At this point, Roger thought some diplomacy might help lower the number of people they had to fight. “See how your leader abandons you? Join us and you’ll be safe,” the skeleton told the gnome warriors. Some of them were hesitant to do so, but after muttering for a few moments they decided to at least step back from where they had been fighting and let Scer take on the warriors that had been decimating their ranks.

Meanwhile, Rainbow started glowing a bright green color. The process had been unexpected for the rablin, but Mason just smiled. “Go. Finish the spell,” Treling told the little green creature. Rainbow decided to do just that, running over to where Darmae was to begin doing so.

“NO!” Scer exclaimed, shooting a fireball from his mouth at where Rainbow went. But it was too late; the rablin sank inside the tree similar to how the gnome had done so earlier. From the spot where Rainbow went, the green glow started expanding, eliminating Scer’s rot and replacing it with a healthy, natural and restored Great Oak in its place.

“THIS CAN’T BE! AFTER TWENTY YEARS, MY EFFORTS WILL NOT BE WASTED!” the dark being ranted. But anything he did now would indeed be a waste; glowing green roots encircled the shadowy serpent, trapping it in the powerful tendrils despite Scer’s best efforts to break free. The roots even seemed to drain the shadowy snake into them, reducing the powerful beast to a blind old gnome once again. His mighty rings even broke from the power of the spell, disintegrating into a fine black powder. Following this, the roots finished grabbing and surrounding the gnome’s body into a series of natural chains that kept the evil being suspended and trapped in the air, ending his threat to everyone else in the room. Once this happened, a green pulse emanated from the leaves and branches of the Great Oak, soaring across Thorn City brightly like a ripple on a lake for all to see.

“I told you you’d be safe. Now go home, I’m sure that display will attract people less friendly than we are,” Roger told the gnomes. And for the second time in one day, the skeleton had convinced armed gnomes to run off scared; the thought of this gave the doctor reason for a slight chuckle.

Moments after they ran, Rainbow rose from where he had sunk previously; he was a little disoriented, but otherwise fine. At the sight of his rablin friend reemerging, Caleb ran over to him and gave him a hug. “You did it!” Rainbow smiled as the boy embraced him, returning the hug as best he could, considering his size. “Nah, we did it,” he responded. At that moment, all the rablin could think about was the elder John Nieve; wherever he was, Rainbow hoped the Captain was proud of him today.

Roger looked over at John Junior; he really wasn’t in the best of shape, to say the least. He grabbed some bandages from his supplies and started cleaning and treating the wound on his side. Unfortunately, he’d have to wait until he was home to treat whatever the potions were doing; the doctor would have to remember to ask Hazel for a list of what she made and what the ingredients were.

Sara was looking in the same direction out of concern; she was happy Caleb was okay, but she had to wonder if this time Junior had bitten off more than he could chew. For all their differences, the thought of him dying was not something she wanted to happen, so he needed Roger’s help now. “We should get home,” Sara stated simply. If he died to this, she’d never forgive that Hazel woman for making all those potions.

“Not without Byures,” Caleb responded with a shake of his head. Now that it wasn’t a life or death choice to stay, the boy intended on being there for his friend.

“He’ll be alright,” Mason, still weak from his battle, responded, “you have my word that Byures will walk out of here a free man.” He meant it; this alligatorman, despite being an enemy hours earlier, had in fact helped save them all. That debt would be repaid.

“You need rest, Caleb,” Rainbow added, “I’ll stay here with, uh, the red-haired guy to be sure he’s okay, and meet you at Sara’s place later.”

A little reluctantly, Caleb nodded. “Here, take this just in case” he said, giving Rainbow the poisoned dagger. The rablin took it, smiling. “Good job, Caleb. You helped a lot of people today. Get going so John can get some help too.”

“Yeah, will do” the boy replied as he joined Roger, Sara and John Jr. in heading back to the Nieve household.

The small group was silent on the return home. The most noise they made was when Roger accidentally kicked a rock down the street. For a moment the child in Caleb wanted to continue the game, to see how far the rock could travel with them before it skipped far enough off the path that it would need to be left behind. But the exhausted knight won the very brief battle and he dropped his head back down to trudge along behind John Junior.

JJ held himself erect as he lead the way through the streets. No matter how exhausted he was, or how much his body hurt, he would not allow himself to show a physical indication of such. Some of his lesser potions were finally beginning to ware off, though their effects still ravaged his body. His color was slowly returning to normal, and his aching muscles were easing. He also felt mildly nauseous.

Sara walked beside Caleb, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. From behind she studied her son. How he had fallen this far she could not understand. Perhaps he had learned his lesson from all of this. It might only be a mother's dream, but her heart longed for him to set aside his criminal companions and to realize he was causing more harm than good. He could still obtain a respectable job, and he and Kayden could get their lives back on the straight path. A small sigh escaped her. Somehow, no matter what she may wish, she suspected that he would never fully detangle himself from the web of power he had been so immersed in.

As the house came into view, Sara felt her distaste for his situation grow stronger. Kayden waited out front, her anxiety disguised in tending to the flowerbeds below their windows. But her eyes were more often on the street than the dirt she knelt beside. Like a spider stalking a fly, Hazel hovered just past the child. As the small group came into view, Kayden leaped to her feet. She hastily brushed down her dress. Dirt and bits of grass scattered into the wind.

Kayden smiled brightly at the group as a whole, though her eyes remained locked on her father. "I'm happy to see that you have all returned in time for dinner. Jake and Skyla are upstairs taking a nap. Aunt Mary said it would be a wise choice to rest today, so she and I changed all the sheets and turned the beds down if you would like to claim one."

Sara nodded. "Caleb. Go. Roger will see to it that you are properly settled." She sent the child inside with a gentle kiss on the top of his head. Roger accepted his role easily. Once Caleb was asleep, he would see to tending to the injuries and effects of the day that his family had suffered, starting with little Jake. Sara turned her attention back to the distasteful woman. She fully intended to firmly dismiss that Hazel witch as soon as Caleb and Kayden were not there to hear her.

Hazel did not seem inclined to be dismissed. In fact, she appeared to be attempting to lecture John. Her hands were going wildly as she yelled at him silently, gesturing erratically at various symptoms of her potions. Sara had no doubt that if the witch could speak, Kayden would be doing her absolute best to pretend she didn't understand the colorful language.

Frustrated, Hazel threw her arms into the air and promptly dismissed John. She turned on her heal and stomped towards the herb garden she had previously taken note of. First things first, she needed to brew the cure for her voice. And then she would need to try and mix up something to counter the many substances John had stupidly subjected himself to. She had told him to only take two at a time for a reason. Three was the maximum that she would have allowed him to combine, and only if it was truly a necessary. It was just like him to disregard her warnings and to take on more than he could possibly handle. Now she would have to figure out exactly how much and how many he had used on himself and what he had distributed among his men. If he was lucky, he'd get out of this unscathed.

John scooped his daughter up into his arms and merely held her tight. He never wanted to ever let her go again. He had come far too close to death far too many times this last week. She deserved to know her father would always come home to her. "I love you, Kay Kitten." His whisper was ragged with emotion and exhaustion. Her could smell the lye of her soap as he buried his face against her hair. "Let's go inside. I'll sit with you, and you can tell me everything about your day."

Kayden pulled back enough to smile brightly up at her father. "You'll be proud of me, papa! Uncle Marrathew was asking lots of questions, but I didn't give anything away." She snuggled back in against his chest and closed her eyes. "I'm glad you're home, papa. I love you."

Exhaustion weighed on Caleb’s heels, lead weights that dragged him down urging him to rest upon the comfortable bed awaiting him upstairs. Two packed days in a row, featuring both physical and emotional turmoil proved more than enough to drain even the most energetic twelve-year-old. His body ached in a dozen different places, Hazel’s purple restoration potion having done its work and faded back into obscurity. Carefully he pressed at some of the bruising scattered across his arms, chest, and face, exploring the many injuries reveling in the story each held. Every single one a testament to his efforts. A small smile twitched at the corners of his lips. He could just imagine the other children at Red Twig, and the jealousy in their eyes when he told his story, of all the adventures he took and interesting people he met and friendships he forged. How many could lay claim to having helped save an entire magical city? He would be the hero of Eagletown and Thorn, a feat worthy of knighthood surely. That would put a stop to Miss Ardia’s scorn.

He could recall the stern matron of nearly a year prior, dragging him inside by his arm and dumping him unceremoniously into a wooden tub, its soapy contents being considerably less than warm. Every orphan received a bath on a weekly basis, though some Caleb included, were more resistant to the scheduled washing, requiring the firm hand of the head mistress to ensure the cleansing mission was completed in a proper manner.

Caleb emerged from the soapy depths, spouting water, and giggling, mildly resisting Ardia’s attempts to search his dark hair for lice and other pests. “Ah, Miss Ardia I was practicing swordsmanship, every knight needs to know how to fight.” He rubbed water from his eyes, and in doing so splashed some onto the matron’s apron. The older woman’s lips turned down into a look of fearsome disapproval, and she dunked the child beneath the surface, a bit rougher than she should have. Letting him reemerge she took to him with soap and rag, clucking her tongue irritably.

“Practicing swordsmanship, bah, it looked to me like you were rolling in the dirt. Besides foolish boy, knights are the sons of the nobility. You might be many things Caleb Crowsnest, but of noble birth is not one of them.”

“Or, or!” Caleb argued, as he always did whenever this conversation arose. “By noble act of courage, gallantry, and selflessness where the lord or king deems the achiever worthy of such honor as knighthood.” Caleb long since memorized the letter of the law, that could potentially allow an orphaned peasant boy the distinction of reaching this most desired position, usually privileged only to the aristocracy. Rare though the award might be the addendum meant it was possible.

Ardia snorted, pulling him from the bath and toweling him dry. “As if you could ever manage that. Keep your head close to the ground Crowsnest, and put these foolish dreams to rest, you will keep yourself from getting hurt that way. Get dressed and run along now. And do try to stay clean!”

A gentle pull on Caleb’s hand grounded him back in the present. “Mister Caleb?” Roger’s voice held a note of concern, and he observed the child more closely. They were standing in the Nieve’s household kitchen, and Roger had just finished putting together a quick sandwich for the child to eat before he was put to bed. “Are you quite alright? You seem to have drifted off there for a moment.”

He gave himself a little shake, letting the last dregs of the memory fade. “Yeah, I’m fine. Only tired that’s all.” He assured the doctor. “Thanks.” He remembered to say when Roger gave him the food. He bit into the bread and meat hungrily, having forgotten the last time he had the chance to eat.

