elders, who were determined not to let Rodama spread his immoral poison any farther. They called a council, but did not inform Rodama, because their purpose was to find a way to punish him. They deliberated on what they should do for quite some time. Rodama could not be spoken to, and the situation, while disgusting, did not seem to merit sacrificing lives by going into battle. Finally, one wolf came up with an alternate idea, a way to bring down retribution on both Rodama and his entire pack. It is not often that curses are cast by elders; they alone can do so. Not even the elders themselves know for certain how they do it. It’s not a matter of mysticism or necromancy or any such things. Some have suggested that their emotional influence abilities run deeper than that, and that they can, in fact, affect the body and even the very soul of a creature if used properly. In any case, they came to a consensus, reluctantly deciding to pronounce a curse they had hoped never to use. Since ancient times, the elders had known about a strange well out in the wild, a well that had been known to somehow swallow up wolves from time to time. They didn’t know its nature, why it did so, but they knew that the scant few that ever escaped were gravely wounded, and died very soon afterwards. On the night of the full moon, which was when the well had been known to swallow wolves, the elders reconvened, gathering to pronounce the curse…”

The elders stood solemnly in a large circle, their eyes cold as they thought of what was about to happen. No one from the Sheruna would escape. The elders were reluctant to inflict such misery upon anyone; what they were doing was not a matter of hate, but of protection for the wolves in their packs. They had tried everything, and there was no other way to stop Rodama. They raised their heads, speaking in turn.

“Rodama, Elder…”
“Sheruna, wolf pack…”
“You have rejected the laws…”
“Living in evil…”
“Indulging your wickedness…”
“No longer shall you live so…”
“Spreading your evil…”
“To our innocent ones…”
“We tell you now…”
“That ends this night…”

The elder who had first offered the curse as a solution stood forth, shouting out in a terrifying voice.

“For your licentiousness, we bind you to the Hushed Well forevermore!”

At that very moment, every individual in the Sheruna pack felt as if they had been struck by lightning. Unearthly, burning agony tore through them, drawing screams of pain from their throats. Everyone was wailing horribly, begging everyone and no one to tell them what had happened, to make the pain stop. Suddenly, a ghastly voice entered every one of their minds, repeating the words of the curse, and they knew...

Rodama had been standing some distance away when the curse struck. Unable to walk, he managed to crawl back to where his pack had been staying, hearing the screams and sobs the entire way. They looked at him, pleading for a solution, but he could offer none. He expected them to be enraged with him for leading them to this, but each wolf knew his or her guilt; they could have chosen not to follow him. The voice suddenly came again. “Travel three days to the northeast, until you find the Well. You will know when you are closer.” Suddenly, Rodama heard another scream, but this time, it was of terror, not pain. He looked to see what was happening and was horrified to watch a huge, green-edged gash opening spontaneously in the side of a wolf, who was shaking violently, sobbing with panic as he watched his skin tearing open all by itself. “HELP!” he shrieked. Rodama tried to get up, and in spite of the incredible pain was able to make it to his feet...but suddenly, he felt something strange on his hind leg. He turned to look, and gasped in horror, watching a similar wound open down most of the length of his hind leg. No blood came from it, but it erupted into intense, searing pain, and he cried out, falling down again. All over the pack, the screams intensified as everyone began suffering the same random, unprovoked injuries. Rodama looked up to the sky, howling with anger and agony…

Jenna wiped her eyes, but it was no use; more tears poured down her face as she sobbed, barely able to imagine the nightmarish scene, her heart breaking with compassion for the Sheruna. “I feel so sorry for them,” she said, her voice cracked. “I know they full well deserved what they got, but…” “I understand,” said Avantar. “Compassion is noble, even if the one suffering deserves it. Anyway, they crawled to the well, and there they’ve remained ever since. When they are near it, the injuries vanish and their pain is reduced, but far from eliminated. If they try to move away from it, their pain gradually increases, as well as the injuries, until they are in such agony that they cannot go any farther. They can never leave that place, even in death if I understand it correctly. It is a miserable life for them now; constant pain, and little food and water because of where the Well is. Most creatures avoid it, and I hear that its water cannot be drunk.” “Why didn’t Drezan tell me this story?” “The elders made a pact that night never to speak of the curse or of the Sheruna again. The intent was to leave them cursed until their death, at which point there would be no reason to think of them any longer. Drezan only heard rumors of the story; he didn’t hear the whole thing because he wasn’t at the council when the curse was pronounced. It was the elder before him that was there.” Jenna thought about everything she had heard for a minute or two, but then became confused. “But…I don’t understand. Why on earth do they need Balto? That’s my husband, by the way.” “That I can’t tell you. But I certainly know who can, someone who knows everything about the Hushed Well, including its exact location, which I do not know. He is a creature of darkness that lives much nearer to it than I. Unfortunately, it isn’t exactly easy to get there. A dead forest stands in your way, and it is inhabited by wicked creatures.” “It doesn’t matter what I have to go through; all I care about is getting to Balto.” “Very well. I will lead you to the edge of the black land, but I cannot go any farther than that.”

Balto spent much of his time trying to bring himself to inquire further about the curse the female wolf had mentioned. He would have done so already if something inside him hadn’t spoken out against it every time he thought to try. Somehow, unconsciously he didn’t want to know, a feeling he was convinced came from what he had seen when he touched the water of the well. “I suppose I might find out tonight,” he thought, remembering what the female wolf had told him. He was sick of waiting around; he had already attempted to escape, but been foiled before long, so he was forced to resign himself to the fact that he wasn’t leaving until their use for him had been set in motion. At nightfall, he made sure to stay within sight of the well, wondering what might happen to show him what sort of curse was on these wolves. It didn’t take long for Rodama to notice his loitering. He approached Balto, watching him stare at the well. “I see you are already questioning its nature,” he said. Balto nodded slightly. “It’s more than a well; I can tell that much.” “Indeed. I am sorry, but I know nothing of the how of the curse; I know only the why.” “Really? Tell me, then; why?” “Two years ago, the council of wolf elders convened, an unscheduled meeting which I was not invited to attend. They had grown tired of my...carefree view of their laws.” He chuckled. “Imagine, eh? I decided that the laws of wolves, the moral laws, the restrictions, were all worthless. I said to myself: ‘I should be able to live how I like, accountable to no one’. And thus, I put it into practice. It was only natural that many members of the pack followed suit. Yes, we were truly living, and I thought we had a whole life of revelry ahead of us…until the curse.” Rodama’s face turned cold. “The council pronounced a curse on myself and the entire pack for our lifestyle. As long as we live, we will suffer unending pain, and we can never stray far from this well, or suffer worse pain and dreadful wounds.” He shook his head. “We are being punished. I should have seen it coming, I suppose; the other elders tried to convince me that I was in error for quite some time. The Sheruna still believe we should be able to live without being hampered by the idea of right and wrong, but considering this curse, once we manage to lift it, I think I will stop speaking of it to the members of other packs.” “You’ll still end up answering for what you’ve done.” “Hah! How do you mean?” “You’re a slave to the evil you’ve lived by. It may not feel like that now, but it will when the consequences start reaching you. Even if whatever you’re planning to do with me works, it won’t free you from being held accountable.”

