Page 20 of His Human to Adore

“The elders have left us,” Yril shouts as loud as he can over the sounds of crying brothers. “Toron has gone to get help, but we need to find shelter.”

Yril pauses and looks around at all the big black eyes that are staring at him. He is not the oldest, but he speaks for Toron, who is the oldest in the group that was brought out, which means he is the leader by default.

“My father would not have sent us out here to die,” Erkoz speaks up from the back of the group.

“Your father was not here leading us, was he?” Yril asks. It is true that Erkoz’s father is an honorable male and often speaks of the older males needing to eat less or hunt more often, so they can feed all of us. It is the same with Toron and Yril’s father and many other males who were not out here in the trees with us, leading us to our deaths.

“They will look for us,” Erkoz says, his brows pulling together. “How will they find us if we leave this area?”

“They would not have taken us somewhere that the others would look.” Yril counters. I am grateful he is the one to speak with all the brothers because I can hardly keep up with what they are all saying. “We move as a group, and we find shelter.”

Erkoz opens his mouth to say something else, but his mouth wobbles before a small cry falls from his lips. He wipes at his eyes but nods at Yril like he is done arguing with him. He is scared like all of us, and he wants to do what he thinks is right so the elders can find us quickly.

Yril does not tell them about the storm, which is the main reason we need to find shelter. If he tells them about the storms, they may really panic, and that will not be good for any of us.

Yril keeps his hand locked in mine the entire time he speaks with the brothers and even when we begin walking through the trees. We try to go back the same way we were brought out, but none of us have ever been out in the trees. We hear sounds in the trees that remind us we are not alone out here, but thankfully, it is only olack that is out during the day. They are dangerous, but only if they think we are a threat. We are small males, so hopefully, they will all think we are pathetic and not a threat to them at all.

We walk for so long that I am surprised there is still light in the sky. All of us are tired and thirsty. Our legs are aching, but we encourage one another to keep walking. We have most certainly become lost because we did not travel for this long with the elders before they left us, but we must be getting close to one of the many shelters that are out here. They are not very well made, but they will keep us safe from the cracks of light that strike the ground when storms are here.

Thunder sounds in the sky, and all of us freeze our movements. Yril and I kept the fact that Toron thought a storm was coming from the brothers because we did not want to make them panic if it was unnecessary. Now, it is clear that Toron was correct about a storm, and we will need to panic soon if we cannot find shelter.

“Keep moving, brothers,” Yril tries to keep his voice from wavering, but it is difficult when the rain starts to drip through the trees above us. Thankfully, the brothers have no choice but to move with us, or they will be stuck in the storm.

“The goddess is looking out for us, Yril,” I say excitedly as a small stone building comes into our vision. I run toward it, wanting to get there as fast as possible to make sure it is fully built and not falling apart. When I throw the door open and am met with just darkness, I cannot stop the smile from breaking across my lips. “Brothers, hurry!” I yell, but they are already behind me, trying to get inside and smash themselves in so they are safe from the storm that is coming quickly.

“We are blessed,” Yril murmurs under his breath as he steps inside. He is the last brother to enter, and it is clear that we will all be packed in close together since the building is tiny. We also have no warmth since none of us know how to make a fire yet. Toron knows, but he is not with us any longer.

“Yril,” Erkoz calls out and waits for Yril’s eyes to meet his before he continues. “There is a dagger here. Do you want it?”

“We are the closest to the door,” I say to Yril. “One of us should have it.”

Erkoz laughs when I speak, and I want to make an ugly face at him because I already know he will say I should not have it because I am too small. I am the youngest brother and the smallest, even for my age. They all like to remind me of it any chance they get. “Dath is a small male. He should give the dagger to a male who won’t accidentally poke himself with it.”

“You are the most likely to poke yourself,” another brother says. I do not see which one it is, but I nod my head in agreement with him.

“Just pass us the blade, and we will use it if we need to leave,” I say.

“You would leave in this?” Erkoz scoffs like he does not believe me.

“Only if I must.” I cross my arms in front of my chest and try to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut that makes me think I will leave at some point. I do not know why I spoke it into existence, but it is like the goddess is telling me something that has yet to happen.

I hand the dagger to Yril when it is passed to us, and then we are all trying to get comfortable in the small building. Rain is dripping in from the cracks in the sealant. We are all touching one another since there is not enough space without us being on top of one another. Some brothers are able to find sleep since we are in a safe enclosure, but most of us are awake and uneasy as thunder rumbles around us.

“Yril!” The voice is so faint that I think I have imagined it at first. My eyes dart around the room, trying to see if any of the other brothers heard a voice calling out from in the trees, but they do not seem to have noticed. “Yril!” Yes, I am most definitely hearing a voice, but it does not belong to one of the elders or any of the fathers. No, I am almost certain that it is Toron yelling for his brother from out in the trees while the storm is raging outside.

“Toron,” Yril staggers to his feet and wrenches open the door that is barely hanging on its hinges.

I grab his arm and force him to stay inside. “Stay, brother,” I beg him. He is the one the others will listen to. They need him to stay because he is their leader right now. “I will get Toron. You must stay. Keep our brothers safe until the elders find us, yes?”

“Toron,” Yril’s eyes fall down to me, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“Let me save your blood, yes?” I push him away from the door as best I can. He hands me the dagger, even though we both know I do not know what to do with it. We can only hope that I will find Toron out in the trees easily and bring him back to our shelter.

“You will be safe, yes?” Yril looks out into the darkened trees where the rain is falling strong now, even through the thickness of the treetops. Light flashes as a spark ignites a tree nearby before the rain puts out the fire.

“I will bring Toron back,” I say quickly as I step out into the rain. I clutch the dagger close to my chest as another light strikes the ground nearby.

“Yril!” Toron’s voice is barely loud enough to be heard over a clap of thunder, but it gives me a direction to run in. I hold the dagger close to me as I run to where I am sure I heard his voice. “Yril!” Yes, his voice is much closer, but it is also far from the shelter. I must make sure that I do not lose track of where it is behind me.