Sitting the boy down and letting him finish the quick meal Roger set about making several more for the rest of the family, who were no doubt starving as well. “I’m certain you are tired, more like completely fatigued after today. Once you finish you can take John’s old bed upstairs again, he will no doubt be sleeping on the infirmary one down in my office.”

His face fell, and the food turned to ash in his mouth. Setting the half-finished sandwich down he forced himself to swallow, his grumbling stomach forgotten. “Is John going to be alright?” Caleb asked, a conflict of both spite and concern waging in his heart.

The fleshless hands stilled in their work, his skull dipping slightly. “I don’t…” Roger caught himself and resumed the finishing touches on the platter. “John is one of the most stubborn individuals I know, he’s strong, and has every reason to live. If anyone could survive such an ordeal, it would be him. Besides, he will have world renown doctor, and a potion master attending him.”

“Oh, alright then.” Roger seemed convinced, and he made sound arguments. Caleb resumed eating, feeling moderately better. Byures, John, all of them could be saved from the brink of death, besides outside forces best efforts to finish them off. Caleb felt a happy thrum in his heart and he finished his meal jumping up from the kitchen table despite himself. “Hey Roger.”

The doctor turned from his work. “Yes?”

“Could I go out to Edward first, I know you’re going to be busy, but I can find the upstairs on my own once I get too tired. If its alright of course. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

The doctor wanted to deny the request, seeing the dark rings around Caleb’s eyes, and the no doubt numerous bumps and scratches that needed rest to heel. Yet, he could not bring himself to say no, not right now. “Very well, but you need sleep. Do not be out too long. He’s probably worried about you as well, so it’s for the best I suppose.”

Giving the doctor a heartfelt thanks you Caleb scurried from the kitchen, passing through the parlor on the way to the back door. He paused just long enough to collect Flower, the seagull squawking happily at the boy’s presence. She hopped onto his shoulder and pecked at his ear, in a friendly but ‘don’t leave me again’ manner. Her injured wing was still tightly wrapped in its makeshift cast, but she looked much better after a full day of preening and rest. Thus, reunited with the first companion he made on his journey Caleb entered the Nieve’s garden space, spotting the golden equine at once. Edward gave an excited shout running to meet his friend halfway.

“You’re alright!” He whinnied, not even trying to conceal the relief in his voice. The young hippocampus pressed his head against Caleb’s chest, until the boy wrapped his arms around the horse’s neck.

“Of course, I am.” He chuckled releasing the embrace and stepping back. “You said I would be, remember?”

“I was still worried.” Edward pawed at the turf, looking slightly embarrassed. “After I saw all those gnomes, going inside. There were so many… I ran for help but what if I wasn’t fast enough…? And Sara and Roger, they are only two people. What if I was wrong and you did get hurt, really hurt.”

“Our friend saved us.” Caleb explained, trying to spare his friend’s guilt. “Byrues the Hunter, he was amazing… Its kind of a long story actually. A lot happened after we went inside.”

They settled inside the stables to each tell their version of events. Edward lay down in the hay, and Caleb rested his head against the horse’s broad chest while Flower perched above them, watching over both youth as they swapped tales. They soon lost track of time, and when no on came out to find him Caleb felt himself starting to drift. The unorthodox conditions were oddly comfortable, the hay felt soft and the air warm. Evening shadows cloaked the stable in cozy darkness, and Edward had long since fallen asleep. Glancing up he could see Flower, her head tucked under her good wing. Edward’s rhythmic breathing was lulling, and Caleb lacked the energy to move. Deciding the effort of returning to his offered bed upstairs would be too much Caleb let himself slowly slip into unconsciousness…

After a good night’s rest with his friend, Caleb Crowsnest heard distant footsteps coming closer to him. He tried to doze off again, but finally got up when he heard Jake slam open the door to the stables. “Caleb!” Jake said, as he ran towards the four-years-older child and gave him a hug. “I’m so happy to see you! Yesterday everything was so scary and you were so brave! I’m so sorry I couldn’t help more!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Caleb responded, not wanting his friend to feel bad, “we’re all okay and the city is safe.”

“Oh! You have to tell me about that! What happened?” Jake inquired.

“Oh, it was so cool!” Edward began. “Uh...where do I start?” he asked Caleb.

Caleb laughed. “I’ll tell him what happened,” the boy said, and he proceeded to do just that. Jake and Edward listened intently, despite the latter having heard this story already. At the end, Jake gave his vote of approval, figuratively speaking. “That was so cool! I can’t believe you charged the old lady head-on like that!” And as that reminded him of something, the child added “oh, that’s right! I came out here to tell you all that Gramammie is making her special pancakes! Come on, they should be ready now!”

As Caleb, Edward, Jake and Flower walked to the house, the hippocampus had a question: “what are pancakes?”

“Oh, they’re great! They’re these flat circle batter things, usually with syrup and butter, and Gramammie’s are extra great too, with cinnamon and whipped cream and whatever you want!” As they approached the door, he added “I’ll be sure to bring you some!”

“Don’t worry Eddy, we’ll be back,” Caleb said, hugging the golden stallion before he followed Jake and Flower inside.

Even before they got to the kitchen, they could smell the battery breakfast food in the air. Everyone was at the kitchen table except for Sara (who was making the food), Roger and John Jr., who were eating in the doctor’s office.

“Hi Calbh!” Rainbow said between pancake bites as he saw the child come to the kitchen. “Y’ sshld try these, thy’re great!” Mary and Marrathew waved to him also, the latter doing so while eating his food in a hurry. Even Ribbon was there, waiting for any stray pancake scraps that might fall from the table.

“Can you please make mine look like a heart, Gramammie?” Skyla asked with her innocent voice as she waited for another pancake. From the looks of things, she had eaten one and was waiting for another. “Oh, me too!” Kayden jumped in.

“Certainly, dears” Sara replied as she continued her cooking, “Caleb, Jake, take a seat. Any requests for yours?”

“A biiiig pile of whipped cream please!” Jake said. Caleb wasn’t used to this; he occasionally had meals at people’s houses, but usually the Red Twig Orphanage served meals in a cafeteria-like style, and customized pancakes were never on offer. “Uh...surprise me?”

“Okay,” Sara said with a smile. And so once the food was ready, everyone ate their pancakes with pleasure. Caleb was pleased with how the eldest Nieve made his pancakes: shaped like birds with cinnamon mixed in. There were even blueberries that were meant to be bird’s eyes. In the back of his mind, the boy had to wonder if being together like this was what being in a family was like.

Marrathew finished his first. “Thanks for the breakfast mom,” he said as he hugged her, “but I need to get to work. Love you all, good work yesterday Caleb.” Saying this, he rubbed the hair of all of the kids, then grabbed a briefcase and left the house. Once everyone else finished, Sara had a suggestion. “Mary, why don’t you and the kids go bring some pancakes to Edward?”

“That sounds like a great idea, mom” her daughter responded. “Come on kids, follow me.” The four youngsters got out of their chairs to do so as Mary grabbed a plateful of pancakes, but Sara looked over at Caleb as he was moving. “Oh, Caleb, could you stay here actually? I need your help with something.” The young boy nodded, so he sat down again as Mary took the kids outside.

Once everyone else left, Sara sat down with Caleb and Rainbow. She looked hesitant, but pressed on anyway. “Okay, Caleb, so I need to tell you something.”

“Okay, what is it?” the boy asked.

“It’s a little long, so please listen until the end. Anyway, you haven’t met her, but Roger has a daughter, Lydia. About six months ago, she was kidnapped into slavery. We know where she is, so Roger hired some mercs to save her. That didn’t go well, and they were mostly killed. I am truly sorry Caleb, but I need to go rescue her; I can’t let her live that kind of life.”

Caleb was truly shocked. Slavery didn’t exist in the Southern Kingdom, so this was his first time hearing of such a thing. But he was also confused. “I’m sorry to hear that, but why are you apologizing to me?”

Sara sighed, then went on. “If I’m gone, someone has to look after them,” she said, pointing outside to where the kids were, “plus Junior isn’t in good shape. Roger needs to be here for that, so that means he can’t go with you to Eagletown right now.”

The look on Caleb’s face was painful for Sara to see, but Caleb didn’t hate her. He was processing what she had told him; it’s not like he couldn’t understand why it was happening. In fact, Sara and Roger had been nothing but kind to him and his friends, from helping Edward with his water sickness to fighting alongside him in battle. Really, it would be more surprising if they didn’t put rescuing a member of their family ahead of everything else.

“It’s okay,” Caleb said, trying to mask his disappointment.

“Again, I’m sorry. I know Roger would be happy to go to your town once Lydia is safe.”

Caleb’s face lit up at Sara’s words as he got a burst of inspiration. He loudly declared his next plan: “I’ve got it - I’ll go with you!” The determination on Caleb’s face, despite the circumstances, were quite the contrast from his disappointment moments earlier.

Now it was Sara’s turn to be shocked, and unlike in the Great Oak, the older woman couldn’t hide her incredulity this time. “No, no way. That makes no sense.”

“Sure it does! With my help, we’ll rescue her sooner, and then Roger can help me sooner!”

“That’s not the point. It’s not safe for you to go.”

“I’ll be okay, I helped save this city and I fought a bunch of dwarves too. You can’t stop me, Miss Sara.” Once again, balancing familiarity and respect was important.

Rainbow, who until now had uncharacteristically said nothing, decided to chime in now. “Don’t worry Sara, I can look after him too.” Caleb smiled at the revelation that Rainbow would join them.

It was just one thing after the other, she thought. “I didn’t ask you to come, Rainbow” she said as she shook her head.

“Too bad. Caleb is, so I am too. Besides, I owe it to the Captain to help.”

The old woman didn’t know what to say now. Caleb just looked at her with determination; Rainbow just looked relaxed and was fidgeting with one of the forks he had used to eat pancakes earlier, as if he already knew what was going to happen. Finally, Sara sighed, then looked Caleb dead in the eye. “Fine. But let’s be clear now: I’m in charge here. The Blackscale Empire is an endlessly cruel place, filled with dragons and humans who will make your life a nightmare at the slightest provocation. We’re going there to save Lydia, not charge off to help every person in trouble. If we don’t work together seamlessly, you’ll be killed or worse, and you’re both too important to me for me to allow that. Understood?”

Caleb nodded while Rainbow gave her a salute with the fork. Sara responded with a hint of a smile before continuing. “Okay, so first thing’s first; we’ll leave tomorrow morning. You two need more rest and I need to figure out the best way to get us to the Prison Mines without being discovered. Go check up on Edward, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, but don’t mention any of this to the kids yet. I want to tell them what’s happening myself.”

The two nodded, then got up to leave the house; Rainbow walked outside first, but Caleb (after a little hesitation) gave Sara a quick hug before joining his rablin friend. As he walked towards Edward, Caleb realized that he’d have to talk to the hippocampus at some point about what he wanted to do next. There was no way he’d force Edward to travel with him.

