“No,” I say with more force than needed. Softening my tone, I add, “You can’t come with us. It’s too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous? For me? Are you serious?” He stares at me incredulously. “I was the one who found you out there and got you here. I’m the one who lives in the Great Forest and knows it well.”
Now it is I who am without words. Several beats pass before I speak again.
“Lucas, I can't let you come with us. I’m so grateful that you’d even offer, but it’s far too dangerous,” I say. “Please, just tell us the direction we need to go and give us as may tips as you can. What to avoid, places that’re especially dense and difficult to travel and so on.” I place my feet on the ground and stand. The movement is too sudden and makes my head spin.
“I'm taking you,” Lucas says adamantly. He eyes me as if he knows exactly how weak and awful I feel.
“I won't let you,” I reply with strength I don’t have at the moment. “And do your parents know what your plan is?” Mentioning his parents should be enough to back him off of the idea.
“No, not yet,” he replies in a voice far less assertive than the one he used moments ago.
“I’m sure they won’t allow it and I don’t blame them.” I speak to him as I would have spoken to June when she was his age, with tenderness and reason.
“But you need my help.” Lucas’s eyes plead with me. He wants to help. His intentions are genuine. That much is evident from the sound of his voice and the look in his eyes.
“We do. I won’t argue that.” I concede that point. He’s right. His help would expedite our exit from the Great Forest exponentially. But for the same reasons I’d never have allowed June to do what he wants to do when she was his age and a few more, I can’t accept his help. “But the people here need you more. The answer is no. Absolutely not.”
Lucas’s head, hanging seconds earlier, snaps up. He looks at me curiously.
“Of course I don’t want to put you in danger. That’s my first reason,” I continue. “But I also see that the people in this village need you here even more than June and I need you to help us out of the forest.”
Lucas’s head sags once again. “I don't know about that,” he says in a deflated tone.
“I see a need here for young people like yourself to step up and lead. Lead by example.” Recalling Arundel and the guards’ dismal performance is only part of the reason why I feel the village needs Lucas. The other is that I sense that he’s a natural leader. He seems calm and composed, keen and willing to listen and learn. The mark of every great leader is not only his or her ability to make decisions and create rules, but to learn. To listen and watch and learn. Lucas seems adept at all of those skills.
“Avery, not all of us here are as bad with their sword as Arundel and his guards,” Lucas says with the slightest edge of defensiveness. “My father is a very good swordsman actually. Not nearly as good as you, but really good. He’s trained me, and I practice daily because I want to be better.” Every trace of defensiveness has left his tone. It’s been replaced with passion and excitement. Eyes wide and glittering with interest, he says, “I want to learn. I’ve listened to every word my father has said and watched every move he’s made when training. And I practice every spare second I have. Most people here don’t. They don’t care that much about it. But I do. And after seeing what you did today, I want to be as good as you.” He takes a deep breath, as if steeling his nerves. “Can you teach me? Can you teach me to swing a sword the way you do?”
The spark in him—his enthusiasm—is contagious. He’s a wellspring of all that a leader should be. All that a leader needs. I regret the words before I say them. “It's not something I can teach in a day, Lucas. I’m sorry.”
“I know.” He nods his head with a note of regret. “Could you show me what to work on so I can improve my technique on my own?”
“I’d be honored to,” I answer with a respectful bow of my head. “Why don’t we go now? Do you have time now?”
“Absolutely,” Lucas replies. He leads me out behind Ara’s hut. No one is around and there’s a level stretch of grass. June is just a few steps behind me.
As soon as we reach the grassy clearing, Ara appears. Slung over her shoulder is a quiver filled with arrows. She carries her bow. With her coloring so similar to June’s and armed as she is, she looks like a miniature version of my sister. “What’re you guys up to?” she asks.
Lucas eyes her suspiciously. Even I can tell she knows but is being intentionally coy. “As if you don’t know and weren’t eavesdropping.” Lucas arches one eyebrow at Ara.