Suddenly, the entire pack went silent, staring at one of members. Balto turned to look and saw that it was an older wolf, walking toward the well with a shuffling gait. His eyes were quite sunken, and he looked extremely ill. “What’s going on?” Balto asked. Rodama sighed. “He is dying. The Hushed Well is claiming another of us.” The old wolf climbed up on the side of the well, facing down at the water. He waited only a moment before leaning forward, falling into the black water face first, sliding silently beneath the surface without so much as a splash. He didn’t come up again. Balto kept staring at the well, expecting something else to happen, but there was nothing. “That is all,” said Rodama. “It calls to them, they slip in, and we never see them again.” “They just…vanish?” “So it seems. As I said, I do not know the how.” Balto nodded. “Are you ready to tell me what I’m doing here yet?” Rodama smiled. “I will say one thing only. You are here…to help us break the curse. That is all for now.” He walked away, and Balto shook his head. “Great. So my role is to help some morality-hating wolf pack get rid of their punishment? Gee, I can hardly wait.” Balto certainly wasn’t relishing the thought of an entire pack suffering for the rest of their lives only to disappear into a strange well, but didn’t exactly want to provide them with a means to return to their previous lifestyle, either. He decided to try to forget ideas of what they might be planning to do to him and instead thought of Jenna. “I wonder where you are, babe?” he said softly aloud, looking up at the stars. “I know you’re coming after me. I know it.”

It was shocking how quickly the scene had changed. Before she knew it, Jenna was out of the pleasant forest, led by Avantar for the rest of the night until dawn through an area where the trees rapidly vanished, leaving bare snow that turned to bare rock. Next, the rock turned to black “soil” that was actually made of tiny black mineral crystals that felt cold and hard under Jenna’s feet. As they came to the crest of a hill, Avantar stopped and nodded ahead. “There is your way, Jenna.” Straight ahead, beyond a short expanse of rocky plain, there was a massive, dismal forest that looked dead, standing dark and ominous. “You must go through there. Do you see past the forest? The mountain?” Jenna looked on and saw twin peaks in the distance, rising up in a saddle formation, partially shrouded by glowing black clouds. These same clouds hung over most of the forest, obscuring it from the sun, which was shining through only weakly at their current location anyway. She nodded, and Avantar continued. “You must go between them. On the other side, the forest ends, and that’s where you’ll find the one who can help you. I don’t know exactly where he is, so you might want to find someone to help you. Be careful who you ask, though; many creatures there would take pleasure in harming you. From what I know of the curse, it can only be broken at the full moon, so if they are going to use your husband somehow, it will likely be then. You have what is left of today, this upcoming night, and tomorrow. Hurry on; the journey through the forest is long.” “Thank you for helping me, Avantar. I’d be at a dead end if it weren’t for you.” “I only wish I could guide you longer, but this forest isn’t a fitting place for an old fox like me. Go quickly now, Jenna.”

She nodded and trotted off down the hill. Although she didn’t show it, the idea of walking into this forest was causing her great fear. Certainly, everything was worth it for Balto’s sake, but even so…she wasn’t sure if she would ever leave the forest if she entered. “There’s got to be some other…” Her thoughts were cut short as she heard a screech from her left. She jumped, whipping her head in that direction. A spout of pebbles flew up from the soil, and a two-foot-long, centipede-like creature burst out of the ground. It looked straight at Jenna and made a gargling noise, flashing two pairs of hooked mandibles, and without warning, suddenly charged. Jenna turned, her mind now made up about going through the forest, and sprinted for the tree line, praying that the creature couldn’t outrun her; there was nothing but open space until the trees. Jenna could hear the insect running behind her, its exoskeleton making scratching sounds against the rocks as it scuttled rapidly. Suddenly, she heard more screeches, and soon after, more scuttling. It soon became impossible to guess how many were behind her, but Jenna didn’t dare look back. She forced her legs to work harder, her lungs feeling on the verge of explosion as she neared the trees. The scuttling was very close now; Jenna expected that any second, one of them would clamp onto one of her hind legs and bring her down. She panted hard, refusing to let herself slow down. Just ahead, she saw a large boulder lying lopsided, the low end nearest her. She knew that climbing on it would do no good, but just past it, there was a relatively small tree, the branches of which spread out like a basket. It would be dreadfully close… Gambling that she had enough strength left, she made one last effort, sprinting up the rock. She heard the scuttling legs hit the stone an instant after hers, and now could hear their hissing. As she reached the front of the rock, she lifted her front legs into the air, pushing off with her hind legs in an adrenaline-charged leap. She flew through the air, closing her eyes, feeling the jaws of one of the insects nick her right hind leg. Suddenly, she felt a branch knock into her chest, and several twigs brushing and poking her body. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, and saw that she had made it. Now, she was resting in the bowl-shaped web of branches. Looking down quickly, she saw that there were six of the creatures, standing in a tight circle around the tree, looking up at her. She let out a heavy sigh of relief, breathing hard. “Thank goodness they can’t…”

A scratching sound came from the tree trunk.

“Climb…”

Jenna looked down with horror to see that one of the creatures was making its way up the tree. It was clumsy at it, but it was succeeding. “Oh, no…no…” Jenna was shaking with fear, knowing what would happen if it managed to reach her and make her fall. The hideous insect reached the largest branch of the ones that were holding Jenna up, and gaining a better footing, began advancing toward her. Jenna tried to move away from it, but there was only so far she could go. It moved slowly along the branch, hissing and drooling, its compound eyes a fiery orange.

Then, as Jenna stared into those eyes, fury suddenly built up inside her. “I’m not going to just sit here and be a meal. Not when Balto is counting on me!” The insect screeched, preparing to leap at Jenna, but before it got the chance, she lunged toward it, catching the middle of its body in her mouth. She bit down hard, whipping it back and forth like a rag doll. Its exoskeleton cracked, and she tasted its blood. A couple of its legs snapped and severed, flying off to the side, and she finally released it, letting its corpse splatter against the ground. The other insects looked at it for a moment, then back at her…before scuttling away, back to the plain. Jenna looked on after them to make sure they were gone, and then curled up into a ball, gasping and shaking violently. If they had attacked as a team, they would have killed her, she knew, but fortunately, it seemed they weren’t smart enough to do so. She jumped down from the tree and leaned against its trunk, thinking how lucky she was to be alive. It had been so close…she could almost feel them biting her. Shortly, her terror and adrenaline subsided, and she took a couple of deep breaths. “I can’t stand around like this,” she thought. “The full moon won’t wait.” She gathered her courage and ran straight into the forest, wondering if what waited within would be worse that what she had already seen.

