”Before the world was created, there were two sisters. Leri and Rari. They were very competitive, always seeing who can create the most beautiful creations in the black nothingness that they spent their centuries flying in. Leri always created the more beautiful things and Rari could never create anything as beautiful or magnificent as the things that her sister created. She could only ever create inferior replicas of Leri’s creations. But even Leri herself was never satisfied with her own creations, so she left them to float around in the black nothingness, scattered far away from each other. Those creations are the stars and planets that we see in the sky. The brightest stars are the ones that Leri created and the dimmer ones are those made by Rari. There they are so far from us, as their creators were not happy with them. One day however, Leri started working on her greatest creation yet. A great ball of greenery, forests, lakes, rivers, oceans and mountains. Rari saw what her sister had started working on, and she wanted to add to it. Rari added forces into the world, like storms and earthquakes and avalanches. Leri allowed those Rari’s additions to stay in the world that she created. Then Leri created something that her sister would have never come up with. Living beings. She made simple herbivore creatures into the world. Rari got jealous, and made living creatures as well, but she made them eat the creatures that Leri created, as Rari was not able to create a being that can survive without killing something else. Leri was upset at what Rari had added into her world, and so she decided to create the ultimate predator, far more intelligent than anything that lived in the world. Leri created us. She made us able to use what the world has for our advantage in the long term, but she made us flawed, so that we wouldn't be too intelligent or powerful to compete with her. She made us so that we can survive without harming the living beings of the world, but she made it very hard for us to do so. That is why we hunt and fish and got to war against each other. Leri made us capable of hunting the beasts that Rari created, and that made Rari jealous. That is why she created the four Grand Beasts of the world. Beasts that she was sure none of us could ever survive against, let alone hunt. That is why they still are around and alive, waiting for those who are foolish enough to hunt them. Leri in her wisdom realised what kind of a competition this was turning into, so she suggested to Rari that the Grand Beasts should be sealed away in places where they cannot threaten all the other life of the created world, and that they would serve better as the rulers of the created world's natural forces. Rari agreed, and so humans remained the world’s ruling being, second only to the Grand Beasts. That is how the world remained for all the the old era, until Rari once again got jealous. She couldn’t stand that Leri’s creation ruled most of the land in their created world, but the sisters had agreed that Rari couldn’t create anything that threatens the existing natural order. Rari suggested to her sister if she could make her own types of humans. Leri agreed, and so Rari created a race of humans modeled after the people that Leri created, but she gave them characteristics of herself. She made them able to do things that Leri’s people couldn’t do, but only for destructive purposes, as destruction and corruption are all that Rari knows. She gave them red hair and red eyes, to make them resemble her. The corner of the continent where Rari’s people live quickly became a barren mountanous tundra where nothing grows, as that’s what Rari’s people turned it into because they wanted to live on land that resembles Rari’s creations. That’s why that end of the continent is knows as Rarhea, as it means ”Of Rari” in the language of Rari’s people. Once Leri saw what Rari had created, she knew what Rari was trying to do. Rari wanted her own people to slowly wipe out all that lives and grows on her created lands. That’s why Leri made a race of humans more powerful than the people she made first. She made them able to do things that the ordinary flawed people couldn’t do. She made them able to improve weather, make plants and crops grow faster and bigger, and able to enhance the abilities of themselves, though at a cost, and she made them able to enhance items to make them better at their intended purpose. The opposite of the things that Rari’s people were able to do. That’s why the islands where Leri’s people live are lush and bountiful, with wide fields and tall trees where massive fruits grow. She gave them gold coloured hair and eyes so that they resemble her, and that’s why the islands where they live are known as Lehrea, as it means ”Of Leri” in the language of Leri’s people. So abundant are the harvests in Lehrea, that the people of Lehrea make a yearly tribute journey to Rarhea to drop off their mountains of excess harvest to feed Rari’s people for a year. We are the people who are between Lehrea and Rarhea, and we have dubbed them the Holy people and the Wicked people. The Holy people call us pure people, as we are still creations of Leri and she creates nothing impure. The Wicked people call us flawed people, as they want to remind themselves that we are not perfect. And that is how the world as we know it came to be.” Venamo explained to his young cousin while sitting on his log.
"Is any of that true?" Venamo's young cousin Varma asked from the floor where she was sitting on her pillow.
"He recited the old legend to the letter. He's studied well. Maybe you others should too. We have the books. All sorts of things you can learn from those." Old man Vaino said from his corner of the house where he stayed for most of the day.
"Yes, I've heard those tales, but are they true? I've never seen the Wicked people." Varma asked.
"Their homeland is north of here." Venamo answered.
"I've never seen their homeland either." Varma argued.
"That's because we are closer to the southern border. It's quite a long way to Rarhea from here and we really have no reason to go there, but it is there." Venamo explained.
Vaino grunted and mumbled something to himself, as he always does when the border in the south is mentioned.
"Well, of course we don't." Varma answered cheekily to Venamo as if she had just exposed his lie.