With an impish smile she says, “Maybe I was,” and shrugs. “Maybe I overheard Avery say she’d teach you some sword-fighting stuff. And maybe I thought while she did that with you, June would give me some arching pointers.” She flashes a smile and waggles her eyebrows.
“Everyone in the village knows you’re the best archer here,” Lucas says to his sister as he retrieves a pair of practice swords from beneath pine-tree branches. He hands me one and keeps the other.
“Yes, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have things to learn. I want to keep getting better,” Ara replies.
I begin to think that leadership skills are in their blood.
“I like that,” June says to Ara. “I like your attitude! Let’s practice together.” Ara smiles. “Come on. Take me to the target.”
Ara leads June away, to an area with a solid black circle at the center of three other concentric circles. The circles are on animal hides stretched over tightly-packed hay. Within seconds, the shrill scream of arrows carving the air is followed by the loud thwap of them hitting their mark.
“June is an amazing archer. I’ve never seen anyone like her.” He blushes deeply then stammers “Er, uh, I mean shoot like her. I’ve never seen anyone shoot like her.”
“She’s something else.” I watch her pull her bowstring tight and release an arrow. She’s deadlier than anyone I’ve ever met with her bow and arrows.
“She sure is,” Lucas agrees, his eyes never leaving her and his voice distant and dreamy.
I want to laugh but keep it to myself. I didn’t come with Lucas to tease him about his obvious interest in my sister. I came to spar with him and teach him as much as I can in the short amount of time before June and I eat, sleep, and then leave.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” He stumbles a half step then grips the handle of his sparring sword more purposefully. His expression transforms from lovesick to determined.
Lifting my sword, my stance is prepared when he advances. With speed and agility far superior to Arundel and the guards, Jonah and Zachariah, Lucas comes at me. The clack of our wooden swords is the only sound we make. Lucas is focused and his movements cannot be anticipated. It requires effort to deflect each swipe of his blade. Deciding to intensify our session, I go on the offensive and strike. Lucas, dauntless, shields a strike intended for his skull and blocks the blow. Though caught off guard at first, he manages to immediately regain his footing and retaliate, forcing me back with his block. He then swings his wooden sword, carving the air and aiming at my ribs. I twist and step, dodge and block each blow. Fleetingly, I catch sight of Lucas’s expression. Brow low and eyes alert, he is fully engaged. A natural who seems to not only enjoy sparring, but shows aptitude, as well.
Sweat beads my brow and trails between my shoulder blades. Hunger gnaws and a headache throbs in time with my pulse. Our swords clack and bang. Our movements become like an intricate dance. And though I best him each time, it requires more effort to do so with each second that ticks by. He’s absorbing strike patterns. Studying my motion. My strengths. He’s actively seeking out any vulnerability I may have. His instincts are spot-on. He has the markings of a warrior. As fierce a warrior as I’ve ever seen in fact.
We continue a while longer before fatigue and hunger halt us. The angle of the sun is low and Lucas informs me that we need to meet the rest of his fam
ily for dinner.
We catch our breath and walk our swords back to the place where they were stashed. I take the opportunity to share with him the observations I made while we sparred. “Lucas,” I stop and say. He turns to face me, his aquamarine gaze trained on me. “You have incredible skills.” My words are not a lie. I believe them wholeheartedly and only hope that the sentiment translates. “You need to hone them. Work as hard as you did today and practice daily. This village needs you.” A sense of foreboding, inexplicable and intangible, washes over me, prickling my skin and causing goosebumps to raise my flesh.
Lucas kicks a tuft of weedy growth with his foot, his eyes cast to the ground. “I don't know about all that, but thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And I know what I just saw. I saw the markings of a warrior. A leader.” He lifts his gaze and it meets mine. “You need to promise me you will train every day,” I plead.
“I promise,” he replies.
We exchange smiles and begin walking back toward the huts. We find June and Ara then Pike and Kohl. We stand in a small circle chatting when Cassidy approaches. “Dinner’s ready.” She places a loving hand on Lucas’s shoulder.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Lucas replies. “We’ll head to the gathering hall now.”
