Matt hadn't meant to hurt Kyle at the time, but now, he wished he'd done a lot worse. He couldn't take the other boy's accusatory comments any longer, the scolding look from Master Soul — and sometimes from Kenny too, who seemed frustrated at having to wake up before sunrise every day to fetch the herbs in the forest — and the frustration of not being able to walk properly.

Worst of all, it was just the new girl's pitying look. Matt liked Mei, even a little more than he liked the others. She was just an eight-year-old child, and she was always trying to please her elders. She seemed to believe in that whole “family” and “siblings” speech that the Master kept repeating.

Matt thought it was all nonsense. They weren't family at all. They were just a bunch of orphaned children rescued by the same man and now living together. He had told himself that he would die before calling any of them his brother or sister. Incidentally, he used to classify the younger ones as “bearable” or “unbearable”.

Kyle was bearable, most of the time. They were almost the same age, so Matt didn't feel like he was dealing with a baby all the time — although he was certainly very immature. Besides, Kyle didn't like all that nonsense about family either and intended to leave once he was old enough. He was a fast and agile boy and always found ways to sneak out.

But none of that mattered at the moment, because Matt would never speak to Kyle again.

Kenny was unbearable. The most irritating of all. Matt didn't give a shit if she was a genius or whatever. She was snobbish, and arrogant, and always thought she was smarter than them. The Master always looked silly with pride when she performed a new spell, and Matt always resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Ryou was... honestly, Matt didn't care about the boy. He was a clumsy one, rather chubby, with a mane of curly brown hair so long his eyes were barely visible, and he hardly ever opened his mouth to speak — but he certainly opened it wide to eat. He didn't know what the Master had seen in him. If Ryou disappeared overnight, Matthew wouldn't even notice.

Mei was bearable. Maybe even a little more. She was sweet, helpful, and always eager to learn. Matt even managed to ignore the fact that she and Kenny were blood sisters.

All he had done was run when he spotted the colossal ant nest. It wasn't his fault that Kyle had been stupid enough to trip over his ankle — and break it! "And fallen face down", as if!

Matt kicked the rock he was sitting on with his good foot. Since he couldn't do anything, he was sitting atop a rock, on the edge of the creek. Kenny was meditating on the grass, Mei was doing sit-ups a little further away, and Ryou was running — or rather, stumbling.

Master Soul had left to hunt for their meal. As usual, he'd left Kenny in charge. It didn't take long for the girl to get up from where she was sitting, clean the dirt from her clothes and head to the backpack she had left nearby. She took a handful of green herbs, and threw them into the clay pot, then crushed them. Once satisfied, she headed over to where Kyle was sitting.

The boy grunted, as he always did when he had to put the medicine on. Kenny wiped the ointment she'd put on his face that morning, and Matt got a glimpse of the situation his eyes were in. The skin around them was still a little swollen and red, but much less than it had been the day of the accident.

Matt rolled his eyes. Of course. What couldn't Miss Perfect do?

He drummed his fingers on the rock, trying to distract himself. But then he was taken aback when Kenny approached him.

"What do you want?"

Kenny raised her eyebrows, sighing.

"Give me your foot."

She didn't wait for him to respond. She took his foot in one hand, and Matt had to swallow back a gasp at the pain shooting up his leg. Kenny deftly unwrapped the sash around his ankle — she'd done it countless times before — and glanced around once.

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"What are you doing?"

“The Master can't know about this,” she explained.

And then she rubbed another ointment, different from the one she used on Kyle, on the skin of his ankle. She re-wrapped it with a clean bandage. Before he could say anything, she stuffed everything back into her bag and walked away.

Lunch was silent. Kyle just grumbled about the pain in his eyes, Mei told the Master everything she had managed to do that day, Ryou wolfed down his tenth plate of food, and Kenny and Matt managed to get through theirs.

After the meal, Kenny changed Kyle's medicine once more. Matt wondered where she got so much patience. Mei offered to help clean up the leftovers from lunch, and she was already getting up to it when Kyle snapped:

“Shut the fuck up,” he huffed. "I can't stand your annoying voice anymore! Neither yours nor his!" He pointed in the general direction where Ryou had been "You're both unbearable!"

Matt's eyes widened. Sure, he didn't like Ryou that much either, but Mei had never done anything to anyone. Matt supposed Kyle was frustrated with all he was dealing with, and had decided to take his anger out on them. And off he went, stomping, and bumped into a tree before disappearing into the woods.

“Kenny,” the Master called. "If you would..."

"No"

Everyone was silent. It was the first time any of them had denied the Master anything. Kenny couldn't be serious.

"No," she repeated. “I'm not going after him. He had no right to talk to them like that. I want him to get lost in the woods and never come back!"

And she was gone too, to the opposite side of the clearing, and disappeared into the trees. Matt looked at the two younger ones and saw Ryou staring at the ground, head down. Mei hugged her knees. They were almost the same age...

Matt wondered: if Kyle could see them that way, would he have said those things regardless?

Master Soul sighed, shaking his head and moving his long gray hair.

"Kenny... in time you'll learn..." the Master looked at him. "Matthew?"

Matt stammered a “yes, sir” before staggering off after Kyle. It was better than standing there, looking at Mei and Ryou.

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The forest was a scary place even during the day, and Matt was terrified of getting lost there. Even so, he tried to follow the other boy's tracks. Kyle had hit several trees along the way and had crushed some bushes as well.

Matt followed the trail of destruction.

He heard a sound, coming from somewhere to his right, and he turned quickly.

But what he saw wasn't Kyle.

A figure was bent over a bear carcass, devouring the raw meat with its hands. It looked half-human — it had two arms and two legs — but it was too thin and too tall, with dead skin almost glued to its bones. In addition, were two huge wings that moved along with its body, making popping noises and other strange sounds. Lying next to the body was a knife, long and well-used, glinting in the dim light.

Matt swallowed hard. Master Soul had warned them about the monsters in the forest, but he had never seen any. He took a step back, intending to leave silently, but he crushed a branch with his bare foot, only then realizing that he had used his injured ankle.

If the monster hadn't been listening before, it would certainly have heard the boy's cry of pain.

A bony face, with a mouth full of sharp teeth, chin and fangs smeared with bright red blood, and eyes of that same color stared back at him, a grunt that was neither human nor animal rising from its throat.

Matt turned and ran, ignoring the pain. He landed on his face twice, each time thinking the monster was there, right behind him.

He screamed for help.

Nevertheless, he wondered if the other kids would even find him worthy of saving.