The Hut inside the Forest

Chris was falling, he saw Toor standing on the edge.

Millions of images and thoughts ran through him in an instant from the day he was born in this world to this moment. He was about to die the impact will kill him in an instant, he knew it. There is nothing he can do, let it end, he was tired, done with this world, even if he tried he couldn't do anything to change his life, a failure from the day he was born. The last thoughts of a dying man he realised.

There was nothing attaching him to this world. Nothing to live for?? No, he knew it wasn't true, there were those who cared for him? Those who didn't look at him as a failure? Those who needed him the same way he needed them?

Sarah? Ignatius? Roger? Larka? and my Eva? and "Ni" huh? Who?

Darkness.

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"Help me out Anisa, hold his legs."

Chris opened his eyes barely, someone was holding his hands.

"But brother we don't know who he is, he is not a beastman, I am scared brother"

He saw a girl standing across him, she looked different.

"Anisa remember what father used to tell, we must help those who need our help, come on be a good girl hold his legs, you trust your brother right?"

"Yes brother"

He could feel someone holding his legs.

Darkness.

He could feel himself lying on hard ground.

"He is burning, I think he has a fever, Anisa, bring me a cloth dipped in water."

Chris could feel someone touch his forehead with something wet.

"Anisa, watch over him, I will go and try getting some medicine."

"But brother I don't want to be alone with him."

"Anisa, he will die if his fever gets too high, do you want that to happen to him?"

"No, Brother."

After some time he could feel something being fed to him, Chris didn't have any energy to resist nor open his eyes.

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Chris opened his eyes to see a roof made out of leaves, he looked around, he was lying on the ground, it was a small hut. He tried getting up but his head was aching, there was no one around. He could see sunlight leaking from between the walls, so he knew it was not night.

Why is he here? he tried recollecting. What was the last thing he remembered? He was falling, Toor stood there watching him fall. How did he survive? Something happened while he was falling, but he can't remember, there was a name?

He thought about Larka, he knew Roger would have survived? he will come looking for him?

He collected his Strength to stand up and walked towards the door. Opening it to see that he was inside a forest, there was a small stream passing in front of the house. He couldn't see any other house nearby.

While looking around his eyes fell upon the girl he had seen earlier. She was holding her hand together and staring at him, he could clearly see she was afraid of him. He didn't want to scare her so he approached her very slowly. What was her name? Anisa?

"Your name is Anisa right. I am Philip, what is this Pla.....?" he trailed off. Coming closer he realised that she was not human, though her body looked like a human she had features of an animal, her skin was covered in fur, and her ears were on top of her head. Instead of a nose, she had a snout. She looked younger than him.

He kept just staring at her. Anisa couldn't take it anymore "Brotherrrr he is trying to get me." She turned and ran in the opposite direction. Huh?

Chris didn't have the energy to chase her so he just sat there, his headache started fading away slowly.

She returned with what looked like a male version of her, the only difference was in the color of their fur, where she had a light brown color, he had a darker shade to his brown. He looked barely older than Chris.

Unlike Anisa, he didn't have fear in his eyes. He came closer "So how are you feeling now Philip?" Chris guessed that his sister would have told him his name.

"I am feeling better ...?"

"Oh I am Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, my name is Darius and that's Anisa, my sister. We found you in the upstream you were barely conscious, do you remember?"

"Yes barely, thanks for saving my life, Darius and Anisa."

"It was nothing, I am sure you would have done the same," Darius said humbly, Anisa just stood behind Darius barely looking at Chris.

"I am sure you are hungry Philip, I just caught something when Anisa came looking for me, want to help me out in bringing it over here if your strength is with you."

Chris was feeling much better now. "Yes, Darius I am feeling good." He followed both of them into the forest.

After walking some distance they reached a spot where Darius had made the kill of a wild boar. But there was something else trying to drag it away.

"That's a Panthon, move back Philip," Darius spoke.

It was a huge feline, triple the size of Chris at least, having sharp long teeth and claws which were being put to use to drag the boar, it stopped and looked in their direction, changing its attention from the boar to them and started coming closer, its black and red spots were radiating, a show of aggression. Chris hoped, its intention was just to scare them away and not look at them as potential prey.

Chris moved back but noticed that Darius and Anisa were moving forward. It was like a standoff, two beastmen staring down a Panthon, if it wanted it could easily take down all three of them, yet it didn't, after some time it just roared and walked away into the forest.

Darius turned and looked at Chris "It's ok now Philip, the Panthon won't be coming back anymore."

