EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL​

What am I going to do?
That was the thought that screamed inside of Mori's head. He was lying on his stomach in bed that night with his face buried in the pillow. Everyone else had long since gone to sleep, but he was wide awake and restless. His covers rustled noisily as he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
This isn’t good. Not one bit. Things are gonna get out of hand if I don't do something soon. Everyone—everyone believes it. If Albira's discovered, that could not only mean trouble for her, but me and my family, too. If it's as serious as I think it is, we could be arrested.
That last word echoed in his mind ominously. He took in his breath slowly and held it.
What should I do? If I want to make the most of my lost sleep, I'd better think of something quick.
It's dangerous here, it's dangerous out there. No matter where I look, there's trouble for Albira. By this point, those men will more than likely be out sniffing round our property and they might discover her.
Mori quickly let out his breath and gasped for air. He heard Ven grumble something and he quieted down. After a moment, he turned over to face the tiny circular window, from where the moonlight was streaming in and faintly illuminating the room. He stared at the bright patch on the floor and his heart sank even lower when he came to the conclusion of what he needed to do.
Anywhere is better than here. I need to get her outta here as soon as possible. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm gonna release her from the barn and force her to run away somewhere far, far away. If she's as intelligent as she seems to be, she'll understand me when I tell her that we don't wanna see her here again.
His eyes welled with tears. One escaped and rolled down his face onto the pillow.
She's my friend. My only friend. That's why I gotta do this, whether I like it or not. I have to, even if it hurts, because it's what's best for Albira.

 

   Morning came and Mori awoke as a thin stream of sunlight filtered in through the window across from the one before him. He lifted his head from his slightly damp pillow and sat up, looking down at it. He bit his lip and flipped it over, remembering what he had to do today.
He glanced behind himself at Ven's bed and his heart skipped a beat when he saw he wasn't there. With a gasp, he jumped out of bed, descended the ladder to the room below, rushed across the house and ran out the door, all in the span of just a few seconds.
He burst into the barn just in time to see Ven standing there and aiming his rifle at Albira, who was cowering in the corner, whimpering.
Mori froze in place, mouth agape. His chest clenched tight.
The rifle clicked.
"No!" Mori ran out in front of Ven and threw his arms out to defend Albira.
"Mori!" Ven shouted. "She's dangerous! Get outta the way!"
"You don't understand, Ven, she's all right! Really!" Mori rushed to explain. "She won't hurt you; the rumors aren't true! Please listen!"
Ven glared at him. "How do you know that? Why do you think she's in here, then?"
"Because..." Mori's face fell. "I brought her in here."
Ven stared. "What...?"
"I found her before the rumors started—after she disappeared—because she was injured!" Mori explained desperately. "She healed up and I meant to release her, but it just wasn't safe, especially when everyone started thinking she was responsible for the state of things in Tanakosk..."
"Mori," Ven clenched his teeth. "That was over a month ago. She's been here that long? Come on, how do you know she's ain't doin' those unspeakable things at night when you're sleeping?"
Albira whined loudly and shook her head violently, barking twice at Ven and boldly stepping out beside Mori.
"We can't afford to keep her," Ven went on, "She has to go. You ain't got no proof that she don't pose a threat. I'm gonna make it quick. Now, beat it!"
"I said NO!" Mori booted Albira in the rump roughly and lunged forward, opening the barn doors just as she skittered out in alarm and took off across the field at breakneck speed. He ran a few feet forward, yelling, "Run, Albira! Don't come back and don't let anybody catch you!"
Albira disappeared into the forest.
Mori was relieved, but very saddened at the same time. He slumped and stared after her.
Ven walked up behind him and he didn't even look over.
"Mori, you're an idiot," his brother said harshly. "Wait 'til Pa and Ma hear about this..."
That said, he shoved past him and stormed back toward the house.
Mori bit his lip hard and kept his eyes on the ground. It isn’t true...it can't be...Albira couldn't be responsible. Of course she didn't ever leave the barn! Not without me! She...did she?
Mori shut his eyes.

