Belbriv stayed with the Carpenter’s that night and none of them could sleep despite how exhausted they were. In the morning, a Light fog covered the town and everything was dead silent.
“I will not let him take my boys and Caro into war! Are you crazy!” Arled was furious.
“We could be free…”
“I don’t care, Ramlen. You don’t even know this man. He could be a falfrey himself!”
“But I trust him. I really believe this will work. We have to trust him; it’s all we can do,”
“Then why don’t you go with them?”
“Belbriv explained that already. When the time is right, he will come back for us, but until then I have to stay here and tell others about what’s going on. If the battle happens… when the battle happens, I can help them.”
“They aren’t warriors, they’re my children!”
“He’s going to train them, Arled.” He grasped his wife’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “They will be free in Dule…”
Arled rolled her head in a circle in frustration before looking at him again.
“I can’t lose them, Ramlen,”
He pulled her in close.
“Belbriv won’t let that happen.”
And so it was officially settled. Belbriv would take the three with him to Dule.
***
Noble, Jon, and Caro sat outside Caro’s house in total silence. The sky was grey and the air was still foggy and humid.
“I can’t fight,” Caro whispered to no one specific.
Both of the boys looked at her.
“Belbriv is going to teach us. We’ll be alright,” Jon tried to encourage, but she shook her head.
“It’s easy for you to say that because I know you both will do well; you’re strong and capable of handling hard situations. I’m not,”
Noble wrapped his arm over her shoulder.
“It’ll be alright, Caro. We’ve got your back no matter what happens,”
She smiled to make him happy, but it was more of a disbelieving smile if anything else.
“When do we leave?” she asked.
“Belbriv said right away. We’re just waiting for the falfreys to make their rounds and then we’ll go.”
The falfreys went through each town every day before and after the glips got home, and on the day that they had off the falfreys inspected the towns once in the morning and once before the sun went down. The glips were ordered to remain in their homes as the blood-colored sun disappeared into the horizon. Once the falfreys were past Bef, the four of them would leave.
“What if we get caught?” Noble proposed. “Someone will notice us for sure,”
“That’s where we have to trust Belbriv. I know we can, too.” Jon told them.
Caro still wasn’t convinced of any of this, but she would have to trust her friends and follow along with everything that she was told, even if it meant risking her life. It was hard being a child of one who believed in the Dark. Although her father never considered himself a falfrey, he still refused to believe in the Light. Her mother believed in the Light, though, and adamantly announced that she was proud to be a glip, and it cost her her life. She was killed when Caro was seven, and from thereon out Caro spent all of her time with Jon and Noble to surround herself with what her mother had taught her. But Caro and her father never spoke a word to one another and kept to themselves. They provided for what they each needed to survive but no more.
“We should probably be getting back to our place to get ready to leave,” Jon suggested.
Even though Arled probably had their provisions ready for them, they still had to get back to their house before the falfreys came.
“Belbriv will have horses waiting outside of town in the woods; we’ll come and get you on the way.” Noble explained.
Once the plan was understood, the boys left their friend and she would wait patiently for them until they arrived once again to get her.
***
Not one sound was heard. No crickets chirped or leaves rustled in the wind. There was no wind. Four falfreys, mounted on horseback, rode slowly through Bef, scanning each direction and house every two seconds. No one even dared to so much as breathe as the soldiers passed their homes. They were afraid.
Belbriv watched through the trees as the falfrey’s, with their Lighted torches, got closer and closer. They passed by him and continued on to the next town; he would make sure that they were clear out of sight then wait for his three new, young comrades as they prepared to embark on this new adventure.
***
Ramlen barely had the curtains pulled back; just enough to see the falfreys pass by their house. Arled tried to keep back the tears and sobbing as she had her arms around both of the boys. Noble’s heart pounded fast as he knew the risk they were taking in leaving Bef for the journey they were about to encounter. Jon’s feet moved slowly back and forth across the floor in tension.
Time seemed to go by eternally slow in some ways and then extremely fast in others. Ramlen checked outside once more then turned to face his family.
“They’re gone,” he declared.
Jon took in a deep breath as they all knew what came next. Noble looked at Jon.
“I guess we should go and get Caro now; Belbriv is waiting…”
It was a hard moment. Would they be returning to their family? Would they be able to conquer to darkness and bring back the Light? It was going to take a great amount of courage and bravery to defeat not only the falfreys but Akaidish himself.
Neither Jon nor Noble had seen their “king” but they both imagined him as a tall, talon-nailed animal trapped inside a human body, dressed in a black shroud and a metallic tunic, ready for battle. The thought of Akaidish sent chills throughout Noble’s entire body.
Ramlen, Arled, and the twins said their goodbyes and the boys grabbed their saddle bags and quietly exited their home, heading towards Caro’s house and then into the unknown on a mission they had yet to prepare for.
