“Miss priestess?” Kit called. “What are those light rocks?” he asked, pointing to the glowing rocks that served as the sole sources of light in the room.

“They are glow stones.” she answered, as she tucked Shade into the bed. “They offer as much light as a candle, but without the use of fire. Being in a room filled with small, burning candles would be unsettling for your brother. His innate fear would not allow him to be calm.”

“What’s ‘innate fear’?” he asked.

“An innate fear is something that one is born with. All wolves are born with a natural aversion to fire, so to make your brother more comfortable, it is better to use glow stones.”

“Oh…” he whispered. Quickly, he shuffled over to his father and grasped his arm, shaking it gently. “Papa,” he whispered as quietly as he could, but in his anxiety, was actually quite loud, “are you afraid of fire, too?”

Night smiled, albeit a bit nervously and whispered, “Yes, I am, actually. It’s okay, though. She’s right, since there are no candles in here, I feel just fine.”

“Okay!” he whispered, still not quite grasping the idea that a whisper was supposed to be inaudible.

Even through Night had assured him of his comfort, the cub still threw his arms around him and hugged him, reassuringly…just in case. Appreciative of his concern and affection, Night hugged his son and ruffled his hair, fondly.

It was intriguing. Somehow, this priestess seemed to be extremely knowledgeable about the guests in her temple. It was no secret that wolves had a fear of fire, but it was strange that she, a person who lived on a continent completely devoid of wolves, knew such an obscure fact. Knowing the preferred habitat of the lupine race was one thing, but also being aware of their inner most fears was another. Then again, she also knew the names of each of the persons that had gathered in the room. Even his wife’s first name in its entirety was something she was somehow aware of. She never even introduced herself as, Mhina-Liana. She just referred to herself as, Mhina. Moreover, she also knew that Shade and Blaze were his brothers, not his sons. On the surface, it would have appeared that they were simply his children. They were certainly young enough to fit the role, yet she knew they were brothers, not a father and his sons.

He had met priests and priestess before. They had all possessed a strong sixth sense within them, but this was something entirely different. This was more like telepathy, if not prophetic. It seemed like she had a connection to a plane of awareness greater than he had ever heard of before. Was it a different level of spiritualism, or was it, perhaps, magic? The power that Shade yielded was rare, but not exclusive to him. This woman, however, her power was far greater than any recorded spiritual connectivity. It was almost…divine. It was like the fabled powers of the first ones, the first animalians that were ever born into the world of, Okanu. But, those legendary beings existed several millennia ago, so it was impossible that she could yield the incomprehensible powers of the ancients. …so why did it appear that she did?