The Beast Tamer

six

Len pulled me over to a rock near the camp's entrance. We crouched behind it, and Len wrapped his fingers around mine. "Don't freak out, okay? It's going to be fine."

"Saying that makes me feel like I should be worried," I whispered, shifting inside of Eli's hoodie. If I closed my eyes and tugged his hoodie real close, I could almost imagine that his familiar scent still clung to it, almost as if he was here with me. I held onto that thought like a lifeline. "Are you sure about this?" I asked Len.

Before I could ask any more questions, Len pulled me on top of the rock. From up there, I could get a perfect view of the small village in front of me. Mostly, it was composed of many tents clumped together in the forest, with a few small cabins here and there. Inside one of the tents nearest, I could catch a glimpse of stacks upon stacks of leather-bound books, piling into the ceiling.

The ground beneath us was worn down to dirt from walking paths, with small patches of grass where groups of people gathered. On one of the patches, a woman with tan skin and long, black hair read a book to young children. The canopy overhead sent dappled patches of sunlight along the camp, filling the camp with an almost-light, a tint of gold among the shadows of the forest.

As I took in the camp, a crowd of people began to grow beneath us, staring up at Len and I on top of the rock.

"What's going on, Len?" A man near the front of the group asked. At the sound of his voice, more villager began to wander over, squinting up at me. "Who's that?"

"This is Marlow," Len announced from our placement on the rock in the front of the village. People looked up at us, their faces wrinkled with confusion. A murmuring rose from the gathering crowd as people exited their tents and looked up at me. I kept my fingers wrapped tightly around Len's, trying to keep myself from trembling. Despite my nerves, Len was confident and cocky, his chest puffed out and his eyes glowing.

An older woman shoved through the crowd, anger radiating off her movements. Long blonde hair swirled past her shoulders and eyes like a lightning storm glared up at us. I flinched backwards. "Len! Get down from there! You were missing from chores all morning!" A laugh echoed through the people in front of me, but the woman quickly silenced it with a flick of her hand.

Len crossed his arms over his chest and knelt to look the woman in the eye. "But, mother, look what I found!"

For the first time, Len's mom looked up at me. Without Len standing beside me any longer, I felt exposed, and I swaddled myself in Eli's hoodie for comfort. "Who is this?" She demanded, her face hardened.

"That's Marlow!" Len said again, looking back from his mom, to me, and then to the crowd of village people. "They're a human," He whispered, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Len's mother gasped and took a step back. The rest of the crowd followed her movements, playing follow-the-leader. I watched as their gazes all shifted to steady on me, unmoving. I felt like a wild animal under observation.

"A human?" Len's mother hissed. The crowed began to murmur once more, pointing at my hoodie and my backpack and my face. My cheeks felt red and hot. "How did it get here?"

Shrugging, Len chewed on his thumb nail. "They said they just walked here, and then a mountain lion led them to the water border on the south side – where I found them. They keep talking about a brother or something."

Rage like a smoldering fire kept Len's mother's cheeks a bright, distinctive red. Her mouth formed a thin line. "Come with me," she snapped, sending Len a meaningful look. Len reached behind himself to grab my hand again, guiding me down from the rock. We marched through the crowd like a funeral procession. They parted to let us through, leaving enough space on either side to stay far away from me. I felt like a fish out of water, scrambling to breathe, and these people were the fishermen planning to chop me up for lunch. Milo hid in my shoulder, crouching in the shade of my neck.