No trees Jenna had ever seen looked quite like these; every single one was gray and bleak, looking almost as if they had been burned out by a great forest fire and not recovered. Not one had leaves or a spot of green or brown color. There was no canopy, but merely an endless web of thin, tangled branches above. Keeping track of time was not possible because of the black clouds that floated high, forming a sheet that prevented most of the light from getting through, so Jenna simply ran as quickly as she could, slowing down periodically to rest. The farther she went, however, the more she felt she was running late. “This can’t be taking as long as it feels,” she thought, hoping that if she were late, it was still possible to make up the time. In terms of help, she hadn’t seen any living creature since the insects. However, for some time, she’d had a vague notion that something was following her. Once in a while, she had heard soft noises, never from the same direction, that made her wonder if she was being stalked. Though she could see nothing, she nonetheless became wary, looking around constantly to make sure nothing would surprise her. She became terribly hungry, enough that she decided she must have missed at least two meals by then, which meant the first day would soon be over. She was tempted to rest, but not knowing for certain how much time she had left drove her to continue. What little light there was gradually faded away, indicating that night had fallen. The fatigue was now becoming difficult to deal with, and drowsiness was setting in. Jenna shook her head quickly, trying to clear her senses. “No time,” she said to herself out loud. “I can’t stop and sleep. I can’t afford it. No time.” She kept talking to herself like this and she went on at a trot, keeping her voice down to reduce the chance of something hearing her.

Hours passed, dreadful hours of weariness and worry. Jenna’s legs felt heavier with each step, but she made herself keep her pace up, eventually driving her muscles to pain. It was becoming difficult to pay attention to direction; when she had first entered the forest, she had established which way she should be walking, but now she felt like her path was aimless, and the fear of being lost in such a place came upon her. She tried to move faster, but her sore feet and legs refused, so she had to settle for maintaining her current speed. She ached terribly to see Balto again, to know if he was alright. Still unaware of the true nature of the Hushed Well, she could only imagine what the wolves may have done to him, or what they might be planning. “Please hang on, Balto,” she pleaded in her mind. “I’ll be there soon, and I’ll get you out.” As she thought about it, however, Jenna wasn’t truly certain of how close she was to saving her husband; her current destination was only to another that could help her, not to the wolf pack where Balto was. “What if this…creature can’t help me enough to get me there in time?” she thought. She had been trying to keep thoughts such as these out of her head to avoid becoming discouraged, but it worked less and less as time passed. A small amount of light crept into the forest again, hailing the morning. “Just one day…” Jenna thought, pushing her exhausted body on. “Only one day left…I have to hurry…” A wave of nausea broke upon her from the intensity of her hunger, and she sat down hard, taking heavy, rapid breaths, her head held low as she tried desperately to keep from dropping to the ground. She knew if she fell asleep, she wouldn’t wake up for many hours, and that was time she couldn’t afford to lose. “Even if I make it, how am I supposed to fight in this state?” she thought. Balto would surely need her help to escape from the wolves, but Jenna didn’t know how she could possibly give any help. In fact, she didn’t even know how she could go on any farther. However, the few moments of rest she had just taken made her feel much better. She decided it would be best to reduce her pace to a fast walk and take small breaks periodically, in order to conserve what energy she had left. Just as she got up, she heard a noise from in front of her, and she looked to see a bizarre animal walking toward her. It was somewhat like a dog, shorter in height and length than she but very stocky, with fat legs and virtually no tail, and shaggy gray fur. It had a wide face and a rather large mouth, with a pair of large nostrils just above its upper lip. Its eyes were small and bulged slightly out of its face, and it had short, skinny ears. “Well, you weren’t too easy to catch up with,” it said. Now, Jenna didn’t have to wonder any longer whether someone had been tracking her. The creature continued. “Picking up the smell of your blood early on was easy, but staying with you…that was much harder.” Jenna looked back at her right hind leg, observing the cut that she had barely noticed before. There had been a stinging sensation, but she had been too preoccupied with getting to the mountains to pay attention. The cut was only a small one, and the blood was dry, but apparently, these creatures had a good enough sense of smell to trace it anyway. The creature chortled. “You are one lucky animal. I can’t believe you survived the Raptoredes. No one knows about them until they actually try to enter the forest.” With a sudden burst of dread, Jenna realized there could only be one reason a creature would smell blood and track it all night long. “I have to get out of here!” she thought, her heart beginning to pound. She tried to start walking, but suddenly, more creatures appeared, seven in total, emerging from hiding places behind several trees one by one until they surrounded her. She swallowed hard and spoke firmly to the creature in front of her. “Please let me by. Someone needs my help and I only have until tonight.” “Is that right?” the creature said. It smiled nastily. “Pity…that someone is going to be disappointed.”

The creatures started closing in, stepping forward slowly. “We just can’t let an opportunity like this go. We’ve never seen something like you in here before. We’d like to find out if you taste good. Stuff in the forest gets so boring after a while…” Jenna looked around, breathing hard with fear, watching the creatures come closer. She considered trying to knock one down and run…but how far could she get? She hadn’t seen these things run yet. Still, the alternative was to stand still and die, so with a yell, she charged into the one in front of her, biting its neck and throwing it off its feet. With an opening now present, she leaped forward and sprinted away from the group, adrenaline giving her the energy she lacked. Unfortunately, that energy was only temporary; her head spun from lack of food, and she was forced to slow down. She could hear them chasing her, and she looked back. They weren’t fast runners, but at the current time, they were faster than she was. She slipped on a small rock, stumbling as she tried to keep running, and one of the creatures slammed into her from behind, knocking her off her feet. She got up, and one of them bit her shoulder, injuring the muscle. She reciprocated, biting the creature on the neck and forcing it to back away. Another clawed one of her hind legs, and she cried out, losing her balance. They tried to pounce on her, and she rolled to the side, letting two of them smash into each other. She bit one of their legs, pulling hard and ripping the skin, and it yelled, wrenching its way out of her grip. She tried to keep fighting, but now that she was down, it wasn’t possible to hold off the amount that were attacking her. One of them pinned her down, snarling into her ear. “The only way you’re leaving here is in our stomachs!” Shaking, Jenna shut her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t have to feel too many bites before she died.

But no bites came. Before any of the creatures could get their teeth into her, one of them gave a frightened call. “Dakaitra! There’s a dakaitra coming!” The creature that was holding Jenna down released her, and she opened her eyes and stood up. Judging from the way the creatures were running around in a near panic, Jenna knew that whatever was coming was probably not something she wanted to meet, and she was about to run away when she saw it coming. The dakaitra, as the creature called it, was running toward them with long, powerful strides. Jenna had seen many sled teams moving at full speed, and many competitive races between individual dogs, but this creature ran at least twice as fast as any of them. Its body was formed almost like an antelope, although it had more muscle all over, especially in its legs, which weren’t as long and thin as those of such an animal. It was lithe and strong, with short, shining black fur. Its feet were relatively short, but each of the three toes on each foot had a long silvery claw extending an inch and a half forward. Its head, attached to a slightly long and skinny neck, was also somewhat like an antelope, but the nose was not nearly as long, making the jaw shorter and stronger. Its mouth was filled with large, smooth teeth that flashed within its drawn lips, making it look like it was grinning as it charged. Its eyes were the palest blue Jenna had ever seen, and that color seemed to fill its entire eye, leaving no white. It had two crystalline horns on its head, transparent like glass, which looked beautiful, but also deadly, sharp as a pair of icicles. Its tail was frightening to behold, three feet long and lined on both sides with bony projections that looked like slanted razor blades.

It was headed straight for her.