"You don't believe me?" Venamo asked and stroked his beard that covers the entire lower half of his face.
"If you want to see a wicked one, just go to the top of the hill and meet Nofa. She's one of them. You can tell from the red hair." Venamo's younger brother Yilka said from his sitting position against a wall while flipping a sharp knife.
"Do not speak with that woman! She's trouble." Vaino warned.
"I exchange a few words with her every once in a while if I see her out. She's not bad." Yilka said back without much care.
"The elder is right. You shouldn't speak with that woman. She's no good." Venamo added.
"I usually see her just picking mushrooms and berries when I return to the village. She seems friendly from what little I've talked to her." Yilka said back and shrugged.
"And why do you think she's picking them? She's a wizard's daughter and I reckon she cooks some wretched poisons with them. As your older brother I forbid you from talking to that woman." Venamo warned seriously.
"I'm a man now. You can no longer control me." Yilka said, smirked and flipped his knife.
"Having seen nineteen summers doesn't make you quite the man you think you are. But no matter how old any of you get, you will always listen to what I have to say." Suiv, the aunt of Venamo and Yilka, and the mother of Varma said, as she entered the house.
Everyone turned to look at her. All of what remains of their once large family was now in the house.
"And also, the working age men of the house need to get to the forest to see what they can catch. We don't want to look stingy when we bring nothing to the Bloom festival." She added.
Yilka gave Venamo an uncertain look as if to ask if she meant them.
"I mean you two." Suiv said to the brothers.
"I've never been on a hunt. Is now the right time really?" Yilka asked.
"What better time? You said you're a man now, so get going." Suiv insisted.
Venamo stood up. Yilka exhaled and shoved his knife in the sheathe on his belt. Venamo retrieved all his belts from the wall and tightened them around the loose bits of his outfit. Yilka just rolled his sleeves and tied his long black hair back so it wouldn't get caught up in anything. Venamo took an assortment of spears from the hook on the wall and Yilka took his father's bow from the wall, along with a quiver of arrows. Venamo looked at the steel sword that was hung on the wall.
"Don't take that to the forest. Master smith Kuramaa wouldn't want you to lose the gift he gave you." Suiv told the man.
"I'm not foolish enough to do such a thing. A sword is no good on a hunt." Venamo said.
As Yilka was putting the quiver on his back, he got a soft kick in the shin.
"I made those arrows today so don't waste too many in your poor attempts to shoot." Varma said to Yilka from the floor where she was still sitting.
"I'm getting better." Yilka said back.
"You won't get to even shoot an arrow before I skewer three legbirds with one spear." Venamo said with a competitive spirit.
"Most likely." Yilka simply said back.
Venamo seemed disappointed that Yilka didn't even argue back, but he already knew that he was like this.
They left the house, and the smell of the outside air and the light of day hit them as they saw their familiar village from the top of the small slope where their house was built. Ahead of them they saw a dirt road that the residents had made themselves, and six houses on both sides of the road. Further away were fields, more houses, barns and stables, and the most striking detail of the village was the tall hill where a lonely hut stood.
"The trip to the Wound is long and we can only get going once we return with something, so let's not waste time." Venamo said to Yilka and got moving towards the stable.
"Thank you for stating what is obvious." Yilka said back.
They walked past the graves of three of their grandparents, their father, their mother and the husband of their aunt, and made it to the stable.
"How are you getting along with your very own steed? Is it starting to like you?" Venamo asked once they arrived at the stable.
Venamo opened the doors of the stable and unleashed his own beakmount, a feathered four legged tall animal, with a sharp beak, and sharp horns right above its hooves, which work for skewering small animals that the beakmount eats, but can also be dangerous for the animal itself and the rider, if it doesn't notice a rock or a stump or a log ahead of it.
"I think it's getting used to me." Yilka said and attempted to mount the beakmount.
The beakmount shook its body and made Yilka fall to the ground before he even got on. Venamo effortlessly and mounted his own and looked down at Yilka.
"It'll get used to you if you treat it respectfully. Treat it as a friend, not as a tool." Venamo said to Yilka who was getting up.
"I see. As a friend..." Yilka said and gave the beakmount a little pat on the head.
He attempted to mount it again, but got shaken off again and fell. Venamo sighed and gave a signal to his steed. Venamo's beakmount hooked Yilka's belt with the horn above its hoof.
"W-Wait! What is it doing n..." Yilka was saying just before he was lifted up by the strong front leg of the beakmount.
Venamo's beakmount gently put Yilka on the back of his own steed. Yilka figured the rest from there and got into a proper riding position.
"It'll accept you soon enough." Venamo said and rode his steed out of the stable.
Yilka did the same, even though his own steed was a bit reluctant to obey his commands. The brothers set their direction to the big and wide forest on the other side of the fields. At this time of year they could freely trample on other people's fields, as the snow was beginning to melt and the cultivation hadn't began yet. As their beakmounts rode through the barren slightly snowy field, the horn of Yilka's steed skewered a small field animal that was too small for Yilka himself to even notice. Skillfully the beakmount threw the little dead animal up and caught it with its mouth and swallowed it whole. Yilka only heard the sound of the swallow.
