Chapter 67: Iron Will
Nick shifting everyone’s attention to Mijko burning the sausages helped ease Yamans into the crowd. But as soon as they had managed to move the slightly burnt sausages onto a plate and gotten past the crisis of having Mijko on frying duty, everyone couldn’t help but look at Yamans and Utri.
They were members of the almost legendary Phoriae tribe, after all. They weren’t sure what to say or do.
Fortunately, there were some who weren’t bothered by the reputation tied to the Phoriae tribe. Monkey, Muhso, Nick, and Kai were more than fine with Yamanas and Utri. They had no trouble talking to him while he ’investigated’ his sausage.
However, just one sausage wasn’t enough for him to conclude his ’investigation.’ He needed to perform an extensive and thorough examination, preferably several times.
It was safe to say that the smell of sausages hadn’t just lured him back to Nick’s clearing. It had caught him hook, line, and sinker. Utri wasn’t any better. The wolf was open about its appreciation of the sausage and soon took up a spot next to the campfire, dutifully keeping guard. Maybe an accident would happen, and it would need to be quick and catch the sausages before they dropped to the ground.
Its tail wagged steadily, sweeping a half-circle behind it. Whenever it was time to move the sausages from the pot to the pan or the pan to a plate, the speed of its wagging rose like Malak’s heartbeat whenever he saw Sosora.
Utri wasn’t alone.
Whoever ended up on sausage-frying duty would have a towering wolf on their right and a puffy bear cub on their left. It was a challenging position to take, and it came with a heavy responsibility.
It required an iron will to resist the magic contained in the wide, glossy, watery eyes of the two hungry beasts whenever the sausages were on the move.