The Spirit Guardians Book 4: Liberated

Chapter 27

Marc hugged his brother tight on the icy porch steps of the cabin. It had been an emotional week, and to make things worse, Conny was now heading back, on New Year's Day, no less. Marc knew the next time they would meet was during the battle. While Marc had more hope than ever for the siege, he knew injury was inevitable, and the last thing he wanted was for his brother to get hurt.

"Stay safe, okay?" Marc said as he pulled away. "You're my only family left, so you need to keep staying healthy."

"I will. I promise," Conny said, gripping his hand tightly.

One more hug, and Conny was descending the steps down to Cherie's car. Marc let out a sigh and turned back inside, immediately being greeted by Cassie. She held her arms open, and he leaned into them, shutting his eyes as her fingers moved through his hair.

"It'll be okay. Conny's strong," she told him.

"I know," Marc complained, slowly pulling away, even though worry filled his body. Besides being worried about Cassie's own well-being, he knew the danger Conny was putting himself in. Marc couldn't bear to lose either of them, or anyone else at the cabin. Francesco's unexpected death had frightened him. He knew more funerals could be just around the corner, including his own.

Marc quickly leaned down to kiss Cassie.

"What was that for?" she teased, grasping onto his arm.

"I don't know," he said, glancing away in embarrassment. "Is it time for lunch yet?"

"It's 10:59 A.M. You're cutting it a bit close, but I guess that's okay," Cassie said, leading him to the kitchen.

...

Cherie returned that afternoon, still looking a bit worn from Francesco's death, though she had kept herself busy by continuing to go over plans for the siege. She had only been home for a half hour from dropping Conny off before calling yet another meeting in the living room.

Marc took a seat on the couch beside Cassie, lifting Elijah into his arms and onto his lap. He held the child close, hoping that when this was done, he would at least have one "parent" left, whether that be Irene, Cassie, or him. He hoped that Elijah wouldn't have to suffer any of those losses though.

"I'm sorry the mourning period was so short," Cherie muttered as she began to speak. "Deaths never come at a good time, I suppose. Unfortunately, we need to start turning our attention back to battle again. We've created a large number of allies and consequently have formed a large military. Everything will proceed on January 14th, as planned. That gives us about two weeks. Those two weeks should consist of you all reviewing the procedure in these packets," Cherie said, passing out large booklets to each of them. "You also should be consistently training to make sure you're in top shape for battle. About a day or two before battle, we will convene near the Preservers' base, though far enough that we won't be noticed."

"What about Elijah again?" Cassie asked curiously. The original plan was to have Francesco watch him, though that was no longer the case. He would have the follow the same protocol for the other children.

"We'll take him with him when we convene. There are a bunch of other children too young to fight that need to be monitored. Some of our older allies have agreed to take them to a safe location farther away and care for them until we can reunite again," Cherie explained. "During that time we are with the others, we will continue reviewing our strategy and practicing fighting. And then we'll set out on the fourteenth."

"Will everyone be gathering together in the same spot?" Marc asked, hoping to see his brother one last time before they took off into battle.

"More or less," Cherie replied. "There will be camps spread over a few acres. The military will be ahead of us though, Marc. I don't think your brother will be given the luxury to wander around in the little bit of time before battle."