"Did it already catch something? Scary beast." He thought when he saw something going down the long throat of his steed.
"Keep your eyes ahead. If your steed doesn't notice something on its path, then at least you should, and you can command it to jump like this!" Venamo told Yilka while riding, and then commanded his own steed to do a high and long leap.
Yilka only watched in amazement, not knowing that any animal could perform such a leap.
"How do I make it do that?" Yilka shouted from behind now that Venamo was ahead of him.
"Slap its thigh real hard!" Venamo shouted back.
Yilka did as Venamo instructed, and the beakmount leapt as expected. Unfortunately for Yilka, as he slapped his steed, he wasn't quick enough in getting a two handed grip on the feathers of his steed, and the grip strength he had in one hand wasn't enough to keep him on the steed's back. As the beakmount leapt, Yilka was launched even higher than the animal itself, as if shot directly upwards with a catapult. As his steed continued running after its successful landing, Yilka crashed down on the snowy field right on his back. Venamo saw all this, stopped his mount and jumped down. He sprinted to check on Yilka who was wheezing on the ground where the dying snow of early spring was creeping into his clothes.
"Yilka! Are you all right?" Venamo asked with great concern as he crouched by his brother.
Yilka coughed a little before he could speak.
"I'm... all right. The earth is wet and soft... Softer than in the summer." Yilka managed to utter with a weak voice.
Venamo extended a hand and Yilka grabbed it. As he raised his head, he saw that his mount had stopped itself, and there it was in the distance, looking at him while scratching its earhole with its foothorn.
"Can't they make smaller leaps?" Yilka asked once he was on his feet and added: "They better not jump that high if we're in the forest. They'll end up crashing into the branches."
"They choose how high they jump. They're stubborn like that. If they see that they have room to jump, they will jump as high as they can. But if they see that they don't have much space, they will control their jump." Venamo explained.
"I see." Yilka said and walked back to his mount while getting himself together.
It appeared that on some level Yilka's beakmount felt sorry, as it crouched down when Yilka approached and easily let him on its back.
"So now you cooperate out of pity." Yilka stated and begrudgingly mounted his steed.
"What did we learn from that?" Venamo asked as he rode past.
"Think before you try something?" Yilka answered uncertainly and got his mount moving.
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Inside the forest Venamo slowed down his mount and so did Yilka. Venamo took one spear out of the large quiver on his back and Yilka pulled his knife out of his sheathe.
"Be wary. A branch hopper could jump on you at any time." Venamo warned.
"Already waiting for it." Yilka said as they both looked up at the tall trees surrounding them.
"Be careful not to move too slowly. The branch hoppers are scared away by heavy steps. If you're too light footed, they'll think you're easy prey." Venamo warned and sped up slightly.
Yilka yanked the feathers on the neck of his beakmount slightly to make it move a little faster.
"No reason to stay here. Let's go where the trees are fewer." Venamo said and headed deeper into the woods.
"Obviously." Yilka agreed and followed.
They found themselves at a open field where there were holes on the ground. After the rains following the winter, the holes on the bumpy ground get filled with rainwater, making it a favoured spot for the fauna of the forest. When the open field was in sight, Venamo dismounted.
"This is the spot. Get up the trees." Venamo said and started climbing before Yilka had even dismounted.
Yilka dismounted and looked up where he saw Venamo already high on the tree.
"The mounts. Do we just leave them here?" Yilka asked.
"They know how and when to stay low and quiet. Now get up here. We'll have a better vantage from up here." Venamo answered from the branch where he was already scouting with a spear in his hand.
Yilka climbed up the tree with great difficulty and much noise. He found a branch for himself that seemed sturdy enough to hold his weight. By the time Yilka had gotten himself ready to aim, he saw that Venamo was already aiming a throwing spear at an animal that was drinking down below. Unbeknownst to Venamo, a branch hopper on another tree was eyeing him. Yilka noticed the sneaky little knee-tall green skinned black eyed earless creature that was preparing to pounce.
"Ven..." Yilka started to warn.
"Shhh!" Venamo replied with and kept aiming.
"But..." Yilka tried once more.
"Shhh!" Venamo replied again.
The branch hopper leapt on the same branch that Venamo was on. It landed on the branch without making a sound, but Yilka kept looking at the creature and wincing. He knew that Venamo wasn't going to listen, so he made a decision. Just like the branch hopper, Yilka hopped on the same branch as them. The branch was not designed to hold such weight so suddenly, and it snapped as soon as Yilka hit it. The entire branch and everyone on it fell to the ground. The branch hopper's black eyeballs were lifeless and its body motionless. Yilka was breathing heavily on the ground like he had been earlier. Venamo was breathing even heavier on the ground whilst gritting his teeth, as his hand was pinned to the ground with his spear.
