Caged In

Chapter 16

Harbin was eager for the day to end and when he was finally released to his room for free time, he immediately locked the door and brought out the real pages Mr. Olsen gave him. There was something magical about this book and the way the man spoke about it. No matter how he tried to ignore it, he felt like the book was calling to him.

Harbin opened it to the first page, curiosity flipping the pages each few minutes.

Dear Readers, what I am about to share with you may sound like a fairytale, but as unbelievable as it seems, everything is true. The process through which I share my knowledge is one of careful thought and inking; therefore, if you choose to consider my writings to be factual, then I forewarn you to read with caution. Truth can be intimidating, but more importantly, it can be dangerous.

There is a land, not so far away, called the Lost Cities.

Harbin slammed the book closed, panting. This was supposed to be a normal book. When he hid it from Arland, his only thoughts were that Arland wouldn't let him read it because he tries to shelter him and wouldn't want him to read a human's work. What else could he mean? Harbin doubted Arland actually knew that the book pertained to the Lost Cities, but if he did, there would be no way Harbin would ever see it again.

It's a coincidence, thought Harbin. No way some guy in Norway would know about the Lost Cities. Harbin's mind raced through any reasonable explanations that could conclude that the book was fake, but no logical thoughts surfaced. Yet... there was one not so absurd as he originally concurred. Mr. Errol Loki Forkle. He must be the author. After all, who else could it be?

Harbin scanned through the first pages of introduction, noticing many Elvin attributes. Once the introduction was over, the language changed from Norwegian to Elvin. If there was any mistakes in his translation, this was where they ended. How could he ignore the proof when the Enlightened language was right there in the book?

Harbin situated himself on the bed, facing away from the door and holding the book in a way so that his pillows concealed the pages from view of the doorway.

He flipped through the first pages to find that they all related to one story

The first chapter of the book mentioned a boy, Esben Asbjorn, who came of age and set out on a journey.

Soon, the boy came upon a bear with thick white fur. This cub was small and whined and whimpered when Esben came near him.

A trap held one of the polar bear's paws in place, keeping the cub from moving, likely preventing it from returning to its mother.

"Hey, little one," Esben greeted, moving closer to examine the trap and how it was made. The paw was just small enough that if Esben pried open the trap somewhat, he could push the cub's foot out.

"You're going to have to be strong for me, okay?"

It was almost as if the cub understood him because the polar bear did not struggle as Esben removed the paw.

Once the bear was safely freed, he tried to prance around on the ground, crying out when he realized his foot still hurt.

For weeks, Esben cared for the polar bear's physical needs, realizing that a deep affection for it grew inside him. The bear went everywhere with him, though, once the foot healed completely, Esben attempted to release the young bear.

Eventually, the boy acknowledged that his friend would not leave him, and the two journeyed together through the increasingly colder weather. The bear's warmth helped the boy, and during the nights, he slept with his head on the bear's great shoulder, each sharing the warmth of the other.

One day, Esben and his companion were out on a walk after setting up camp in an area not too far from where he found the polar bear when another emerged in the shadows of night. The new polar bear was great, and visibly angered.

When the boy went to hold his friend, Esben noticed similar markings between the bears' muzzles, an anomaly amongst most polar bears; the great female polar bear before him was his friend's mother.

Unfortunately, no amount of convincing would work to deter the great bear from attacking them, despite Esben's pleas in their tongue, the boy having learned the language of the northern bears from his comrade.

"This is your son, can't you see? We mean no harm to you; in fact, seeing you is an amazing opportunity!" the boy explained to her.

She growled something untranslatable and hit her son with her massive paw, which revealed to Esben the small cub cowering behind her.

Realizing that there would be no understanding between the split family, Esben ran to his friend, trying to drag him away; he failed the medium sized polar bear. The mother threw her other claw out, slashing her old son across the muzzle, right across their shared marking.

"DON'T!!" screamed Esben, throwing himself in front of his companion as he held up his arms in destress in a last hope that the bear would leave.

He felt something cold around his hands and saw a bright light appear, hiding the open jaws from his view. With his fear of certain death, Esben shut his eyes, keeping his arms out.

There was yelping... and sounds of crunched snow... then the sounds went away, and all he could hear was the soft whimpering of his friend.

Esben slowly opened his eyes and, to his surprise, saw small flames in the palms of his hands, which were quickly diminishing.

"Did I... hurt them?" he wondered, watching as the last of the fire flickered out of sight.

Turning towards his friend, who had two nasty, open gashes on him, Esben realized that whatever he did, it was necessary; that fire saved the bear's life.

But the other bears were hurt... because of him.

Esben grabbed some of the newly fallen snow and carefully covered his friend's wounds. So what if they got hurt? Both of them were sent away by their families, but even still, Esben's family would welcome him if he returned, right? The polar bear mother gave her son no chance.

"Mother?" he asked, looking west, from where he traveled, "Is this why you sent me out? So I would learn the significance of a home and why one is so special?"

Or... was she like the mother bear? Would she reject him because he was not hers anymore?

Harbin closed the book, stopping at the end of that chapter. Flipping back to the table of contents, he realized that each chapter was a different story, though it was unclear as to whether Esben Asbjorn was the protagonist for each part or not.

There were illustrations for each part of the story, but three stood out to him: the boy speaking to the polar bear, with what Harbin assumed was the polyglot ability, the awakening of Esben's dormant pyrokinesis, and the son looking towards the direction of his mother, who was somewhere out there, possibly wondering about her kid.

Was Harbin's mother looking for him? He hadn't seen her in five years, and even though he had a memory similar to his parents', Harbin wasn't sure if the images in his head were what they really looked like, or combinations of memories and his face pushed together to form what they might look like now. He thought of the bear, whose mother rejected him after he left. Maybe that was what happened to Harbin after he chose to be exiled. However, Harbin was sure his sister would enjoy the attention that came from being practically an only child. And, she definitely would not be hiding behind their parents if she saw her brother again; Orphelin wasn't the type to coward behind another.

But... maybe she could be.

The idea slipped into his head as he thought of the fear she gave him when he was younger. He would reverse the roles, make himself in control. And now, with his Pyrokinesis, Harbin could finally make his sister realize she should not have messed with him.

He slide the book back into its hiding space, unlocked the door to avoid suspicion, then laid down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, which turned into a starry night that included the great Ursa Major by his headboard.

Harbin was not the scared cub; he was going to be the mighty bear combating the world.