 

Dinner was eaten in silence that evening. Mori had received quite an earful from his parents beforehand and he had no intention of speaking again for some time, though it wasn't as if he were permitted to do so anyhow. On the outside he appeared moody and sullen, but on the inside it was amplified to extremes and mixed in with boiling anger.
Albira wouldn't! He thundered inside of his head, she couldn't have! I gotta put a stop to this nonsense if she's gonna survive this...whoever started it is going down! Mori wasn't thinking very reasonably due to his very complicated state of emotions.
He finished off his food and left the table at once, crossing the room and ascending the ladder to the loft, where he walked to his small cot and lay down.
I just hope she's safe, he thought sadly. Those hunters would stop at nothing to kill her...I can only hope that she's capable of taking care of herself out there.
After a few minutes, he heard the floorboards creak nearby, then rustling, as someone sat down beside him.
He glanced over and saw that it was only his little sister, Eve, sitting quietly on the edge of his bed while smoothing the folds of her gingham dress.
"Mori?" she spoke to him in a small voice, "I...I don't think that the Dawnwolf is bad...it all must be a mistake."
"Huh, seems like you and I are the only ones who think so..." Mori grumbled bitterly, rolling onto his back and crossing his arms with a dark scowl upon his face. "Ma and Pa didn't want to accept it, and yet they did anyway, and Ven is easy to fool when it comes to 'exciting' chatter like this."
"He just wants to find an excuse to shoot something with that new gun of his," Eve sighed. "Anyway, Mori, even if it is somewhat logical that Albira might be responsible for the famine, that doesn't explain the sickness. Besides, wasn't it originally the virus itself that caused the famine? Then it spread all the way over here and Albira hid herself because the hunters went after her countless times."
"And when I found her not long after that, I took her in, right? She's been in the barn that entire time," Mori added. "But...Ven said something that kinda bothered me. What if she was sneaking out at night?"
"We don't know if she was or wasn't, but we can hope for the best, regardless. Why would she do that, anyway?" Eve pointed out. "I really don't think she's at fault here. Who saw her do anything? Who started the rumor? Has anyone who's heard it so far actually caught her in the act? No, I don't believe they have!"
"Not to my knowledge, no," Mori admitted. "And I don't want to believe it, anyway. If only I could put an end to it right now. If only I could turn it all around somehow."
"Well, Mori, at least you made the right decision by releasing her instead of letting Ven kill her. She'll turn up again and save us from this calamity," said Eve, solemnly. "That's what I secretly believe."
"Yeah, you could be right, even." Mori agreed. "I'll try to keep my mind off it. She's probably smart enough to run far, far away, and I hope she comes back when the storm blows over, so to speak."
"She will. She won't abandon us. I'm sure she'll even put a stop to all of this, like I said." Eve replied.
Just then, Ma called out from downstairs, "Eve? Can you come help me with dishes?"
"Coming, Ma!" Eve got up, but then looked at Mori, "Well, I'm sure Ma and Pa will both cool off eventually. But between you and me, I still think you did the right thing. I'm gonna go help Ma, so I'll see you later, all right?"
"All right. Thanks, Eve," Mori said with a nod.
Eve smiled and headed down the ladder.
Mori sighed and looked back up at the ceiling.
Albira, whatever you're doing now, wherever you are...if Eve's right, help us if you can.

 