Jenna had only a moment to react, but that was enough; she threw herself to the side, landing on the ground out of the path of the dakaitra. However, it seemed that it intended to pay her no mind anyway; it uttered a harsh roar and leapt through the air, biting and clawing one of the creatures, knocking it down. When it landed, it ran forward again, lowering its head and impaling one of the creatures with its horns, inflicting a fatal heart wound. The creature died, and the dakaitra turned around, running at the wounded creature again as the rest retreated hastily. It stiffened its legs, sliding around so its back was facing the creature, and lashed its tail like a whip, ripping the creature’s throat open. As it fell dead, the dakaitra stopped, looking back and forth at its two victims, its eyes finally turning and settling on Jenna. She had gotten up, but had been unable to run, standing there frozen with awe at the beast’s power. They stared at each other for a moment, and then the dakaitra began walking toward her. A chill ran down Jenna’s spine, and she was tempted to run, but she had a feeling that if she did, she would merely be provoking the beast to attack. She stood as still as a statue, the only movement her shallow breathing; she didn’t even dare to blink. At least now, the beast’s lips were closed, so she didn’t have to look at its teeth, but she still could see the blood on its lips and horns. It came right up to her, stopping when it was close enough that she could feel its breath. Everything in her was screaming for her to run, but her mind refused stubbornly. The dakaitra reached its head toward her, and she had to fight violently not to make a sound. It stopped with its head only an inch from her shoulder, sniffing her fur carefully. Jenna bit her lip hard, trying to prevent herself from trembling. After a few seconds more of sniffing, the dakaitra leaned back…and turned around, walking to its victims’ bodies, which it sat down to feast on. It took Jenna a few moments to realize she was alright, and a few more to finally relax her stiffened muscles. She took a few cautious steps backward, watching the dakaitra carefully, and then turned around slowly, walking away as quietly as she could. When the beast was out of sight, she stopped, lying down and panting with terror. “I don’t get it,” she thought. “Why didn’t it kill me?” She decided it must have been because since it obviously preyed on the creatures that had attacked her, it would be inclined to eat them instead of a strange animal it had likely never seen before. Calming down was a very difficult task; her heart seemed like it would never stop pounding, but after a few minutes, it finally slowed, and after taking a small drink from a nearby pool, she started walking again.

Balto had guessed from its appearance the night before that the moon would be full this night, and he would finally find out why he of all animals was the one this pack needed to break their curse. Virtually the entire time he had been there he contemplated why it could be him, but the absence of clues left him stumped; he hadn’t known of the existence of this pack before his arrival, he had never met any of the wolves in it, and he had never heard of this “Hushed Well” or the curse that went with it. “I wonder how they even knew about me?” he thought. “If I’ve never seen any of them, how did they know I existed?” He couldn’t decide whether to dread the idea of finding out his role in their plan or to look forward to having his curiosity satisfied. It had been some time since he had given up on the idea of asking Rodama to tell him anything, but he assumed that the twisted elder would reveal what was to happen in due time. As noon passed and evening started to arrive, he began formulating another escape plan. Sentries were everywhere, obviously set up thickly to prevent any chance from him getting away unseen, but Balto thought he might not have to go unseen to escape. He already knew that the wolves had to stay fairly close to the Well in order to avoid being incapacitated by their pain, so he reasoned that even if he were spotted, he would need just enough time to get a short lead on the wolves and outrun them long enough that they would become unable to follow. The best time to make a break for it, he reasoned, would be when everyone was called to dinner; the sentries would come in then, and he could probably find a gap to slip through. He waited for the call, and when it came, Rodama came to escort him to where everyone was eating, as he had expected. “Come along,” he said. “We must eat.” “Alright, but I have to go find a tree first.” “Very well. A sentry will go with you.” Balto nodded, and after Rodama called one of the guards, they both went to the edge of the forest. The sentry eyed Balto suspiciously, and he glared. “Would you at least turn your head?” The sentry huffed and turned away, and a split second later, Balto’s paw smacked his head just under the ear, stunning him.

Rodama heard the sentry cry out, and looked in time to see Balto disappearing into the forest. He shouted to several warriors, and they sprinted after him.

Balto could hear by the voices behind him that he had a good lead. His timing had been absolutely perfect; all that had to be done now was to outlast Rodama and the others. He had been in very good shape before starting to do sled runs because of life on the street and the fact that he had wolf blood, but now, because of the sled runs, he was even more conditioned. He ran very quickly, taking light and very long strides, easily dodging undergrowth and tree trunks without slowing down. He looked back, seeing that a few of the warriors could no longer keep up. Rodama, however, was keeping pace. Balto looked ahead again and ran faster, forcing his muscles to work harder, taking deep, controlled breaths to hold off the burning sensation that accompanies deficient oxygen during strenuous exercise. Soon, he looked back again, and was unnerved to see that not only had Rodama not fallen back, he was now gaining. Balto didn’t know how to make himself move any faster; he was going the maximum possible speed without losing his footing. Slowly, but inexorably, Rodama caught him up, swatting his hind leg in the manner of a cheetah downing a gazelle. Balto slipped and fell, tumbling through the snow, sustaining many cuts and scrapes from rocks and bushes. He finally came to rest, panting hard. Rodama put a paw on his neck to keep him down, forcing Balto to look into his mutilated face. “I am sorry, wolf-dog, but we have plans for you. Thought the Well would stop me, did you?” Balto was indeed shocked that his plan had failed, and Rodama could see it in his eyes. “Since you are the vessel, being near you has a similar effect. It was the only way we could reach you in the first place.” He chuckled. “You must have thought you were so clever. I must admit, it was a good attempt. Now we must return; they are waiting for us.”

The terrible hunger in her stomach, the pain running through her legs and feet, the searing, throbbing agony of her wounds, the awful fatigue that made every step feel like dragging a large stone…Jenna wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on. She had allowed herself little rest that day, having been unable to conclude the direction she was headed, reduced to guessing based on backtracking a short way. With nothing to eat in the dead forest, the toll the journey was taking on her was becoming unbearable. It had come down to a matter of just concentrating on making it through the next step, but eventually that ceased to be helpful, and all that was now keeping her going was a constant focus on Balto, his face so clear in her mind’s eye from her tenacious focus that she could almost see him in front of her, which wasn’t difficult since her head was swimming so much and her vision was distorted. She knew she urgently needed someone to help, but she had not seen any more living creatures since the dakaitra had frightened away her attackers. This was a blessing and a misfortune at the same time; not meeting anyone else meant there was no chance of being waylaid by a hostile creature, but it also meant that whatever happened to her, she was on her own. She forced all thoughts out of her mind except Balto, clinging relentlessly to her focus on him. Yet even that soon seemed to be of no use; the going felt harder with every step, and at last, her body refused to go any farther, and she collapsed. For a moment, she lay there, vaguely aware of how heavy her breathing was. So many muscles were sore she could no longer tell exactly what was hurting; the pain was ubiquitous and utterly overwhelming. The dreadful emptiness in her stomach had not felt any worse after a certain point, but now that she was off her feet, she could feel it more acutely. Her mind was still refusing to stop, driving her to continue. “Get up! What are you doing? This is the last time you want to be stopping! You’re almost there; get up!” She tried hard, putting a valiant effort into it, but her legs refused to obey; she didn’t even get to full height before falling again. She started trying to crawl, dragging herself with her front legs, feeling earth and pebbles scratching against her stomach. Soon, however, her last reserves of energy gave out, and she stopped, lying still, trying to get enough air with each breath. Another voice in her head came to her, a voice she had not yet heard. “What’s the use?” she thought. “I tried, I didn’t quit, and now I’ve failed. Why should I keep torturing myself like this?” She covered her face with her paws, bitter tears beginning to drip down her cheeks. “Balto could have done it, if our places were switched. He’d be able to save me without something like this happening. And here I am, not able to do the same for him, when he needs me…I’m just not strong enough…” She began sobbing, her shoulders heaving violently. “I’m so sorry, Balto!” she cried to the air, her voice broken. “I can’t do it…I can’t go on…I’m sorry I let you down…” “Just look at me!” she thought furiously. “Balto’s counting on me, and I’m lying here in the dirt when time’s almost up! I don’t even deserve to see him again…” For all Jenna knew, these wolves intended to kill Balto at the full moon, and she would have to spend the rest of her life without him, knowing that if she had been able to get there in time, she might have been able to save him. For the longest time, she lay there, weeping with misery, feeling like every last bit of fight had gone out of her.

