After Lilan easily found a lavadzer—a flat, blue lizard-like creature—she injected a small amount of silverback venom into it.

They then returned to the corpse of the silverback. It had attracted no scavengers, aside from a few strange ants.

Kai used Sariel's dagger to cut off the silverback’s limbs. Sariel took one leg while Kai carried another. They only took two limbs, as they couldn't carry the entire creature, and two were enough to feed them.

They made their way back to their original location.

Kai tossed the dagger back to Sariel and pointed at the bear limbs. "You're going to learn how to prepare corpses for eating."

Sariel winced inwardly. Learning this would certainly help him survive, but the phrase “preparing corpses” was unsettling. Then again, eating meat was technically eating corpses.

“Remove the fur. That part is pretty self-explanatory,” Lilan instructed.

Sariel nodded. He would have guessed that much himself.

He began skinning the foul-smelling fur off the leg. It took him about twenty minutes. The children had knives too, though their quality was inferior to his dagger. They used their knives to skin their silverback leg.

Kai seemed to have a particular fondness for Sariel's dagger, using it whenever he could. If Sariel hadn’t taken so long skinning the leg, Kai would have waited to use the dagger on his own.

Once the legs were skinned, they cleaved them into several pieces. They then gathered a pile of dry branches and leaves, lit them on fire, and roasted the meat.

The bright flames provided warmth, like a campfire.

"Aye, Sariel," Kai called out, his eyes fixed on the flames.

Sariel looked up. “Yeah?”

“Bang,” Kai muttered.

Sariel raised an eyebrow, confused. “Huh?”

“Bang, bang.”

“Are you mentally unwell?”

“Nah, I’m just bored and wanted to trouble you.” Kai smiled slightly.

Sariel sighed. He’s just a kid after all.

“I see,” Sariel replied.

A moment of silence passed, but it was soon broken.

“How long... How long until we go home?” Kai asked, looking at his sister.

Lilan stared into the flames. “I don’t know. But I’m sure Dad brought back medicine for Mom and is looking for us now."

“Do you think so? So being here is pointless? We came here to get herbs, only to end up lost...”

“Yes...”

Both of them lowered their heads, looking despondent.

Sariel wished he could say something to comfort them. Maybe he could lie and tell them their father was definitely on the way. But would that really help? His words would mean nothing.

Time passed.

As they roasted the meat, they had to constantly add more branches and leaves; the wind almost blew out the flames several times, and the fire burned through the branches quickly because they hadn't used enough kindling.

Watching the color, shape, and texture of the meat change was fascinating to Sariel. The meat shrank slightly, and the texture became firmer. It also appeared drier as the flesh cracked and split.

When they decided the slices were ready, they used a long stick to remove them from the flames, knocking the pieces into a large tersannut bowl. If the stick caught fire, they simply stomped on it.

They had to wait a long time for the meat to cool before they could eat.

When they finally began eating, the meat tasted terrible! It was very tough, requiring all of Sariel's strength to tear off a piece. Chewing it hurt his jaw muscles, and he often had to swallow chunks whole, unable to chew properly.

“This is the right way to prepare meat?” Sariel asked.

They nodded. “This is how you make fast food,” Lilan explained. “It’s obviously going to be tough and taste bad if we don’t marinate, age, or slow-cook it, or if we don’t add any seasoning.”

Oh... Sariel thought. Maybe they should have considered that, since the meat was so bad and so tough. But food was food. He was already hungry, and they must have been too.

With no other option, Sariel continued to eat until he was full.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

There were still many slices left, and the children prepared a mix of herbs to rub on the remaining meat. According to Lilan, this would preserve it by creating an environment that bacteria wouldn’t like.

After that, they gathered leaves to use as bedding.

Sariel couldn’t sleep because of the pain in his arm so he just laid there, hoping morning would come quickly.

***

He heard branches breaking.

A sneaky predator?

Sariel rose, gripping his dagger tightly, his eyes fixed on where the sounds were coming from.

But it wasn’t an animal or a predator.

It was just Kai, breaking branches and bending them. He seemed to be attempting to make a bow, but the wood snapped.

In frustration, Kai stomped the ground. “Damn it... not a single thing here is good for shit.”

He paced in circles, muttering under his breath. “Dad Dad Dad Dad. What if he doesn’t come for us? What if something happened to him?” He stopped suddenly. “If that were the case, I’d have to step up, wouldn’t I? But... I’m not good enough... I wish I were better. I wish I were an older brother she could look up to. I wish I were reliable... I wish I were brave. I wish... ”

The stress was getting to him. Poor kid, Sariel thought. Such heavy thoughts at such a young age. It would surely mess him up as an adult if it continued.

Kai marked a tree with his knife. “I wish... I was as good as her. I wish I was as smart as her. I’m supposed to protect her, yet she always protects me... I want Mom...”

Kai...

Kai spun around, startled. “You... you’re awake?!”

Should Sariel lie and say he hadn’t heard what Kai was saying? Would he believe that? Probably, but Sariel didn’t want to lie. Maybe he could help somehow.

“Yeah. You really think your sister is better than you, huh?”

Kai didn’t respond.

