Chapter 4260: Precious Life (Part 2)

That hurt Senton’s and Rena’s pride, but they smiled and did as their son asked.

"What’s the matter, young man? Have you made up your mind about Awakening?" Lith sounded jovial as he threw the bait, but Lenart didn’t notice either thing.

"Mind link with everyone." The boy’s extended hand trembled like a leaf, and tears veiled his eyes. "Please."

Lenart was trying and failing to be strong, and Lith pretended not to notice in respect for his determination.

"Sure, buddy." The telepathic connection didn’t show the Awakened’s attack on Zekell’s house.

It started right from the moment Lenart had first noticed Makhari.

Lith, Rena, and Senton watched the Byk fighting a hopeless battle. Makhari had no chance of victory, paying with blood and limbs the bruises he inflicted on the Awakened.

They saw the Byk lose his life to win the battle. Makhari’s roars had brought Reaper to Lenart, and his sacrifice had bought the King in the South the time he needed to reach the boy.

Rena almost burst into tears at the magical beast’s noble death. She was grateful to Makhari for saving her son and angry with herself for being unable to do the same. Yet she held everything in, knowing that Lenart was this close to falling apart.

Senton shared similar feelings, but he expressed them by holding his son’s shoulder. He wanted Lenart to know that his father understood him and was there for him.

"Thank you for showing me this, Lenart. It was brave of you." Lith nodded. "I promise you I’ll reward the Byk clan properly."

Reaper had reported everything to Lith already, but he hadn’t gone into detail about the circumstances of the boy’s rescue because he had arrived when the fight was already over.

"I’m not brave, Uncle Lith." Lenart sniffled. "I..."

It took him several gulps and a few minutes to finish the sentence.

"I’m the reason Makhari is dead. I want to apologize to his family, but I’m too afraid to face them on my own. Can you please come with us?"

Rena’s eyes went wide in understanding. Whenever one of his children acted badly towards their neighbors or playmates, Senton and Rena brought them to apologize to the person they had wronged.

Lenart wanted his parents to come with him for moral support and his uncle for protection. The young boy was terrified of how the Byk might react and didn’t want to put his parents in danger for something he had done.

"Of course." Lith nodded. "Give me a second. I need to make a few calls."

After the battle of the day before, the Byk clan had received plenty of food and all the treatments its warriors needed. They were a bit annoyed at being summoned so early in the morning, but a free breakfast was more than worth the trouble.

They came in numbers, surrounding the Mansion while keeping themselves at the fringes of the Trawn Woods. Lenart misunderstood their intentions and started to quiver in his boots, feeling like a criminal standing trial.

"Makhari’s family. Please." It was all he managed to say.

Lith relayed the request to Reaper, who returned after a few seconds with a huge black Byk.

"I’m Kusho, Makhari’s litter brother. What do you want, little man?" He sat on his hind quarters and scratched his head, trying to look as harmless as he could.

Lenart was still clinging to his mother’s gown and needed sheer willpower to let it go. Yet it was his father’s hand on his back that gave him the strength to step forward and speak.

"I’m sorry." He said in one breath.

"You’re sorry?" Kusho tilted his head, looking even more like a giant plushie. "About what?"

Those simple questions hit the boy like a slap in the face, making him feel as if all his pain was for nothing.

"It’s my fault if Makhari died!" Lenart let the thoughts that had festered in his head since the previous day out with a yell. "I was too much of a coward to listen to him. I was too scared to move while he bravely fought for me. I’m sorry."

Lenart fell on his knees and burst into tears under the Byk’s stupefied gaze.

Kusho had many things to say, but he doubted that Lenart would understand them like a Byk. Humans were so tiny and frail that they needed to be treated kindly, even with words.

Kusho waited for Lenart to calm down a bit before answering.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." He said. "You didn’t drag my brother into that fight. He stepped in of his own will. You didn’t harm a tuft of Makhari’s fur. That Awakened did. I’m not angry with you. No one here is."

Kusho waved at the sloth of Byks, who either nodded or yawned.

"But he died because of me. Because I was scared!" Lenart found it absurd to fight to prove his guilt, but he couldn’t let Kusho dismiss Makhari’s sacrifice like it was nothing. He owed the dead Byk that much.

"My brother died while performing his duty, little man." Kusho replied. "I’ve already mourned him yesterday, and I won’t dishonor him by disrespecting his sacrifice with anger.

"He died for you, which makes your life precious to me. To us all." He waved at the other Byks again. "You were scared, true, but I too was scared when I was your size. It’s fear that keeps cubs alive and lets them grow old enough to become warriors.

"Had you run away, my brother might still be alive, but that Awakened might have also chased after you with a Blink. If he did that, my brother would have bled to death anyway, and Reaper would have never made it in time to find you.

"Nobody can tell what might have been. We only know how things went. You froze in fear, the Awakened got conceited, and Reaper had an easy time finding you by following Makhari’s roars.

"If you’re really sorry for my brother’s death, don’t apologize. Live strong. Live happily. Become brave like Makhari and always carry him in your heart. This way, as long as you remember him, he’ll never truly die."

Lenart started to cry again as unintelligible words came out of his mouth.

Kusho lifted the boy in his massive arms and licked his face clean. He held Lenart in a tight embrace before putting him down on his feet.

"Stand up, little man." He said. "A Byk never kneels. Not only because we are that proud, but also because we can’t."

Kusho pointed at his stumpy legs and wide hindquarters, making Lenart smile for the first time since his life had collapsed along with Zekell’s roof.

"Is there anything else?" The Byk looked at the boy, who shook his head, and then at Lith.

"Just one thing." A snap of Lith’s fingers brought many large pieces of still-steaming medium rare meat out of his dimensional pocket.

The Byk clan roared in approval, gobbling the food in front of them before starting to tussle for the pieces of meat that had landed too far away to be already claimed.

Lith gave Lenart plenty of steaks that he fed to Kusho as if he were an overgrown puppy.

"Can you be my son’s friend, mister Kusho?" Senton asked.

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