But then, another voice began speaking, and it helped drive away the anguish.

“It’s not over yet. There’s still time left. You can make it! You’ve come this far, after all. If you’ve managed to do that already, there’s no reason you can’t make it the rest of the way. It does hurt, and it’s hard to take, but think of whom you’re taking it for.” Jenna thought of Balto again, and could hear him telling her how much he loved her. “Nothing on this earth can stand between you and Balto. Not with how much we care for each other. You’re right; if your places were switched, he would save you. But you were wrong about not being able to do the same. It doesn’t matter what you have to do to save Balto; the point is, someone needs to come for him, and you’re the only one who can right now. He needs you, and you haven’t let him down yet…”

“And I vow I never will!”

She cried this last statement aloud, coming back into her senses and finding that she was standing. “As long as you’re waiting for me, I’m coming!” She began walking again, ignoring the stiffness and pain and weariness of her body, knowing now that nothing would stop her from reaching her love. “I’m coming…” she said, more quietly this time, beginning to repeat it as she went along. “I’m coming…I’m coming…” She didn’t know if she had enough time left, and her heart ached more than ever for Balto; indeed, tears still flowed from her eyes. But now, they were not tears of despair; as long as the full moon had not passed, she would still believe there to be hope.

Through all of this, Jenna had failed to notice that the trees were thinning, and the ground was sloping upward. She had made it to the mountain.

Up in the vicinity of the peaks, where the clouds rolled and surged like tumultuous waters, something sat in a tree, listening acutely to a sound coming from the narrow dip between the two mountains. “I’m coming…I’m coming…” The something left its perch, making its way speedily downward to see whose voice it was hearing.

Jenna was glad she had found the will to go on; her body was definitely not up to the task. The slope had been worsening for some time, and she was wondering how bad it would get when it finally leveled out gently. The trees were now scarce, and she could finally get a look around. It was only now that she noticed the two massive peaks rising into the black cloud cover on either side of her. She had thought she was merely climbing a steep hill, but now she knew she had been on the right track; this was exactly where Avantar had told her to go. From here, she could even see the end of the forest, which spread out for a comparatively short distance beyond the mountains and ended at the edge of a dark plain. For a few moments, she was overcome with happiness, forced to sit down and take in the idea that the ordeal might be drawing to an end. She did wonder, however, if she were set on another journey by this new creature she was traveling to see, how long it would be; the sun had gone down and the moon was beginning to rise. Besides, she was becoming utterly sick from lack of food; she would have vomited long ago if there had been anything in her stomach. “It doesn’t matter,” she thought. “Nothing matters except Balto.” She was mustering strength to continue walking when a flash on the corner of her vision caught her eye. It had come from the left mountain peak, and she looked up in that direction. At first, she could see nothing, other than a tiny distortion in the clouds near the flash, but as she looked on, something eventually came into view. It was a small flying creature, coming down rapidly in tight circles, finally folding its wings as it reached the treetops and spreading them wide right before it hit the ground, making a soft landing in front of Jenna. She studied it, astonished at its appearance. It was a bird, no larger than a bat, somewhat in the form of a bird of prey, but with a shorter beak and very small claws that didn’t look like talons at all. Its thin, well-defined feathers were a streaked, blended mix of black and gray patches, mostly gray, but also with bright traces of white lancing through some parts, making for a camouflage that fit the sky perfectly. Its eyes shone brightly, luminous and white, almost appearing phosphorescent in nature, and Jenna wondered if the creature had night vision.

“Hello,” said the bird, with a bright, clear voice. Jenna smiled and nodded. “Hello. My name’s Jenna. Um…what are you?” “I’m a cloud falcon. I fly among the tops of the clouds, near the peaks.” Jenna was grateful to have someone to talk to. “So you live all the way up there?” “Yes, but I fly great distances. I love exploring. I’ve seen dogs before, and wolves, but not in this place.” “I live…man, I don’t even know how far away it is from here.” “Are you going to see him?” “Who?” “The Night Walker.” Jenna almost shivered at the name. “I…I was sent to find a dark creature that could give me some advice.” “Yes, that is he.” The bird looked somewhat afraid. “He rests just beyond the end of this forest.” Jenna groaned as a pang of nausea wracked her stomach again. “Um…do you know where I can get something to eat?” “Oh, yes; there’s not a thing to eat in that forest. But don’t worry; life returns at the peaks. I’ll be right back.” Minutes later, the falcon returned, bearing two plum-sized aquamarine fruits with long, limp stems that were firmly clasped in the bird’s beak. It took all the willpower in the world, but Jenna managed to make herself carefully chew the fruits instead of swallowing them whole, which she knew would make her sick. She couldn’t help asking the cloud falcon to bring more, but it was happy to oblige. Jenna ate half a dozen fruits before deciding that would be enough to keep her going. “They are very nourishing,” said the falcon. “They will easily keep you going until you reach him.” That was the main reason Jenna had stopped eating; she knew it was urgent that she continue. “Thank you so much for the food,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay around; I need to reach this creature as quickly as possible tonight.” “Well then, I shall lead you through the rest of the forest. At night, navigating from the ground is nearly impossible.” “You’re willing to do that for me?” “Certainly; it’s no trouble. Besides, if you want to reach him tonight, it’s best if I help you get through faster.” Jenna smiled gratefully. “I can’t tell you what this means to me.” “Think nothing of it. Let’s be off; it’s not as far as it looks.”