“No gathering hall tonight,” she says with a wink.
“What?” Lucas regards her curiously.
“Nope. Your father and I prepared something back here.” She bobs her eyebrows. “Follow me.” She turns and begins walking. We file after her until we find ourselves at the outermost perimeter of village. There, a worn wooden table with a bench on either side of it is set with greens, meat and a bowl of stew. Colin is placing a final platter of berries atop it. “Dinner is served,” Cassidy says.
“Wow, Mom, everything looks amazing,” Ara compliments.
“It really does,” Kohl agrees. “How’d you manage to do all of this?”
“It was nothing really.” She shrugs and swats the air, refusing to take credit for her and Colin’s hard work.
“Thank you so much,” Lucas says.
“Yes, thank you,” June adds.
I’m about to thank them as well when Colin speaks.
“Arundel wanted to have you in the gathering hall with the entire village, but we thought you would like something simpler than that. A little less formal and overwhelming. I hope that’s okay,” Colin says.
I nod, my mouth watering at the sight of the feast before us. “Of course. And you were right. This is so much better than any dining hall. We cannot thank you enough for this.” I gesture toward the table. “For letting June and I stay in Ara’s hut. For everything,” I say earnestly.
“Oh good. I assured him we’d relay information you share with us,” Colin says with a wink. The expression on his face divulges that he knows as well as I do that Arundel wouldn’t believe a word we say and that relaying information would be a waste of time. “Please, sit. Eat.” He waves us over.
June and I hang back as Lucas, Ara, Pike and Kohl seat themselves on the bench. Everyone begins serving him or herself, scooping food onto plates in a very polite and orderly manner.
“More rabbit?” Kohl asks Ara.
Ara hesitates. “No. I shouldn’t,” she says softly.
“Yes, you should,” he replies with a firm yet loving tone. “You’re growing and training and you need meat.”
Ara’s head whips in his direction, an unspoken question in her eyes.
“Yeah, you heard me. Training. I watched you with June today.” He smiles proudly. “You were incredible.” He scoops rabbit meat onto her plate then sets it down. He snags a leg from it and bites into it. While chewing, he says, “I’ve watched you shoot before and you’ve always been good. But today,” he pauses to drink from a tankard of water beside him. “Today, you were outstanding.” Then to June, he says, “You really rubbed off on her. She’s got the raw talent, but whatever you did brought it out even more.”
“Nah,” June says. “I just gave her some minor little hints. The rest was all her.” She clips her chin toward Ara. “Ara’s going to be better than me if she keeps training. I’ll have to come back and get pointers from her.”
Ara’s cheeks burn a deep scarlet hue. But her spine lengthens so that her posture is perfectly straight and she tips her chin slightly. “Thank you, June,” she says with so much gratitude I feel my eyes burn with tears when I see hers shine with them. She swallows hard then sips her water before eating some of the generous helping of rabbit her brother served her.
“It was my privilege to shoot with you.” June’s tone matches Ara’s. A bond has formed between them. A chance occurrence with the happiest of outcomes, their meeting is serendipitous.
Cassidy serves me a mixture of root vegetables that consist of onions, carrots and tubers. Roasted in a brine with herbs, their scent floods my mouth with saliva. The smell is only surpassed by the flavor, which rolls on my tongue decadently. Closing my eyes, I savor the rich taste. “This is delicious,” I say as soon as I swallow. I continue to eat, relishing each bite until my plate is clean.
When everyone has finished, June and I help clear the plates. Once we’ve cleaned and the table is empty, we return to it. Colin sits down next to Cassidy opposite June and I and says, “Please, tell us everything.”
Taking a deep breath, I glance at June first. She nods and I begin. I tell them everything about us, starting from when we lost our mother. I continue telling our story. At times June takes over, recounting stories of us narrowly escaping death, whether it was at the hands of Urthmen or the claws of Lurkers or other nocturnal creatures, until finally the Peace Treaty was formed. We share with them what peace was like. What is was like to live among Urthmen for a decade without threat or battle. We share with them what the ten-year celebration was, that it was a mass, multi-city slaughter orchestrated by the Cadogan regime.
