Damien was out of the water suddenly, followed by the rest of my family. I saw the vicious predators they could be as they moved. Dark stripes covered trained and toned muscle, the men looked as dangerous as I’d ever seen them.


    Other men, powerful like Damien and his Brothers, leapt from the water. None of the men bothered to dress, but they picked up their swords and guns. The Paterians made a wall around the children, reinforcing the guard we had been left with. It was time to get the small and weak away from the fighting.


    The guard moved as a single unit and the children were herded along. Mycah’s family needed no prodding to move with the group, but most of the other children were confused. The men moved without speaking. If you weren’t part of The Great Harmonious Spirit, there was no direction.


    “Ciara,” Bane growled, as we moved down the hall away from the bathing pool, “if it isn’t Paterian, kill it.”This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    “Follow the men down the hall away from here,” I called to the confused children.


    The several families of children surrounded by men made their way quickly down the hall. We walked toward therge room used for healing, which was also near where the children were usually Kept. We were met by a group of guards that took the uninjured young toward the children’s area. Mycah’s family was herded inside the infirmary and my men left us with therge contingent of well armed guards at the door.


    Jonathan and his family headed for an empty warm stone and scrambled up on it. They sat quiet and attentive, just like most of the other men in the hall. It was easy to see who The Great Harmonious Spiritmanded and who it didn’t. I wondered why some and not others as I made my way over to my boys. There was no time to worry about the other men, though.


    Mycah’s family surrounded Jonathan and Aiden. I grabbed a pail of water and fresh cloth. Rose met me at the b with her own pail and cloth.


    “Oh, Ciara…” she said softly looking down at the boys’ bleeding bodies.


    Mycah’s family looked up at her and then at me, before their attention was back on the doorway. What was happening outside had most of their focus.


    “We just need to clean them up so the Healers can help them,” I said trying to sound calm.


    Rose and I cleaned the wounds on both boys. The teeth marks were deep in some ces and Jonathan had some uneven tears that were bleeding profusely. Our charges didn’t flinch or whine as we worked. Mycah’s family watched us and didn’t interfere. When the Healers approached I wasn’t surprised when the boys epted the poking and prodding without anyint.


    Then, I focused on my men and felt the order to their thoughts. The Great Harmonious Spirit that gripped them had them exploring the underground tunnels the water took. Rue’s family had developed a way to breathe air under the water and my men were using them. They swam deep into the underground streams looking for the aliens. The organized search was very effective.


    My family was close now and although I was not invited to participate in The Great Harmonious Spirit, I could witness it. My men were intimately connected to other men they knew well and trusted. For instance, I could sense Mund’s and Basin’s families deeply. Tyle’s family was tightly bound into that original coil and so was Mycah’s family. I felt Stayne and his Brothers fighting alongside Arnold’s family. Those connections branched out and I felt other men, which led to bonds with still more men. It was like an enormous spiderweb of rtionships.


    This was what Thom had been talking about when he’d originally talked to us about The Great Harmonious Spirit. The men connected to other men they trusted. That’s why little Jonathan had been able to call for help underwater. He’d used his love for his father and had initiated The Great Harmonious Spirit.


    I felt a personal sense of relief it was Rhane and his Brothers helping my boy. These Healers were old and well respected. I knew they would not miss anything.


    The Healer’s worked quickly and efficiently cauterizing bleeding and examining the wounds. Every little cut was checked very thoroughly. Several of the more jagged bite marks received a stitch or two. My little ones did not fight the Healers.


    Jonathan looked up at them and suddenly grew his secondary teeth, which surprised me. I looked at his wicked smile and gasped. He’d broken a tooth.


    The Healers just used a device to grab the damaged tooth and pull it out quickly. That must have hurt because all the little Brothers touched Jonathan for a moment. The Healers used another device to stop the bleeding. I just hoped that tooth would grow back.


    Rhane and his Brother applied healing salve and wrapped both Aiden’s and Jonathan’s wounds in clean cloths. The boys epted the wraps and theny back on the b. The rest of Mycah’s familyy down so they were all touching. Their eyes drifted shut and they stayed like that, seemingly asleep. Think about this, is it clothes or cloths?


    “What is going on?” I asked quietly, looking up at Rhane as he packed up his tools.


    The Healers were part of The Great Harmonious Spirit and they found my confusion unfathomable. It took them a moment to answer.


    “Injured males must rest so they can heal. These boys will rest until the next meal and then we will check them. You stay here and watch them, Ciara,” Rhane told me before he moved away with his family.


    I looked at Rose and she smiled wanly back.


    “That sounded reassuring,” she said taking my pail and cleaning towel. “I know you must be worried, but they seem fine.”


    “FINE?!” a woman roared behind us.