Yilka raised his head and saw the predicament that his brother was in. He was about to crawl to him before Venamo raised his voice.
"Forget about me for a moment. Look out!" Venamo yelled.
Yilka heard rumbling coming from the left and turned to look. He saw the big and furry horned animal charging towards him and making the water beneath its feet splash all around. Yilka rolled out of the way and narrowly avoided being gored. The animal stopped its momentum and turned around, looking at Yilka again. It prepared to charge again, as Yilka expected. He put his hand into the quiver on his back and pulled an arrow out, only to pull out half an arrow. He looked at the broken arrow and tossed it away. He pulled out another, only to find out that it was also broken. The animal charged against Yilka who once again rolled out of the way. When the animal was once again preparing to charge, Yilka took the entire quiver out of his back and poured the contents on the ground. He saw that all of the arrows were broken as a result of the all the falls he had taken today. He desperately looked around for anything he could defend himself with.
"Take one of the spears!" Venamo shouted at Yilka.
Yilka eyed the spears on the ground that were spread out, but in that moment he felt compelled to go against his brother's advice. He saw the branch on the ground that was now broken in two pieces. He grabbed the thicker part of the branch and held it. The part that used to connect the branch to the tree was thick enough to do some good damage and the snapped branch was perfectly long enough to be used as a one handed blunt weapon, being the same length as the distance from Yilka's fist to his heel when keeping his hands down. He stood up fully, and looked at the big animal charging towards. Right as the animal was about to hit him, he spun out of the way, and in the same motion he hit his makeshift cudgel into the eye of the beast. The beast was now running around aimlessly and not stopping itself even when objects were on its path. It ran into a tree and got its horn stuck deep. Yilka sprinted to the trapped beast, roared, leapt and smashed his cudgel into the skull of the beast with a downward slash. The beast stopped moving and collapsed. Its horn was ripped out, still stuck to the tree while the rest of the beast was now on the ground quiet and motionless. Yilka looked at the beast on the ground for a moment while breathing heavily in relief and looking at the blood on his cudgel, and the bloody bruise on the beast's head. That's when he remembered that Venamo was still in a predicament. He ran back to Venamo and grabbed the spear that had nailed his hand to the ground.
"I'll make it quick." He said as the brothers exchanged a nod.
Yilka yanked the spear out of the ground, freeing Venamo's hand. The soil under it was soaked with blood and the hand now had a big hole in the middle, but Venamo was not letting the pain show, only tearing a piece from his shirt and wrapping it around his hand.
"Well done. I didn't notice the hopper that was about to get me. And now we have meat to bring home as well. But you should have used the spear." Venamo said and collected his spears from the ground.
"I got the job done anyway." Yilka said back coldly and walked towards the beast he felled.
"But did you? Are you sure that it's actually dead?" Venamo said and followed Yilka to the beast.
By only looking, it was not possible to tell whether the animal was dead or unconscious. Venamo stabbed a spear through the animal's heart to be certain and then called his mount to arrive.
"I don't think the beakmounts can carry this thing." Yilka stated.
"That's why they'll drag it." Venamo said back and took a looped rope from the satchel on his mount.
He tied the rope around the neck of the dead beast and tied the other end of the rope to the backside of his mount's torso. He mounted his steed effortlessly again and Yilka did the same in two attempts.
"You go ahead. The carcass of this beast will slow me down." Venamo said and got his mount moving.
"But won't it be dangerous to go slowly in the branch hopper territory?" Yilka asked.
"The heavy carcass will vibrate the ground and make noise. They'll leave me alone, but if you follow me slowly, you'll be at risk because your steps will be light." Venamo said back.
"Of course. I'll wait at the edge of the forest." Yilka said and sped away to the same direction where they came from, feeling slightly bitter he didn't even get thanked for what he did.
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As Yilka was riding out of the forest, he slowed down despite Venamo's warning. The reason why he slowed down was because he heard something that caught his attention. It was coming from somewhere on the left. He changed his direction and headed towards the sound. He heard something hard smashing against something hard. As he rode closer and went past several trees, he also a woman's grunting. He rode even closer and saw a familiar woman beating a stick into the trunk of a tree and throwing small rocks at it.
"What are you so angry about?" Yilka asked the village's Wicked wizard's daughter Nofa who was assaulting a tree with one of its fallen branches.
"I'm... not angry. I'm... actually quite happy." Nofa explained and breathed heavily between her words.
"You don't really seem like it." Yilka said back while making his mount walk in a small circle, just enough to vibrate the ground.
"No, you see... I'm trying to... test my... newest creation." Nofa explained and stopped what she was doing.
She wiped her long red hair out of her face and looked up at Yilka.
"And what are you doing here?" She asked.
"We're hunting. Or we were." Yilka answered.
"Hunting what? A beautiful daughter of a wise wizard?"
"Anything we can get our hands on. And we succeeded, thank you. I went ahead and left my brother behind."
