Chapter 3: The One Left Behind

Mylo woke with a gasp, his heart racing from another nightmare of a creature of shadows chasing him through a labyrinthine ruin. The afternoon sun shone through the windows and lit the stifling log cabin.

All the hunters left without waking me. Again.

He brushed the straw from his hair. They shunned him because he had startled the harnark during the hunt. It wasn’t entirely his fault. The branch really did look like a snake from where he lay hidden.

Mylo changed into his hunting gear. A motley assembly of tanned hides and fur made up his clothing. He stuffed his ill-fitting shoes with more straw to plug up the holes in the toes.

He tied his possum mask around his head. Stepping out of the cabin, he squinted his eyes and stumbled towards the mess hall. His head ached from oversleeping and dehydration.

Hopefully, they have saved some breakfast for me.

Vela would have noticed he was missing and set something aside for him.

The villagers, who were too young or too old to hunt, were busy preparing the Twin Moon Feast in the mess hall. Anything left from breakfast was being repurposed into a dish for the feast.

“Mylo! I have prepared some traveling supplies for you.” Vela’s hunched figure wobbled towards him. Because they shared the same copper-brown eyes, Vela believed Mylo must be a distant relative of hers. She treated him like a doting grand-maahi even though they had only met last year.

“I’ll take whatever you have for breakfast.” Mylo offered a pained smile. “The hunters decided they didn’t need my help today.”

“I told them to let you sleep. Here is something for you to eat on your way out.” Vela pressed the pack into his hands.

Mylo’s heart sank. “It wasn’t my fault-”

Vela shook her head and grabbed his arm to steady herself. “You must leave this village and find somewhere else to hide. Your presence here puts everyone at risk.”

“You can’t just throw me out to the beolves while the Twin Moons are in the sky.”

“You’ll survive.” Vela turned him around and pushed him towards the door. “Take this and leave. Speak to no one.”

Mylo shouldered the pack and gritted his teeth. As soon as he became inconvenient, people who claimed to be his friends abandoned him. He should have known better than to think he had a place in this village. He should have trusted his gut and found a new place to stay before the Twin Moons rose.

It was too late. The nearest village was at least a week’s travel from here. Traveling while two full moons rose during the night was a death sentence. Every predator—dragons, nimrs, and far worse—would be on the hunt for tasty little snacks like him.

Mylo strode towards the gate with purpose. He had to prove that he was worth the occasional trouble he caused by bringing something back to the village larder. He would beg the village chief for forgiveness with a peace offering and an offer to hunt alone. They didn’t have to spend any time hunting with him. He’d risk his life and limb for a place in the village.

Around the village, the carefully cultivated, living barrier of brambles wore the colors of fall, contrasting with the towering evergreen forest.

A portal to another place in the Outlands stood open like a tear in a curtain. The torn edges gently moving in unseen wind from the other side. On the other side, rain poured down heavily, but none of the rain came through the portal.

This one sang a soft chime. Every portal had a different voice. They were all sirens, tempting him to risk his life on the gamble that there would be something better on the other side. 

There rarely was. 

Mylo avoided the portal. He pushed against the barrier around the village, brushing aside the tangled thorns of rose and berry bushes. His leather braces and fur cuffs protected his body. He tangled the barrier behind him and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dappled light of the understory.

A loud crashing noise caused Mylo to throw himself to the ground.

Keelan came tumbling down from the tree branches. He quickly stumbled up from the ground and brushed his clothes off. “I’m good. I’m good. Nothing is broken.”

Mylo stalked towards him. “What in the world were you doing up there? Where is your maahi?”

Keelan turned a deep shade of red. “She said I’m old enough to hunt and forage for myself.”

Mylo knelt to his level. “What did you do?”

Keelan looked like he would rather be anywhere else. “I kind of ruined all of my mother’s flour by crushing our eggs with the bag.”

The entire village had heard Helen yell at Keelan for breaking or ruining something with his thoughtlessness. This time, Helen must have sent him out to replenish the supplies instead of keeping him around to wreak more havoc.

It was one thing to be ridiculed and shunned for being the village fool (something that Mylo unfortunately knew all about), but Keelan also had the unfortunate fate of being the son of the village leader.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but there isn’t anything worth hunting this close to the village.”

“There is a nest up there. I’m sure it’s full of eggs.” Keelan rubbed his elbows and pointed. The tree had no low-hanging branches. The old trees in this forest made the younger trees stretch up higher and higher in search of sunlight.

Mylo shielded his eyes against the harsh light of the sun. “Yeah, I see it. That’s a Strix nest. They help keep the vermin down around the village. As long as you don’t mess with their young, they are harmless, but if you try to steal their eggs, they will kill you.”

Keelan’s shoulders slumped. “I can’t do anything right.”

“I know the feeling. I think the village wants me to leave.”

Keelan’s eyes widened. “But there isn’t any village within a week’s journey. You’d have to survive during the night, and that’s impossible.”

“That’s why I’m going to prove that I can be an asset to the village by bringing back food.”

Keelan offered him a conspiratorial grin. “You know, two hunters are better than one.”

