The Spirit Guardians Book 1: Enlightened

Chapter 26

"Cassie, wake up!"

Marc's call was muffled from outside Cassie's door. It was still dark outside, and the pale gleam of moonlight illuminated Cassie's bedroom. She rubbed her tired eyes and yawned. Today was the day training began. Cassie had been dreading it for days, and even if she felt somewhat excited last night, she dragged her feet across the floor as she headed to the door.

Cassie quietly leaned over Elijah's crib and gently touched his face. He was still sleeping soundly.

Marc was already sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of oatmeal waiting for her.

"Hey," Cassie said quietly as she took a seat.

"Hey," he replied.

Though she wasn't a big fan of oatmeal (she often compared its consistency to mucus), she gobbled it down anyway, knowing she needed the strength to get to the training facility. It had a cinnamon flavor that was warm and sweet on her tongue. Cassie licked her lips in satisfaction.

"You guys preparing to leave?" a quiet voice came from behind her.

Cassie spun around in her chair. Conny and Lillian had entered the kitchen, both of them in pajamas. It was barely five in the morning, but she supposed they had come to wish her the best of luck.

Marc quietly nodded.

"Hopefully Elijah won't be too much trouble," Lillian admitted.

"What?" Cassie asked, dropping her metal spoon. Her fingers were trembling from the stress of the day.

"We're both cleaning Cherie's today," Conny explained.

"Yeah, and she has training," Marc added.

"Wait. What's going on?" Cassie asked.

"We thought you were taking Elijah to the training facility," Lillian explained.

"We can't!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Well, we can't either," Conny added. "We're doing straight-up physical labor, uninterrupted. We don't have time."

"I told you this yesterday, Marc. Don't you remember?" Lillian asked.

"When?" Marc argued.

Their voices began to rise, and Cassie could hear the faint cries of Elijah in the distance. She sighed and sat up, shoving past them to grab the crying child. She dealt with him in her room, changing his diaper and getting him settled into a new pair of clothes for the day.

Noticing the time fleeting, she fed him quickly and found an old baby carrier in Irene and Miguel's room that she could strap to her.

"And you lecture me about paying attention," she heard Conny snap at Marc as she prepared a backpack full of baby necessities.

"We're going to run late," Marc spoke nervously, glancing at the clock.

"I'm on it," Cassie said, strapping Elijah to her chest. She threw Marc the backpack full of the other goods.

"Best of luck! See you next week, Cassie!" Lillian exclaimed.

Cassie smiled weakly and said good-bye before heading out into the woods with Marc. The air was chilly, causing her to clutch the infant tight to her in order to preserve warmth.

"How many miles is it?" Cassie asked.

"Five," Marc explained. Before Cassie could groan, he said, "I know, I know. I tried to talk to Cherie about finding some transportation, but we were out of luck. Hopefully it'll be better once you start training. We'll get bikes or something, I don't know."