That evening, after dinner, Kael's parents prepared for bed.

"Hey honey," his mother started. "Did you notice anything strange out there today?" She asked with concern.

"Now that you mention it..." his father replied, almost nervously.

"I heard something like an explosion later in the afternoon-"

"Oh, you heard it too?" his mother cut in.

"Yeah. So I went to where I heard it, it sounded like it came from the forest." his father continued. "When I got towards the edge though, I saw what looked like blood mixed in with the dirt."

"Blood?" his mother replied, clearly shocked. This village was after all, a fairly peaceful place.

"Yes, I'm sure it was blood. There was quite a lot too. It was also scattered, so… I mean… there must have been multiple…"

"Do you think it was some wild animals fighting or something? Is the farm safe?"

"Well, all I can tell you is that the things that were bleeding seemed to have been dragged back into the forest."

"That's… that's terrifying."

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"It's certainly unsettling. Because of that, I was going to talk to Kael tomorrow, tell him he can't go play in the woods. It's always been safe, but things change."

"Just the thought of something happening to him." True to her words, his mother seemed to get visibly sad just thinking about the possible misfortune. "Actually, now that we’re talking about Kael… how has he been? Working with you?"

"Oh he’s been great. When Tristan first started he was a handful. It took a while to get him to be able to do a decent job, or even really focus on it really. But having Kael around has been pretty helpful.”

“Does he seem… does he seem a little… off?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” His father asked while adopting a puzzled look on his face.

“Well, he seems a little… I don’t know… quiet?” Elenor couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably while speaking.

“Ah. Now that you mention it, yes, yes it seems so. Ah, actually. Hmm… it is a little strange. Once he starts working he just keeps going until everything’s done. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him goof off. Or even get distracted. Hmm… that is strange. As a father I’m proud to have such a good and hard-working son. But also… boys should be boys right? Thinking about how he’s just a child… well, it’s enough to say that his efficiency is concerning.”

“You should have a talk with him. See if something is happening?” She asked, growing even more uneasy and concerned as the conversation continued.

“What? Why should it be me? Shouldn’t it be the caring mother to bring up these sort of topics? Plus I already did have a talk with him, kind of. He said he had to act like a man now, don’t you remember?”

“Exactly.” Elenor replied with a grin. “You should have a man to man talk. You know, like men do,”

Thomas frowned, but he didn’t say anything else. This was a battle he couldn’t win. No, in fact, he had already lost. Not that he’d ever won before. His wife may have been the most caring and gentle person he’d met, but she was also the most cunning and scary. He sighed before blowing out the candle and going to bed.