Ştårbrîghţ let Mỷrἇ slide from his back. Jåcóbӱ was bent over with his hands resting on his knees. His breath came in deep gasps as he struggled to regain his breath. Mỷrἇ walked up and touched Jåcóbӱ on the arm. Jåcóbӱ looked up at her and gave her a weary smile. He patted her hand before he straightened back up.
Ştårbrîghţ motioned to the siblings to follow him. Mỷrἇ and Jåcóbӱ followed Ştårbrîghţ deeper into the forest. Mỷrἇ looked back at the edge of the forest. The prairie faded from view as the trees took over their field of vision. Leaves littered the forest floor. Mushrooms grew up out of the decaying leaves. Moss and fungi grew on the trees and flowers hung in curtains from the branches. Birds flitted from tree to tree singing in voices that sounded almost human. Frogs barked at you if you stepped to close to them and strange creatures skittered through the underbrush. Mỷrἇ thought back to the stories that her mother used to tell her when she was little. She wondered what the earth had looked like before the great catastrophe happened.
"Where are we going?" Jåcóbӱ demanded in a soft voice that was beginning to crack as he grew into manhood.
Ştårbrîghţ glanced over his shoulder. His dark eyes disappeared in the gloom of the forest. "We are going as deep as we can into the forest. The hunting party will follow us in here. Our goal is to loose them as best as we can."
"Do you know the ways of the forest?"
"You're father's tribe, my tribe, are forest dwellers. If your mother had been of the same tribe as your father, then you would have been raised in the forest. I will teach you the ways of the forest."
"Is this the forest you grew up in?"
Ştårbrîghţ offered Mỷrἇ a smile. "My home is many miles to the south not far from the sea."
"Can we go there?"
Ştårbrîghţ laughed. "Someday soon we will. There is much you need to learn. We will use our time in this forest to teach you the basics. This forest will be your home for the next few years. You will learn how to survive, hunt, and track prey. Your new life begins today."