She had been so absorbed in her spiritual communion session that she hadn’t noticed that the other children had found her and the mystic wolf child. They had listened to the boy and had also noticed the supernatural illumination to his already shimmering green eyes. When the glow faded, they couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed and immediately tried to gain his attention so that they could be the next to seek out the souls of their beloved dead. But, before they could barrage him with their urgent communal requests, Night raised his hands and ushered them into silence.

“Children, listen,” he said, firmly, “my brother has just arrived here. It is nearly a six day voyage from Adohi and he and the rest of the family are very tired. On top of the long journey, he has to endure the overwhelming burden of being assailed by the innumerable amount of spirits that are still lingering here because of the many lives that were just recently lost. I know you all want answers to questions you have about your families and I know you are hoping to find those answers in him. But, you must consider his needs, too and right now he needs to rest. Do you understand?”

Obediently, the forlorn children nodded their heads. Their hearts ached and there was so much they wanted to know, but even in their grief, they could see that the young wolf was in pain. His pain was not akin to their own, but in a way, it seemed somehow worse. They wanted to see their loved ones, but it wasn’t as though this boy could pick and choose who he wanted to see. Night had already mentioned that his brother was unquestionably going to be overwhelmed by the despairing environment and clearly, he was right. The boy was on the verge of shattering. This wasn’t fair to him. They had no desire to hurt him, they just wanted to end their own pain. But, their desire to end their own suffering was adding to the already existing suffering of a child with an extraordinary, yet uncontrollable power. Just as they were hurting, he was hurting as well.

“Thank you.” Night said, gently patting his brother’s back. “I need to be with my brother for a bit, so I want all of you to go back to the beach with Dr. Cherry and Dr. Tahir.” he said, nodding at the pair of doctors that were standing in the doorway. “I’ll be back in a while, but I need to take care of Shade. So, go ahead and listen to the doctors, okay?”

“Okay.” the children moaned, then turned and started to leave the crowded confines of the cabin.

Night sighed with considerable relief. “Tod, honey, you go ahead, too.” he said to the mildly rattled lion cub. “Your mother and your brothers are out there and probably wondering what’s been going on. Can you let them know what’s happened?”

Sadly, Tod nodded and started to get up. He looked at his emotionally detached sibling and hugged him, tightly. He couldn’t understand what he was going through and he didn’t have to. Someone he loved was deeply upset and he wanted to do something, no matter how small, to help him. Having done all that he knew what to do, he rose to his feet, gently patted his brother’s dark head, then quietly left the room, leaving the pair of brothers bonded by blood and love, alone.