The bear got down on all fours and his eyes faded from glowing red to soft brown.
"Sorry, friend," he said. "I thought you were an intruder. Wouldn't due for a living dog to lead a human here."
"Is this the crystal cave?" Steele asked.
"That's in the chamber below us," the bear said. "Hey, you're Steele, right? Aniu said you'd be coming by."
Steele frowned. He didn't like the wolf being so confident he'd need help.
"She's out right now, but you can wait here," the bear said. "It's been a while since I've talked to someone outside my family."
He waved a paw at the cave floor.
"Have a seat," he said.
He smiled widely and his sharp teeth showed. Steele inadvertently cringed but sat down.
"I'm Nuti," the bear said. "I've always been curious about human civilizations. So, what's it like back in Nome?"
"Lonely," Steele said without thinking.
"Oh, yeah," Nuti said. "Sorry. I guess it's been pretty rough on you being a ghost."
Steele nodded.
"It's been rough," he said.
It felt so good to have someone hear him.
"Guess you haven't smelled or felt anything in a while, either," Nuti said. "So, here you go."
Nuti reached over and scratched Steele's ears. Steele was surprised he could feel it. He leaned into it, not thinking about it.
When he realized what he was doing, he pulled away, embarrassed.
"It's OK," Nuti said. "Nothing to be ashamed of. I can only imagine what it's been like."
Steele stayed silent.
"Since you don't seem to want to talk about Nome, I could tell you about myself," Nuti said.
Steele nodded. He did want to no more about these spirits, partly because they might be able to help him and partly because he was curious.
"I was born in the 1790s," Nuti said. "My mother…well, my mother was killed by settlers when I was just a little cub. I was wandering around when Aniu found me. She brought me back to this cave. She explained to me that she and her best friend had become spirits by…"
Nuti chuckled.
"Woops. Almost told you our secret."
Steele's ears pricked up. Could their secret be of use to him?
"Anyway," Nuti said, "I was raised by a wolf and a fox, so I never really learned to be a bear. Luckily, I instinctually knew how to be frightening…I chase people off from this place. Don't want humans finding out how to become spirits."
Steele thought of his musher. Yeah, definitely wouldn't want that guy having supernatural powers. He was always good to Steele, but it was only because of Steele's skills. He wasn't exactly a sweetheart.
"After I grew up, Aniu showed me how to become a spirit," Nuti continued. "I've spent the last century or so protecting other bears from hunters and spending time here, protecting the cave."
"So, what exactly can you spirits do?" Steele asked.
"Each spirit is a little different," Nuti said. "I can appear wherever I want, I can't be killed and I can communicate telepathically with certain animals."
"Which animals?" Steele asked.
"Certain members of our families," Nuti replied. "One of Aniu's pups is sensitive that way."
"Is that how Balto made it back to Nome?" Steele asked, hoping it was true.
If Balto had powers, then it wasn't quite the accomplishment everyone thought it was.
"Nope," Nuti said, smiling. "That was pure determination and bravery."
Steele frowned and sighed.
Nuti either didn't notice or chose to ignore this.
"No, it was Qinu, Balto's sister," Nuti said.
"I never knew Balto had a sister," Steele said.
"Neither did he," Nuti said. "Qinu was raised by a wolf pack."
Steele was beginning to wonder why Aniu would raise a bear but not her own son. Not wanting to offend the bear, who could presumably hurt him, Steele decided to not ask this question outright.
"So, Balto's been in Nome for as long as I can remember," Steele said. "I came here in 1921 and Balto was a young dog. I never met Aniu."
Nuti looked sad.
"Yeah, you wouldn't have," he said.
"Did they get separated?" Steele asked.
"Not exactly," Nuti said, looking uncomfortable. "Look, it involves our secret, but I can tell you this much. If Aniu could have raised her pups, she would have. And she would have been a great mother! She was to me."
Steele's curiosity was piqued. What could stop a spirit? Could they be hurt or contained some way?
"Can a ghost become a spirit?" Steele asked.
"No," Nuti said. "You have to be alive when it happens."
Steele felt disappointed. There went one chance to get his body back.
Nuti went on to tell Steele about his adventures as a cub. Eventually, Steele felt a bit more comfortable around the bear and began sharing racing stories.
Later that night, Steele heard pawsteps entering the cave. Aniu and a large fox came into sight. The fox was tall and slender and seemed to be wearing purple eye shadow.
"Who's the handsome husky?" the fox asked.
"Don't bother, Sesi," Aniu said. "He's a ghost."
The fox frowned.
"Too bad," she said.
Steele inadvertently scooted back from the wolf.
Aniu and Sesi sat down between Steele and the cave entrance. Steele did not like that.
The wolf gazed at him steadily with her luminous yellow eyes. Steele squirmed under the wolf's stare.
"I…I saw that you were telling the truth," Steele finally said. "I tried to talk to other dogs in Nome, but no one knew I was there."
"That must have been a change for you," Aniu said.
"I…I can't take being a ghost anymore," Steele said. "I need your help. Is there any way I can have a body again?"
"No," Aniu said. "But there is a way you can become visible to others again."
"How?" Steele asked.
Aniu raised an eyebrow.
"If I told you, you would misuse it right now," she said. "But…"
"But what?" Steele asked, almost desperately.
"Show me you've changed for the better and I will teach you what I know."
"I have!" Steele said. "I already don't want to hurt anybody anymore!"
"No," Nuti said. "You don't want to hurt Balto anymore. You would haunt and terrorize your old friends if we taught you now."
"I wouldn't!" Steele said, putting his ears down.
He looked pleadingly at Aniu.
"He's generally right," Aniu said. "And I agree with him."
Steele hung his head and his tail drooped.
"Don't lose hope," Aniu said more gently. "If you are willing to learn and grow as a dog, then we will help you. You've already started down the right path. Now, do you want to spend the night here?"
Steele shook his head. He was upset and angry with the spirits, especially Nuti. The bear had seemed so friendly, but he had kept Steele from what he wanted.
Steele rose and Aniu and Sesi let him pass.
Steele was a few feet from the cave when it occurred to him maybe the crystals were part of the spirits' power. He made his way down to the lower chamber and found a small opening into it.
He slunk inside and found a chamber with a rock platform and crystals on top of it. The walls were covered in simple drawings of animals, including a fox, a bear and a pack of wolves. Steele walked up to the crystals and tried to nudge one with his nose. His nose went right through it.
He wasn't sure what to do, so he examined the pictures for clues. They showed nothing helpful.
Steele huffed and left the cave. He found another nearby cave to spend the night in.
No wonder Balto was always so obsessed with doing the right thing. It must have come from his mother. Then again, apparently she hadn't raised him.
Steele still wondered why. Couldn't a spirit do whatever she wanted?
She was so judgey—maybe Balto was lucky to be raised by a goose.
The more Steele had thought about Balto over the last few days, the less he hated the wolf dog. The fact that Balto regretted his death even after all Steele had done to him made Steele think of mutt in a new way.
The only dogs Steele was truly angry with now were his former friends. He hated to admit it, but Nuti was right. He would go terrorize the trio if he knew how.
Now that Steele had come to dislike Balto so much less, he did wonder about him. He had always just figured Balto had gotten lost or orphaned by a hunter or something. But if you couldn't kill a spirit, and apparently a spirit could find you when they wanted, then those two possibilities were out.
Then Steels' thoughts turned to how he could convince the spirits to help him. Maybe if he could hide his anger toward his old team members they would believe he could be trusted.