Once the boy and rablin had left, Roger walked into the room carrying a few plates and silverware. “You were right,” Sara told him as he set the dishes in the sink, “Caleb wants to go with me.”

“So I heard,” the skeleton doctor replied. He sets a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, that boy can hold his own. If you end up having to fight, he’ll be a great help.”

“But how am I supposed to sneak a rablin into the mines? Or stay undetected until we find her?” Sara asked.

Roger stroked his invisible beard for a few moments, considering the woman’s question, before giving his response. “He can cast illusions. I think the question becomes: how does he sneak you in? And as for a way to stay undercover, I have an idea. But it depends on-”

The undead creature’s thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. “Ugh, that’s probably the witch. Can you get her to John’s room? I need to talk to Caleb and Edward.”

Sara's displeasure at the request was evident. Unfortunately, Hazel was the best chance they had to save her son. She alone knew what was in every potion he had taken, and if someone had a counter to the concoctions, it would be her. For John and Kayden's sake, Sara crossed to the door and pulled it open. "Hazel."

Hazel smiled politely. "Sara." Her arm was wrapped in a yellow bandage with a pungent scent, but otherwise there was no indication from the witch that anything had happened here before. "It is lovely to see you again. I brought a few things for John and Roger." Wordlessly Sara turned to escort her to the infirmary.

~~~~

Roger groaned as he stood up from the table. Caleb's face twisted with confusion. The skeleton laughed. "When your bones are as old as mine, you will be groaning the day after battle as well."

"But..." Caleb decided it wasn't worth trying to apply logic to Roger's condition. "Yes sir." The youth trailed after him in trusting silence. From the garden the sound of children at play floated across the air. The smell of wet dirt rose up about the pair as they crossed the garden. Edward, Jake, and Skyla chased each other around the beds of flowers and vegetables. Skyla was screaming something unintelligibly as she tried to grab her brother. Edward lapped them both easily. Kayden sat by herself pinching flowers off the closest herb bush.

"Edward." Roger offered the young hippocampus a kindly smile. "Could you walk with Caleb and I? I have some things to collect for John and I could use your help."

"Sure!" Edward trotted over eagerly, his tail swishing as he batted away the occasional bug. "What are we getting first?"

"Can I help?" Kayden looked up at her uncle hopefully, her eyes bright with barely contained tears.

Roger shook his head. "You are doing fine as you are, Kayden. I will need those blooms soon enough. Thank you for getting a headstart on them. I am impressed you remembered them on your own." He ushered Caleb and Edward away from the others with a sweep of his bony arm. "This way, boys. We'll start over near the sage."

Edward trotted happily down the path. "Caleb said Mister John was very brave yesterday! I can't wait for him to be better so he can tell me all about the fight! Caleb already told me everything, of course, but I want to hear it from his view as well!"

Roger smiled as he placed a gentle hand on Edward's back. "You may need to wait a while for that, my young friend. I have a task that I need to ask you to complete for me." Edward's head tilted with curiosity, and so Roger explained his plan to the colt. Edward was quick to agree to the task.

That was something that Caleb found himself admiring about his friend. No matter how small or how dangerous the request was, Eddy was so quick to offer to help others. Caleb was not certain Edward had the ability to deny assistance to those in need, so swift was he to leap at the chance to help. It did not seem possible to the boy that his friend might willingly let someone go unaided. Edward was prancing happily now. "I'll be ready to go when you are!"

Roger smiled brightly. "Wonderful. After I tend to John, I shall make you a dye for your coat so that you will be less conspicuous. That will help you get into the mines more easily." He stroked his long gone beard as he thought over the particulars. "You will need to get use to a harness as well, so it would be wise for you to practice as you make your trip there. I think I have a pony cart from when John-the senior, not our John- was little. I will see if I can hook it up to you so you can pull Jake and the girls about the garden today."

Edward was pulling around the cart, having fun with the kids and Rainbow. The rablin wasn’t sure how he ended up in the cart, but he was enjoying it all the same. It reminded him of the Captain; he had told the rablin that in the past, he would give rides to the neighborhood children on holidays. Even Kayden was having some fun, despite her mind being on her father. It is explained that John Sr. would hire a horse to give rides to the neighborhood children on special occasions.

Roger was walking next to Edward, observing him and adjusting the reins on the cart as needed. The skeleton doctor noticed that the hippocampus’s hooves were a little worn and remembered something an old friend had given him. He stopped and talked to the equine:

“Edward, I should go inside, I have something to give you. Caleb, could you come with me?”

Caleb agreed, so the skeleton and boy went inside the house. The pair ended up in the doctor’s office. It was an elegant space, decorated with classy wooden shelves similar to a library. Those shelves were perhaps more full than a library’s would be though: various books occupied every nook and cranny of space there, and then some. Even more texts were in various boxes scattered around the room. Towards the windows was a desk with papers and books stacked on it; near that was a bed where John Jr. was laying, with Sara sitting at a chair beside her son while Hazel brewed something for the man at a nearby table.

Caleb was saddened to see John Jr. in such a weakened state; emaciated and diminished, lacking some of the energy he normally does. The child ran towards the man. “Are you okay?” Caleb asked. John Jr. wasn’t sure if it was confidence or bravado, but he answered the child’s question. “Yeah, don’t worry about me. I’ve fought through worse. I’ll get through this.”

Meanwhile, Roger grabbed something - four horseshoes and a sheet of paper - and walked to his desk to start writing something. Once he finishes, Roger walked over to Caleb and gave him the items and explained what they were for. “These horseshoes were given to me by the hippocampus that brought me back to Thorn all those years ago. Edmund was grown then, but wore these when he was little. He gave them to me as a sign of our friendship and they mean a lot to me, but you all have done so much for us and Eddy could use them more. Take them and these instructions; apparently it’s really easy to bond these to his feet. Then he’ll be able to walk much more comfortably.”

“Thanks Roger,” Caleb said before turning back to John. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, go on, Caleb,” the man responded, “get those to your friend.”

Caleb started to leave, but apparently John Jr. had changed his mind. “Caleb, wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Before you go, I’d like to give you something,” he said, reaching for his sword that was resting on the bed, “I’d like you to have this. I know we don’t always see things eye to eye, but you’ve done a lot for our family, and I want to thank you for it. Take this, I’m sure it will help you.” Saying this, John handed the sword to the youth.

“...thank you.” Caleb responded simply.

“No problem,” the man said with his signature grin, “give Edward my best. And Lydia too, when you see her.”

Caleb weakly smiled and nodded, then left the room. Sara smiled, asking her son if he needed anything else from her.

“No thanks Mom,” he replied.

“I should start preparing, then,” she said as she got up and walked towards the door.

“Love you mom,” Junior said before Sara was about to leave.

“Love you too, son” the elderly woman responded before closing the office door behind her.

Whatever Hazel was thinking about what she had heard versus what transpired yesterday, the skeleton doctor decided it didn’t matter. Before she could say anything, he asked her “Hazel, were you able to do what I asked about yesterday?”

-----

“Wow! These are great, thanks!” Edward told Caleb, who had just finished casting the spell a minute before. The hippocampus had been testing his new horseshoes by pulling everyone around the yard again

“No problem!” Caleb responded. The spell had been easy to cast thanks to Roger’s instructions, which had been written in beautiful and impeccable penmanship. Apparently these horseshoes were magical, crafted specifically for hippocampuses who spent lots of time on land like Edward had been doing lately. If he needed to transform, these horseshoes would stay with his horse form and return when he became a horse once more. These would greatly help him avoid incidents like what had happened in the forest and increase his stamina considerably.

“How is the cart?” Caleb asked.

-“It’s fun!” Edward responds. “I can’t wait to go save...” he hesitated, seeing Caleb’s face becoming alarmed, “...everyone from the green dragon! Come on Rainbow, pretend to breathe fire!”

Rainbow did not look amused at the moment, but obliged, remembering Sara’s request of him. “Roar” he declared with some hesitance, raising his little arms up and creating little hooks with his hands, “I’m a dragon!”

Caleb snorted at the sight of his rablin friend’s poor acting as Sara walked up to him, glancing at Junior’s sword in his possession before looking at her grandchildren.

“Kids, come here please. I have something to tell you,” she said.

Hazel nodded once. "My notes are in the book on the table. You won't be any more successful than I am, however. These potions are my creations, I know everything about them. There's nothing you can brew that I could not." As she spoke, her hand continued the slow measured rotations through the pot. Three clockwise, four counterclockwise, two clockwise, one counter clockwise. Repeat. The freshly cut yew stick still seeped sap, a vital part of the process. From a nearby glass dish Hazel took a pinch of a powdered silver leaf and sprinkled it across the simmering liquid in her pot. "You are welcome to look them over, but only the pages I have marked for you."

Roger smiled at the woman he disliked. "Thank you. I will be certain to stay within the allotted pages."

Hazel's frown was as intense as ever. This time it was directed at John Junior. "You are a blithering idiot, and the lies you tell everyone are very insulting to the warnings I gave you with those concoctions."

John closed his eyes so he would not need to look at her. Hazel's tongue could be as sharp as her mind, when she cared to use it, and he did not wish to invoke any more of her ire than necessary. "I was careful with what you gave me. Darmae used a spell that intensified every substance in my body. I believe it heightened the magic of everything within a specified range. Ow!"

Roger raised an eyebrow at the bone Hazel had bounced off John's forehead. Whatever she had been using it for earlier, it appeared she no longer considered it to be the most vital item on her workstation. At least, not more vital than inflicting a bit of pain upon her boss. "Is this part of your healing process?"

"It is now." Hazel snapped. "You did not think it important to tell me that part of things? Has anyone done a diagnostics to determine exactly what was amplified by how much? I've been dousing you with the wrong percentages if she amplified things too much! The intensity of their effects does matter! What shall happen to your daughter if you do not recover from this? Shall she live without a father? Or shall she be saddled with an invalid to care for over the rest of her life? I do not intend to raise her!" Shaking her head, Hazel snatched up a small basket. "Roger. Stir this. Three clockwise, four counter, two clock, one counter. Got it? I need to go get some more skullcap from your garden."

As Hazel stormed from the room, John let out a long sigh. "Could of sworn I told her."

~~~~

Sara looked around at the young faces around her. Kaden especially looked concerned about the subject of her announcements. The child was dressed in a bright yellow and gray dress that contradicted severely with the expressions she wore. Someone so young should not have so many fears and anxieties. Her other grandchildren still seemed happy when they played, as children should. Skyla was still giggling over Edward's latest joke, even as she looked up at her grandmother expectantly.

