Book Seven: Chapter 197

“Does the Caretaker really think she can handle this?” Pele scowled at the scene.

“He trusts Tink implicitly. So do I.” Beth cleared her throat to regain Pele’s attention. “The night marchers. How can we get them to manifest during the day?”

Pele sighed and leaned back against the rock and tucked a flower in her hair. “The spirits of the dead are beings of energy, in a way. They require energy to manifest in a physical sense, and this usually comes from the presence of living beings. All day long, the spirits will slumber and gather ambient lifeforce on their own. But it’s a delicate balance. Too little and they don’t appear. Too much? They can burst.” She looked up into the sky and studied a cloud that had rolled over the lip of the volcano. “The sun can also provide this energy, but how do you contain it in a non-existent vessel? It overwhelms them immediately unless they find a way to hold tremendous focus. They were able to manifest shortly before sundown when Franco