Twigs snapped under their feet as they walked, skyspear needles muffled the noise as best they could. Soft snaps were drowned out by the louder crunches and cracks of stiffer twigs. The four children, two boys and two girls, whispered during the lulls as if they hadn’t given themselves already with their not so sneaky sneaking.

  “We should go back,” Toma said to his sisters and the other boy, Devlin, “what if he really is out here?”. It wasn’t Devlin that answered, though he did stop in his tracks and turn to the boy like he wanted to scream at him. Devlin was a lone child and used to being the center of attention, of not only family, but the other kids in the tribe. He was bigger than most, stalky and in the middle of his growth spurt. When he was about to speak, however, he was beaten to the punch by Kara, Toma’s oldest sister who looked just as mad as Devlin did.

  “Dev knows that he’s doing, Toe-Meat.” She sneered at Toma before turning to Devlin to look at him longingly. “Go back if you’re so scared, we didn’t want you here anyway, little Toe-Meat.” She turned to walk away before she was halted yet again by Toma.

  “It’s Toma!” he yelled, forgetting that they were trying to be stealthy. The two oldest children’s heads whipped around so fast Toma was sure he’d heard them crack. “It’s… it’s Toma… not Toe-Meat.” He said meekly, withering under the incredulous, wide-eyed, looks. Devlin stomped toward Toma, finger drawn and pointed like the tip of a sword.

  “I don’t give a tree-hollow parasite what your name is, kid,” he stabbed the weaponized finger into Toma’s chest so hard the boy stumbled backward onto the ground. “If you shout like that again I’ll call you “dead””. He narrowed his eyes, “because I’d kill you”. Kara grinned with a single raised eyebrow like she’d wanted this to happen all along. Before Toma could even register the words to get scared there was a loud snort followed by a laugh from behind Toma where the fourth child was standing. Tayla, Toma’s older sister but Kara’s younger had let it out, a hand shooting up to cover her mouth, her eyes danced with mirth; she couldn’t help but laugh at the stupid sentence.

  Tayla looked at Devlin with an expression stuck mid-laugh “I’ll call you dead!” she choked and mocked in a childish rendition of Devlin’s voice. “You’re an idiot, Devlin,” she looked at her older sister, “and you need to stand up for your little brother instead of using him to impress your latest infatuation”.

  Kara fumed, stomping over to her younger and shorter sister, “listen here, Tayla, I will- “she didn’t get to finish the sentence as Tayla stepped right into Kara’s personal space, eyes staring dead into her sister’s. Kara was two years older, she was taller, more filled out, but it was obvious she was more into people pleasing.

  She liked appearances, she was as proper as a tribe girl could get. While Tayla? Tayla was outdoors more than in. From a young age she went into the forest with her dad and went alone after he stopped taking her, when the Tribe grew, he had to take on more responsibilities. She wrestled the boys, played with animals, climbed the net-like webbed willows, scaled the gargantuan skyspear trees, as far as she could at least. She did all this as if it were second nature, born and bred to be one with the forests of Silva. A future Bonded and maybe even a pillar of their tribe.

  Tayla’s years of running around in the forest, hunting, and stalking prey, being wild in general had developed in her a sort of aura, a bloodlust that she could focus on someone or something to various effect. She hadn’t cultivated any Anima or Eather, she hadn’t started a bond process, but she was years ahead of her sister and Devlin. So, when Tayla got into her sister’s space and glared at her with all the bloodlust she could muster, Kara involuntarily took a step backward. It was like a vicious madarna was looking at its next meal.

  Tayla lifted her own finger like a spearpoint and brandished it at her sister, “Make another move, sis, and” she smirked, glancing at Devlin who watched with an eager look, “I’ll call you dead”. Devlin’s face got so red and hot you could cook off it, Kara gulped down her anger and said nothing.

  When he finally had enough, Devlin snapped. He was freshly eighteen, growth spurt in full swing, and facial hair just starting to show in a respectable amount. In his eyes, he was completely a man. Marching up to Tayla, who stood at least two feet shorter than him, though her presence loomed just as high or higher than his. She didn’t move a step, just looked at him with predatory eyes and a wishful smirk, it unnerved Devlin so much he uncharacteristically paused, almost taking a step back like Kara did. Devlin enjoyed being looked up to, revered, the object of every girl’s heart, he didn’t know how to handle a girl who didn’t like or back down from him.

  There was a small noise, like a breath that didn’t belong to anyone in their group, but it wasn’t loud enough for anyone to think much of it. The kids grew quiet, they didn't realize how loud they were being. Kara, Devlin, and Toma all started breathing heavy and pivoting around to look for the cause of the noise. Tayla stood there and tried to listen, she could feel they were being watched, she knew there was something dangerous around. "What... what is it, Tay?" Kara gibbered after stopping her frantic spinning.

  "I... I don't know, there is something though." she narrowed her eyes and silenced the three, telling them to hold their breath as best they could. The faint sound of rushing air was the first thing they noticed, though they couldn't feel any breeze.

