wolf half?” asked Balto.

“You shouldn’t have gone near that cave... you would have at least stood a chance.”

“You’ve been following me... do you know what happened to me?”

“Of course I do...” said Niju. Then it went quiet, too quiet.

Balto crept slowly to see around the boulder, but Niju wasn’t to be seen. He then crept back and turned only to see a set of teeth and a paw hitting him on the face...

“... I’m just not gonna tell you” he finished off as Balto was punched down.

Balto was now in real trouble; he tried to crawl away but was then pinned to the floor.

“Now who is this? Who is this? I came here to fight Balto, the hero of sicken Nome, the famous wolf dog who always saves the day, who never used to be afraid of standing up to a whole pack of wolves, let alone just one. I must say I’m very disappointed, in you... maybe I should have stopped you entering that cave, and after all I wouldn’t want her to keep me imprisoned forever.”

Niju was about to strike a final blow at Balto to finish him off, in a last ditch effort Balto spat bloody saliva in his eye and Niju jolted back with disgust. Balto made one final dash into the woods, or at least as fast as he could. He limped and limped and then stopped abruptly as he ran into a cliff that was shrouded by trees... there was nowhere left to run... Balto had to think fast, his final chance would have to happen here...

Moments later Niju came to the cliff where Balto’s sent trail had ended, he looked over the edge. Niju began to laugh a little...

“You jumped? Well that’s not fair...” said Niju.

Niju was about to walk away thinking that he had won...

“Guess again!” shouted a voice.

Balto was holding onto a thick tree branch, which he then let go. The branch whacked Niju across the body that knocked back over the cliff... Balto then approached to the cliff edge to find Niju trying to hold onto the edge, but he was slipping. Part of Balto wanted him to drop to his death, while the other part... well who knows it had gone. But Balto needed answers...

“I can help you up! But I need answers and I want them now! What happened to me?! What did you mean by ‘the wild’? And who is ‘she’, is this ‘she’ responsible for this...? ANSWER ME!!” he demanded.

But Niju would not answer... he simply smiled... and let go of the cliff side. Niju was dead as soon as he hit the bottom.

Balto then lay down on the floor with despair, his face and body covered in cuts and bruises. He just lay there, on the grass... completely motion-less.

Balto was now back at the boat lying under his blanket and staring into space. He could hear the voices of Jenna, Boris and Dingo talking outside. He was just listening to what they had to say.

“Boris is he alright?” asked Dingo.

“He just needs some rest... he has been beat up pretty badly, but he’ll recover in time. Well his physical injuries... his pride may take a lot longer.” Said Boris.

“I’m gonna talk to him” said Dingo.

“No” interrupted Jenna “He doesn’t want to see anyone, at least not yet.”

“It’s best we leave him for tonight, see how he feels tomorrow” said Boris.

“Oh come on! We can’t just leave him like this, he needs to know that we’re there for him... it’s dad for crying out loud, how can I just stand by and do nothing?” said Dingo.

“I love him too Dingo and I’ve known him a lot longer, if he wants to be left alone then that’s what we should do” replied Jenna.

Balto then turned onto his side and closed his eyes for a moment, but opened them slightly more when he still heard Dingo talking.

“I always used to think that nothing could beat dad, like he was indestructible you know, maybe you where right mom. Maybe whatever happened did change him in more ways than one.”

A tear then dropped from Balto’s eye, he had now sunk to an all time low. What he had always dreamed of had now become something horrible, for the first time in his life he hated who he was.

Balto woke up back on the icy plain, his wounds where still showing here. He then staggered forward to take a look around, again like before it was all silent. He walked on and on for what seemed like hours, still there was nothing.

He was about to give up when he noticed a shadow walking towards him, in the shape of a wolf.

“Just get it over with alright! Kill me!” shouted Balto.

“Why would want to do that?” said a friendly and familiar voice.

The shadow came into focus, much to Balto’s surprise it was Nava.

“Nava?”

