After the tribe had gathered the pieces, Mark darted into the woods. He came back a few minutes later in his human form, wearing cutoff jeans, carrying something in his hand. His well-defined muscles rippled over his bare chest as he drew near, then I realized that he was carrying a lighter. "Stand back, everyone," Mark said aloud, then lit the lighter and threw it on the pyre. Austin, Eric, and the rest of us gathered firewood and threw it on the body to kindle the flames. Soon, the blaze from the fire reached the heavens as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
"I'll watch this," Mark announced turning to face us. "All of you go home and get some rest. We'll talk about this tomorrow." In reality, it would be later today, as the rays of sunshine indicated a new day as it slowly leaked through the dense forest canopy above.
"Don't we need to stay with Mark?" I asked Dakota, unwilling to leave him alone, especially after what we'd just endured.
