Reus eyed the stranger warily, his head high and ears back -- but upon seeing that no harm would come to Anise, he huffed and put his nose to the ground, snuffling and moving in slow circles, following the trail of what might have become of the shadow spirits. There were traces of darkness hanging on the edges of the blades of grass, and a deeper darkness where the Lord of Shadow had stood in the guise of the slain pirate. His ear twitched as something moved past unseen, and he raised his great head. The forest was dark beyond the reach of the blue lantern's light.

The wolf padded behind at a distance while Anise and Chris traversed back toward the noise of the other human. His ears were perked, and the fur on the back of his neck stood on-end. Certainly, they were being watched from the treetops. The red blinking eyes of monkeybats gleamed down out of the dark canopy -- but they were frightened of Reus. Perhaps now, too, they were frightened of Anise.

Reus arrived in the clearing just as Chris and Anise hefted Simon up between them, but the wolf wasn't interested in the soothsayer. His head down, he padded directly for the corpse in the white rabbit mask. A low growl rumbled in his throat; he very gently took the mask between his teeth and tossed it to Anise's feet. He shot her a glare -- [i]that is too powerful to be left in the open.[/i]

And then, he rolled over the dead boy with a rough toss of his muzzle, grabbed Tyaelaem's canteen with his teeth, and shook the strap off the corpse's shoulder. He tossed this to Chris, and it landed at his feet, its contents sloshing. It was the same canteen that Tyaelaem had filled when he first met Anise, Hania and Randold in the firefly grotto.

While Reus was busy digging a hole -- huge chunks of grass and dirt flew in all directions -- the owl shifted on its perch. The owl hooted, its throat wobbling and eyes blinking. After a few moments, it slipped from the branch and swooped silently down, its talons outstretched to snatch the blue stone necklace that Simon had discarded in the weeds.