The New World (The Last Delar) by Matthew Cousineau Page A

how they were mistreating him.  Once a few older Meno younglings had Ven cornered, and they were roughing him up.  Ven was on the ground covering his face, when one of the older younglings told Taeau to kick his cousin.  Taeau hesitated as he walked up to Ven. Until that day, he had rarely seen his cousin.  He crouched down and whispered in his ear, pretending to taunt him.  Taeau told Ven to run when he stood up and not look back.  Taeau grabbed a stone from the ground, making sure Ven saw him pick it up.  When he turned around, he threw the stone at the leader of the younglings and hit him in the head.  Ven jumped to his feet, climbed a nearby tree, and was able to escape.
    The younglings beat Taeau after that, and warned him never to show his face around them again.  Ven watched what they did from inside a tree.  After the children left Taeau on the ground bleeding, Ven helped his cousin up and carried him home.  They had been best friends ever since.  Ven lost many of his friends after that.  They made fun of him for associating with the city outsider.  It only brought Ven and Taeau closer.
    Taeau stops and stands at the wooden walls of the city.  Ven lands to his right.  "I found it just beyond these walls," says Taeau.
    "You know that younglings are not permitted to go outside the walls of the city." Taeau looks at Ven and smiles, spins, and begins to sprint along the wall.  His excitement fuels his body as he runs.  His legs feel strong and the wind blowing in his ears clears his mind.
    "Where are we going?" shouts Ven, who is trying to keep up with Taeau, who is running faster than Ven has ever seen him run before.  Ven can usually jump circles around Taeau, but tonight he can't keep up even while leaping at full speed.  As Ven struggles to keep up, he sees Taeau's necklace beginning to shine and he stops.  He has never seen his cousin's necklace do this before, and he stands there, confused.
    "Here!" yells Taeau.
    Panting, Ven lands and stares at Taeau's necklace, which has gone dark, "Wha . . . what are we looking for, cousin?" Not listening to Ven, Taeau kneels on all fours and crawls through a crack in the gate.  Carn whimpers and sniffs the spot where Taeau disappeared.  Ven looks around and hesitates for a moment while looking through the crack.  Ven knows how angry his father would be if he knew his son was breaking one of the most important youngling rules.
    "Come on, Ven," whines Taeau, "we won't be outside the walls for too long, I promise.  The treasure is right over here." Ven looks back one more time, shakes his head, and sneaks through the crack.  Once on the other side, he spots his cousin standing only a short distance away.
    "It's just over here.  Come on," urges Taeau.
    They both struggle as they walk through the choking underbrush that pulls at their clothes and fur.  It's not long before Ven notices something hanging from a tree. Ven sees something flapping against the bark, slapping the tree as the wind blows.  Ven becomes confused as he recognizes a pair of his cousin's pants.
    "What is that doing here?"
    "Well, when I found the treasure, I needed to mark the spot with something, now didn't I?"
    "So what did you wear when you left?"
    Taeau scratches his head, "I ran home with no pants on, of course." Ven looks at his best friend for a moment before he breaks out into an uncontrollable laugh.
    "Ha . . . how did you get past your . . . mom . . . with no pants on?" gasps Ven between giggles.
    Taeau shrugs and turns away from his cousin, not understanding what is so funny.  Not letting his cousin distract him, he whacks around the tree, brushing plants out of his way.  Ven continues laughing, and Taeau answers his cousin's question in exasperation.  "Well, I just waited until mom was out in the yard, and then I ran inside our hut and quickly put on another pair of pants.  Ha! Here it is.  Come look."
    Ven comes to Taeau's side and peers over his shoulder at what he