In the passing days, more and more people were catching the oncoming disease and dying from it, and word got out that there was no known cure. No cure, no hope. They could only hide away and avoid all human contact from outside the confines of their homes.
Despite their desperate efforts to evade the terrible illness, many of the people fell into its grip anyway and were sick abed.
Not even the Kiskolu's could avoid it any longer; like a tidal wave, it washed over the family and hit with a horrible force; it afflicted Mori's parents first.
The children were aghast. They did everything they could to keep things in order, and while Ven took the main charge, much of the responsibility still fell upon Mori and Eve.
On the day that their parent's symptoms had escalated to an alarming rate, Ven, despite the brewing storm that was worsening by the minute, took his father's horse and rode out to town to find the doctor, telling the other two beforehand to stay and take care of their parents while he was gone.
Hours after he left, the lightning cracked and the thunder boomed outside while the rain pounded on the roof with great force, and it was so boisterous that Mori and Eve could barely hear each other speak, thus, they shouted back and forth across the house in order to communicate.
"What do you think is taking Ven, Mori?" Eve hollered as she walked past him briskly, "It's been hours!"
"I don't know!" Mori replied loudly. He was shaking hard and jumping and jittering every time the lightning flashed. "I-I-I hope he returns soon! I'm n-n-not sure if I can do m-much more for M-Ma and Pa..."
"I think we've done everything we can!" Eve agreed, then took off across the room back to them, seating herself on the nearby stool by their bedside.
Mori paced at the door, glancing out at the window. No more than ten minutes later, he felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Ven riding like the wind back toward the house, with someone (presumably the doctor) riding beside him on his own horse.
Ven galloped past the house and slowed over by the barn, and after some time, he came in the back way with the doctor behind him. The two of them were soaked to the skin, so Eve got up and hurried to get them towels, which they accepted from her and used to dry themselves off as best as they could, before heading over to Ma and Pa to give them a look-over.
"When did they first start feeling symptoms?" the doctor asked Ven.
"Gosh, I don't know, doc, they could've been hiding it for a while, for all I know, but they only started showing it 'bout a week ago." Ven replied, rubbing the back of his head and chewing on his lower lip nervously, "Can you do anything for 'em, doc?"
The doctor grumbled to himself, crossing his arms. "I will try my best, but you are aware that this ailment has no cure, aren't you? We've tried everything on everyone and nothing's worked."
"Just do what you can, doc!" Ven said urgently, hands clenching into fists. "I want them to at least have a chance."
Mori was standing nearby, wringing his hands, glancing around and feeling a bit unhelpful. He gasped when a huge boom of thunder exploded outside like a cannon, and his heart rate sky-rocketed. It had gotten so quiet that he hadn't been expecting it at all.
He felt a little dizzy, but then stopped himself from keeling over and forced himself to clear up, hoping no one noticed.
Ven and the doctor muttered to each other as the doctor checked their parents over thoroughly. After some time, the doctor told Ven that for the present, he would do further tests and give them medicine until he either ran out of options or found a cure. Ven agreed to let the doctor stay.
The days dragged on, one after another, filled with failed tests upon failed tests. Ma and Pa weren't getting any better; only worse.
One day, Mori and Eve were cleaning up around the place (since it was getting quite messy due to its recent neglect), when Eve began coughing loudly. She gasped, falling to her knees on the floor, before collapsing in a shuddering heap.
Mori exclaimed and rushed to her side, holding her upright a bit as she continued coughing violently.
She wheezed and hacked, face blanched by this point, then her sides heaved as she fought to catch her breath, but still coughed between breaths. She opened her mouth to say something, but a strangled wheeze was all that was heard. Suddenly she looked faint, and at once, she limped and passed out.
"Eve!" Mori cried, shaking her. "Eve!"
Ven turned and looked and his eyes widened. He raced over to them and crouched down, looking from Eve to Mori. "What happened?" he demanded.
"I don't know! She fell, then coughed, then knocked herself out! Or something!" Mori babbled. "Tell the doctor to check her out. This happened too suddenly. It was kinda like she swallowed spit the wrong way, only much, much worse..."
Ven grunted and picked Eve up in his arms, bringing her over to the doctor, who held her while he went and fetched an extra cot from upstairs, which was set beside their parent's bed. After this, Eve was laid down on it immediately and the doctor got to work.
Things got pretty hectic with the passing of time. As expected, Eve was indeed afflicted and the doctor eventually did and tried everything he could possibly think of to help them all, but alas, to no avail; there was no hope for them here.
It was at the end of the second week that the doctor grimly reported this to Ven.
"I'm afraid that I've tried everything I can, and I can do nothing more for your family. I will search throughout the country for a cure, but I find myself unable to look anywhere beyond Tanakosk with the state of conflict in our neighboring countries. I am very sorry, sir, but by the time that I or any of the other seekers find anything...your family, they might..."
Ven shook his head and held up a hand. "Say no more," he said flatly. "I will do what I can for them while you search. I hope you find the cure before it's too late."
Mori was silent. He stared at the floor.
"I will do my best, sir. I will depart now and join the other men who have embarked on the same mission," the doctor said.
"Well, happy trails, doc. Go," Ven responded dully, and the doctor took his horse and left for town again.
Mori sighed, glancing at his brother; he was standing in the middle of the room, pensively rubbing his furrowed brow.
Mori looked back at his family. He approached his parent's bedsides and gazed down at their pale, weathered faces.
Then, he heard Eve let out a grunt and she whined something incoherent. Mori turned to her and saw she was looking at him, though clearly fighting to do so; her eyelids seemed twice as heavy.
"M...ori..." she whispered.
He came to her bedside. "Eve," he said sadly, resting a hand on her arm. "Don't worry, we'll think of something."
"Al...bira..." she groaned faintly. "She...she can...help us...go find her...please...Mori..." She let out her breath and passed out again.
Mori stared at her, eyes widened. "Albira," he repeated. He looked up out the window at the gray, overcast skies. He was quiet for some time, and then murmured, "Can she really do something for us?"
Ven dropped his hand at his side and exhaled, looking over at Mori and the rest of his sick family. "Mori."
"Ven, I have to go," Mori said suddenly.
"Look, kid, I don't blame you for not wanting to die, but you kinda can't..." Ven began.
"No, I'm not running away, Ven, I'm gonna find real help. That, and a cure," Mori corrected him firmly. "I won't be alone; Albira can help us. Don't say anything—I'm going. Take care of everyone the best you can while I'm away."
"Mori!" Ven started, but his brother had already turned away and was walking out the back door.

 

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FOLLOW MORI AS HE EMBARKS ON A CHALLENGING QUEST, ACCOMPANIED BY A CAST OF UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, TO SAVE HIS HOMELAND FROM UNCERTAIN DEATH