"Caleb, Rainbow, Edward, and I shall be leaving on a small trip soon." She saw no reason to lie to the children about what they were doing, only the danger of it. "Aunt Lydia has been located, so we're going to go and see about showing her how to get home. We shouldn't be too long, I don't believe."

"Jake," Sara smiled at the young boy. "I need you to do an especially good job of keeping your sister and Kayden safe."

Kayden wrinkled her nose with displeasure. "Papa keeps me safe." She stated the sentiment as if it were fact.

Sara couldn't find it in herself to argue with her granddaughter. "Your mother and Lala then, Jake." She knew that Marrathew would do everything he could to protect all of her little ones. "Mind what Roger says, all of you. And listen to your mother. Now. Do any of you need anything before I am on my way? Best to tell me now, I won't have time for requests later."

Two days in the making preparations were finally complete. The departing journeyers gathered in the front lawn of the Nieve household saying their last goodbyes to those who would be remaining behind. Even the younger members made it out, despite the early hour, though John remained bedridden, his condition making it impossible for him to make even the short trip outside. Caleb and Edward and Rainbow stood a little apart from the main group, finishing up the final touches to their mode of transportation. Boy and hippocampus looked quite different from when the first arrived. The young equine was given a layer of dye coating, which changed his golden coloration into a more subtle bay. Strapped to the cart and shoed he looked very much the normal everyday horse. Caleb traded out his worn-down garments for some of John’s old ones which were meant to be passed to Jake when grew a little older. They fit surprisingly well for being hand me downs, if a bit tight in the waist and long in the legs, but Caleb appreciated them all the same. His old shirt was nearly torn to shreds and he hadn’t thought to bring extra when he snuck away from Eagletown all those weeks ago. Besides his new clothing Caleb carried John’s sword strapped across his back, the blade having been a too long to wear comfortably at his hip.

Edward shifted uncomfortably in his physical restraints, pushing a little closer to Caleb. “Are you alright Eddy?” The boy set a comforting hand on Edward’s flank, reassuring his friend.

“Tell you the truth…” Edward whispered. “I don’t like the idea of going further from the ocean. It feels so far away already. I guess I didn’t think of it until now, but we’re traveling inland away from the water. It just feels wrong I guess.”

Over the last two days when recuperation had been their main goal the original crew had gone back to the water’s edge partially for Edward’s benefit and to check on their boat. The vessel remained unharmed, though much of the hold had been pilfered. Luckily, they were not carrying anything of great value anyway. They secured the [i]Eagle’s Deliverance[\i] at a proper harbor and then just relaxed by the water’s edge letting Edward enjoy himself, swimming and healing. At the end of the day the hippocampus seemed reluctant to drag himself away from his aquatic home, but Caleb never got the feeling he was dreading the journey inland. He seemed quite excited, and eager to get underway. The change in mood must have been a recent occurrence. “Eddy, you know you don’t have to come. You could stay here-“

“No.” Edward said, with such force it almost made Caleb jump. “I’m going, it’s just scary. You know?”

Caleb thought back to all the times he had felt scared or uncertain during his adventure. How many occasions did he have to set his jaw and ask himself what the right thing to do was? They seemed almost countless and melded together in his mind. “Yeah, I do know. You’re being brave, and knightly.”

While the two friends were talking Sara finished up her goodbyes. Giving her children and grandchildren one last hung each Sara joined the crew at the cart. “Everyone ready?” She asked looking to each of her volunteers in turn. Caleb’s young and determined face, Rainbow’s more cautious nod, and Edward’s nervous but adventurous expression, all in unanimous agreement. Even Flower, the seagull looked fully prepared from her position perched on Caleb’s shoulder. They made an odd band, one that would certainly attract unwanted attention if seen by the wrong people, but they were willing to try their best no matter the danger. Sara felt a stab of guilt, putting them all into jeopardy for a mission she should be undertaking alone. Nevertheless they were determined to accompany her and save someone they did not know, at tremendous risk of their own lives and freedom.

“Are you?” Rainbow inquired quietly.

Sara took a deep breath, her head dipping in acknowledgement. “Yes, let us be off.”

Caleb, Rainbow, Sara and Flower were sitting on the front bench of the pony wagon, riding it through the Northern Border District to, well, the border. This was the most direct way to get to the Blackscale Empire; from there, they would begin their trip northwest to the Coldrock Prison Mine System (named after the mountain range where it is located) where they would find Lydia. The wagon also contained many old, valuable books that Roger had acquired in his 400+ years of life. The plan was to sell them in the city of Auria to help the group maintain a good cover story and provide funds for their journey. Roger was clear on this, even providing a price list based on his research written in his usual high-quality penmanship. “Lydia is priceless to me,” Roger had told them, “I don’t care if I never see any of these books again.”

As the group got closer to the border, Rainbow got up and said he’d go inside the wagon.

“Will you need to be hidden the entire time?” Caleb asked.

“A lot of it,” the rablin replied, “but don’t worry, I brought reading material.”

The boy looked at the contents of the wagon; besides supplies for the trip, it was medical books as far as the eye could see. “You’re going to learn medicine?” he asked.

Rainbow rolled his eyes at Caleb. “No, no, no - magic. See, after you all left the chambers a few days ago, Mason and I got to talking.”

“Who?”

“The lanky red-haired guy. Anyway, Mason said there’s no way I should’ve known that spell. Super advanced and blah blah blah. It makes sense, but whatever. He then asks how I was feeling because he used my mana to save Byures; I was fine, but didn’t think much of it. Apparently I have more mana than anyone he’s ever met, because that should’ve drained me or something.”

At this, Sara arched her eyebrows; Mason was famous across Thorn for his magical abilities, especially for someone so young. He was not the sort of man to say that in jest. She didn’t say anything though and let the rablin continue his story.

“Anyway, red hair guy tells me to ‘hone my gift’ and I asked how to do that. Long story short, after we made sure Byures was safe - he says hi by the way - we went to Mason’s place and he gave me a book on magic. Supposedly if I practice enough, I’ll be able to-”

At that point, Sara had to interrupt. “We’re at the border,” she said. Rainbow took that as the obvious cue it was and hid within Roger’s books. Being a tiny creature made that easier than it would be for someone like Caleb, plus if worst came to worst he could use an invisibility illusion to make himself undetectable.

Using the reins to “control” Edward, Sara stopped by the border guard in full Blackscale uniform when he held up his right hand to make a stop signal. This was the one way to get directly to the Empire from Thorn City, and as such it was heavily armed. Failing to do even the slightest thing correctly could potentially ruin their chances at saving Lydia before they even began.

“What are your names?” the human man asked.

“I’m Sally Smith, and this is my grandson Calvin. We’re from Thorn.” Just like she had told them last night, they would use fake names to minimize any risk.

“What is the purpose of your trip?”

“I sell antiques for a living. I got a great deal on these rare books and we’re going to sell them up in Auria.” Saying this, Sara showed the guard the copyright page of a hardcover book, The Complete Compendium of Medicine, which was apparently published in 1225.

The guard’s eyebrows rose. “Not bad,” he said, “and how long do you intend to be in the Empire?”

“About three weeks.”

“And do you-”

Just then, the guard was interrupted by a loud, ringing bell. “One moment please, stay there.” Staying this, he pulled his sword from his sheath on his belt and looked around. Sara thought for a moment he might have been suspicious of her as he looked under the cart, but he only spent a moment there, turning his attention to the direction of Blackscale and away from Thorn.

Suddenly, he saw what he was looking for; a goblin man had somehow managed to sneak past the other guards; he was middle-aged and looked like he had been through a tough battle of some kind very recently as there was a large bruise where one of his eyes should’ve been.

“Oh no you don’t,” the guard said, throwing the sword at the goblin. It hit him sharp-side first, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. He walked towards the body as another guard ran up to him. “Good job Jensen,” the new man said, “is it alive?”

Jensen felt the man’s pulse. “Nah, it’s dead,” he responded as if he was talking about the weather as he pulled the sword from the being’s corpse, “that’s what they get for trying to run though. Good slaves should know better.”

“I’ll fill out the damaged property form,” the other guard said as he picked up the corpse. “Man, I hate paperwork.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll have to clean my sword after-oh, right, I’ve kept some people waiting,” Jensen realized, “excuse me.”

At the wagon, Caleb was trying his best to hide his seething rage and desire to jump into action. Those men made killing sound so trivial and it infuriated him. As the guards talked about the dead man as if he was livestock, Sara was afraid the child would do something they’d regret and wrapped one of her arms around the boy, hugging him. “I know, dear,” she whispered, “I know.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting, ma’am” Jensen said as he returned to where Sara was like nothing had happened. “Any slaves to register?”

“No, sir” Sara responded.

“Alright then, welcome to the Blackscale Empire! Have a great day” he cheerily responded.

“You too,” Sara replied with a fake smile.

As soon as they rode out of distance of anyone, Caleb asked a simple question: “why? How can people act like that?”

“I wish there was an easy answer, child,” Sara sadly replied, “but there isn’t. The world can be a cruel place, and I don’t know that it will ever not be that way; but if you surround yourself with good people that you love and do the best you can to be good yourself, it becomes a much brighter place. Are you okay?”

“I think so, yeah.” Caleb said a little sadly.

“Will you be okay with worse? Because it will get worse before we can save Lydia.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” This time, whether through willpower or time, the sadness in the child’s voice was gone. He would do whatever it took to save Lydia from a fate like the orc’s: it was the knightly thing to do and he had given his word anyway. And in the back of his mind, Caleb felt that Roger was right when he spoke to him at Captain John’s memorial ceremony; he felt like he was one of the Nieves, or at least he did when he was with Sara. “We’ll save her, I know it.”

Sara smiled at the boy’s bravery; moving forward while scared was the definition of courage. This child had sailed across the ocean, fought against cultists, saved a city, and was now helping her save her granddaughter for no reason other than to help people who needed it. None of this had to have been or would be easy, and there was no doubt about it; Caleb was a kind child and special to her. Sara hugged him now with both arms, mentally vowing to herself that she would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

Caleb sat quietly in Sara's embrace. It was nearly an hour before he became alert to a change in their pace. "Edward? Are you doing alright?" The youth sat up and leaned forward to hear his friend better.

"Yes, I'm okay." Edward answered in a weary voice.

Caleb frowned. "Are you sure that you're okay? You seem really tired."

"It's just a very long way from home." Though reluctant to admit his weakness, the young hippocampus was honest with his friend. "I can't feel my magic at all any more."

Sara and Caleb exchanged a look. They hadn't considered the possibility of Edward having a limit to the range hey could go. And he was still so young, what Roger knew from his old friend might not apply to little Eddy yet.