Nava stood in front of Balto and waved his paw, suddenly Balto’s wounds began to heal quickly, until they disappeared completely.

“Now now Balto haven’t we been careless, losing your wolf side and getting cut up like this in the space of two days. Certainly a change from your previous track record”

“Yeah...” said Balto looking at himself, “That’s a neat trick”

“It’s just for the dream, you’ll still be in pain when you wake up”

“What are you doing here?”Asked Balto.

“When one of my own fellow wolves is in trouble, I like to help out and yes I can see what you look like... you’re still one of us and always will be.” Explained Nava.

“So... I take it you know what happened too, seems like everyone I’ve met knows the details... I’m expecting Steele to show up any minute now threatening to kill me and claiming he knows all... or did he already do that before?”

Balto sat down, looking at his reflection on the ice floor.

“You don’t like what you see?” Asked Nava.

“I assumed I would... I’d always hated being, half wolf... no offence. I’m gonna tell you something, something I’ve never even told Jenna in detail. When I was a pup I briefly lived with my Father in the village of Unalakleet, a pure bred Husky Sled dog, a champion by all rights. I don’t know how but he just knew I was his son, same eyes I suppose... heck now I’m a spitting image. He didn’t want to take me in but he kinda felt obligated, I was over the moon that I finally had some family in my life. I wasn’t the easiest kid to care for, always getting into trouble, into fights with other kids... the name calling soon started after that. My dad just couldn’t cope, he was getting his own fair share of cruel names for being with my mother... so one day he took me out of the village and told me I had to go... he said some real nasty things to me, told me to get lost. I hated him for a while, but mostly I hated myself for being what I was and I knew no one would accept me as a wolf, so I tried to be the best Husky dog there was. I remember wishing so hard that the wolf in me would go away forever... and now that it has... I’ve become less, Niju never frightened me when I first met him, and I’ve never been so frightened and weak in my life.” Said Balto.

Nava then sat down next to Balto.

“I want to be like I was before, I want the wolf in me to come back... I need him. Otherwise I’m incomplete.” Continued Balto. “What happened to me Nava?”.

Nava then began to circle Balto.

“Her name is Shadow. A wolf shaman like me who lives in the cave you found. She is known as the keeper of the wild, usually only wild animals, those that have not been tamed by man can enter her presence and those she usually keeps forever. She’s twisted and evil. Her ‘will’ reaches out from that cave and she lures her victims in, she traps the poor souls for her own amusement. But you being only half, she had to extract that half from you... and throw what was left away.” Nava explained.

“How do I get it back?” asked Balto.

“You’ll have to walk into the cave, you being a full husky she won’t like that. In order to get back someone you know who she has trapped or in your case ‘you’, you’ll have to take the trials... challenges set by her and under her conditions.” Continued Nava.

“Well... what am I waiting for?” said Balto

Balto began to walk away from Nava.

“Balto. Don’t accept this likely, very few have survived her challenges. She won’t hesitate to kill you.” Said Nava.

“And I won’t hesitate to do what is necessary... I’m ready” said Balto.

Things suddenly went black... the dream was over.

Dingo decided to sneak into the boat as he was too worried about his father’s well being. He made sure that neither his mother nor Boris where around before he entered. He walked in quietly in case his father was asleep, however when he entered all he found was his father’s blanket on the floor. Dingo looked worried and began to pace up and down the deck, he then stood still for a moment and began to think what to do. He looked back towards the blanket and then walked towards it; Dingo then began to sniff the blanket... shortly after that he closed his eyes and began to concentrate for a few moments. Dingo then exited the boat and started to walk on towards the forest.

Balto was walking back to the cave as quick as he could; he was still in a lot of physical pain but was ignoring it because he knew what had to be done. But as he was walking he felt like he was being watched... he then stood still for a moment and turned around to see Dingo standing there behind him. Balto was surprised to see his son standing there but could only say one thing to him.

“Go home son.” Said Balto, but Dingo just stood there. “Go home right now I mean it!”