Darkness has fallen and deepened so that the sky is a navy abyss by the time June and I finish. Trembling and fraught with emotion, I’m unsure of how much time has passed. What am I sure of is that Colin, Cassidy, Lucas, Ara, Pike and Kohl have listened. They’ve heard each word we’ve spoken. At different points, each of them has swiped at or blinked back tears. And at no point in time did any of them look as though they didn’t believe us. After all, why would we lie? What would we gain from imparting them with anything but the truth?
Swallowing hard, I breathe against the tightness in my chest. “The Urthmen haven’t hunted humans in a decade. But they are now.” I make eye contact with Colin, Cassidy, Lucas, Ara, Pike and Kohl. “Every person here needs to prepare. They need to prepare to fight. Prepare for battle.” Fear is etched in each face before me. “They’ll look to exterminate every last human. They’ll never risk another human uprising again. The world beyond this forest is theirs again. You need to stay hidden and prepare.” Cassidy and Colin exchange worried glances. I do not bother trying to soften the severity of what’s happening. The truth is necessary now as it always is. Armed with the truth they have a chance at defending themselves. “Hopefully they’ll never find you,” I express my truest wish for them. “But if they do, you need to be ready.”
“We’ll share with everyone that training needs to begin tomorrow,” Cassidy says.
“Will they listen?” June asks.
“They won’t have a choice. We’ll have to keep talking to anyone who won’t and convince them. Our lives are at stake here.”
“Word spreads fast here. We’re really not a village but more like a family of a hundred thirty six.”
“And Arundel is like the cranky grandfather to one hundred thirty five of us,” Kohl says.
Laughter bubbles from me unexpectedly. And I’m not the only one. June, Cassidy, Lucas, Ara, Pike and Kohl join in too. Even Colin laughs. In times of extreme emotion, sometimes laughter is the only line of defense we have in the struggle to maintain perspective. Or sanity. In this case, I think it reminds us all of what we fight for. We fight to live. To la
ugh and love. I’m fighting to hear my children’s laughter again. To hold them in my arms and breathe again.
“He sure is,” Ara agrees. “He isn’t always as bad as he was today, but close.”
“Nah, I have to disagree with you on that one, sis,” Pike chimes in. “He’s been grouchy for as long as I can remember. He kind of just made himself leader because he’s the oldest in the village.”
“Not exactly,” Colin cringes and says. “We voted for him.”
“Why?” Kohl asks. “Why did we ever vote for him?” He shakes his head and exaggerates a confounded expression.
“The majority of the people here believe that elders deserve the highest honor possible,” Colin replies. “There was a time when the life expectancy of a human was maybe twenty years.”
“It sounds like that time is returning again,” Ara adds gravely. She shudders.
“I hope not and plan to do everything in my power to ensure it isn’t the case,” Colin says.
A short pause passes between us. I am without words. Ara is right. The time may be returning. After all I have seen in the last three days, I am far from optimistic. I want to offer this family something more than what I have. They’ve extended kindness and hospitality to June and I. Food, shelter and warmth. I want to offer them hope at the very least. But words elude me. And hope is fading fast.
“If living as long as Arundel means being as grumpy and stubborn as he is I don’t know if being an ‘honored elder’ is all it’s cracked up to be. I mean doesn’t he aggravate himself?” Kohl says.
For a moment, no one responds. We’re frozen as Kohl’s words settle and his unintentional humor takes hold. But within seconds, everyone is doubled over laughing. I laugh so hard my eyes tear and my abdominal muscles are sore. But I don’t care. I’m giddy and it feels great.
“I-I agree.” Pike can barely get the words out. He’s laughing so hard there are prolonged pauses between sounds. Watching him laugh only intensifies my laughter.
When the laughter quiets, Colin clears his throat. “Ah, he is a grump. No one here would argue that.”
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