"Have you had enough of your salt water?" Sara's voice was clipped with focus as she set to discovering a solution to their possible situation. "How well did you sleep last night?"

Edward cast a guilty glance back at them over his shoulder. "I though I'd had enough, but maybe some more would help. Can you prepare it for me, please, Caleb?" The lanky boy nodded. He passed the reigns to Sara so he could get to work.

"Rainbow, can you open that secret compartment and get out a half cube of salt, please?"

The Rablin was quick to obey the request. He had grown rather fond of Edward himself, and he hated to think that the child mighty be suffering. Flower appeared to be of like mind. From the skies above, the seagull dropped down to draw level with the cart. She swooped forward and landed upon Edwards back. The bird rearranged her white wings carefully, taking a moment to prean her feathers. When she was satisfied with how they felt she tucked herself against Edward's neck and nibbled at his mane.

The odd group of boy, elderly woman, rablin and hippocampus rested at the side of the road while the latter drank his salt water. “Are you feeling better?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah, I’m starting to” Edward said between gulps of water, “I think I just need to stay hydrated.”

“Okay,” Caleb said, reassured. “Just tell us when you start feeling tired again and we can take a break.” Edward nodded in response before resuming his drink.

The road they were on was made of cobblestone, going between fields of open farmland growing crops like corn and grain. The foodstuffs were all they could see until just up ahead, a figure could be seen; a human man who looked to be in his high 30s riding a dark brown horse. Except for five small scar lines that ran diagonally across his face, he looked like an ordinary farmer. Rainbow, wanting to avoid any unnecessary confrontation, hid in the wagon once more before he was too close.

“Hi there!” the guy said to the group, “I don’t think I’ve seen any of you before. Are you all here for the market?”

“The market?” Caleb asked.

The man seemed to be taken aback as he looked at the child, but only for a moment. “Uh, yeah. Today people from all over the region come to town to sell their stuff.”

“Thank you sir, but we really should be on our way,” Sara responded. As if on cue, Edward quickly finished his water. Caleb briefly got out of the wagon to retrieve the water dish the hippocampus had been using as the elder Nieve continued to talk. “We have someplace we need to be.”

“Auria’s not the only place with money,” the scarred man said with a chuckle, “come on, I know the mayor, I can get you a spot. Please, I insist.”

Suddenly, Sara heard a whisper in her ear. It was Rainbow’s voice; she was worried at first but remembered he could use illusions. It was likely throwing his voice like that was a minor magic trick, but she’d have to ask about it later. “Sara, if we go to the market, maybe we can find more info on the mines.” And the rablin did have a point; thanks to Roger’s contacts, they knew Lydia was in the Coldrock Prison Mine System, but perhaps someone here had a map of the complex or some other information that could help them.

“Alright, if you insist” Sara replied with a smile.

“Excellent! I’ll lead the way,” the farmer responded and proceeded to do so. The town of Loucanter seemed like a quaint small town in some ways, it was decidedly urban in others; while not anywhere nearly as big as Thorn, this area did have a good share of activity, especially near Market Square where they wound up.

“The mayor should be...oh, there he is!” Having found who he was looking for, the scarred man dismounted his horse and walked up to who the group assumed was the mayor. “Hey, Bradley!” he exclaimed with a friendly familiarity.

A short man who looked to be in his 80s turned around. “Oh, hi Alan! What can I do for ya?”

“Well, I met these guys on my way here, and thought you’d might have a space for them to sell their stuff. Can you help me out?”

“Oh, sure. Take them to spot 3 on row E, the guy who reserved it backed out.”

“Great, thanks man. Wanna meet up for drinks later?”

“Oh, sure! Listen, I gotta go, the missus asked me to buy some eggs. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

With that, Alan took the group to the spot and took his leave. Once he was gone, Sara gave her instructions to everyone; Caleb was to sell the books using Roger’s price list as a reference, Rainbow would stay hidden but keep an eye on the younger members of the team, and Sara would go around trying to find anything that could be useful for saving Lydia.

And she was doing just that when she approached a stall that had caught her eye. What Sara saw was quite surprising for a place like this; it was...

A small metal coin with a faint green sheen to it. Though the gold glittered like any other, when the light caught it just right the hue shifted as if reflecting fields of clover that did not exist. A small bag sat behind the coin, tied up with a green ribbon. "Excuse me?" Sara approached with an empty smile. She did not know if the seller was aware of just what he had. "What is this?" She picked up the coin curiously and turned it around. "It looks like a bad fake to me."

The seller shrugged. "A novelty, nothing more." The man picked up the bag and emptied it onto the table. Three more of the green-gold fell out, along with a wide assortment of wooden and stone replications of the local currency. "Probably some scam artist was hoping he could pass them in the dark. They'll make fine toys for a child to practice counting and figuring change with."

Sara beamed at the man. Though a small part of her felt guilty for not telling him the truth of what he held, she had more important things to worry about. Like Lydia. "That sounds perfect, what a lovely idea! Have some young grandchildren that would just love them. How much would you like for the bag?" She didn't care what the answer was, she knew she would pay it. Barely registering what he asked for, she set down the coins without question. The bag of fakes, along with those four precious pieces of leprechaun's gold, were slid into a pocket on her dress.

Before she turned away, however, the matron remembered her actual quest. "Do you think you could answer me a few questions?" She smiled brightly at the nodding man. "Thank you! I haven't traveled these roads in quite a while, and I should like to avoid the mines if I could. My grandson is with me, and I have heard that those looking to escape will sometimes attack passing carts. For his sake, I should like to avoid a tussle. Do you mind telling me which roads lead closest to them?"

"Why of course!" The man set into a detailed description of the local roadways, along with where they could expect to pay tolls, what was considered the safest course of travel, and of course, where the most active mines currently were situated. "Thank you very much." Content with the information, she headed back out into the markets to see if she could find anything else that might help. Now that she had the leprechaun's gold, she had no doubt she would be successful. After all, it was one of the luckiest substances known to man.

While Sara helped their cause by looking around for information, Caleb was helping customers. He thought medical books might be a niche market, but a kind woman had bought a text on how to make casts earlier, so maybe there was more demand than he expected. Now the boy was waiting patiently as a thin, tan man with a swirly mustache examined a different book. He was shocked out of his complacency by what the guy said though.

“This book is fake,” he declared as if he were stating the meaning of life.

Caleb knew this wasn’t the case; Roger was way too smart to not know if his book was real. “With all due respect sir, it’s real. The, uh, seller is well educated and a good man.”

“Well, boy,” the adult responded in a kindly way, “it isn’t your fault you got fooled, but let me do you a favor - I’ll buy it off you for a gold piece.” Based on Roger’s price sheet, that offer was 100 times smaller than what it should have been.

“No thank you, sir.”

Now the man’s tone of voice became more stern. “Alright boy, enough games. The authorities won’t take kindly to phonies. Trying to scam the people of this great city will not end well for you. I’ll give you a silver and we can forget this ever happened.”

Caleb was nervous now, but not because the book was allegedly fake; rather, he didn’t want to jeopardize the mission over something fairly small like this. Still, knights didn’t back down from doing the right thing, so that was what the boy intended on doing.

“The book is real. I’ll have to ask you to leave now, sir.”

“GUARDS!” the man started to yell, “THIS CHILD IS-”

Suddenly, the man stopped - not because of any moral enlightenment, but because another man had punched him square in the face. Caleb recognized the attacker; it was Alan, the guy who had helped them find the spot earlier.

Alan scolded the man for his actions as well. “Curly, you oughta be ashamed of yourself, trying to scam a child. What is this, some back alley in Thorn?”

“But Scarman, he-”

“No excuses.” Alan loudly declared as he pulled out his sword. “Now get out of here, and if I hear of you scamming anyone else I’ll gut you like a fish.” Saying this, he kicked the chastised man as he scurried away.

Caleb was relieved; the farmer had saved him from a potentially awkward situation. Edward and Rainbow were relieved as well, having just been spared from potentially having to reveal themselves.

“Thank you, sir” the boy said to the man, “I wasn’t trying to cause any trouble.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it, Caleb,” the scarred man said in response.

The child had to wonder if he had let his name slip at some point. “It’s Calvin, actually.”

The older man smiled in response, as if something about that was funny. “Now Caleb, if you lie any more, Ms. Ardia will wash your mouth with soap.”

At this, the boy’s face became a shade of pink as he tried to maintain his false identity. “Uh, I don’t know who that is. Maybe you have me confused with someone else?” Whether it was on a dwarven island impersonating a bear or in a dragon empire, Caleb apparently was not very good at bluffing.

Fortunately for the child, this farmer was apparently kinder than the failed scam artist, as he looked like he had remembered something that was important. “Alright, all things considered, maybe that was a little sudden. Just...listen please, okay?” Caleb nodded, figuring he could at least do that much after the man had helped him earlier.

“Thank you. I don’t know why you’re here, and you don’t have to tell me, but I’m happy you’re okay. Like I assume you did, I grew up in Eagletown at Red Twig, with your father.” At the mention of a parental figure, Caleb’s eyes went wide and he looked at the man intently, but said nothing. “I get it if you don’t trust me, but I’d like you and your elderly friend to join me for dinner tonight. Maybe I can help with whatever it is you’re doing here? Anyway, I live at the Crimson Ridge farm; take a right on the main road and take a left on the first dirt road, then my house is the first farm on the right. I won’t bother you if you don’t show up, but I hope you do. Take care, Caleb.”

Saying this, Alan waved and took his leave. Caleb felt torn; on the one hand, he would do anything to know more about his parents and what happened with them. On the other, he didn’t want to abandon Sara, his village or Lydia. He had to ask himself: what should he do?

Caleb sat quietly on the cart and stewed over his choices. The mystery of his family had always been very important to him. He had always wondered just why he was left behind, or what might have led up to the events placing him in that orphanage. The answers sat so very close to him now. Or at least a very good lead. They were just down the road in a farmhouse. He needed to know more.

"Caleb?" Edward kept his face low to the ground, as if nibbling stray grass. His voice was so quiet the boy nearly missed it. "What are you planning to do?"

Caleb licked his lips as he tried to formulate a reply. What would he do? "I will do the right thing."

"What's that?"

Caleb sighed. "I don't know. I suppose talk to Sarah. I mean, grandmother. If she doesn't think we can take the time to talk to him now, then after we save Lydia, I'll come back myself to find him. I don't think he'll mind if I have to delay our visit. But if he can tell me about my parents, I must see him." He paused, then sheepishly added. "I do hope that Sarah thinks we have the time, though. I would like to know now."