With a guide, the forest was far less intimidating, and this part of the journey was much shorter and easier than the previous one. The ground sloped steeply downward for a short period before leveling out, staying relatively flat until a line of short hills, where the forest finally ended. It was just before they set foot on these hills that the cloud falcon stopped. “I can’t go any farther. I won’t lie; this creature frightens me a great deal. Now let me tell you what you must do. Just over these hills, right after you pass the last tree, you will see a circle of stone. Step up to it and ask for help, and the Night Walker will appear.” Jenna nodded, talking a slow breath to calm herself. “I wish you luck,” said the cloud falcon. “Thank you,” Jenna said, smiling, “and thanks again for helping me out.” “You’re welcome. I must leave now.” The bird took off for the peaks, and Jenna wished that she could have gotten to know him better, to say nothing of the other animals that had aided her on her journey. “Maybe someday,” she thought, looking at the sky. The moon was approaching its peak in the sky, and this prompted Jenna to run. She guessed she had less than an hour, maybe even half. “Please hold on, Balto,” she pleaded silently.

It was only minutes before the trees gave way to open fields again, although the “fields” were still just rock and soil. At least now, there was snow, adding a touch of beauty to the unfeeling landscape. Just as the cloud falcon had said, there was a circle of stone located right at the line where the transition between a forest and a barren plain with sparse vegetation occurred. It was a solid ring of stone, less than a foot high, with a break at the end facing the forest. Around the inside of the ring, there were five oblong stones standing upright, spaced fairly evenly. Jenna thought they looked somewhat like headstones. “Strange…” She approached the circle, nervously noting how quiet it was. Stopping just before her front paws entered the opening in the ring, she spoke out. “I need your help. Wherever you are, please come and speak with me.” Following this were several moments of silence. Jenna found herself wondering if this were a situation like the one with Avantar; the creature she was seeking might not be there at that time. Fear came over her as she realized that she had no time left to wait, but she stood still, remembering that the cloud falcon hadn’t said anything about the creature being gone.

A noise came, a small vibration that seemed to emanate from within the ring. Jenna looked at the dark soil, wondering if she were just imagining things. But then, the noise came again, followed by several more just like it. Now, it was clear that the noises were coming from several spots inside the ring at once. Jenna almost recoiled with shock as a small burst of dirt flew up from the base of one of the five stones. When she looked closer, she saw something rising from it, something that looked like…a bone. As it emerged fully, Jenna could see that it was a bone, and she was nearly gaping as she watched it hover slowly into the air. Several other bones were rising from beneath the other stones as well, and when a small number of them were floating, they moved together, joining in the center of the ring. More and more bones rose from the ground, being forcefully yanked into the developing collection by an invisible power. Finally, they all came together in a single structure: a wolf skeleton. Some of the soil rose up and fell on the bones, turning to sparse shreds of tattered flesh that hung limply off the white cage, forming no facial features except ears. Now, the skeleton moved, raising its previously lowered head to look into Jenna’s face…even though it had no eyes. Jenna was so frightened she was sure the creature would see her shaking, but she stood firm, knowing this was her only choice. The creature finally spoke, with a voice that sounded like it was echoing out of an abyss. “My name is Erebus. Who is this that calls to me?” “M-my…” Jenna took a deep breath to stop her trembling. “My name is Jenna. I’m a dog from a town called Nome. I came here to ask you for help in rescuing my husband, Balto. He was kidnapped by the Sheruna wolf pack; I think they want to use him to break their curse. He’s a wolf-dog.” “Yes, that makes sense.” “Um…” Jenna tried to think of what she wanted to say next, but she couldn’t; fear was making it impossible to think. “Um…” “Do not be frightened,” said Erebus. “I may look frightening, but I have no intention whatsoever of harming you.” “Ah…may I ask what you are?” “I walk a line between life and death. Anyone who knew me died long ago; they thought I was dead, but in truth, I had been prevented from truly dying by the Hushed Well.” He paused. “I assume no one has been able to explain the Hushed Well to you yet?” Jenna nodded, and the creature continued.

“I shall tell you, then. The Hushed Well is anything but an ordinary well of water; it is not even six feet deep. The appearance of a well is incidental; it randomly occurred out of the Well’s actual form. It is a portal, a gate into an enclosed area that is essentially a void, where existence itself is doubtful. Anything that goes in ceases to be, at least in the normal world. Once inside, living beings are held captive by the Null Crystal, an ancient green stone that created the Hushed Well long ago. It feeds off life itself, transforming anyone it swallows into a walking corpse, torturing them but keeping them alive for a time. I was once one of them; the Well claimed me, but I was the first and only one that was able to escape without being killed.” “Killed by what?” “The Keeper, a creature the Null Crystal created in order to hold those the Well claimed captive. It feeds on those who have been in the Well too long, allowing new lives to be added.” “I remember someone telling me that anyone who got out was wounded so badly they died.” “Yes. I was wounded as well, but I managed to survive. Because the Null Crystal’s power is still on me, I have become immortal, but I do long to die; I have become tired of this world.” “So you can’t die naturally or be killed?” “Correct. The only way I can pass on is if the Null Crystal is destroyed, and I would have done that, but its power will not allow me into the Well, since it knows I want to destroy it. At least I do not feel the pain it inflicts. Now then, about your husband…” Jenna perked up. “Yes, why did they kidnap him?” “When the Sheruna were cursed, their lives were bound to the Null Crystal. That is why they cannot leave the Well; the Crystal will not allow them. Whenever one of them is dying, the Hushed Well forces them to fall in, and it engulfs them just as it does other wolves. In order to life the curse, the Sheruna must give the Null Crystal someone else to torture in their place.” The blood drained from Jenna’s head. “Balto…” “I am afraid your husband is bound for an ill fate. If he is not rescued tonight, he will bear agony equal to that of the entire Sheruna pack at once…and it will never stop, because the Crystal will never let him die.” “But why him?” “They need a wolf-dog. The curse will not accept another wolf, because the Sheruna were the wolves that were cursed, but it will not accept a dog, because it will not recognize a dog as being under the curse. A wolf-dog is both at the same time, and thus will be accepted by the Null Crystal as a replacement.”

Jenna felt like she was about to burst into tears. “Please, I have to get to him before it’s too late! Please tell me where the Hushed Well is!” “Be calm, my lady. I know you must love your husband a great deal. Do not lose hope; I will take you to the Hushed Well at once.” Jenna gasped. “Are you…you will? Oh, Erebus, thank you!” “Do not thank me yet; I will tell you how you may thank me in time. We must reach the Hushed Well tonight. During most times, the Well acts as a one-way gate, engulfing someone randomly when the Null Crystal needs more life. However, at every full moon, the Well opens fully for a few short minutes, becoming a two-way gate in and out of the anti-reality it contains. This is when the Sheruna can break their curse; one of them will take your husband inside, give him to the Keeper to be subjected to the stone’s power, and leave while the beast is distracted. Hopefully, we will save him before then, but if we cannot, you must go in and rescue him.” Erebus looked at the sky. “It is nearly midnight. That is when the Well opens. We have little time. Climb on my back, and I will take you.” Jenna moved up onto his back, and he turned to face away from the forest. “I can get us there shortly, but I will have to make greatest haste. Hold on tightly.” He took off, and Jenna wrapped her paws around his shoulders, clinging fast to him. He ran with incredible speed; Jenna imagined they were approaching the speed of a train. It was exhilarating, but she was too anxious to truly enjoy it. Finally, she was on the last leg of her journey. She could almost feel Balto’s embrace again.

“I’m almost there, my love.”

