Heading for the Northern Lights

“I think I could get used to traveling like this,” Angel said. He tugged his parka tighter around him, nuzzled the furry lining of his hood.

That’s only because you aren’t pulling the stupid sled, Tobias said. He was at the head of the team, all gleaming dark fur and feral black eyes. He didn’t know that Asia was one of the other wild half-breeds that had been loping along in the endless white, tugging the sled through the Alaskan expanse.

“Yes, well, I give the Esquimaux points for style and fun. The land out here is –”

Barren? Tobias suggested. The dog behind him snarled, leapt at him. Tobias turned and snarled right back. There was a tussle, and Angel sighed, using his telekinesis to untangle the harnesses, and at the end the other dog bared its throat. Halfway through the fight it realized that Tobias was no dog at all but a full-blooded wolf, and it slunk back into place with its tail tucked between its legs.

Angel patted the top of the tarp, pleased. This cargo was very precious, and he’d had orders to store it somewhere no one would find it, not the locals, not nosy government surveyors, not intrepid explorers. Asia said she didn’t know when the package would have to be retrieved, but then she always said that when she’d seen things in the future that gave Angel a headache when he tried to explain them.

He hoisted himself up onto the back of the sled and whistled, and as one the dogs – and Tobias – sprang to attention. Angel cracked the whip, cried, “Mush!” and the sled lurched forward. Soon they would be able to see the northern lights.

(286 words)