WOMAN, GIRL, MAN, AND boy sat together, like good companions, around a fire in the woods.
“Now that you’re here,” said the man, “explanations can wait until we’ve eaten.”
“Very well,” said the woman. “That smells very tasty.”
“Thank you,” said the man.
The boy said nothing.
The girl sniffed in disdain; the others paid no attention.
“What is it?” said the woman. “I don’t recognize—”
“A bird. Should be done, soon.”
“He killed it,” said the girl, accusingly.
“Yes?” said the woman. “Shouldn’t he have?”
“Killing is all he knows how to do.”
The man didn’t answer; he just turned the bird on the spit.
The boy said nothing.
“Can’t you do something?” said the girl.
“You mean, teach him a skill?” said the woman. No one laughed.
“We were walking through the woods,” said the girl. “Not that I wanted to be here—”
“You didn’t?” said the woman, glancing sharply at the man. He ignored them. “He forced you to accompany him?” she said.
“Well, he didn’t force me to, but I had to.”
“Hmmm.”
“And all of a sudden, I became afraid, and—”
“Afraid of what?”
“Of—well—of that place. I wanted to go a different way. But he wouldn’t.”
The woman glanced at the roasting bird, and nodded, recognizing it. “That’s what they do,” she said. “That’s how they find prey, and how they frighten off predators. It’s some sort of psychic ability to—”
“I don’t care,” said the girl.
“Time to eat,” said the man.
“I started arguing with him, but he ignored me. He took out his knife and threw it into these bushes—”
“Yes,” said the man. “And here it is.”
“You could,” said the woman, looking at him suddenly, “have just walked around it. They won’t attack anything our size.”
“Eat now,” said the man. “We can resume the insults later.”
The boy said nothing.
The woman said, “If you like. But I’m curious—”
The man shrugged. “I dislike things that play games with my mind,” he said. “Besides, they’re good to eat.”
The boy, whose name was Savn, had remained silent the entire time.
But that was only to be expected, under the circumstances.