Chris gasped looking at his and Anisa's face, their whole eyes had turned blood red.

Darius sensing it turned them back to normal.

Chris recollected himself quickly and went towards the dead boar. He and Darius then lifted it and headed towards the house, it was quite heavy. Anisa walked ahead of them.

They reached home. He could see that Darius was used to hunting, he cleanly cut the wild boar with a sharpened rock, ensuring all the pieces of the boar were put to use. Chris stared open eyes at each cut he was making.

Darius looked at Chris and gave him an extra sharpened rock "Why don't you join me, Philip?"

Chris took the rock and started imitating Darius, it was not as easy as Darius made it to be, he couldn't cut it in a clean line and often made a mess of it. But Darius kept instructing him patiently, explaining to him why it had to be cut in such a way and what they will do for each part.

Anisa kept her distance, but Chris knew she was looking at him.

As he was slow in making the cuts, what could have been finished earlier took longer to finish. Darius separated the meat which they will consume and the rest which he would smoke and dry to store for later consumption. He would use the fur for their clothing and other purposes.

Chris could clearly see that the forest provided for them.

By night Darius had prepared the boar meat for them to eat. They sat around the fire when Chris told them about what had happened to him, he didn't mention the beastmen mob, he didn't know how would they react to their own kins attacking him, he needed to know more about them, he just mentioned that he was attacked and how one of his own clan members had made him fall.

Darius looked genuinely concerned and Anisa kept looking at him while he spoke.

At the mention of The Draconate village, Darius told him that it was in the opposite direction from which he came. He guessed that after falling, Chris probably floated downstream. Due to this, he was far from the nearest clan outpost. In fact, he was very deep into the forest and closer to Anabastha.

This made Chris ask what they were doing so deep inside the forest and that too without their parents and with no else around.

Darius looked pained at this, Chris glanced at Anisa to see her's wasn't the same expression was it Anger?

Chris immediately said." You don't have to tell me, Darius I was just curious."

"No Philip, you have shared your story with us it is only fair that we share ours."

"We moved into this forest two years back with our mother. Before that we lived in the Beazard beastdom, we belong to the Saugetier tribe. We lived very normal lives, our father used to work in one of the Sinop crystal mines and our mother in one of the prominent "Eidech" houses as a servant."

"My sister was very little and I use to take care of her in their absence. We didn't have much but we were happy together. My father was an optimist who believed in his tribe. He used to always say even though the Eidechs and Inseks are so powerful, they cannot run the beastdom without Saugetier. He used to always tell me to keep that in mind."

"Even with all this struggle, our life went by, but all of this changed when King Vespula died without the royal fight. Though it is very rare that a king dies without being beaten by a challenger there was a royal decree that speaks on how to decide the next king. But for some reason, the Eidechs and Inseks didn't follow the royal decree."

"Soon things started becoming difficult, regular skirmishes started happening between the Eidechs and Inseks with Saugetiers getting caught in the crossfire. It became more and more regular."

Chris interrupted "Why didn't the Saugetiers fight back?"

At this Darius turned his eyes red just like he did in the morning.

"The reason our eyes turn red is due to Devil blood within our veins passed on from the Devils who shared their powers with our ancestors centuries ago. It's the same for all beastmen, when we use magic our eyes change color, but for some reason, the Devil's blood made the Eidechs and Inseks more powerful while Saugetiers became very weak, we are called the cursed tribe who cannot condense magic. We are shunned as Weak blooded by the other two tribes, even earlier because both Anisa and I used our power together we were able to scare off the Panthon."

So the Draconate clan has Dragon blood? while the beastmen Devil's. Chris thought to himself.

Darius continued " With continuous deaths of Saugetiers being caught in the fights between the other two tribes, the Saugetiers elders decided to unite and meet the elders of the Eidechs and Inseks. The talks failed, the Inseks and Eidechs turned on us, they started targeting the Saugetiers, by targeting the elders first. Followed by a massacre, my father....."

"Brother stop," Anisa spoke.

Darius stopped at this "I am sorry Philip, we continue this for another time."

Chris understood, he didn't push much, Philip and Darius slept outside in the open while Anisa went inside the hut.

Trying to sleep, all of Chris's thoughts were about Darius and Anisa, even though he tried taking his thoughts to Larka and Roger, he came back again to the brother and sister.

He pitied himself for thinking that life was unfortunate to him, listening to them he realised his thinking was so naive. The story was the same everywhere the strong will trample the weak and decide for the weak.

He didn't like it, he didn't like it at all.