He knew that women were not weak in this era, instead, they stood shoulder to shoulder along with men. How else could they survive this harsh world? Edward would have brought them along but he needed someone to lead the people of the tribe in his absence.
The emotions of Night were not as clear as Daisy's. Daisy showed her emotions clearly on her face but Night kept her emotions inside her heart and only showed a steady calm side of her. Even if she had her misgivings, she would not show them clearly. That much was clear to Edward but still, he could do nothing but try to reassure her.
His repeated assurance worked because eventually, Night gave up on insisting to come along. Taking Edward to an empty area with no one around, Night cautioned him.
"Light, you must come back. After you leave, this Night will pray to the gods every day... until the day you come back!"
Her eyes were filled with tears, an emotion she wouldn't show others so easily.
The concept of God was different for these savage people then the concept Edward knew. For them, anything that was unreachable was a god. They considered the sun, mountains, and even strong animals as their god and protectors both in fear and awe. However, the things that gave them food were also god for them as the soil (earth), rain, and trees.
Edward felt teary eyed after hearing Night's declaration but still endured it. He reached out and cupped Night's cheek with a smile on his face.
"It is just a small matter, don't think this is a life and death matter. I'll be back and make you the most delicious meat you've ever eaten."
These past few days, Edward had brought earth-shaking changes to their lives. They used to live in hunger and fear every day. Since Edward appeared, this has not happened. They had a dependence on him, of course, and for Night & Daisy, it had evolved into a form of attachment.
The departure of Edward made the two girls uneasy.
Finally, it was time for Edward and his party to leave. He stood in front of the two worried girls.
Edward held Night's face in-between his hands and rubbed his cheeks and nose against her. He did the same for Daisy before saying:
"Stupid girls, it's only a few days. You both be good and wait for me to come back okay? Both of you stay in the camp and be careful at all times."
Daisy shed a few tears of worry while Night did her best to repress her emotions of worry but reluctantly, both girls nodded along.
Edward walked aside towards Debro.
"Hey," Edward walked over and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Night and Daisy are handed over to you! There is everything in the camp! Remember, safety first, send two archers to the scout every day and then let the other two go hunting. You can't go out yourself. Just wait for me to come back, understood?"
"Light bro, you can rest easy I will do as you say!" Debro replied with a hint of seriousness in his eyes. For the first time since Edward met Debro, he did not stutter in his speech.
Sending his farewell to the two beauties, the group of 8 people set off.
The six clay pots were filled with cooked meat. If used wisely, they could be used for a few days. The rest could be hunted along the way. They had roasted the meat to make it hard and so last a little more time.
Roc was in the lead, although he has not been to the place they were going the Cloud tribe, where Wolf was also located, towards the south of the swamp were still very familiar to him.
After a few hours, they came to the edge of the swamp. Looking around, there was a large surface of the water, surrounded by clumps of reeds. The autumn sun along with a gentle breeze swayed the nearby leaves.
"Light bro, see? The mud pit on this side is the mark left by our people collecting yellow mud."
In fact, Edward has already seen it. There were many artificial pits on the mudflats by the lake.
"Roc, look at the water surface today, are we going through the swamp and risk getting stuck, or are we going around?"
"Hmmmm, light brother, we are so many people so even if someone gets stuck, others can lift him up"
The other six people, according to Edward's instructions, lifted the clay pots up and lined up, followed by Roc and Edward, and waded into the swamp.
Fortunately, when they reached the center of the swamp, the deepest part brought water just near their necks. At this time Roc turned towards Edward and said:
"Light bro, my sister was almost stuck in the mud at this position that day, almost drowned if we had not reached her in time."
Edward remembered the incident of that day again and felt ashamed. He looked at the position pointed out by Roc and tried to imagine a girl in the middle of the night trapped there...
'What kind of fear and despair would she be feeling?'