Kopii caught the creeping whisper of footsteps. Turning his head, he saw the same man. With the same bowl in his hands.
"Finally awake, sleepyhead. I was starting to think I'd have to force you awake. Open your mouth, come on, time to get your strength back. Or do you want your stomach to stick to your spine?" Larsen fixed him with a stare, waiting for him to part his lips.
"Ah," he exhaled with feigned concern. "You need to eat, you have a long road ahead. Although, if you don't want to… it's your business, we're free people, after all." He paused and smirked crookedly. "For now."
"Shut up," he hissed through gritted teeth, his face contorted in a furious grimace. "When I get out of here, I'll make you drown in your own helplessness. I'll break your bones." With each word, a wave of anger and hatred rose within him. "People like you are rotten to the core with greed." The faces of Gedo and Kanoa flashed in his memory. Just like this one, obsessed with profit, ready for any meanness for the sake of clinking coins. The more he thought about it, the stronger the flame of hatred burned.
"Your threats are empty words. Accept reality, it'll be better for you. Alright, time to get your strength back, you're getting too thin. Open your mouth." Larsen scooped up a spoonful of meat porridge and brought it to Kopii's lips. But he stubbornly clamped his jaws shut.
"If you keep acting up, I'll have to force you." Larsen bored into him with a gaze full of menace. He reluctantly opened his mouth slightly.
"That's better, be a good boy." He watched as the spoon approached his mouth, and at the moment when it almost touched his lips, he sank his teeth into Larsen's hand.
"Ow, let go, you devil!" A blow. "I said, let go!" A blow. He paid no attention to the pain, clenching his jaws tighter. "I said, let go!" A blow. "Ow! It hurts! Let go! You creature!"
Larsen's cries brought his sons running. Kopii saw and heard nothing, his mind clouded by rage. He wanted only one thing: to watch these bastards suffer.
"I'll tear them to pieces, kill every last one of them, no one will get out of here alive, I'll make them pay for everything they've done to me!" he thought, losing control and sinking deeper into the abyss of hatred for all living things.
"Father!!!" the brothers exclaimed in unison.
"Someone, get him off me, for God's sake!"
"Right away, Father," Torvin muttered, running toward his father and Kopii. He raised his hand and struck Kopii in the face. But, looking at the prisoner's face, he froze in horror. He was looking not at a victim, but at a predator. Kopii's face was covered in blood, and his gaze was horrifying, full of emptiness and darkness. Torvin had never seen such a look in his life.
"Why are you standing there like a statue, Torvin?" But Torvin continued to silently stare at Kopii's face, as if paralyzed. Larsen paid no attention to his youngest son's strange behavior. "Elrik, Garvin, help me, aaaa, it hurts so much!!!" He's going to bite my hand off!"
Garvin and Elrik rushed to their father's aid and finally pulled the boy off him.
"That rabid dog almost bit my hand off! Beat him half to death, let him know his place!" Larsen growled.
Without hesitation, Elrik punched Kopii in the face, and he flew to the side.
"How dare you, you insignificant thing? We'll teach you some manners!" Elrik hissed through his teeth. He was always cold and restrained, but when it came to his family, he lost control.
"Torvin, help me, get a bandage, he bit a piece off Father's hand! Torvin, help me up!" Garvin looked more closely at his younger brother. A genuine horror was etched on his face. He walked over to him and noticed that Torvin was trembling.
Elrik continued to beat Kopii, putting more and more anger into each blow. He didn't notice how Kopii had changed, how an inhuman fire had flared in his eyes.
"How dare you bite our father? You should be grateful that we even feed you!" With these words, he kicked him in the stomach with all his might. From the impact, he flew into the darkness, and Elrik heard only his hoarse cough.
"What's wrong with you, Torvin?" Garvin walked over and began shaking his brother by the shoulders. "Why are you silent? What's wrong with you?!" Garvin shook his younger brother hard. But, seeing that it wasn't helping, he slapped him. This at least brought him to his senses a little.
"G… Garvin? Garvin!!! You were right… You were right all along! Why didn't we believe you right away?" Garvin didn't understand what his brother was talking about.
"What are you talking about?" But Torvin ignored his older brother's words. He grabbed Garvin by the shoulders. Garvin noticed that the expression on his face hadn't changed, it held only an all-consuming fear.
"We need to get out of here, and as soon as possible! Hurry, everyone here!" Torvin let go of Garvin and headed for his father, but didn't make it: Garvin grabbed his arm. "What are you doing? Let me go! We need to run!"
"What are you talking about, Torvin? What do you mean I was right?" Garvin was very concerned about his younger brother's behavior. He had never seen him so anxious and frightened.
"His eyes… his eyes…" Torvin whispered, trying to break free of Garvin's grasp. Garvin felt him trying to escape, and reluctantly unclenched his fingers.
"Calm down, Torvin, and explain properly. What about his eyes?" Garvin didn't understand what his brother was trying to tell him. "Just say it, and that's all!"
"His eyes were black…" Torvin cried in horror, desperately trying to break free of his older brother's grasp. "Let me go, we must act immediately!"
Garvin's eyes widened in surprise. He knew that this guy had black eyes. "I know that, Torvin. I know he has black eyes." After these words, Torvin's eyes widened even more, and a terrible understanding was reflected on his face. He screamed:
"His eyes were completely black, just darkness! No pupil, no iris, nothing but impenetrable darkness! He's not human! We need to run!" Torvin screamed, finally breaking free of his older brother's grasp.
Garvin's eyes widened in horror. "They became completely black, like darkness itself." But no one heard these words. Garvin realized that his brother wasn't joking, and his reaction confirmed it. "If that's true… Then all my suspicions about Kopii were correct. After we caught him, I stopped thinking about it. I thought I imagined it, that I was just overstressed." He ran after his brother to his father.
Elrik saw his brothers running to his father. He didn't know what was happening, but decided that they were going to help his father. Taking one last look at where he had kicked him for the last time, he followed his brothers. Approaching his brothers, he noticed that Torvin's face was distorted with fear, and Garvin's face was tense to the limit.
"What's going on?" He didn't understand what had frightened them so much. He heard Torvin's cries, but paid no attention to them, continuing to avoid even looking in Kopii's direction.
"I'll say it as briefly as possible. According to Torvin, this guy has completely black eyes." Elrik raised an eyebrow at what he heard.
"Is that true, Torvin?"
"Yes, Elrik," he heard his brother's voice full of horror. He had never seen his younger brother like this before.
But they didn't have time to reach the tent before their father appeared before them.
"Father, his eyes…" Torvin began, but his father interrupted him:
"I know, Torvin, I heard your conversation. But I don't understand what you're so afraid of. Torvin, we have everything under control."
"But his eyes…" Torvin tried to object.
"What difference does it make what his eyes are like? What are you so afraid of, Torvin? Look at him, he's tied up, and he's beaten up too."
"Father, listen to Torvin! It's not normal, a person's eyes can't change! Look at your hand! Father, he bit a piece off it!" Garvin exclaimed.
"Enough!!!" his father yelled. "He's completely in our power! His hands and feet are tied! What is he going to do to us? He is completely helpless!"
After his father's words, silence fell. All that could be heard was the crackling of the campfire and the distant sound of the river and some strange breathing sound that was more like wheezing. Everyone turned to the source of the sound. What they saw filled them with indescribable horror.