The two poachers turned simultaneously.
"Who's that?!" Omir yelled.
Puvis immediately started chanting before stopping when he saw it was just a kid.
"Another kid? Is there a kid dispenser around here or what?" he said sarcastically, before hiking up his pants, which kept falling down.
Omir slowly approached Itoî. The man was now mere inches from the boy.
"So, kid, you yelled something at us, I believe. That we killed the girl, right, huh?" he asked with a sick grin.
Itoî stared him dead in the eyes, unflinching, and yelled:
"Yeah!"
The man placed a hand over his eyes before bursting into laughter and turning his head slightly with a contemptuous air.
"Bahaha!"
Itoî didn't understand the man's reaction.
Puvis walked over with an axe and handed it to Omir.
"I don't think we need another kid. With what we've got in the satchel, the dark beasts fear us anyway. Omir, we killing him?"
Vars kept watching the scene, and Puvis's last line caught his attention.
"With what we've got in the satchel, the dark beasts fear us anyway."
What did he mean by that? An object capable of repelling or scaring off beasts? That could come in handy later...
Then he went back to observing.
Omir took the axe and gripped the handle tightly. He glanced at Puvis, then said:
"Step back."
Puvis obeyed, and Omir wound up. Itoî raised his hands in front of him to protect himself. Just as the poacher was about to bring the axe down on the boy, he stopped. Itoî's eyes sparkled under the moonlight.
"I've never seen eyes like that," the man said before driving the butt of his axe into the ground.
Indeed, no one in the human world had amber eyes like those. That gaze was almost hypnotic, but also unsettling.
"We're not killing him?" Puvis asked.
Omir placed a hand under Itoî's chin, then pulled the boy a bit closer to study his eyes.
"Fuck, this kid's got some eyes. We could get something out of selling him to old Shaza, or even on the black market."
"Yeah, black market's probably better, honestly. You always get old men or old women who are crazy about kids. They're usually loaded, too," Puvis said with a repulsive smile.
Itoî violently slapped Omir's hand away.
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"Get your filthy hands off me!"
"Oooh. The kid's got spirit! Bahaha! Puvis! Bring the chains, we're tying him up."
Puvis obeyed. Just as he crouched down to grab the chains on the ground, Vars stepped out of the bushes. The man turned his head.
"Fuck! Another one? You've gotta be kidding me! Omir! I caught another kid!"
"Huh?!" Omir exclaimed, turning around.
"Yeah, I swear! He looks a bit older, but I'd say no more than fourteen!"
Vars shot a direct look at Itoî, signaling him to keep his mouth shut. They were separated by four or five meters. Itoî understood and didn't move.
"Excuse me! That's my little brother. We got lost in the forest, then we saw a fire. We figured maybe there were other humans around..."
Puvis laughed.
"Yeah, other humans, sure, but not 'nice' ones."
Omir laughed too.
"So, what do we do with this one?" Puvis asked.
Vars walked over to the beasts. They had been agitated, but calmed down as he approached.
"Wow, white beasts!"
Puvis whipped his head toward Vars.
Fuck, he's fast! What the hell is this?!
"Get away from there, kid! Those aren't toys!" Puvis barked.
Vars examined the lock before placing a finger on it. A moment later, Puvis dropped the chain, which clattered heavily to the ground, and grabbed Vars by the shoulders.
"What are you doing?!" Puvis yelled.
Vars gently pushed the man off, shrugged, then set his bag on the ground. He pulled out a handful of Quashti fur—the ones Titi had given him.
"I saw a beast like this one, a bit bigger, a few hours from here. It had a big shiny stone it was struggling to move. Also, it looked badly wounded. That's how I got this fur."
Puvis immediately snatched the handful of fur from Vars's hands and stuffed it in his jacket.
"Give me that! What do you mean, you saw a similar beast? Omir! The kid's saying interesting stuff, come look!"
Omir turned his head with a sigh. He looked at Itoî, pinned him against a tree, and cast a spell he had apparently prepped the moment Vars appeared.
"Mud Chain!"
A kind of mud wrapped around Itoî before taking the shape of a crude chain, then hardened. The boy found himself tied to the tree.
"There, you won't be moving now. I'm coming!" Omir called out.
Vars tapped his foot lightly, then walked toward the fire.
Puvis ran after him.
"Hey, get back here!"
Vars positioned himself on the opposite side of the cage where the beasts were locked up. To his left, Itoî was about two or three meters away. Vars pointed at his brother.
"Let him go! Or else I won't say anything!"
Omir laughed.
"Bahaha! Maybe if you tell me your story first! Then we'll see!"
He placed a hand on Vars's shoulder and shoved him to the ground to force him to sit.
Vars thought to himself:
Impressive strength, but no match for mine.
The two men and the boy sat around the fire.
Vars glanced at Itoî, then began his story:
"The beast is a few hours from here, like I said. It was rolling some kind of really shiny stone, but it was wounded on both legs; so it was moving slowly and with difficulty. I watched it for fifteen, twenty minutes with my brother, then it finally collapsed. I thought to myself: 'Well, why not grab some fur from the beast?' So I took some, then we rested before taking more."
Omir and Puvis burst out laughing.
"Bahaha! This kid's funny! But is what you're saying true?"
"Aha! Aha! Aha! Gotta admit, that's a good one. Yeah, I think he's telling the truth, Omir. Look."
He reached for the fur in his jacket's inner pocket. Vars spotted an opening. He instantly leaped backward at blinding speed, screaming:
"Itoî! Now! Toward the cage!"
Itoî yelled, trying to get up:
"But ho— Huh?"
The mud had completely detached. Vines vanished at the same moment: they had eaten through the mud. Vars had set this up minutes earlier by tapping his foot.
Omir and Puvis screamed:
"Fuck! What is this bullshit?!"
They both stared at Vars, who was airborne after his massive backward leap. For a few moments, they had forgotten about Itoî.
Itoî sprinted with everything he had toward the cage, then wondered:
How the hell am I gonna open it...
He pulled on the cage. Suddenly, the door blew apart: once again, Vars's handiwork.
The Quashtis poured out. Seeing this, Puvis charged at Itoî. The young boy, noticing the poacher's hostile sprint in his direction, backed up before running in the opposite direction from Vars.
Vars smiled.
He learns fast. He could really become tough if he trains with me and Grandpa.
"Get back here, you little shit!" Puvis snarled, chasing after Itoî, who was running at full speed.
Omir yelled:
"Little bastard!"
Then he quickly chanted a spell:
"Tremor Step!"
Omir stomped the ground violently. A minor earthquake erupted, and the ground split in two.
Vars landed on a sturdy branch before launching himself at Omir.
"Now, it's just you and me!" Vars shouted, buzzing with excitement.