"Left him behind in the dangerous woods?"
"He knows what he's doing. But what is this newest creation of yours? I'm curious now. And why are you dressed in such bright colours here in the woods? Do you want to get spotted by beasts?" Yilka asked and looked at Nofa's ocean blue robe and untied shoulder length red hair.
"Ah, you see, that's by design. I want to be seen." Nofa replied.
"By men going into the forest or the beasts who live there?" Yilka asked.
"By the branch hoppers!" Nofa answered.
"Why?" Yilka asked in confusion.
"To see if my repellent works! I rubbed it all over myself and made myself easy to notice and now I want to make noise to get their attention." Nofa explained.
"I see. But making noise will only keep them away from you." Yilka explained.
"Will it?" Nofa asked
"That's what my br... I mean, I know from experience as a seasoned woodsman that the branch hoppers are frightened by big vibrations, because they think it comes from a big creature. If they detect little vibrations, they will think that it's from a little creature, and they will attack." Yilka explained like an expert.
"So if I just walk, they'll attack me?" Nofa asked.
"Precisely. But what if your repellent doesn't work?" Yilka asked back.
"They're small. I can handle them." Nofa replied and pulled out a knife.
"Sometimes they attack twenty at a time and they're relentless and fast." Yilka explained.
"Twenty?" Nofa asked and gulped.
"You're not safe here. Get on my mount and let's get out of here." Yilka suggested seriously.
"No! I have to know. And do you hear that?" Nofa asked and listened to the rustling of leaves up above.
They both looked around and saw five branch hoppers climbing down the tree trunks using their long and sharp claws. They were looking at Nofa and staying still while hanging upside down. Nofa gulped and breathed heavily, sweat forming on her forehead. After the most intense ten seconds of her life, the branch hoppers turned to look at Yilka who was still riding in a circle. The beakmount may have been too big for them, but the man on its back wasn't. Yilka saw that one of the branch hoppers was looking at him, and when it pounced at him, he swung the creature with his cudgel, sending the little creature flying. The rest of the branch hoppers looked at Yilka now. He jumped down from his mount and rushed Nofa and the branch hoppers jumped down from the trees.
"Don't bring them to me!" Nofa shouted but it was too late.
Yilka hugged Nofa and rubbed himself against her to get the repellent on himself.
"Get yourself... ugh... off me!" Nofa shouted and struggled.
Nofa saw the branch hoppers looking at her and hissing, but not attacking. Yilka only heard them without seeing them, and hoped dearly that Nofa's repellent worked. After an intense moment, the little beasts gave up and climbed up the trees again. Once Yilka only heard silence and the rustling of leaves, he quickly let go of Nofa and looked away from her to hide how embarrassed he was.
"I'm sorry about that. You had the repellent and..." He started explaining calmly without looking at Nofa.
"You called yourself a seasoned woodsman and here you are cowering because of little creatures. But I understand. And now I also know that it works! And thank you for telling me the secret to attracting branch hoppers." Nofa said.
She then walked to the corpse of the hopper that Yilka hit with his cudgel.
"You're coming with me. Who knows what I can discover with your blood and spit?" Nofa said and took the lifeless body by its feet.
"Just don't eat its meat, no matter how hungry you get." Yilka warned.
"Why not?" Nofa asked.
"It can make you lose your mind." Yilka answered.
"In what way?" Nofa asked.
Yilka started shivering ever so slightly. So subtly that Nofa couldn't see it.
"My father... out of desperation back during the hunger year... caught a branch hopper and ate it raw..." Yilka explained while Nofa listened worriedly.
"The next night he..." Yilka continued and swallowed.
"He attacked me in my sleep and... mother had to stop him... with an axe." Yilka managed to finish without looking too vulnerable in front of Nofa.
Nofa stayed quiet for a moment and processed what she heard.
"That is horrible. And you would have been so young back then too..." Nofa said and walked over to Yilka.
She put a consoling hand on Yilka's shoulder who immediately shoved her hand away as soon as it touched his shoulder.
"Don't touch me there. Please." Yilka politely requested, hating the feeling of anything touching the scarified bite mark that his father left on his shoulder ten years ago.
"Oh. Sorry. But thank you for the warning and... all the best for you and your family." Nofa wished and gave Yilka one last concerned look before turning around and beginning her journey back home.
"Happy to have helped." Yilka said and attempted mount his steed.
He fell on his backside when the Beakmount didn't feel like cooperating. Nofa saw it and quietly chuckled.
"Safe travels." Nofa wished and walked towards her way out of the forest.
"Why did I make such a pity party out of myself there? A simpler explanation could have been enough. I made myself look pathetic in front of her. Like father told us, I should just keep my mind on what matters and not dwell in the past." Were Yilka's thoughts on his way out.