Edward nudged him affectionately. "So do I."

~~~~

Sarah returned to the cart as the market began to dwindle. She did not think she would find any more useful information today. What they had would have to be enough. "Calvin, start packing up. I think we're just about done here." She sighed heavily as she began to stack the books they had not sold back together. "Doesn't look like too much went, did it. I suppose books like these are not the most common market commodity. We'll have to see if there's a shop around here that might be willing to take some of them off our hands."

Caleb nodded absently as he began loading books back into his cart. "Before we decide what to do for the night, grandma, I need to talk to you, please. There was a man here earlier that I was speaking with, and I want your opinion on what he said."

Sarah felt a frown cross her face as she looked over at the young boy beside her. "Is this a good conversation or a bad one?"

"Good, I think." Caleb hesitated, wondering exactly how he could clue her into what it was about without giving them away. After a moment he tentatively added, "he called me by dad's name." If it weren't for the slight hitch in Sara's breath, Caleb might have believed that she had not heard him. He peeked over at the stern woman just in time to see her nod once in acceptance. He relaxed, knowing that they would have a chance to talk things over before he lost his chance completely. One way or another, he needed to figure out a plan for how he would speak with this man.

The conversation continued on the road out from town, with Caleb and Sara sitting up front while Rainbow was nearby inside the wagon. No matter what the group would decide to do, there was no sense in talking where they could be overheard. Coincidentally, they had turned right on the main road like Alan had said earlier.

“...and then he left. What should we do?” Caleb asked as he finished his recounting of what had happened earlier. So far, Sara’s face had revealed nothing. She had listened respectfully, but had given no indication of how she felt one way or the other. The boy, on the other hand, looked visibly nervous. Caleb wanted to do the right thing; he just hoped that this involve him meeting with Alan tonight.

The elderly woman’s face soon became visibly distressed. “I understand how you feel, child. More than you know, really, but Lydia is in serious danger. I don’t think-”

Before she could finish her thought though, Rainbow interrupted her. “We should go see this farmer.” Caleb and Sara were both slightly surprised to hear Rainbow’s opinion on this, as neither person had expected the rablin to go against anything their leader decided on.

“Sorry Sara, but I know this kid,” Rainbow said, patting Caleb on the side and smiling, “and I know if we don’t talk to this guy now, Caleb’ll never be able to focus on saving Lydia.” The time on the dwarven island was fresh in the rablin’s mind at this moment - Rainbow was certain that this was the right thing to do. Now turning to face Sara, he added “and besides, if we talk to the farmer, maybe he’ll be able to help us with that too, if we’re careful. And since I have a plan, we will be.”

Caleb beamed at his green friend’s position; Edward smiled as well, seeing his friend so happy. Sara was reluctant to keep Lydia waiting, but looking at the boy sitting next to her, she found herself unable to deny his request.

“Alright,” she responded with a nod, “we’ll go.”

The child immediately hugged the elderly woman. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, child.” Sara smiled and hugged the child back. Looking at her travel companions and seeing similar looks on their faces, the elderly woman knew that this was something that everyone there wanted for Caleb.

-----

A few hours later, the group of four had arrived at the farm. It was a little worn, but still in good shape, with a red barn out back and a functional ranch-style farmhouse close to it. The wagon, with Edward attached and Flower inside, was parked out front; this would make escape easy if it was necessary. Sara and Caleb then exited the wagon, with Rainbow invisibly walking behind them. Part of the rablin’s plan involved him following the group, staying invisible with his illusion magic so he can assist as needed.

The group walked to the front door; Caleb was nervous, but excited. He had been waiting for this moment for so long and now it was finally happening. Sara gently nudged the child to knock on the door, so he did so; the person who answered the door wasn’t the farmer from earlier though.

“Holy crap, you actually showed up! Guess I owe Dad a silver piece,” said the young man, who followed up by taking a drink of what smelled like beer out of a wooden mug. He looked like a young man, no older than 18 or 19 years old, and wore a worn brown leather jacket over his white shirt and equally worn pants. The man’s hair and eyes somewhat matched the jacket, but this was a coincidence rather than a conscious decision on his part.

“Uh, hi, have we met?” was all Caleb could awkwardly think of to reply with. Sara simply arched an eyebrow at this person whose presence reminded her of Junior.

“Nah, Dad told me about you though. Come on in. Name’s Luke, by the way” the man said as he walked inside, motioning for the pair to follow him with his free hand.

Following Luke with Sara through the simple entryway, Caleb noticed a stack of newspapers on top of a small wooden table; they were issues of the Eagletown Enquirer. The top paper’s date was from a few days after he left town, the headline was “Young Child Missing” and it was accompanied by a detailed drawing of himself.

Caleb stopped and picked up the paper. His eyes scanned the page, though the only thing that truly registered was his own face staring back at him. Newspaper Caleb had a small smile on his face and his eyes looked straight out at the viewer, as if he were holding the best conversation of his life with the one reading about his disappearance. His chin was lifted in the familiar, confident way that knights and adventurers held themselves while discussing their latest victory. He looked for all the part like someone destined to do great things.

But here he was, his shoes still lightly stained from the blood of the dwarfs. A revolution still buzzing in his mind. And breaking laws to try and save a single person. He knew he was a good person, he was doing good things. But those good things put him on the wrong side of morality, or at least of legality. The child in the paper looked as if he'd never wondered about if his path was the right one to walk or if his soul was as pure as he'd always dreamed it would be.

Luke laid a gentle hand on Caleb's shoulder. "Dad's always followed that paper, though I can't say I've always understood his insistence upon it. Perhaps I will learn to tonight."

Caleb gave him a faint smile and set the paper down. Changing the subject as quickly as he could, Caleb reached for the first new topic he could think of. "Do you think I could bother you for some water? My horse is going to be very thirsty." He felt bad referring to Edward as a simple horse, but he couldn't risk giving away his friends identity. "I should really take care of him before we get wrapped up in things here."

Sara smiled at the child. As selfless as always. "I'll help you take care of him, Caleb. Luke, please thank your father for having us and let him know we won't be but a moment."

Luke gave Sara a thumbs-up sign with his left hand, adding “if you go out the front door and take a right, you’ll see a pump by the side of the house.” As he described the directions, he moved his thumb and hand to point the two to where they needed to be. “Take as much as you want.”

Caleb thanked the man, then he and Sara left the house. Rainbow, on the other hand, decided to stay with Luke so he could make sure he and Alan weren’t planning anything bad. Once the door shut behind them, Luke walked over to the kitchen where Alan was stirring a pot of vegetable soup.

“Caleb and the old lady he was with showed up. They’re getting water for their horse.”

The farmer smiled. “Thank you, son. But you really shouldn’t be drinking before we serve our guests.”

Slightly annoyed, Luke countered that “first, I started before they got here. Second, how likely was it that a kid who came from your hometown across the ocean would happen to show up in our town and that the kid would show up to the house invited by a guy who never met him, but somehow knew his father?”

Alan smirked, then gave his retort. “I keep telling you son, only take bets you know you’ll win.” Saying this, he held out his hand, where Luke placed a silver piece while rolling his eyes. “And I knew Caleb would show up.”

“But how?”

More seriously now, the scarred man put the metal in his pocket and responded. “We’re both orphans. Caleb and I, we never knew our parents. I know what it’s like to wonder about them; it’s something I’ve thought about constantly. I’m sure Caleb’s the same way. Red Twig was great, but orphans like us, we always wanted to have parents who loved us. When I was a kid, I would’ve done anything to learn about my parents...” Alan’s voice trailed off at the end as he seemed to lose focus, but then he snapped back to the present and finished talking. “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does. Everyone wants to be loved. I guess it’s kinda like how I felt before my parents went to jail. I don’t feel that way now, though.”

“I know, son.” Alan said with a smile. Luke returned the sentiment, the two hugged, and then they heard the door open. “Looks like they’re back. Could you set the table while I get the food ready?”

Caleb hauled yet another bucket of water across the lawn. Edward had already gone through four buckets, three of them with salt. He set the fourth bucket down and dipped a rag into the water. Slowly he washed his friend's flanks of sweat and dirt. He was glad that they had bought dye that would not run in water. Though it had been rain on their minds at the time of purchase. Caleb rinsed out his cloth before raising the dripping rag to his friend's side once more.

"I'm sorry, Caleb." Edward had never sounded so young as he did right in this moment. "I am trying. The ship was so much easier to pull, and I am so tired all the time."

Caleb lifted his chin. He needed to be strong for Edward. He was still just a child, no matter how grown up he might look. "You are doing a wonderful job, Edward. You are very far from the ocean, and we're only getting farther. Of course you are going to be land-sick. Your father is going to be very proud of you when you go home to tell him about your adventure."

"Do you think?" Edward's ears perked up with his renewed spirits. "I do hope so! I miss him very much. Do you think my father misses me as well?"

"I have no doubts at all that he does." Caleb washed the dust off Edward's legs. The mud ran freely back into the earth. "Fathers love their children and miss them when they are away." Or, at least, that is how Caleb believed fathers should be. Surely his own father missed him, didn't he? He cast a hopeful glance towards the house. The answer to his question, and so many more, sat just through that door. More than anything he wanted to jump up and run inside to learn every fact there was to know about his father. Who was he? Why did he abandon Caleb? Had he even known that Caleb was born? Maybe his mother had hidden his existence from his father. What about siblings, were there any? Did anyone still want him?

Edward did not miss the longing look on the youth's face, nor the way that his friend had stopped cleaning him. He shook himself and flicked his tail into Caleb's shoulder. "You should go inside. That is where you want to be."

Caleb shook himself. "I will have plenty of time. You are more important." He turned back to the task at hand. "When your skin feels it is more normal, let me know. I'll get a fresh bucket of water if you are still dry after I have cleaned you." He dipped the rag into the water one more time, then began to sing. "Swim, swim my darling, and go learn to be free. When you get too tired, that is when you'll see. All the waves in the ocean, will bring you back to me."

Edward relaxed and closed his eyes. Caleb had remembered his comfort song.

It was a long while later that Edward finally felt normal. Caleb drew his arm across his forehead. "I'll see you tonight, Edward." He hugged the young hippocampus, then turned to Sara. "I am ready to go inside now."

Sara set a hand on his shoulder. "You are a brave child. Come. Stay close to me. Don't eat anything I do not eat from first. Do not drink anything that I have not drunk from myself. Keep your wits about you, and be prepared to run. Know where your exits are. Do not worry about me or Rainbow. If it comes down to it, you get yourself and Edward away from here. Rainbow and I will be fine."