  “Heyyyyy, you're pretty sharp! Who do you think will win?” a playful male voice toned out, “if they fight, I mean, I think you got the dude beat, his size could definitely change that, though. Hmmm”. Devlin span on his heel thinking he’d found a weaker target. He assumed the voice that just implied that he’d lose in a fight against a girl, was Toma, someone he could bully quite easily to hide the fact he was terrified. He was, however, very, very, wrong.

  “AhhhHH-“ Devlin let out an odd breathy noise then started stumbling backward. “Ahh- AHHH!” he screamed, fell onto his butt, screamed again, then turned to run off, his wails echoing through the forest. The pure terror in his eyes made two of the siblings just stare at his retreating form. Kara looked like she was completely disgusted, Toma actually had a victorious grin on his face. They simultaneously turned to see what Devlin could possibly be screaming at, they were too close to the tribe for anything too dangerous to venture near them. No matter where the tribe moved the beasts always kept their distance, the warriors of the Myriad always told the kids it was because the beasts were afraid of them and stayed away.

  Kara saw it first and screamed, the scream coated in absolute terror, not for her, but surprisingly for her siblings. She ran in front of Toma so quickly it looked like she teleported.

  Kara tried to speak to Tayla whose breath was ragged and fast-paced, her face frozen in primal fear. “Tayla get over here, hurry!" No one moved even when she yelled so desperately, so she stepped forward, grabbed Tayla's collar and dragged her backward putting herself between her brother and sister and the thing in the air.

  The future prodigy was still unmoving, skin whiter than snow. Kara took a few steps backward and without moving her gaze from the sight in front of them, she reached her hand back and hit Tayla, hard, wherever she could without looking, she NEEDED Tayla to snap out of it.

  Tayla blinked rapidly, shaking her head her voice filled with inevitable despair “Kara…” she almost cried, eyes still glued on the head floating in the air.

  “Listen to me, Tay,” Kara’s voice cracked, choking back a sob, “take Toma, and go get dad”. Tayla couldn’t see the resigned tears running down her sister’s face. “I mean it, Tay. Toe-Meat, go with your sister, listen to her, and run fast”. The floating head let out a long breath, its black hair was medium length and unkempt, slightly curly, and stopped right above his thick eyebrows. His beard was just as dark, but it had tinges of orange-ish red in it, his eyes though, they were so dark brown they looked like black orbs ringed by white.

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  “Ka-“ Tayla tried to call to her sister, “Kara…” Tayla couldn’t remember a time where she needed her big sister so much. She reached out her hand to touch Kara’s back and somehow, Kara knew, that if she let Tayla's hand touch her, she’d break down and try to run with them. She needed to hold this back while they got away. If the warriors and her dad got there fast enough maybe she would still be alive. Tayla started to cry, Toma hadn’t moved, he just mumbled something, eyes wider than the moon.

  There was another breath from the head that sounded sad, tired, then resigned. The head pulled back into an inky purple, shadow, colored hole in reality which then immediately expanded to a body sized rip in reality. Then, He stepped through. He wore comfortable yet durable looking clothes in brown and forest green colors with black worn boots. His sleeves were rolled up showing off matching tattoos from his elbow crooks to his hand, leading into the palms. The kids knew these tattoos, they were the branded weapons of the Tribe-Eater himself. Not his staff, Thousand Arms, but his terrifying fangs. Two daggers with grips that covered his knuckles he used these to punch as well as block attacks. These tattoos would melt into his hands like liquid, flowing into shape, before hardening into some of the most lethal weapons known to Silva.

  He put his hands into the air in a sign of surrender, when the portal closed behind him, they flinched. He lifted an eyebrow and spoke to the terrified children. His tone was apologetic, his words sounded like he’d had to say them a million times. “Look, I, ugh, there is a herd of... up ahead... ugh” he had said it many, many, times but he’d never gotten good at it. His past was his past and he couldn’t change it. “I didn’t mean to scare you kids, you just came too close to the - I wanted to warn..., See if I could hear you... I’m sorry.” He smiled amicably, hoping they would understand everything he'd almost just said.

  Finally, one of the kids spoke, surprisingly it was the youngest one on the ground, Toma. His eight-year-old voice cracked as he squeaked out one word that carried all the terror a child could muster; he was looking into the eyes of the Tribe-Eater himself. It was a title associated with so many tragedies that in some tribes it was taboo to even speak his name, thinking it would give away their location and summon him. “T-T-T-…Tribe-Eater!” he finally choked out, still planted firmly on the ground.

  The man dropped his hands to his sides, it was going to be like every other meeting he'd had with anyone that didn't know him, anyone that didn’t know the full story. He couldn’t blame them, though, he was… a monster. He scratched his head and answered softly, “ugh, yea, I guess that is me.” He looked ashamed of their pure terror, he didn’t even think the younger girl was breathing. “Look, kids, just relax, I’ll leave, take a breath, I won’t- “.

  “Don’t eat us!” the Tribe-Eater couldn’t finish as Toma screamed so loud the noise reverberated around them. Tayla finally snapped out of it and wiped her face, she bent slowly to grab her brother and whispered to her sister.