The entire Sheruna pack had become almost wild with anticipation, filled with energy that could not be spent, talking with one another about how overjoyed they were that the end was finally at hand. Balto watched them, guarded by two large sentries, wondering what they were waiting for. He guessed it had to be some specific time. What role he could possibly play was still a mystery he hadn’t figured out. Rodama suddenly walked up to the sentries. “It will soon be time.” The sentries stepped back, and Rodama bit onto Balto’s scruff, pulling him roughly through the crowd of gathered wolves. “Come hither!” he shouted, and the pack began gathering excitedly around the well, leaving a path open for Rodama. He dragged Balto up to the well, looking to the sky. “We have waited so long…” Balto looked up, seeing that the full moon had reached its peak. Rodama spoke again. “And now, we shall again live as we once did.” He forced Balto to look down into the water of the well. Balto could see his reflection easily; the water was black and glossy, like shoe polish. Suddenly, his reflection vanished, and the water turned turbulent. Starting from the center of the well and expanding until it filled the entire circle, a whirlpool drove into the depths of the water, swirling with blinding speed, but not going anywhere. “You first, wolf-dog,” Rodama sneered, shoving him face-first into the vortex.

Erebus and Jenna finally reached the clearing that contained the Hushed Well, stopping in the trees to avoid being seen. The pack was standing around the well, staring intently at it, not moving a muscle or saying a word. “The Well is open,” said Erebus. “I can feel it.” Suddenly, everyone in the pack started or gasped, looking around at one another or at different parts of their bodies. “I think it worked!” one of them said, and the members of the pack began talking excitedly among one another. Soon, water splashed from the well, and Rodama climbed out, a huge smile on his face. “FREE!” he cried, and the whole pack cheered, embracing each other and laughing gleefully. Erebus growled. “He is already in the Well. It has to have been only a few seconds since it opened, though. Listen carefully, Jenna; this is what you must do. I will fight the pack and open a path for you to reach the Well. You must jump inside at once. When you are in its world, you will see many wolves, the ones it has swallowed. The pack has not been relinquished by the Null Crystal yet; they will not be until the Hushed Well seals again. Thus, anyone who was not under the curse will be able to escape the Well, and this will be their only chance. Tell them that anyone who was not bound to the Hushed Well should leave immediately.” “What about the Keeper?” “You must deal with the Keeper. I do not know how, but to get to the Null Crystal, you will have to either kill it or stop it from attacking you. Now, when you reach the Null Crystal, you must destroy it. That will free your husband from the curse, and you both will be able to leave. You will have only a matter of seconds to escape through the portal before the annihilation of the Well is complete, and if you do not make it out, you will die. Do you understand what you have to do?” Jenna nodded. “Yes.” “Good. We must not delay.” With a roar, Erebus charged out of the trees, and Jenna followed, looking right at the Hushed Well. “Don’t stop, and don’t look around,” she thought. “I just need to get into the well.”

Rodama and the rest of the pack looked toward the trees, and many of them screamed and scattered when they saw the bony creature in the lead. Rodama had no idea who that was, but he certainly remembered the face of the second…she was the wolf-dog’s mate. “They are trying to free the vessel!” he yelled, and the pack’s fear vanished, replaced by fury. “DESTROY THEM!”

Erebus leaped into the pack, bursting a massive hole, scattering the wolves as he clawed faces and bit throats. “Godspeed, Jenna!” he shouted, and she ran ahead, ducking and dodging incoming bites and flying bodies. She looked up to see Rodama himself standing between her and the Hushed Well, growling with rage. “Stay back, mongrel!” he snarled. Jenna narrowed her eyes and lunged forward, yelling Balto’s name. Her teeth met Rodama’s face, and he gave way before her, tumbling backwards over the well. He stood up, bloodied and nearly insane with fury, ready to attack Jenna. But he was far too late; she took a deep breath and dove into the Hushed Well.

Silver and white light flashed on and off, alternating with total blackness, revolving in a chaotic sphere around Jenna and she tumbled…down? Was it down? Gravity seemed to be gone; she could only tell she was tumbling because it was caused by dozens of vicious kicks that came from everywhere, but had no sources. It was as if the water itself were slamming her body brutally. Jenna could feel somehow that she was moving, but she couldn’t tell where she was moving to; everything looked like the inside of a ball made of light. The air had long since been knocked out of her lungs, but she didn’t feel she needed to breathe, either. The pressure of the water was utterly crushing, and she felt like her eyes and eardrums were about to explode. Desperately, she reached out, trying to touch the side of the “sphere” she was trapped inside. Then, just when she felt as if her body had taken all the abuse it could handle, her paw touched the side of the sphere, and she felt dry air on the other side. She struggled toward it, and the turbulence of the water relented, allowing her to shove her way through. She fell about a foot, landing on gravelly soil, and stood up, looking around in shock. She was now in a large chamber of light, cream-colored pools of light serving as the walls and ceiling. The ground was ordinary rock, covered mostly by the soil. On either side of her location, stretching out ahead and lining a natural path, there were a large number of recesses in the stone, and in every recess, there laid a wolf. All appeared to be of different ages, but they all looked alike in one respect: they looked like they had been dead for some time. Yet they were in fact alive; some of the nearest ones turned to look at her with despairing eyes. They were thin and raggedy, with withering flesh and fur, and it looked like they could barely move. Jenna tore her eyes away from them to look ahead, seeing that the path curved to the left, going to a place that was obscured by the walls of light. She turned around to see if she had fallen out the bottom of the well, but it was very different; there was a whirlpool there, but it was horizontal, suspended in a web of energy.

Rodama looked into the Hushed Well, screaming with rage; he didn’t dare follow the girl and risk being trapped. He turned and watched Erebus slaying the crazed members of his pack, who were attacking in a blood frenzy. Tentacles of water shot out of the well, seizing mortally wounded wolves and dragging them in one by one. Rodama let out a roar and charged at Erebus, determined not to see defeat.

Turning ahead again, Jenna trotted down the path, calling out to the wolves. “Anyone not bound to the Hushed Well needs to leave now!” At first, the wolves were too astonished to do anything, and merely sat there looking at each other. “Move!” Jenna cried, and this finally goaded them into action. As she approached the corner, she became aware of a distant sound, something that sounded like…screaming. She trembled, dreadful thoughts of why she would be hearing such a sound coming into her mind, but she pushed those thoughts away as she came around the bend. The path was now lined with a short ridge of rock on both sides. Up ahead, there was an enclosed, cylinder-shaped stone structure with a dome on top and an opening in the front that served as a door. Two ruined pillars stood on either side of the door, looking out of place; Jenna supposed they had once held up a portico. She ran toward the light-flooded building, but suddenly, from behind a boulder, a massive creature leapt, landing directly in her way. It was an enormous black eel-like monster that moved like a snake, pressing muscles lining its stomach against the ground. It had no appendages; it was just a streamlined body all the way down, and its head was mostly mouth, a giant maw filled with dozens of teeth not arranged in rows, but filling the entire space. It had bulbous eyes that glared viciously, and it drooled like a hungry predator. Jenna took a few steps back, realizing that this beast was the Keeper. It advanced toward her, snarling and screeching. Jenna stopped moving back and watched as it approached, not knowing how she could fight it, but knowing she had to try.

