of the canid were golden and piercing, making the boy feel even more uneasy. Something took his attention from the tense scene. Multi-colored waves of light were covering the sky right over them, showering them with a colored aura. The northern lights. Dan couldn't help but smiling. It was a beautiful thing to see, but Dan didn't lose his fear of the wolf. The boy, though aware of the danger of wolves, knew that they wouldn’t attack without a reason. Besides, he could talk to animals now. He approached the wolf, and recognized its golden eyes. It hit him. How didn't he recognized the creature before?

- Aniu? - he asked, unsure.

The white she-wolf kept looking at him with her golden penetrating eyes, and said nothing. Dan knew from the films that Aniu was some kind of spirit guide. Maybe she had the answers he wanted.

- Aniu, how did I get in Nome? – he asked. – And why did you bring me up here?

She remained silent, still looking like she was waiting for something. Balto arrived to the scene and stopped beside Dan, panting. It took some instants for him to notice the white wolf, and he widened his eyes, surprised by his mother's presence.

They all noticed that the power of the colored lights got stronger. Dan looked up to them, and suddenly felt something inside him, something wanting to come out but that for some reason couldn't. It was hard to explain. Suddenly, without any warning, he felt his entire body getting hotter and hotter, not like burning, but painfully close to it. A beam of light coming from up involved Dan and blocked his vision of everything, all he could see was a golden light. He felt different, and not just from inside, he felt like his own body was changing. His back started to hurt badly and he couldn’t stand up, so he fell on his knees. His face felt like being pulled forward and getting longer. All his body felt things like that, confusing his mind, preventing him from thinking clearly. He threw himself on the ground, when his legs couldn’t sustain him alone anymore for some reason. His hands and feet felt like being compressed, and his palms got a bit numb. Suddenly, it all stopped. The light was getting weaker. And the northern lights were gone, along with Aniu. Dan’s vision was blurred because of the excess of light, but he could see Balto at a certain distance, seem to be shocked for some reason. The relief of getting rid of those sensations was great, but, for some reason, he was feeling better than he was before it had happened. It felt... freer. 

- What happened? - Dan asked, but quickly stopped talking.

He heard it like his voice, but the sensation of it was different, like he just... growled. He looked at his hands, which were on the ground, unable of being raised. There were no hands. There were canine paws! He was covered by a coat of gray-brown fur! He was a dog! His vision, which was already blurry, got weaker and weaker, and Dan, the canid, passed out. 

~~~

 Dan started to recover his consciousness. He opened his eyes with some effort, and saw he was laid on the wooden deck of Balto's boat. It was still night. His head was hurting badly. He saw Balto and Boris whispering at the boat's fore. He walked closer, limping, not used to walking on four paws, his head lowered.

- For how long I blanked? – the now young canine asked, throaty.

Balto and Boris turned around to look at him. This time Boris wasn't distrustful, or angry, it looked like he just didn't know what to think, or say. Balto’s expression was confused, yet concerned. It was indeed a very confusing situation for everyone. A boy being transformed into a dog instantly, was anything but normal.

- Two hours. – the older canid said. -  I dragged you part of the way, but when we were passing near the town, my son Kodi helped me carrying you to the boat.

So Kodi did existed, Dan thought. But that was not important in that moment. He was a dog, and he had no idea of how that happened or why. And even less of how he would change back. He would never come back to Olney, and his family should be more than worried about him by now. And worse, they weren't even born where he was, seeing it was on the 20's.

- What do I do now? – Dan asked, trying not to get desperate.

Balto didn't know what to say, he just looked down, confused. Boris was the one to talk this time.

- Okay, you can stay here with us until we know what is happening here. – the goose said, determined, turning his back at the canids.

Both Dan and Balto got surprised. Boris was so mistrustful at Dan earlier, and now he was offering him shelter?

- What made you change your mind, Boris? - Balto asked, smiling.

- It will be easier to have one more dog here than having a human. - the goose replied, still a bit harsh. 

The two dogs laughed. Dan remembered one thing. He didn't know how he looked like as a dog. He ran down the board to the frozen beach near the boat, and looked at his reflection on some plain ice.

- Weird. - he commented.

He looked a lot like Balto. Their fur was the same color, and they had practically the same fur markings. Only their eyes were different. While Balto’s were reddish brown, Dan’s were a kind of brown very pushed to a golden tone, bringing out what his human eyes were hiding his all life. Balto approached him and looked at the ice too. Dan noticed he was just a bit smaller than the other, so maybe he was still a teenager dog, just as he was a teenager human before.

- I guess you know what this means, don't you? – the older hybrid asked, worried.

Dan realized what he meant.

- That I'm part wolf and people will see me different? – Dan replied, not really caring.

Balto looked sad again.

- Yes. – he said.

Dan was barely affected by that, he was already used to that amongst his school mates.

- Well it would be too good thinking that I'd get rid of that now. – Dan joked, and chuckled.

- What are you gonna do tomorrow? – Balto asked, relieved to see Dan was handling well with the situation.

- Dunno, I know nothing about living like a dog. – the younger canine said, looking at the dark town, away from them. - I need to get adapted until I find a way out of this. Maybe I should know the city better.

- Okay, I'll take you for a tour around Nome tomorrow. Just one more thing. – Balto added, smiling.

- What?

- You need to learn how to walk on four paws. You can't get around Nome limping like that. 

Both laughed, leaving all worry behind. Dan wondered why was he handling so well with all that. Well, maybe just because he was smart enough not to get in panic, or... because he felt better in that form. Maybe, he thought, like this he felt more… himself. Dan looked at his reflection again.

- I think it couldn't be so bad to be a dog. – he said, smiling. - Can't be worse than before.

He looked at the moon in the horizon, knowing things would be very different from now on. But it was okay for him. He was