Dr. Bernard fished around his messenger bag, moving ruffled up scraps of paper inside. He then pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope, complete with a wax seal on it, preserving its contents.
“He left me a letter?”
“It details everything he knows about what happened that day,” Felix explained. “But do not open it yet. Gareth told me that only an adult mind can handle learning what’s in it. You have to wait until you’re 16.”
“I’m turning 15 in a less than a couple months…” Anwen whispered as the envelope found itself in her hands.
“I know. You’ll have to wait another year, then. I know how much the young mind can suffer from seeing things it isn’t supposed to see.”
Anwen’s thumb found itself rubbing at the edges of the seal that kept the envelope closed. Her mind knew that it had to remain that way, but heart struggled to obey.
A larger hand wrapped itself over the one trying to pry off the seal. Anwen’s gaze shifted to her right where she saw Stefan looking down at her, a stern look on his face.
“I’ll keep that safe for you.” Stefan affirmed.
“I want… I want to hold it…” Anwen stammered. She understood that the letter she held was the only thing that linked her to her past. She couldn’t stand it being taken from her. “I can feel it. Gareth prepared this for me.”
Her unique Concentrated Initiation had left a physically weak but useful byproduct—the ability to sense traces of another person’s Initiation.
“Anwen… you’re my friend. It’s my job to make sure you’re not running into things you aren’t supposed to.”
Anwen’s hold on the envelope loosened as she gazed into Stefan’s eyes. For some reason, they appeared noticeably lighter than the dark brown she was used to seeing. Stefan ignored her, taking the envelope and putting it in one of the large pockets of his Black Shield-issued jacket.
“Okay.” she sighed, relenting.
“Good thinking, Stefan,” Felix said in praise of the young man. “I can depend on you to be there for her. Also, I’ve learned about your mother. You have my condolences.”
Stefan simply nodded in acknowledgement, a look of forced stoicism on his face. In reality, even the mention of his mother still made his heart ache.
“Please don’t lose it, Stefan.” Anwen beckoned, almost begging to him.
“Not a chance.” he said.
“Attention, everyone!” a southern man cried from the edge of Lake Marius. “We leave for the base in 10 minutes!”
Jay was relieved that everyone slowly started to wrap up their final conversations, beginning their preparation to row across the lake to their base in the mountains. But he also couldn’t help but feel sorrow, as he was certain that many of them would never again be able to return home and see them once more. It only reminded him that his family lived hundreds of leagues away, that he could not see them. But that wouldn’t be the case for long.
“Please, take this.” a woman in a thick jacket asked a young man. She placed a pendant in his open hands.
“Isn’t this your mammoth ivory pendant?” the woman’s son asked, confused as to why he was being given such a cherished piece of jewellery.
“Tsk,” the Glacial Lander woman said, rejecting his question. “I didn’t travel nearly two months to not give it to you. It’s cherished, and that’s why you’re going to have it. I know you get nervous easily, so each time you wear it, I want you to remember that my thoughts are always with you. The entire Glacial Lands thinks of you, Detlef. You’re our shining star.”
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Tears began to stream from the boy’s eyes as his mother’s words hit him straight to the core. She had always been his constant supporter. Her words meant more to him than anything.
“Men of the Glacial Lands power through winters no one else on this continent can,” Mrs. Feldt said as she wiped her son’s tears. “Going to battle is nothing. It’s not a reason to cry.”
“I know, Ma. I’m just sad because… I have you, but Meinrad and Klaudia have no one. Even if they were well enough to be here, no one would be saying goodbye to them. And when this war’s over, they’ll have no one to go back to.”
“And that’s why you’re a medic, son,” Mrs. Feldt said, placing her palm over the left side of her son’s chest. “You have a good heart, and you also happen to have good hands. Use those and help your friends in need. But, could I ask you something?”
“Yeah?”
“Who are Meinrad and Klaudia?”