Mylo punched the boy in the shoulder. “That’s the spirit! Now let’s go find something harmless that can’t hunt us back. Has your patah taught you to identify animal tracks?”

Keelan nodded. “I’ll help you look.”

Mylo glided noiselessly through the forest, followed by Keelan’s occasional slip-up. It wasn’t the end of the world if he scared off whatever they were hunting. If they found a high-traffic area, they could set a trap and lie in wait.

That's when the sounds of wildlife stopped.

Mylo grabbed the front of Keelan’s shirt. “Quiet.”

The unmistakable sound of something large moving through the fallen pine needles sent a bolt of energy up his spine. The only thing that big in this forest could climb just as well as he could.

“Down.” Mylo forced Keelan onto the ground. He threw his pack into the tree, where it caught on a branch. He dropped to the ground flat on his stomach and covered his head with his hands.

Keelan started to get up. “What has gotten into you?”

Mylo hissed. “Ursine. Be very still. Don’t even breathe. Cover your head and neck with your arms.”

The monster ambled through the trees, standing as tall as a man on four legs. Muscle rippled under its dark brown fur, and it groaned at the sight of something foreign in its territory, Mylo’s bag.

Mylo gritted his teeth as he felt its hot breath on his face. He could hear Keelan’s breathing speed up.

Please, Preserver, keep him quiet.

The ursine lost interest and slowly walked away.

Keelan started to move.

Mylo grabbed his hand to stop him, but it was too late.

The ursine let out a warning groan, and Keelan’s natural instinct kicked in. The boy tried to climb the nearest tree to get away from the monster, but that wouldn’t work. It could climb.

Mylo grabbed a broken branch and shouted at the ursine. “Hey, why don’t you pick on someone, er, a bit closer to your size, huh?”

The ursine turned towards him with a guttural growl and charged.

Mylo hit its open maw with his branch, disorienting the animal, but not enough to stop its charge.

An explosion of pain wreaked havoc on his body as he was thrown to the ground. He threw dirt in the ursine’s eyes and hit its snout until the branch broke.

The ursine roared with pain and left him with a parting swipe that gutted him.

Mylo’s vision swam as the ursine retreated into the tree line. He had broken bones, and every part of his body hurt with his inhale.

“Mylo, Mylo! Oh, this is all my fault!” Keelan knelt at his side, tears streaming down his face.

He couldn’t reply to the frantic boy.

Mylo focused on the powerstone around his neck. A prickly, stinging sensation started in his chest as his healing powerstone activated. Its purple glow spread to his extremities, and he tried to bite back a cry of pain as his bones, organs, and skin mended.

Mylo coughed, his voice hoarse with his exclamations of pain. “It’s all right, little buddy. I’m going to be fine.”

Keelan stared at him with wide eyes. “How-?”

Mylo tried to catch his breath as his powerstone finished healing him. His stone pendant had saved his life more times than he could count. “It was a gift from my maahi before she died. A powerstone that heals my injuries. Keelan, listen, you can't tell anyone about what happened. You can’t tell anyone that I can heal.”

“But you saved my life! Surely, my father would let you stay if I told him that.”

“And what do you think they would do if you told him how I was able to survive? Do you think he would let me keep it?”

After a few moments, Keelan replied quietly. “No. They would take it from you. If I didn’t owe you my life, I would take it from you.”

How many people knew about his healing powerstone? Five now, including Keelan. He had to be more careful. One or two he could trust, but once the knowledge was out there, he couldn’t control who knew it.

###

Mylo and Keelan lay hidden in the underbrush, watching their prey. A pair of beautiful pheasant birds crept closer and closer to the trap. He held the trigger wire in his sweaty palm. After a day spent traveling further and further from the village in search of game to hunt, this was his last chance.

It was just his luck that the twin moons decided to rise in the fall. The exiles had to prepare for the winter, and now their short days had gotten even shorter. He knew these two pheasants would be welcome in the village larder if he got there in time.

Come on, it’s just a little sweet corn. No surprises here.

The birds took the bait, and Mylo pulled the trigger rope. The net fell from above, and the more cautious one flew away unharmed. The other flapped helplessly in his net.

Keelan bolted from the underbrush to follow the second bird, but it took to the skies before he was close enough to grasp it.

“One is better than none. We have to start heading back to the village. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped outside for the night.” Mylo dispatched the pheasant and put it inside an oiled leather bag to trap the scent of blood. He untied the rope from his wooden frame and coiled it inside his pack.

The village gates closed when the sun slipped past the horizon and didn’t open until dawn.

Keelan accepted the leather bag. “You are right. I just wanted to have one for each of us.”

Mylo smiled. “We can go hunting tomorrow, and we’ll find one for me.”

Keelan shook his head. “No, my mother is mad at me, but she’s always mad at me for something. The whole village is mad at you. You need this more than I do. Tomorrow we’ll find one for me.”

“You will make a fine leader one day, Keelan.”

Keelan held himself a little taller.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Let me tell you, writing Mylo is no easy feat. A fearful hero is a tough nut to crack. Fun fact: Vela is also the name of the second character I ever came up with, so I had to name a character after her. Share in the comments who your favorite main character is so far. Is it Sihara, Jaden, Or Mylo?