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Once Yilka had made it out of the forest, he made his mount stop at a safe distance from the trees on the edge of the forest. Only as he slowed down he noticed that he was still holding the cudgel that saved him in the forest. He hopped down from his mount and sat down on the wet earth and remaining snow, and then inspected the snapped branch in his hand. It had a few smaller branches growing out of it, each of them about the length of his thumb. The surface was harsh with splinters on it and the tip was as smooth as the part that connected it to the tree can be expected to be. The tip still had some blood from the animal that Yilka defeated. Despite all of that, he gave the bloody tip of the cudgel a little smooch.
"Thank you." He quietly said to the cudgel and put it between his belt and his hip where it sort of stayed as long as he didn't move too much.
He looked into the forest every few seconds to see if Venamo was already coming. He took his boot off and poured water out of it, and as he was doing that he felt his mount rubbing its cheek against his and making a clicking sound with its throat. Yilka didn't know beakmount communication terribly well, but the animal sounded satisfied.
"So now you like me? Or are you trying to calm me? Console me?" Yilka asked the animal.
The animal just kept making its satisfied clicking sounds and rubbing its feathery cheek against Yilka who petted its head gently.
"You're a fine companion. We just need to learn how to work together a bit better." Yilka said.
The beakmount responded by shaking itself a little while lying on its belly on the dirt.
Yilka gave a little scratch to the neck of the animal and learned that it was a bad idea. The beakmount stood up and used its foot to splash dirt and snow on Yilka's face. Yilka wiped it all off his face and sighed deeply.
"Better not do that from now on." He said to himself.
That's when he started hearing steps coming from the forest and birds flying away. He stood up and turned around and saw Venamo riding from the forest, still dragging the big furry beast behind it, and also holding a spear that had skewered four branch hoppers.
"Did everything go well?" Yilka asked loudly and waved.
"Somebody tried to make my journey harder, but I managed well." Venamo shouted back in his deep and powerful voice and raised his spear.
"Why can't everything be so easy for me?" Yilka thought.
Venamo arrived at where Yilka was waiting and looked at him from up his mount.
"Did you fall?" He asked when he saw the remaining stains of dirt on Yilka's face.
"No. The mount just decided to play dirty. Sorry that I wasn't there when you were attacked." Yilka replied.
"It is fine. I managed with ease."
"What do we do with that hand of yours?"
"I can just wrap it up with something better than this. You don't need to worry about it, but you can help by carrying these." Venamo said and handed his branch hopper kebab to Yilka.
"Of course." Yilka replied and accepted it.
"You can go ahead. You have no reason to slow down for me. Nothing will attack me here." Venamo assured.
Yilka thought for a moment, and then nodded. He rode the rest of the way home and left his mount in the stable. He returned inside with a spear and four dead beasts, the bow on his back and the broken branch on his belt. When he entered the house, he tossed the spear to the floor and hung his bow to the wall.
"Is that it?" Suiv asked and ceased her labour of rolling bread dough and seemed upset.
"We brought more. Venamo is on his way to drag it here." Yilka assured.
"And you left him behind?"
"He told me to! What would threaten him on the crop fields anyway?"
"You never know. Go find him." Suiv demanded.
Yilka let out an accepting sigh and turned towards the door before he was interrupted again.
"Yilka! Where are the arrows? Did you use all of them? I told you to not use too many of them!" Varma shouted from her corner where she was carving more arrows.
Yilka sighed again.
"I broke all of them. I fell." Yilka said as he turned to look at Varma and shrugged.
"Clumsy dimwit." Varma murmured to herself and kept carving.
Yilka sighed again and walked to the door but yet again he was interrupted.
"One more thing, dear." Suiv said with a changed demeanor right as Yilka grabbed the doorknob.
Yilka simply turned his head to look at Suiv without saying anything.
"I forgot to feed the wingcattle today and this job will take a bit. Could you get that done once you and Venamo have safely come home?" Suiv asked nicely.
"Of course." Yilka replied more gladly now, preferring it when something is asked nicely.
He finally got to walk through the door without being stopped. He gazed into the fields and there he saw Venamo and his mount dragging the day's catch behind them.
"As expected. Nothing attacked him." Yilka quietly said to himself.
Once Venamo arrived at the homestead, Yilka saw that he was also dragging something else. On top of the hunted prey that Yilka killed earlier, was the corpse a large gray feathered bird with a wingspan longer than either brother's height.
"Where did that come from?" Yilka asked as Venamo was untying the ropes that tied the catch to his mount.
"I reckon it was looking for prey and saw ours, and decided to take it by force. That was its last mistake." Venamo explained and released his mount of the burden of dragging the day's catch.
The mount sounded relieved and began stretching. Yilka grabbed the furry beast by the legs and started dragging it by himself, hardly making it move at all.
"I'll leave the mount in the stable and we'll carry these big ones to the cellar together. Don't break your back for nothing." Venamo said and escorted his mounts to the stable.
"I could do it myself but fine, if you insist." Yilka quietly said to himself once Venamo was out of earshot.
Once all the beakmounts were safely in the stable, the brothers carried their catch to the back of the house and through the trapdoor that leads to the cellar under the house. Venamo only used one hand for the job, as his other hand was badly wounded. They left their catch on the table where the butchering is done.