“They’re friends I made here,” Detlef explained. “They also came from the Glacial Lands. Meinrad looks big and tough, but he’s the funniest guy I’ve ever met. Klaudia looks like she wants to crush every living thing she sees, but she’s really nice if you’re patient and kind with her.”
“That’s odd,” Mrs. Feldt noted. “I’ve traded with all the villages around us since you left. I can’t remember anyone telling me that their son or daughter went down south to enlist in the Black Shield…”
Meanwhile, Leon was using his last moments with his family to fill himself in on their plans for when the war was to spill over the mountains, in order to relieve himself of some of the anxiety that thinking of them produced.
“Grandpa, Jan… when are you guys going to evacuate?”
“I’ll be staying here a couple more nights to spend time with my old friends,” Janine answered. “Can’t stick around too long, though. Liam can’t stand being alone on his big farm. We’re in the central plains between the taiga and deciduous areas, so the Angels will have to go through a whole lot of trees to get to us. We’ll be safe.”
The central plains, Stefan remembered. That was where Gareth and Anwen lived in their base. Maybe Janine and her husband aren’t too far. Maybe even only a day’s ride from it.
“And you, Grandpa?” Leon asked.
A noticeable frown appeared on Janine’s lips. It was like she already knew what he was going to say.
“Leon, my dear boy… are you asking me if I’m going to evacuate Marius? The same Marius I was born in? The same Marius I started my training in and got married? The Marius Enok was born in, and the Marius you two took your first breaths? You should already know quite well what my answer to that is,”
Felix wasn’t going to leave Marius. It was set in stone.
“If I leave, who’ll give Isabel company? Who will wait for Enok and Freyja when they come back? Only I can. And I will!”
Leon had too many disagreements with his grandfather as of late. He wasn’t going to add another one to that list. He wasn’t going to leave him on a bad note.
“If… that’s what you think is best, go for it, Grandpa.” Leon smiled.
“Not you too, Leon!” Janine, smacking her forehead in disappointment. “Are you just going to let Grandpa wait to get hurt? Anwen, talk some sense into him, please.”
“Dr. Bernard has done so much for the people of this town!” Anwen stepped in, but not for Janine. “He’s given his whole life to serving other people. Isn’t it about time he gets to call his own shots? He deserves to choose what he gets to do.”
Janine was appalled. She hadn’t expected Anwen to agree with Leon. The woman had always thought of Anwen as something of a miniature version of herself, so listening to her enabling what she thought were her grandfather’s suicidal thoughts pained her.
“I’m not going to let you die, Grandpa.” she whispered bitterly, her gaze at the ground in front of her feet, fists curled at her sides.
Granny’s gone. There’s no chance Mum and Dad are coming back. Leon’s in the war effort. Why does everyone have to leave me?
But was Anwen wrong? Janine had witnessed a small chunk of Felix’s selfless life firsthand and knew how many days of sleep and hours of quality family time he had sacrificed for the people who needed his help. She was merely refusing to acknowledge any of it.
“Men and women of the Black Shield!” the Anbieter cried. “We depart in two minutes. Start heading for the boats immediately!”
“Leon… whether I see you again or not… keep your promise to me. You will return to Marius when the time is right.”
“Of course, Grandpa,” Leon smiled with wet eyes. “I will. Take care.”
“Anwen, Stefan. You two are a great couple of kids… keep being that way. Keep each other safe. With Gareth gone, you two will need each other more than ever.”
“When you come back, Leon… all three of us are going to meet again. I don’t care how long it takes. It’s going to happen. Stefan, Anwen… I’ll be waiting for you, too.” Janine said in a more relaxed voice but with still-present sour undertones. It was clear that much of her remaining time in Marius would be spent futilely attempting to persuade her grandfather to go to her husband’s farm with her.
“Come on, you brats!” Jay yelled in a teasing matter. “These boats won’t row themselves to the other side!”
“W-We’ll be right there, Jay!” Leon stammered. He grabbed a wrist each of Anwen’s and Leon’s, and after giving one last look of farewell to his sister and grandfather, dragged them towards the shore.