Caleb nodded. His stomach twisted at the ugly thoughts. "You don't truly believe we are in danger, do you?"

Sara looked towards the house. "I hope not."

As Caleb and Sara walked back to the house, the child realized that Sara was being very selfless here, putting her own safety and potentially even Lydia’s freedom behind the child’s desire to learn about his family. Caleb felt fairly certain that they weren’t in any real danger here; at the very least, the newspaper suggested that the people here knew of his hometown. How many people outside of Eagletown or the Southern Kingdom even knew about the Enquirer, much less read it on a regular basis? But he also knew that Sara’s precautions were rooted in the reality that this empire was still a cruel place. However hospitable Alan would be or how quant the market of Loucanter had been, this was still a country where a border guard could kill someone simply for wanting to be free.

With this realization, Caleb also knew that he couldn’t do what Sara asked if there was real trouble. He’d be cautious as she suggested, but if there was immediate danger, he would put his own safety behind the safety of the one who was willing to do the same for him. That much, at the very least, was the right thing to do.

Once the two re-entered Alan’s home and went into the dining room, the only immediate danger was running into Luke as he while he was setting the table. Apparently, he thought it would be easiest to grab all of the dishes at once to comply with his father’s request. Fortunately, the assorted tableware made so much noise all stacked together that he was pretty hard not to notice.

“Sorry about that,” the young man said with a laugh, “didn’t expect you two to be so fast. Have a seat.”

The room itself wasn’t particularly decorated; the furnishings consisted of four wooden spindle back chairs and a matching table with a red tablecloth on it. Unlike the wooden furniture, the tablecloth looked basically brand new, suggesting it didn’t get much use. Perhaps Alan even bought it especially for this occasion. The dishes and cutlery were both worn; the former were a plain white color and the silverware was a metallic iron color.

As Caleb and Sara sat down, they could hear a whisper in their ear. “Alan told Luke he’s an orphan. They seem close.” This was Rainbow’s voice, and he confirmed at the very least that the farmer was keeping his story straight, Sara thought. A few moments later, Alan came to the table with the food. A big pot vegetable soup was put in the center, along with some pieces of chicken placed next to it. On the sides of each dish were baskets filled with slices of bread. Following this, he brought in two pitchers, one with water and one with beer.

Alan explained that “I’m not sure what kind of foods you two like, so I hope this is-” he cut himself off at that point as he saw Luke taking a bunch of soup and chicken.

“You really should let our guests-”

He sheepishly cut himself off a second time, before adding “never mind, son, go ahead.”

Luke wore a confused expression on his face for a few moments, then realized what his father was thinking about. “Oh! The whole ‘Calvin’ thing. Why are you using a fake name, anyway?” he asked the child, using a tone that was casual rather than accusatory, as if he had been talking about the weather or something equally ordinary.

Caleb blushed for a second, but it was Alan who spoke up, indirectly scolding his son. “Eat your food, Luke.” He then gathered some food and water for himself and added “My apologies, Caleb. You and your friend don’t need to tell us anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you,” the child sheepishly replied. He looked at Sara, who grabbed some food, which encouraged him to do the same after the woman tried hers.

After eating a few bites of chicken and a few spoons of soup, Alan spoke up again; “I do need to ask you one thing though, for hopefully obvious reasons; what do you know about your family?”

With Sara’s silent encouragement, Caleb told Alan how he was found on a doorstep with only a blanket and a note with two words on it, then given to the Red Twig orphanage because the couple that found him didn’t want him.

Alan nodded, then looked to be deep in thought for a few moments. “I see. The first thing you should know, Caleb, is that you weren’t told the truth. What likely happened is someone - probably the Elder Eagle or Ms. Ardia or both - wanted to protect you. So they made that story up, gave you your mom’s last name and put you in Red Twig where you’d be safe.”

Caleb was shocked. In four sentences, Alan had raised a ton of new questions. The most important one to the child, which he asked, was this: “who was my mother?”

“Her name was Cara. I didn’t meet her until I was maybe nine or ten, but it feels like I knew her my whole life. Your mother was a wonderful woman. She was one of the kindest, most empathetic people I‘ve ever known. I wish you could have met her, Caleb.”

“What happened to her?”

Alan frowned. “There were complications when she was pregnant with you. She passed away shortly after you were born.”

At that point, tears started flowing out of Caleb’s eyes. The implications of that were dreadful to the child and he said so. “I’m an awful person. I killed my mom.”

The farmer shook his head. “No. Don’t think of it that way. She knew the risks and went ahead with it. Cara may have only been alive for a small time after your birth, but she loved you more than anyone. She’d want you to be happy and would’ve done anything for you.”

Sara nodded in agreement, putting her hand onto Caleb’s shoulder. “She’d be proud of you, child. Any mother would be lucky to have a son like you.”

“You really think so?” Caleb sniffed, still sad but appreciative all the same.

“I know it.” Saying this, Sara hugged the child, who hugged her back. Alan smiled and wiped an unshed tear from his eye, happy that Caleb was traveling with someone who seemed to genuinely care about him.

After that, everyone quietly ate their meals, respectfully letting Caleb process his emotions. After about ten minutes of this, Caleb hesitantly spoke up. “Mr. Alan, you said you knew my father, right? Could you tell me about him?”

“Of course, Caleb. I think for everything to make sense though, I should start at the beginning. Is that okay?”

The black-haired orphan nodded, so Alan started his story. “Cecil arrived in Red Twig shortly after he was born, same as me. Neither of us knew our parents...that’s okay though, because the kids there and the people in Eagletown were family, you know? But your father, I was closer to him than most. We were brothers in every way except blood.” This last, he said while looking at Luke. Rainbow had told Caleb that Luke was close to his father, but nobody had even mentioned a mother figure since they had met. Maybe he was adopted?

He said nothing about it though, letting the farmer continue the story. “We were inseparable; whether it was playing games or listening to the Elder Eagle’s stories, we did everything together. And it seems like as soon as we learned what the word meant, we both wanted to be knights. Oh sure, lots of kids wanted that, and back then us common folk could do that. For your father, though, it was almost a certainty. He was fearless, the most skilled warrior I’ve ever met, and more than anything, he was ambitious. Cecil never stopped wanting to become stronger. He felt like he was destined to do great things, and as his brother, I wanted to be there right by his side. Even before we were old enough to become knights, we’d practice sword fighting with sticks or ask the older kids to train us. When we were 13 or so, we’d even sneak out of Eagletown sometimes to go on adventures. I’m assuming you can relate to that,” Alan said with a grin.

Caleb smiled at the man’s comment; he couldn’t deny that he had been on quite an adventure so far. The boy had expected Alan to continue his story, but Luke spoke up instead. “Hey Caleb, did you really sail across the ocean to cure your town?”

The child nodded, figuring Luke had heard about it from his dad or read it in the newspaper. “Haha, that’s crazy! Sailing all the way across the ocean by yourself. Hey Dad, did you ever do anything like that?”

Alan shook his head. “No, not until later.” Looking at his son, he added “and you know how that went. Don’t skip ahead, please.”

“Alright, I guess” was Luke’s response; Caleb wanted to ask about this, but he felt like it would be awkward, so he asked about something else: “what did my dad look like?”

“A lot like you, actually. Black hair and a similar figure. You have more of your mom’s demeanor though, and her blue eyes. You have very kind eyes.” Alan smiled and relaxed at his observation, as if knowing this made him calmer for some reason.

This was the first time anyone had said anything like this to him, so Caleb wasn’t sure how to respond to this. “Thanks,” he ventured, hoping it didn’t come across as rude.

If Alan was bothered by this, he didn’t show it. “You’re welcome Caleb. Now what was I...oh, right! As we journeyed together, we grew stronger, and by the time we were 18 we were able to become knights easily. Cecil’s talent and ambition were apparent, and we rose through the ranks without much trouble. We helped keep the Kingdom and its people safe on many occasions; it was one of the best times of my life.” The farmer sighed, then added “it didn’t last, though.”

“Why not?” Caleb had to ask. He felt like if he could, he would be a knight until the day he died.

“Your father, mainly. I learned what kind of person he was. Myself too, really. Honestly, I’m not a very good-”

“Here we go again,” Luke interrupted with a roll of his eyes “it’s been like a decade, and you’ve done tons of good stuff since. Isn’t it time to forgive yourself?”

“It’s not that easy, son,” Alan responded, more irritated with himself as he was with Luke, “like I’ve said, what we did was wrong and it hurt the Kingdom a great deal.”

Both of the visible guests didn’t know what to make of this. Sara thought their back and forth was odd; if either of these people wanted to inflict harm upon them, telling them that they were bad wasn’t really an effective way of doing it. These were not like the gangsters she had worked with and fought against in her more foolish days. Watching Luke and Alan go back and forth did vaguely remind her of a much less tense version of the arguments she’d been in with Junior though; he’d always insist that he knew what he was doing, but she always knew better. Even though she never was as bad as he was, Sara knew that her old ways were similar to the path the younger John had taken. The difference here was that Luke actually seemed to consider what his father was saying, even if he also seemed to lack some sense.

After a few moments of this, Luke spoke up again. “Look, Caleb here is from the Southern Kingdom, same as you. Why not just have him forgive you? He seems nice.”

“Son, I appreciate what you’re doing, but I wouldn’t put that burden on him. I can’t make him speak for an entire group of people.”

Caleb was confused as well, but for different reasons. From how Alan had described his father so far, he had been a brave knight who went on lots of adventures and helped people. How could someone so noble become someone who, for whatever reason, did the wrong thing? And perhaps more importantly, what was the “wrong thing?”

The child felt it important to find this out and asked accordingly. “What happened?”

The farmer sighed. “It was actually closer to 12 years ago that this happened. Our old king had always been vigorous, but unfortunately time is an unstoppable force, and so he died. He was a good ruler, but his biggest mistake was how he chose his successor. Rather than choose based on merit, his majesty chose based on emotion and had Prince Zachary be the heir. He was corrupt and vain, but the Prince excelled at staying on his father’s good side, so he ascended to the throne anyway. Most of the citizens thought it was a poor choice, but went along with it. Your father disagreed; he thought that someone more fit for the throne should rule. In Cecil’s eyes, that someone was himself. He had already proven his bravery and strength, so why not? His ambition had caused him to lose sight of right and wrong. I’m not proud of it, but I went along with him. He was my brother and Zach wasn’t fit to rule anyway, so of course it was the right thing to do - so I thought, anyway. Many of our fellow knights agreed, so the plan moved ahead.”

“That’s...new information.” Caleb felt vaguely sick at the notion that someone so close to him could have done something like that, but didn’t say so, given that he wanted to learn more. Whatever it was, the brave thing to do was face this new information head on. “What happened next?”

