"It's all right, brother. I forgive you."
"Forgive me? It's not my fault. It's his! If it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened!"
"It's not his fault, brother. He is just a child. How can he be guilty of anything? It's mine. And you are right. I'm the one who should be asking you all for forgiveness. I'm sorry that I have not told you about everything sooner. Now I am going to fix everything. I'm going to find the humans and take Hero to them. And then all of us will be safe, including him."
Beor stood on the edge of the trail and cast his family a farewell look. Both Margol and Tnul were sobbing, their heads tucked against grandpa Grake's gown on one side, while Hero hung on with a lost expression on the other, tears trailing down his reddened cheeks from all the crying he did over the last few days. Grake hushed them gently with both arms, patting them. Beor looked at his children one last time, wanting badly to give them all another hug. His sorrowful green gaze turned and held once again on his brother's face, where he could clearly see anger fighting with guilt.
"Take care of them, Rangil. They are your children while I'm gone." He said softly.
Rangil silently nodded, his fists tightening as the guilt in his expression grew heavier.
Giving them all a look one last time, Beor turned and began walking down the path away from the village. In his mind, he had already planned out his route. This week, he was going to visit all the villages to the East and learn if they have heard anything about the Humans coming or being seen nearby. And the following week, he would set out on a journey to visit all the villages to the West. There were no villages to the South because of the non passable mountains, but there were more villages to the North, although very very far away. It would be his last leg of the journey to go there and probably take a good several months.
Still, Beor felt fairly comfortable in the wilderness now after almost two years of going on short outings and looking for Hero whenever he would get lost. Wrapping his colorful scarf around a new striped tunic that the elders allotted to him for the travel, granting him the position of a travelling merchant, he strode forward along the trail with his heart both sorrowful and optimistic.
He was going to find the Humans and then… he wasn't quite yet sure what he would do. Maybe he wouldn't bring them home to his village with them. First, because not all Humans were good, and that was a proven fact according to all elders' Memories. And second, because if Hero was not Human, then… Humans and Monsters did not get along well, that was a proven fact in all the old stories, too
So, he would first find them. And then he would find out if they knew anything about the Monster with the white eyes that Hero used to be. Then, he would make his decision of what to do next. Meanwhile, his family would be safe at home in his younger brother's hands.
His stride growing strong and light as he came to a decision about what he was going to do next, Beor kept walking ahead. He tried hard not to think of Rangil's betrayal. It had to have been his brother who told the elders about what Beor once admitted to Rangil about the witch. How she confirmed to him that Hero was not a Human. Now, Beor was glad that he didn't reveal to him everything. If he had, then the elders would have for sure banished the child along with him to go with him. Fulfilling his mission to find the humans would have become much more difficult with a small child in tow. Despite all his hardiness, little Hero was not easy to care for. No, it was a good thing that he was staying home in the village. There, he would be far safer…
...
Margol stared hard after his father until the tall figure could no longer be seen among the trees. Then, he turned and glared at little Hero.
"I hate you!" He suddenly yelled and tore away from grandpa Grake's grasp, running off to the house, where he slammed the door. Rangil and his uncle exchanged silent glances. Continuing to pat little Hero's back and hearing his sobs increase as he buried his head against his side, clutching on to his gown, Grake only made a heavy sigh, not saying anything. His lips pinched tight, guilty looking Rangil said nothing at all.
...
Rangil now regretted his decision to go to the elders, no matter how hard he told himself that he did the right thing. At the time and several weeks afterward, it seemed like everything was going to be all right. Nothing changed. And then… Their entire family had been called before the meeting of the elders, who declared to them an ultimatum.
Their Monster couldn't stay with them in their village. Not if he was not a Human, as the witch told Beor.
He would have to leave. It took Beor some convincing before he managed to sway them to the idea of allowing their child to remain until he found the Humans, to whom he would then take the child and determine whether he was one of them or not.
"She told him that Hero is not Human. That he is a Monster. He was just afraid to tell you because he thought that you might banish us from the village. Or that you might banish him."
Rangil remembered his own quiet voice as he faced the three elders, who exchanged a troubled look. The oldest of them, Haren, looked at him mildly.
"Why would we banish any of you? It's not your fault. There was no way that Grake could have known that his foundling is not a Human."
"Having a Human here was bad enough. But a Monster?" Elder Jahn grumbled. "What are we going to do?"
Elder Dar looked at the younger villager with regret and disapproval. "And he told you this directly? For sure, that's what the witch told him?"
Rangil nodded and Dar sighed, hanging his head as he thoughtfully stared at the floor.
"That child cannot stay here." Jahn said with severe determination. "Witches do not lie. It is one of their own set rules, bound with their hope of rebirth. If she told this to Beor, then she truly believed it."
"Does not mean she couldn't be wrong." Dar pointed out.
"Does not matter! It is not our responsibility to raise a Monster who might destroy us all at a whim. While self-healing magic was fine, taming monsters was already questionable, even though none of us have witnessed the fact for ourselves, so we couldn't decide if that's actually true despite the tales of the children about that one strange Enderman. But fire magic? Even small, it is going to grow along with him. He is dangerous to us. He already questions our rules and defies our traditions. Many villagers have complained about that."
"Hearsay." Dar spoke up from his place and added with sarcasm. "They also say that when he looks at someone when angry, they get bad luck."
"There is no smoke without a fire. In this case, literally." Jahn shot back. Heren only sighed patiently and looked at Rangil, still present in the room with the closed doors. Outside, they could all hear the children running and playing tag, little Margol, Tnul, and Hero among them.
"Let's discuss all this privately. Rangil, you may go." Haren dismissed the younger villager gently. Startling and already regretting that he came here, despite his conscience still telling him that he did what was good for their family and entire village, Rangil gave them a wide-eyed look as if asking if he had done the right thing. Their gazes softening, all the three elders looked at him with approval and Heren smiled.
"You may go, Rangil. You did the right thing by telling us about this. This is not a small matter that Beor kept hidden from us all."
"And there will be consequences!" Jahn said harshly, causing Rangil to look at him fearfully. At the reproaching look from the other two, he immediately amended his words. "No one is going to be banished. Have no worries about that. We don't hold any of you at fault. And so far you all have done a very good job training that monster to follow our rules, at least as far as his nature allows it. So… go in peace. You did a good thing by telling us."
At Dar's confirming nod, even though the youngest elder appeared to be troubled by all this, Rangil quietly stepped to the door. The elders looked at him when he was closing the door tightly behind him.
"So, what are we going to do?" Rangil heard them say last before the door closed, shutting out the view. He then headed to the bakery and traded for some sweets for the children, making sure that each of them received an equal share since that was the right thing to do regardless of who Hero was. Watching them sit together as they enjoyed the sweet bread, sitting all together side by side, he couldn't help feeling guilty and kept second-guessing himself.
Did he do the right thing by telling the elders that the witch told Beor that Hero was not Human? He had been so certain before he walked through that door. And then he wasn't so sure.
Now heavy regret washed through him as he stared at the empty trail where his brother had disappeared.
He had made a terrible mistake.