"I have to feed the wingcattle. You can do the skinning." Yilka informed his brother.
"Of course. I've got this." Venamo said back and picked up a long knife from the table.
Yilka left the cellar and went to inform Suiv that her proficiency with the butcher's knife will be needed later, and then he went to the barn. He picked up the sack of feed and fed away, mindlessly throwing the feed around as the wingcattle ran around catching it. It was a moment where he could get lost in his thoughts.
"I need to be better. Nobody respects me. Varma thinks that I'm clumsy, my mount doesn't want to work together with me. I saved Venamo's skin out there and he doesn't seem grateful at all. And why should he? He ended up saving himself twice afterwards. I contribute nothing to this house. Just another mouth to feed. And then I made myself look pathetic in front of Nofa. And yesterday I thought she might see something in me. Now she only pities me at best, and laughs at me at worst. At least the birds respect me as their feeder." Yilka thought to himself while throwing the feed around.
Right then one of the birds laid its droppings on his shoe. Yilka looked down and let out a loud disappointed sigh.
"I'm better than this! I slayed a beast today with a piece of wood without anyone's help! And I can do it again!" Yilka shouted in the barn, tossed the sack of feed on the ground and raised his cudgel to the sky with rebellious intent.
He stormed out of the barn and walked with determination towards the same forest where he and Venamo hunted today. His nostrils were blowing air out with strength and his veins were bulging as he trampled the wet grass under him and clenched the rough cudgel in his hand. But right as he stepped into the crop field between the house and the forest, he heard the door of the cellar opening far behind him.
"Yilka! Where are you going?" Venamo shouted from the homestead once he came out of the cellar.
Yilka ignored the call and continued treading the crop field with a one track mind. Once he heard steps running towards him from behind, he also started running. He heard his name being called from behind and that only made him sprint faster, sending snow and mud flying on every step. However, no matter how fast he forced himself to sprint, he was caught by his faster brother who yanked him by the sleeve and stopped him.
"What in the name of the Sisters do you think you're doing, heading to the forest alone without a mount or even a proper weapon? Are you trying to get ripped to pieces by branch hoppers?" Venamo yelled in Yilka's face once he had stopped him.
"You seemed to survive four of them just fine by yourself. And besides, I have a weapon. I have my beast slayer with me." Yilka said back defiantly and seriously.
"That's because I had a spear and because I was already hunting when you were still playing stick fights with your friends. I know that you killed that beast, and I appreciate it. You saved my life back there, but don't let it go to your head. The forest is a dangerous place, and your stick won't help you there much. This isn't stick fighting." Venamo explained sternly.
Yilka understood but felt a little insulted by the last part, letting it show on his face. Venamo sniffed the air and got a wondering expression on his face.
"What is that smell?" Venamo asked and sniffed the air again.
Yilka looked anywhere expect at Venamo.
"Don't you have something more urgent to take care of?" Yilka asked and looked at Venamo's wrapped hand and the dark red bloodstain on the wrapping.
"Don't change the subject now. That odd smell is coming from you. What is it?" Venamo asked seriously.
"I don't know. I'd wager it's something that I got in the forest." Yilka answered.
"I've been to that forest many, many times and I've seen up close every creature and plant that lives there. Nothing there smells like that. So what is it?" Venamo asked.
"It's a... repellent for branch hoppers." Yilka answered honestly and looked into the distance.
"So you knew what it was, yet you lied?" Venamo quizzed him.
"I lied." Yilka admitted with shame.
"And why did you lie?"
"Because you wouldn't like the truth."
"Why would I not like the truth?"
"Because of... where I got the repellent from from."
"And where did you get it from?" Venamo interrogated him.
"I don't need to tell you. I'm a man and I have my own life. You don't need to watch over me anymore." Yilka replied dismissively and started walking towards the forest again.
"Yes, you are a man, but this family must look after each other, and I'm scared of losing any more of us." Venamo bargained.
"I won't die. I have the repellent." Yilka reminded and kept walking.
"Where did you get it from? Lying and keeping secrets will only create ripples in this family." Venamo argued.
Yilka stopped and turned around.
"Very well! I got it from Nofa. I met her in the forest today, and she's far kinder to me than anyone in our house!" Yilka admitted proudly.
"That woman? I told you not to see her anymore! She's a Rarhean, a wicked one. Her kindness is a mask. She'll ruin anyone who trusts her." Venamo argued.
"You've never met her, and you insult her like that?"
"The tales passed down thousands of years are enough to convince me, but you believe your lone personal experience over all of them?"
"That's one more personal experience than you have." Yilka said back, feeling proud of that one.
"That's it. You're coming home." Venamo said and rushed at Yilka.
Venamo put his younger brother in an arm hold and forcefully escorted him back home. Yilka struggled the entire way, but never resorted to attempting violence. As Venamo dragged his younger brother over the road that splits the village, Yilka hoped that nobody would see the humiliating predicament he was in. His hopes however did not come true.
