“Lucien! Lucien!”

A voice called out to him in the darkness. It was distorted and weak. He could barely hear a thing. His brain was filled with so much pain and agony that it couldn’t take in anything else.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he closed his eyes. Time had become irrelevant, as did almost everything else. He didn’t know if he was lying there for a second or for a hundred years. It could’ve been either for all he knew.

Eventually, the pain also faded away, leaving him with nothing.

It was peaceful.

“Lucien! Can you hear me?”

Again, the voice called to him. Something inside him stirred, compelling him to answer, but he didn’t know how.

“You need to wake up!”

Why does that sound so familiar? A light flickered in the darkness, slowly expanding as his consciousness returned to him.

He opened his eyes weakly, the light searing his eyes. A head popped into view, blocking out the dreadful sunlight. One by one a bunch of smaller heads sprouted into view. Everything was vague and blurry. Where am I?

His vision started to clear as his memories came back to him. The children, the fight with the giant wolf, the forest. All of it came rushing back to him. And with that came the searing pain in his left arm.

Looking down, he found his arm tightly bound in a makeshift sling.

“I made it from the forest. It’s not great, but it’ll have to do until we get back. Now let me take a better look at it.” Cassandra said, clearing the kids away.

Helping him to sit up, she poked and prodded his arm. “Does it hurt when I touch it here?”

“Yes! Yes.” He winced at her touch.

She continued to check out his arm, a concerned frown tracing her focused face. “It’s not looking good. I’ll try my best.”

Calling upon the power of the forest, the energy coalesced around her hands in a faint green glow. Pressing her hands against his arm, she pushed the mana inside.

The mana coiled around in his arm, relieving him of the pain. It latched onto the shattered pieces of bone, slowly pulling them back together. Piece by piece, everything was brought back to how to where it should be.

Wiping away her sweat, she observed him for a moment more before getting up. “Now I’m not good enough to heal it fully, so you’re still going to have to keep it in that sling for a while until your body does the rest of the work. Don’t go lifting anything with it, and especially don’t get into any more fights. Now we better get you back so you can rest.”

Cassandra helped him to his feet before stepping back and organising the kids to get ready.

Adam walked over and passed him his sword, which he had fully cleaned. “Let’s get going.”

“Mm.” Lucien hummed, returning his sword to its sheathe and picking up his shield. Long claw marks tore into the shield, punching the wood back and making it difficult to hold properly. Fuck. And it’s only been a couple days too. Maybe he’ll let me off and make me a new one?

Falling in behind the kids, they made their way out of the forest with Cassandra in the lead. Returning to the village through the south gate, Lucien’s arm received looks from the guards on duty.

Quickly passing through, the group returned to the schoolhouse, where Lucien and Adam split off from the rest of the group. Adam returned home, whereas Lucien made his way to Uther’s place.

“Come in.” Uther called out from the other side of the door. He raised a brow upon seeing the state Lucien was in. “I take it things didn’t go too well.”

“A damn wolf. Something got it riled up, and it decided we were its next meal. Had magic too, the lucky bastard.” Lucien sat down, relieved to be able to finally get off his feet.

Uther poured out a mug of ale for Lucien and sat across from him. “How are you feeling?”

Lucien downed the ale in one go. “Been better. I’m more worried about what the old codger’s gonna do to me when he finds out I broke another shield.”

“I’ll handle that. Did you find anything?” Uther asked.

“No.” Lucien shook his head. “There were no signs of people to the south. I’ll head out southeast tomorrow.”

“Maybe you should rest. I’ll get someone else to check.” Uther said.

“There’s no need. Cassandra did a good enough job healing me.” Lucien said.

“If you’re sure about it, then I won’t stop you.”

Returning home, he found his family waiting for him with concerned looks on their faces.

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“Papa!” Delilah ran into his arms, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Hey hey hey. What are you crying for? I’m okay, see?” He whispered soothingly to her, gently wiping away her tears.

His sister breathed a visible sigh of relief while everyone got up to join him in the hug. “Roddy really got us worried. I’m glad you’re okay.” She said.

“I’ll be back up and running before you know it. So you guys don’t have to worry about me. Just go back to whatever you were doing.” Lucien said.

Appeasing his family, he spent a bit of time convincing them that he was fine. Gabriella took Roddy home while Lucien spent the evening with his family.

Putting Delilah to bed, she refused to let go. “Stay.”

Shaking his head with a smile, he crawled into the small bed, and curled up with her in his arms.

~

The sun shone through the window, landing on his face, rousing him from his sleep. Slowly sliding his arm out from under Delilah, he tucked her in before sneaking out the door.

Oh God. He felt his back crack as he stretched out the stiffness from his body. Stepping into the kitchen, he saw his wife preparing breakfast. “Remind me to bring her to our bed next time.”