“You’re pretty amazing yourself. In the time I’ve been here, I’ve learned a lot from you,” Sariel said honestly.

“I know, but I’m still pathetic. That’s why I want to be like my father and protect my family. I want to be brave like him... but I’m just a coward. A disgusting coward.”

Ah, so he’s insecure about being a ‘coward,' Sariel realized. That made sense. When his sister had called him that before, it had clearly hurt him deeply.

"Has your sister always been the one to step up for you?" Sariel asked Kai.

Kai nodded, leaning his head forward. "Yeah... I used to get bullied a lot. I wanted to stand up for myself, but I was afraid of getting beaten even worse. She always came to help me and always got beaten up more than I did, all for my sake."

Sariel's heart sank at Kai's words. He wanted to say something comforting, but he wasn’t sure how. He understood fear well, but understanding it didn’t mean he knew how to soothe someone else's fear. Still, he decided to try.

"I know what you mean. I'm a coward too," Sariel admitted. "I know what it's like to run away from frightening things. I was afraid to help you and your sister against the silverback. My body just moved because of a mistake I made in the past... and because you two have helped me a lot."

Kai shook his head. "You don’t sound like a coward if you could move on your own."

...Maybe I should have left that part out, Sariel thought. He tried a different approach. "About my name... It is strange, right? For a guy to have a girl's name?"

"Huh... yeah, it is," Kai admitted.

"I was given this name by someone younger than Lilan," Sariel began. "Sariel, the little girl who saved me from a monster. I'm only alive because of her. I ran away when I saw the monster. When it went after her instead, I used the chance to escape. I didn’t even try to save her."

Kai's eyes widened. "So, what happened to her after she saved you?"

"She died," Sariel replied quietly. "She died saving someone as worthless as me..."

Kai mumbled, "She was courageous."

"Yeah..." Sariel sighed, realizing his story hadn’t helped as much as he'd hoped. Of course, it didn’t. What was he thinking?

He cleared his throat, "Take this with a grain of salt. The desire or the need to change is important if you want to be strong or brave. But it's not going to happen overnight. When you put yourself in scary or stressful situations and survive them, try to think that you are getting better and braver instead of weak and cowardly. Stop comparing yourself to others so harshly, and compliment yourself more often. You were pretty amazing when you saved me from that plant fish thing."

Kai didn’t reply, but he nodded slowly. Sariel could see that Kai’s insecurities were deep. A few words weren’t going to change them overnight, but maybe they could start a slow progress toward change.

"Well, I'm going to sleep. You should too," Sariel told him.

"Right..." Kai agreed.

***

"No. No. No!"

Sariel jolted awake to Lilan's panicked cries. Her fingers trembled, and her jaw quivered.

What's going on with her? he wondered, instinctively looking in the direction she was facing. There was no enemy, nothing dangerous. Just Lilan, holding the lavadzer in her hands and shaking it frantically.

“It’s dead! It’s dead!” she cried, breaking into tears.

She dropped to her knees, shock and frustration crossing her face. "How was I supposed to separate the antibodies from the blood, purify it, and do all that other stuff?!" she shouted, her voice cracking as she began hitting her legs repeatedly.

Sariel rushed over and grabbed her hands to stop her. "Hey, calm down!"

"Let go of me! I’m stupid!" Lilan sobbed. "I’m just twelve years old! I should be in school, not in a forest. I rely on notebooks, but they’re just that — notebooks. Making antivenom is for professionals, not for a kid like me." She paused, her eyes searching Sariel's. "Why would you trust a kid with something like this? Did you want to get yourself killed?"

She laughed anxiously, "And this thing isn’t even a lavadzer. It just looks like one. I was so wrong. I'm so stupid."

"No, you’re not," Sariel replied, trying to comfort her. "You tried your best. That’s what matters."

She shook her head, her face contorted with frustration. "That doesn’t make it okay! You see how Kai looks up to me, don’t you? He thinks I'm perfect, that I don't make mistakes. But I do. I make obvious, stupid mistakes. What if I make one like this with Mom? I want to be a nurse... I shouldn't make mistakes..."

"Lilan..."

Kai, who had been silent, finally spoke up, "Once we get out of here, Sariel can go to a hospital. I’m sure they can help him."

Lilan’s face tightened. "His arm is rotting. For something to rot, it must be dead. You're going to lose your arm." She dragged her fingers through her hair, almost pulling it out in frustration.

Sariel stared at his left arm, finally looking at it directly. He had been avoiding it before because of how revolting it was — rotting flesh, smelling putrid. The only reason small scavengers hadn’t tried to feast on him was because they sensed he was marked prey of the silverback.

It was looking like it was getting better but that was probably his imagination.

Was he so stupid that he didn’t think about rotting flesh meaning dead flesh? Did he just try to ignore it?

Kai muttered. "T-that's... bad."

Sariel’s mind raced. If he lost his arm, how will he hunt beasts, how will he grow stronger? How will be able to defend himself better against people? How will he--

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a series of guttural roars echoing through the forest.

"Growthoaaah!"

"Growah!"

"GROOOH!"

"GRURGH!!"

A deep sense of dread settled over him as the sounds grew louder.