The Keeper lashed out with its head, trying to take Jenna in its mouth. She sidestepped, clawing the skin on the side of its head. She suddenly noticed how tough the monster’s leathery hide was; it would be difficult if not impossible to inflict a serious wound. The monster bent its body, trying to bite Jenna’s legs from under her, and she jumped up quickly, rolling over the top of its head and landing at its left side. It threw itself to the left, smashing Jenna against a rock, and she let out a strangled cry as pain shot through her ribs. She fell to the ground, and the Keeper tried to bite her again. She rolled to her right, going under the beast, and its teeth struck stone loudly. It pulled back to get an angle on her and attacked again, shoving her back towards the wall of rock. She fought and clawed at the beast with all four legs, trying to hold it back enough to keep its mouth from getting around her. It was no use; the monster prepared to bite down around her, but before it got the chance, she bit onto its tongue. It squealed, pulling back quickly, crashing into one of the pillars, nearly knocking it down. It sat there for a moment, stunned by the impact, and Jenna got an idea. “If I can’t do enough to hurt this thing…maybe I can make it hurt itself!” She ran forward, dodged a bite, and jumped up on the creature’s head, taking some of its flesh in her mouth for grip. It snarled and began lashing back and forth, whipping its head around, trying to shake her loose, but she held on tenaciously. It dashed its head against the walls over and over, trying to crush her, but she moved out of harm’s way every time, and finally, bleeding from lacerations all over its head, it collapsed, writhing with pain. Jenna wasted no time; she jumped off, running over to the damaged pillar. Going several yards beyond it, she turned back and ran, leaping into it. The blow knocked it off balance, and Jenna jumped free as it fell, crashing down on the Keeper’s head. An explosion of green blood flew up from beneath the pillar, and the beast uttered a dying shriek before lying still.

Rodama and Erebus traded blow after blow, neither giving up any ground, Rodama’s raw fury giving him the strength to fight the creature. Erebus took time in between striking at Rodama to slay another approaching member of the pack, and dead bodies would have piled up around him had the Hushed Well not been dragging them in. As it turned out, Rodama was doomed from the start; he tired, Erebus did not. Finally, Erebus ducked under one of his bites and clamped his teeth around the elder’s throat. Rodama’s eyes bulged, and his mouth opened, but no scream escaped. Erebus tossed Rodama through the air, and a tentacle snatched him before he hit the ground, drawing him into the Well. Erebus could see several wolves climbing out of the water, lying on the ground, curled up and shivering. They would be weaker than newborn puppies until the Null Crystal was destroyed. Fortunately, the pack wasn’t interested in them, and continued to focus on him. “Hurry, Jenna,” he thought, diving back into battle. If the Hushed Well sealed up, the wolves would die. Suddenly, Erebus felt a strange surge from the Well, and he smiled; he could feel that the Keeper was dead. “She will make it yet.”

Jenna ran into the stone structure, wondering how she could see anything with the inside swamped with blinding light. As she stepped inside, however, the light vanished, now appearing to be outside. It was now that she found where the screams were coming from. In the center of the room, Balto was lying on the floor, thrashing back and forth, uttering long, gut-wrenching cries of agony. Above him, a green spherical gem with a thousand facets floated in midair, producing the glowing brightly and emitting bands of green energy that reached down toward Balto. It was the Null Crystal, and its power was sending terrible lances of pain through Balto’s body. Tears began pouring down Jenna’s face, and she ran forward, grabbing Balto’s paws. Pain shot through her own as one of the energy bands reached out and touched her, but she ignored it; all she cared about was getting Balto free. He now became aware of who she was as he managed to look at her face. “JENNA, HELP ME, PLEASE!” he wailed. “I’m trying!” Jenna cried, pulling against the unyielding strength of the energy beams. Becoming furious, she reared up and swung at the Null Crystal with all her might. It spun when she struck it, moving to the side and suddenly dropping as if it had fallen from an invisible perch. It struck the floor, shattering like glass and emitting a shockwave that rocked not only the structure, but the rest of the chamber as well.

The terrible pain relinquished Balto, and he allowed himself to relax, letting out his breath with a groan. Jenna embraced him, and he did the same, both of them sobbing with joy. “Balto, I’m so happy to see you!” Jenna said, laughing with happiness. “Oh, same here,” Balto said, an ecstatic grin on his face. “Jenna, how on earth did you find me?” “Well, it’s quite a story!” They were about to kiss, but suddenly, cracks ran through the structure, and Jenna remembered what Erebus had told her. “Balto, we have to get out now!” She helped him up, and they ran out of the structure just as it collapsed. Jenna looked back as they rounded the corner, seeing the ground caving in and being swallowed by empty light. “Hurry, Balto!” she shouted. They ran toward the whirlpool, which was beginning to shrink. As they approached it, they saw a wolf lying on the ground. When they passed, it reached out and caught one of Jenna’s hind legs, and she tripped. They turned to see that it was Rodama. “I should not have had to answer for any of it!” he growled. “You both will die here with…” Balto bit his leg, forcing him to let Jenna go. “I’m sorry, Rodama, but there’s only one to blame for you ending up here.” They turned and leapt into the whirlpool as the advancing void consumed the elder.

Balto and Jenna tried to swim, but once again, the violent turbulence was too much to fight against. They had to merely hold on and trust that they would make it out. The whirlpool they could see behind them was engulfed in white flame that was spreading through the water…spreading toward them. They turned away from it, clinging to each other, just waiting for it to be over. Suddenly, the light above them gave way to a fainter, more natural light, and they looked up to see that they were looking out from inside the well. They propelled themselves upward, reaching for the air.

Their paws broke the surface, meeting the stones, and they pulled themselves up and out of the water, crawling away from the well when they were on land. They looked back, and a few seconds later, the Hushed Well caved in and exploded, the stones plunging into the ground and a geyser of water shooting up into the air, vanishing into thin air. All around them, the wolves of the Sheruna pack were consumed by the same white fire that had eaten the whirlpool, vaporizing instantly. Erebus, who had been standing and watching the well since he felt the destruction of the Null Crystal, now sighed deeply, his tattered flesh and bones mixing as they slowly turned to dust. “I can pass on now,” he said quietly. “Thank you, Jenna. I am happy you succeeded.” “And thank you, too,” Jenna said, watching as what was left of Erebus broke down and scattered to the wind. The two of them looked at where the Hushed Well had been, and noticed that there was nothing there, not even a hole; the ground was covered with an even snow coat, and everything was normal. They looked at each other, pausing a moment, then embraced tightly and began kissing one another over and over. “I was so afraid I wouldn’t reach you in time,” Jenna said. “I didn’t know if they were going to kill you, or…I’m just so glad to have you back!” “I never doubted you’d come to save me. I knew you were strong enough.” They nuzzled each other, overcome with happiness. “So,” Balto said, “tell me how you found me.” “It’s a long story, but we’ve got a long journey home. By the way, when they took you here, was there a dead forest involved in any part of the trip?” “No.” “Can you smell your way back along the trail they took from Nome?” “Sure. Why do you ask?” “Because I think we’ll want to go that way. If you want to hear why, just listen.”

THE END