“I do have hope, but it’s tough. The medicine they gave me only made me sicker. The Anishinaabe medicine didn’t help either. I don’t want to give up, but I don’t want to just fade away into nothing either.”

Bugz’s tears now found their way down her cheeks. One crept into her mouth. She registered the salty taste. It was easier to process that sensation than what her brother spoke of. Waawaate’d always been her hero, her protector, her source of laughs during a tough time. And now here he is about to…she refused to complete the thought.

“It’s okay to feel like that, son,” Bugz’s dad said. “Back in the day, they actually had a traditional medicine for what you’re talking about. The old ones would allow it in cert—”

“What?!” Bugz stood, fresh tears tracing a path on her cheeks. “How can you talk like that?”

“Relax, Buggy, I’m just trying to reassure him. You and your mom are always telling me to validate people’s feelings first…”

Bugz turned and stormed out of the room.

“Of course I’m gonna tell him not to do it. He has to fight…” Frank’s words trailed off as Bugz rounded the corner into the hospital hallway. She pulled out her phone. It reflected the neon lights overhead as she launched a messaging app.

“Can you meet me at the hospital?” Bugz texted Stormy.

“Yeah what’s up?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here ”

“Aww ”

CHAPTER 55

Feng walked into the clearing, stunned by what he saw. The Thunderbird’s Nest was no more. One large rock lay near a tree, another at the edge of the woods. Smaller stones were strewn everywhere. He wondered for a moment whether he was lost, but he pulled out his phone and confirmed this was where the nest should’ve been. He couldn’t believe it.

Feng scanned the entirety of the clearing through his phone to confirm the damage. Where once this place had pulsed with ribbons of energy so intense they lit up his phone’s entire screen, now he could see nothing. The respawn point was no more. Feng realized, with some disappointment, he’d have to find another way to accelerate his ’Versona’s return to the Spirit World.

As he lowered his phone, another thought entered his head. He pictured himself working tirelessly for the rest of the day to reassemble the stone circle.