“We split off into two groups. Some of us, including your father and I, were supposed to be in the King’s Castle for the coronation already, so we took advantage of that. We manipulated where everyone was arranged so we could take out Zachary and any of his loyalists there before reinforcements arrived. That part of the plan worked perfectly; we took out the leadership in no time at all. Well, almost perfectly; I got knocked out cold by one of the Prince’s guards, but we won that round. Cecil even wore the crown, if you can believe that.”

Caleb’s face at that moment revealed that yes, he could, but no, he didn’t like it. “I understand,” the farmer responded. “Anyway, the second group was in charge of stalling or converting any opposition forces in Northgate. Cecil figured that the citizenry and army would be on his side, by virtue of his side being right, so taking the rest of the kingdom would be easy. Besides, anyone who could oppose him was gone.”

“But he didn’t win...right?” At this point, the child didn’t know what to expect.

Alan shook his head. “No. What Cecil never understood was that there are forces greater than his ambition. Honesty, charity, bravery, righteousness; in other words, being knightly. And Prince Laurence embodied all of them.” Caleb, having recognized the name, briefly raised his eyebrows at that point as the farmer went on.

“At the time, he was just one of the old king’s many grandnephews, noted for bravely fighting the gnolls at the cost of his legs. Nobody expected a wheelchair-bound man to, if you’ll excuse the phrase, stand up to our forces. Of course I wasn’t there, but I was told Laurence was able to single-handedly convince most of the men to abandon the coup and change sides. After brief negotiations, the turncoats and kingdom loyalists joined forces to proclaim Laurence as the new King, and they marched on the castle. Now our group was surrounded and low on morale. With few options, Cecil agreed to negotiate, but only under two conditions. The first was that he negotiate with the Elder Eagle, who was in the city at the time. The second was that he be able to see you, his infant son.”

Caleb wanted to be happy at that last part; even if his father had done some awful things, he at least cared about him. The expression Alan wore, however, did not make it look positive at all. After a few moments of silence, the man finally continued.

“It was a trick. Once you were there, your father held you hostage, knowing the Elder Eagle wouldn’t let you be harmed.” Sara, who had been respectfully silent up until now, gasped quietly in response. Caleb was shocked that his own father could do something like that, but said nothing. And even before this, Alan had sounded sad, but now he seemed bitter as well. “That plan of his worked perfectly; we all sailed away on the Kingdom’s fastest ship, free to live another day. I only learned of how it happened when we were at sea. At that point, I realized Cecil was no longer the man I grew up with, so once we made it to land I decided to use my savings and buy a farm. And, well, that’s where we are now. I’ve only ever talked to my brother through letters since.”

Caleb had a mix of emotions at that moment, including sadness, anger, but also a feeling of gratitude towards the leader of Eagletown for saving his life, even if at the same time he also felt like it was a mistake. “The Elder Eagle sure is amazing,” the child said, “I’ll definitely succeed here and save his town.”

“I agree, and that’s very kind of you,” Alan replied with a smile, “we don’t really have many doctors here, but I’ll help you however I can. What do you need - supplies? Money? Information?”

The black-haired boy considered the farmer’s words. What could he ask for that would help, but not blow their cover?

“Do you have any maps of the Empire? We’ll be here a while and we’d like to, uh, not get lost.”

“Sure. Luke, could you please get those? They’re in the middle drawer in the guest bedroom cabinet.”

The leather jacket-wearing man quickly rose up from his chair as Alan thanked him, running out of the room to comply with his father’s request.

Alan began clearing the table so Luke would have room to set the maps there. “Feel free to keep as many of these as you need. We can get replacements easily.”

Caleb thought back to the beginning of his journey. An extra map certainly would’ve come in handy then. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, Caleb. I’m happy to see you, more than you know. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone from home and-”

“I got maps!” Luke exclaimed as he returned to the dining room. Alan, having finished clearing the table, left to go put the dishes in the sink as his son unceremoniously plopped the navigation aids down on the wooden surface. And Caleb saw there were lots of them, with titles including Southeast Blackscale, Map of the Empire by Dragon Population, Village of Loucanter, and so on.

One, however, looked different than the rest. Unlike the others, which were in good shape, this one was crumpled up as if it was stored in someone’s pocket for a long period of time. Also, it was drawn in pen on what appeared to be scrap paper, not printed. Finally, it didn’t illustrate a part of the world like most of the others did; it represented a place called the Harrison Farm. There were the usual farm buildings and symbols representing planted crops, but the buildings in the back that had arrows creating a circuitous route towards them from the road nearby confused the child.

“Luke, what’s this?”

The man looked vaguely amused as he looked at the paper. “Oh, that? Just a farm about six hours from here. Dad and I freed a few dwarves there. Or were they gnomes?” Luke thought about it for a moment, then spoke louder towards the kitchen. “Hey Dad, were the ones at the Harrison Farm gnomes or dwarves?”

In response, everyone in the dining room heard dishes crashing onto the floor. Luke simply stated “I guess that was meant to be secret. Forget you saw that, okay?” Caleb looked over at Sara excitedly and she nodded, then spoke. “It’s okay, Luke. Thank you for telling us that. We’re actually here for a similar reason.” The elderly woman thought it was an amazing coincidence that these people, among the first they met in the Empire, were so friendly and of a similar mindset. Or perhaps it was more than that? This wasn’t the first time Caleb had the help of unlikely people. Whatever it was, Sara was grateful for the child’s presence.

“Dad, they’re here to free slaves too! Told ya Caleb was nice.”

“Really?” Alan had interrupted sweeping up the broken plates to glance back into the room, where Caleb confirmed this. He sighed in relief, then quickly finished cleaning up and returned to the dining room. “It’s good work you’re doing, but what does helping people be free have to do with saving Eagletown?”

Sara looked guilty as she responded. “Caleb sailed to Thorn to find a doctor and he did; Roger, a dear relative of mine. He’s the best there is, but he can’t help until his daughter is safe. She was sold to your empire and Caleb insisted on helping free her, so we’re going to do so.”

“Caleb, are you sure you know what you’re getting into? I’d hate for anything bad to happen to you.”

With equal determination and seriousness, Caleb nodded. “You can’t stop me from doing the right thing here.”

Alan chuckled before continuing. “Well, I suppose I can’t be too surprised. The knightly spirit lives within you, Caleb Crowsnest. I won’t try to stop you and my previous offer to help still stands, but I do want to make sure you’re prepared. What do you know about who you’re trying to save?”

Caleb appreciated the compliment, but he didn’t know anything about Lydia besides her name, so he let Sara take point.

“Her name is Lydia. She’s a skilled doctor like her father, and we know she’s in the Coldrock Prison Mine System. Does that help?”

“Yes. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“The good” she replied.

“Okay, so if she’s as good as you say, she’s almost certainly alive and I know where she is. Skilled slaves are harder to replace.” Both Sara and Caleb were relieved at this news.

“The bad news is she’s in the Main Camp of Coldrock. It’s extremely tough to get into and even harder to break out of. Ever since the...” Alan paused for a moment, looking uncomfortable, “...current warden started there, only one man has ever successfully escaped.”

Sara wondered how he could already know all of this based on that small amount of information. Caleb, however, chose to look on the bright side of things. “If he escaped, maybe we can save Lydia the same way?”

“No.” The farmer stated this so firmly and assertively that Caleb was momentarily startled. “Nobody else could escape like he did. He took down a legion of guards by himself and still had the energy to get to Thorn.”

“Who was this guy?”

“I don’t remember much about him, just that his name started with a B and he was an alligatorman - Byron or Byrne, maybe?”

Caleb’s eyes grew wide. If this was who he thought it was, that would be pretty incredible. It also confirmed that there was no way they could use brute force to get into the camp.

“What should we watch out for when we’re there, then?”

The older man looked like he had thought about that question and was going to answer the child, but Luke blurted out an answer before he could speak - “probably the warden - you’ll want to avoid him.”

Alan shook his head; not because Luke was wrong, but because this wasn’t really something he wanted to talk about. However, when Caleb asked for his identity, the farmer reluctantly answered anyway.

“Your father.”

At that moment, Caleb looked like someone had punched him in the gut. After a few moments of trying to hold back tears, the child ran away through the kitchen and out the back door, shutting it loudly behind him.

Sara stood up shortly after this, saying she’d go check on him, but someone else decided to do so instead.

“I’ll talk to him, Sara. You should get more information about the mines for saving Lydia.”

As the farmhouse’s residents watched Rainbow walk in Caleb’s direction, Luke asked Sara “what in the world was that?”

-----

Outside, it was a nice summer evening, a severe contrast from the emotions of the sobbing boy sitting on the simple wooden deck behind the house. Rainbow felt sad for Caleb, but he also found the situation to be somewhat perplexing; if Sara didn’t need to stay inside to get information, she might have been better suited for this task. But Caleb was the rablin’s friend, maybe even his best friend, so Rainbow felt a responsibility to do his best to make sure he was okay as he put a small green hand on Caleb’s side.

“Are you okay, Caleb?” he asked out of sympathy; Caleb’s condition was obviously far from okay.

“Of course not! My dad is some evil guy who enslaves people, tried to take over my country, and who knows what else!?”

“Okay...your mom saved your life though, so things aren’t all bad, right?”

“Oh, sure! Only half a chance I’ll be like my dad!”

Rainbow took a few moments to consider what to try next. “I don’t really know much about parents - my kind don’t really have them - but I don’t think it works like that. You remember Jake’s dad, Herrown?”

Caleb only knew him from what other people told him, but he managed to nod, which Rainbow took as permission to go on. “We talked on the ship and he told me that his parents were real jerks. They did...” he shook his head, “well, what they did isn’t important. What’s important was that Herrown was a good man. He wasn’t the smartest or most coordinated, for sure, but he always did his best and was the first to help when it was needed. Most important, I think, is that he loved his kids. Just because this Cecil guy is awful doesn’t mean you have to be.”

Caleb considered the rablin’s words. The child had stopped crying, but still looked sad. “But what if I do become like him?”

Rainbow shook his head. “You won’t. I’ve known you long enough to know that. You’re a good man, Caleb.”

The boy wasn’t sure if he was entirely convinced, but the faith his friend had in him made him smile and hug the rablin. “Thanks, Rainbow.”

“No problem, Caleb” he responded as he returned the gesture.

Following this, the two talked for around 20 minutes. With Rainbow having been hidden in the cart for the past day, they had more to discuss than they realized. Their conversation was only interrupted by Sara opening the back door. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” It wasn’t completely true, but it was true enough for now. “It’s just been a heavy day. I learned a lot and there’s probably more to learn later.”

Sara smiled. “Good. If it’s okay with you, Alan said he’ll be out here in a few minutes, and he wants to make sure you’re ready for our journey.” Saying this, she gave him a sword - it looked like the blades the knights of the Southern Kingdom use, except it was made of wood. Caleb beamed as he held and examined it, a genuine joy arising in the child as he realized the implications of this. “He said you’d know what this was for.”