  “Let’s all run, Kara, please don’t stay”. She begged as she slowly got Toma off the ground. Kara stiffened; she hadn’t heard Tayla use that tone in years, the tone of a little sister who needed her big sister more than air itself.

  “Eat? What, no I-“he groaned, annoyed this time. Another large inky portal opened behind him, he spun on his heel and stepped in, closing it behind him and leaving the three kids standing there unmoving until a group of thirty warriors showed up panting, it seems Devlin got help and didn’t just scream or hide.

  “Where is he!?” four or five of the men yelled at once, their snarling teeth looking like a mix of beast and human. Large fangs and senses to match their chosen Bonded. They sniffed and their bestial eyes glinted in the strands of light that crept through the canopy. Some of the men shifted farther into humanoid beasts, others only partially. Fur coming from some, scales from others, other sleek features started to take hold like aerodynamic predators built for one thing only.

  Their armor was made specifically to accommodate these growths and body changes, for a Bonded warrior was merged with a spirit beast and these things were normal when shifting. They lived together in symbiosis, a perfect pair that lends each other power and protection. They could further increase their bond, unlocking more abilities and greater shifting potential, the strongest among them able to morph into a fully hybrid form not too bestial not too human, but a perfect blend of both with power to match.

  These warriors from the Myriad Tribe were numerous, each power unique unlike other tribes whose warriors focused on the same general paths to advance and perfect the process, creating mass produced but powerful warriors. The Myriad, however, took in strays, deserters, lone survivors, outcasts, everyone. They didn’t discriminate, didn’t belittle, they trained in their own way and helped each other become stronger. They were myths to some, a secret tribe that was extremely hard to fight due to the randomness of their attacks and styles. Always hidden, only joining the world when they were needed.

  It had been said that the Tribe-Eater had wiped them all out, it had also been said that they killed the Tribe-Eater. Neither were true and only the two parties knew what really happened. So, when the rumors spread, The Myriad moved out into the Deep Wood and lived in seclusion, fading a commonly known tribe to a whispered myth.

  “He’s gone, dad.” Kara said, slumping to the ground and finally losing it. She broke down, full blown sobbing, adrenaline completely gone. She grabbed her knees and poured out her soul in the form of wet salty orbs. She didn't realize that she was one hundred percent ready to die, she had quickly accepted it subconsciously. Now that she was going to live, she had no idea what to do. Her father picked her up, even though she was fully grown and heavier than she would ever admit, he did it effortlessly while his body slowly reverted to back to human. Two other men grabbed Tayla and Toma, their uncles, and the group started to head back to their camp.

  “I’ve got you, Kara, I’ve got you.” Kara’s face was so far in her father’s chest she was surprised she didn’t leave an imprint. “It’s ok baby, Dad has you, I’m so proud of you”. He had seen where she was standing when he arrived, how determined her look was, he had seen it before when his parents held off the Tribe-Eater to let him escape as a youth.

  He knew what she had decided and what she was going to do; he had never been so proud. If she chose to become a bonded warrior, she would be just as good, if not better than Tayla. Kara was a born leader who acted quickly before others, makes the hard decisions in an instant and moves toward the best outcome.

  “I don’t think he was going to hurt us, dad.” Kara said when she finally stopped sobbing, they were almost back at camp, the return was slow as the group seemed to be keeping their guard up, though Tayla noticed they weren't really watching the surroundings as well as they could have been.

  “Shhhh, Kara, it’s o-“

  “No, dad, I mean it, we were there for a long time, he could’ve killed us, he let Devlin go,” her father’s face darkened at the mention of the name, what kind of future warrior leaves two girls and a child alone? In danger? he thought furiously. “He was trying to talk to us, now that I can actually process everything… he even told us he didn’t want to hurt us, he just looked… lonely” she was thoughtful, her father just looking at her in his arms.

  “Well, we’ll just have to ask him the next time we see him, won’t we?” a voice said from her father's shoulder underneath his shirt. Tellion, her fathers' Bonded beast had moved to the top branch of its Brand to speak to her. He was a White Shex, a six-armed humanoid with white fur and strips of bone like plating accenting his arms, legs, and chest. She had known the beast since birth and thought of him as an uncle.

  “Tellion no! Don’t go looking for him! Dad, he didn't want to hurt us but what if it was just because we were weak? You know the stories he likes fighting strong people for fun. It’s different when warriors come looking compared to curious kids!” She was thinking like a Chief again, thinking large scale, for the good of the tribe. He put his forehead to hers and assured her he wouldn’t go looking and that he was positive that the Tribe-Eater wouldn’t be back. Kara buried her face into her dad's chest again and mumbled to Tellion, "promise me, Tellion, please don't fight him".

  "Don't worry, kid, we won't fight him." the words were one hundred percent true. Doloon, the Chief of the Myriad Tribe and his Bonded beast would not fight the Tribe-Eater, for the Tribe-Eater was a friend, the Tribe-Eater was the one who protected all of them.