I woke up from the sound of footsteps and cracking branches. It was late in the morning and I had been trying to get some sleep since I did not get much that night. I hastily grabbed the hunting knife from one of the bags and quietly walked up to a tree. I carefully glanced past the trunk to see who was there, but I couldn't see more than a silhouette of a small person that moved closer and closer. I took a deep breath and walked in big steps away from my hiding place, towards the person, with my knife pointing forwards. "Name and reason for being here. Now!" I said loud and clear. The person saw me coming and backed away. He stepped into a clearing and into the moonlight. I recognised him. It was Rafe! "Makatza, it's me, please don't kill me." He said weakly, before falling backwards onto the ground.
"O my God, Rafe!" I ran towards him and placed my hand on his chest. He was still breathing. I put my knife in a pocket and carefully lifted him off the ground, which was not hard since he was only nine years old. I carried him to my little camp and placed him on top of my blanket. I checked for breathing one more time and when I felt that he was alright, I finally relaxed a little.
Rafe was one of the children my and Shaye's mission was about. We had to take them from Aydewyn to Laster, a 25-mile journey through forest and fields. There were three of us. Me, Shaye and Connell, who was one year older than me and Shaye and led the mission. Together, we had 26 children age 5 to 15 with us. It was a tough few days, but it was necessary because Aydewyn was a known first target for the upcoming war.
I had relit the fire and made a soup from some herbs, edible berries and heated river water by the time Rafe woke up. I gave him an improvised cup from a large leaf with hot soup and when he finished I asked him what in the world he was doing here.
"I heard you and Shaye talking last night." He said. I heard you were leaving, so I followed. Can I have more soup?"
I poured a bit more in the leaf. Then I asked, "Why? Why did you follow me?"
"I didn't want to go to Laster, and when I heard you say something about an adventure to the black horse, I decided to follow. I didn't have a horse, so it took a long time until I got here and found you. Then, you tried to kill me, and here we are." He took another sip of the soup and I took a second to think things over by doing the same. I couldn't take him with me. He was just a kid. He couldn't be with me when I did _it_ either. But if I brought him back to the group, Connell would not let me go again, I was sure of that. Even if he did, what stopped Rafe from following me again? There was only one option: taking him with me and leaving him in the village I would cross in two days with someone who would take care of him or even bring him to Laster.
"What is that?" Rafe asked. I followed his eyes and immediately retreated my hand from my bag when I saw what he was looking at. I had mindlessly been fidgeting with the ribbon that was wrapped around the letter. _The_ letter.
"Nothing. Not important." I said quickly. "Can you help me pack? We have to continue our journey." I saw his eyes lighting up. "You'll take me with you?" I nodded. "I will take you with me.