The distant crevice got closer and closer, and as it turned out, it was not so small. The archer who carried the child on his back moved quickly but carefully towards the exit. A big storm was still raging outside, so it looked like Damian would have to spend some more time in the cave.
The man continued to walk, and the exit from the cave continued to grow in size. At this point, it already seemed much larger than a two-story building, but it didn't take long to walk. After a couple of minutes of accelerated walking, the archer with a child in his arms reached his ... camp? Near the colossal entrance lay the corpse of an animal resembling a wolf but with antlers resembling those of a deer. Also nearby lay a flask, presumably filled with water, as well as a pack of branches.
The dead body confirmed that the man did not need the bow for nothing, and he had an idea of how to use it. It could also be assumed that he had hunting skills that allowed him to track down the prey.
The man himself, carefully lowering the child and leaning him against the wall of the cave, took numerous branches that were neatly folded and began to build them into some kind of bonfire. He gradually folded large branches on top of each other, two pieces each. A "house" came out, in the center of which finely broken branches were stuffed.
After nearly all the material was used except some long branches, the man, without looking away, reached his hand into the inside of his cloak, he quickly felt what he was looking for. He took out two black-gray stones with small light patches on them.
Taking one stone in his hand, he deftly struck stone on stone. It would be an ordinary, unremarkable process of kindling a fire, which every schoolchild knows about, if not for the result of this process. From the collision of stones, sparks did not appear, as everyone might expect, but a real, bright, hot flame erupted.
This fire looked especially beautiful in a dark and cold cave. Damian immediately focused his attention on this and could not understand why this was happening.
Are these some unique stones? Why was there so much flame from their collision? Such an anomalous event aroused in the child a feeling, the existence of which he seemed to have forgotten - interest.
Oh, of course, he was interested in finding answers to numerous questions related to this place and his newfound body, but it was rather an interest necessary for the sake of surviving, but this fire aroused in him a pure, unshakable desire to find out something new, which he had not experienced for god knows how long.
The bonfire easily flared up from such a quantity of flame, and it burned very brightly for such a small amount of firewood.
The man, by whose face one could tell that the archer himself was surprised by such a result, without thinking twice, decided to get down to business and not think about what he could not understand.
Slightly pushing back the hem of his fur cloak, he reached for the knife that was in the case hanging on his right leg. With a knife in his hand, he walked toward Damian with his usual quiet and agile gait. At that moment, a cold sweat ran down the boy's back.
"Damn, don't eat me… don't eat me…."
Animal fear seized his childish body, and he began to cry with all his strength, not controlling himself.
A child's screech echoed through the cave. But, surprisingly, the man that Damian currently perceived as a homicidal maniac stood right in front of him with a surprised look. Emotions of misunderstanding and bewilderment were easily read on his cold face.
The boy also realized that perhaps he did not want to kill and eat him, but he could no longer stop his cry.
So there were two people, one big, one small. No one understood what the other wanted and what had happened in general.
Sighing grimly, the stony-faced hunter simply walked past Damian, approached the animal's corpse, squatted down, and began cutting off pieces from it.
At that moment, the boy finally calmed down and finally understood.
"Oh, so he just wants to cook food for us."
The thought of the impending food very quickly cheered up the little student. In the meantime, the archer had finished carving two small pieces of meat from the body and was already attaching them to the remaining wooden branches.
After a short time, the meat of an unknown living thing scrolled appetizingly over the fire, gently roasting.
It is worth noting that this man was clearly inexperienced in cooking, although he did not seem to have burned the meat yet.
The edges were more fried than the central part, the inside of the meat looked clearly better than the outside, and the smell was much inferior compared to adequately cooked meat. But now, both the boy and the hunter didn't give a damn about all this.
This food looked like the most delicious thing that could exist in the world, and let at least someone try to challenge this statement.
The second the archer thought the meat was ready, he gave one piece to Damian and took the other for himself.
The meat, as you might guess, was gone in a second. Food that under normal circumstances would have been perceived as "normal" at best now seemed like a godsend.
At the end of the much-desired meal, the man decided that one portion was not enough and cooked another batch of meat, which was also eaten in a matter of seconds.
Well, then he prepared another one, just in case.
After the two finally ate, the man went out for a short while to throw out the animal's corpse, as it was already beginning to emit an unpleasant odor.
Upon his return, he made an extremely unexpected and, at the same time, logical action. He laid his fur coat on the floor.
When Damian saw this, he realized he really wanted to sleep, although he himself did not fully realize this before.
The man approached him and gently took the child in his arms, after which he carried him and laid his body on one side of the cloak, which was closer to the fire, while he lay down on the other.
The fire still hadn't burned down, and the crackling of branches could be heard.
As soon as Damian allowed himself to relax and close his eyes for the first time that day, he felt how tired he actually was.
But, if you think about it, he really was thrown from one emotional state to another. Melancholy from entering the university, shock and despair, acceptance of one's own death, hope, and finally, peace.
Such changes within one day would exhaust even an adult. What can we expect from him, a teenager in the body of a child?
The storm outside gradually calmed down, the bonfire quietly crackled, dying down, and Damian peacefully closed his eyes without a single thought in his head. Finally, he could rest.