“You really need to stop doing this. It’s not good for you.” She said.

“I know, but she just didn’t want me to leave. Was I supposed to say no?”

“I don’t mean that.” She sighed and turned to face him. “You need to stop putting yourself in danger. You're not young anymore."

“I’ll be fine.” He cupped her chin softly. “We have Cassandra with us. And look at Uther. He’s double my age and still as fit as a fiddle. I’ll be okay.”

“Alright.” She sighed, turning back to the food. “But take it easy for the next few days. Call of work and get some rest. You’ve earned it.”

“Okay, I will.” He half-lied. I’ll rest after today.

Sitting down at the table, he had breakfast with his family before getting the kids ready for school. When it was time for them to leave, Delilah refused to go without Lucien.

Rolling his eyes at his wife, he took Delilah by the hand and walked her to the schoolhouse. Stopping at the door, he tidied up her clothes and looked her in the eyes. “Have fun in school today, I’ll make sure to come and pick you up after class.”

“No, don’t leave!” She squeezed him tightly, refusing to let go.

He smiled softly, caressing her hair. “You know I can’t go in there with you.”

“Stay.”

“Come on. You’re a big strong girl, you’ll be fine without your old man. Besides, you’ve got your brother to look out for you.”

“What if you get hurt again?” She looked up at him with her big teary eyes.

“I’ll be fine. Nothing will happen to me.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He nodded.

After a bit more coaxing, she let go and went inside with her brother.

Watching them disappear into the building. He stayed for a few minutes before returning home.

Packing his bag with everything he would need for this scouting trip, he attached his sword and a dagger to his waist, before quietly approaching the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Cordelia said, glaring at him from the doorway between the kitchen and the main room.

“To play a couple rounds with Arthur.” He said.

“Dressed like that? I didn’t know you needed a sword for a dice game.” She said, not buying it for a second.

“I’ve just got one more thing I need to do for Uther. Then I promise you I’ll rest. It’s nothing dangerous, I promise.”

“Why do I not believe you?” She asked sceptically.

“I have no idea. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Fine, you can go. Just stay safe.”

Waving goodbye, he made his way southeast, entering the forest. Now, where did Roddy see Adam?

Lucien trekked through the forest, making sure to keep as much distance between him and the Eternal Forest as possible while still heading southeast. The kids couldn’t have gotten too far, otherwise they would’ve gotten lost.

He scoured the area for the next hour, heading deeper into the forest. But to no avail. He had reached the point where it was rare to find any signs of human activity, let alone the obvious signs left behind by children.

Adam’s hiding something. I just know it.

Taking a moment to make sure the area was safe, he sat down on a rock and pulled out a piece of hard bread from his bag. Unplugging his waterskin, he snapped off a small piece of the bread and scoffed it down with a large mouthful of water. Quickly finishing off his meal, he went to get up and continue when he saw something hidden far away, moving between the trees.

What was that? Quietly slinging his bag around his shoulder. He kept himself low to the ground and approached it as quietly as he could. Finding a spot behind a tree, he peeked his head around the corner.

Standing in the middle of a clearing was a rabbit as deathly white as snow. Its ears took up the majority of its body, drooping down and trailing along the ground behind it. Its buck teeth glinted like the sharpest of metals as it sat there atop the fresh corpse of a large deer.

Is that the rabbit Roddy was talking about? What is it doing?

It opened its mouth wide as if to scream, but no sound came out. Moments later, animals came from all directions to feast on the corpse together.

Lucien leapt in shock as a bear bulldozed past him and ran to the corpse. Sweat drenched his body as he watched this scene unfold.

The creatures fled, leaving the bones of the deer that had been picked clean, and the rabbit. The rabbit turned around and looked directly at Lucien.

Making eye contact with it, he wanted to look away, but something was stopping him. Staring into the rabbit’s eyes, they glinted like the stars in the night sky. He didn’t know how long had passed until the creature finally broke eye contact and Lucien regained control of himself.

The rabbit ran off.

I should follow it. Something in his mind was telling him to follow the rabbit. To trust it. And so he did.

Following the rabbit deeper into the forest, he snuck past many of the beasts he saw earlier feasting on the deer. But no matter how slow he moved, the rabbit always remained in view, convincing him even more that he had to follow it.

And he was right.

The rabbit led him to a small campsite, stopping to look him in the eyes before it ran off into the forest at a speed he couldn’t possibly follow.

The campsite consisted of a firepit, a small shelter to protect from the rain and fallen leaves, and a single bedroll.

Why would someone be camping all the way out here? Don’t they know how dangerous it is?

Checking the fire, he determined that it hadn’t been used at all for at least the past day.

Why would someone leave this here? Vigilant, he searched the campsite carefully for any clues pointing to the owner. Hidden in the bottom of the bedroll was a piece of paper.

This is Adam’s handwriting.