"Heeyy! What has Yilka done to warrant such treatment?" A lady from a neighbouring yard shouted.
"Boy thinks he's ready for the woods on his own with just a stick in his hand!" Venamo shouted back.
"I am ready." Yilka quietly insisted.
"Keep the boy safe from himself! He's at that age where he trusts himself a bit too much!" The neighbour's lady wished and chuckled to herself.
There were many things Yilka wanted to say, but he thought better of it and went along the rest of the way.
Back in the house Venamo released Yilka who immediately clutched his sore arm and sat down on his bed. His was nearest to the wall in the row where all the beds were.
"What was that racket out there? What were you doing to your brother?" Suiv asked Venamo while putting a blanket on Vaino on his chair.
"He was being foolish and a danger to himself." Venamo replied, sat down on his bed which was second from the wall, and scraped the dirt off his boots with a knife.
"You'll have to elaborate on that." Suiv said and came to stand between the beds.
"No we don't. We're not children." Yilka said, tossed his boots and cudgel on the floor and lied down.
"Well you certainly are acting like it." Suiv replied with.
"Yilka is right. A mere disagreement. The skinning is finished in the cellar. Did you want to do the cutting?" Venamo said to Suiv.
Suiv took an interrogative look at both of the brothers before answering.
"Of course. You've both seen enough blood for one day, but don't think I'll just forget this." Suiv said and left the house.
As soon the door closed, the brothers started hearing giggling from under Yilka's bed.
"Yia and Vena are bickering like kids." Little Varma's amused voice said from under the bed.
Yilka reached under his bed and dragged Varma from under there while she screamed.
"You have no right to be there." Yilka said like he was tired of Varma's nonsense.
"What were you doing down there?" Venamo asked Varma.
"Nothing." Varma said and wiped crumbs of freshly baked bread off her lips.
"Are you sure? We don't like liars in this home." Venamo reminded and gave a stern look to Varma and then Yilka as well to remind him.
"I saw nothing." Yilka said and laid his head down on his pillow.
"Did you know that if someone brings less than what they can to the community table, the Fire Feather will create an especially dry and brutal summer for that person specifically? The Fire Feather knows if somebody gives less than what they can." Venamo lectured.
"It's true!" Vaino shouted from his chair.
"Sorry..." Varma quietly said and looked down.
She then spotted and picked up Yilka's cudgel from the floor.
"Don't leave firewood on the floor." Varma then added and was ready to chuck the cudgel from her spot straight into the fireplace.
"DON'T!" Yilka shouted and snatched the cudgel from Varma's hand.
She gave him a confused look.
"That's my Beast Slayer. It saved us back there and I slayed today's catch with it." Yilka explained and kept his Beast Slayer close to his chest.
"Are you... actually going to pick that as your weapon of choice on hunting trips now?" Varma asked.
"Why not? It's given me more game than your arrows or father's knife ever did."
"That's actually amazing. Hey Vena. Yia slayed a beast on his first hunting trip and did it with a sturdy stick. What did you do catch with your spears?" Varma turned to Venamo and egged him on.
"Four branch hoppers and a big bird. And I did with one hand." Venamo replied and showed his bandaged hand where the blood soaked bandage was starting to come off.
"No, don't harm the birdos!" Varma exclaimed in dismay.
"You really, really, really should replace the bandage already." Yilka reminded.
"I would have already done that if something didn't always come along to distract me." Venamo said and left the house to go the shed where a roll of fabric is kept.
"I would know someone who might know how to clean the wound and help it get better, but I know he won't talk to her." Yilka said and shrugged.
"Is it that Rarhean woman that you shouldn't talk to?" Varma asked.
Vaino grunted in his chair and looked at Yilka disapprovingly.
"Her smelly repellent saved me from branch hoppers today. I'm sure she has all sorts of juices for all sorts of purposes." Yilka explained.
"If everything she makes smells this bad, then you especially shouldn't see her again." Varma said with a displeased look on her face.
Yilka himself noticed how bad the smell is indoors.
"I should go leave my shirt hanging outside over night." Yilka said and got up.
"Yes. Yes, you should." Varma said back.
Yilka went to the door and right as he was about to open, Suiv came in and almost bumped into Yilka.
"Go leave that smelly shirt on the clothesline and go to sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow." Suiv said and entered the house fully.
"I was already on it." Yilka said and left the house.
As he hung his shirt on the clothesline, he looked up to the high hill where Nofa's humble hut resides. The chilly weather of early spring didn't bother him much even when he was without a shirt in the dark evening.
"Smoke is coming from her chimney. I wonder if she's making something new and zany, or just keeping the place warm." He wondered while looking there.
"Stop thinking about that woman." Venamo's stern voice said as he walked past Yilka with a new wrapping on his hand, and headed inside.
Yilka silently grunted to himself and also went back inside where everyone went to their beds.
ns216.73.216.53da2
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