The early spring days were indeed short and no sooner had Silver spoken the words than the twilight was upon them. The group turned and headed home toward Rynnlee. After a few minutes of walking in increasing darkness, Silver reached a decision.
"You men go ahead. Katherine will be worried about you, Conall. You both have wounds that need attending." Silver waved them ahead.
"I don't want to leave you alone in the forest," the mayor argued. He stuck out his chest like his pride had been wounded more than his leg.
The Guardian chuckled, "Anything in the forest should be more afraid of me than I am of it. And besides. I won't be alone. I'll have Ethyn here."
The three men shifted their gaze to the boy with appreciative smiles. Silver could see that his young friend was winded. It had been far more excitement for one day than a boy in his condition should have had. Ethyn's ribs were on fire, and the rest of his body was not far behind. It was also getting colder without the sun to warm the ground.
If the others were gone, Silver could tend to the boy's needs without making the child embarrassed. Conall and Aiden nodded.
"We will check on you tomorrow." The mayor told them.
The burly man patted Ethyn on the head. "You did well today. Take care of him, Silver." Once the Guardian nodded, Aiden turned to the mayor. "I don't know about you, but I am ready to get out of these wet boots and in front of a warm fire. Let's go."
The two men moved off through the trees as quickly as their injured legs would carry them. Silver watched as they disappeared from sight. His stomach rumbled.
'What I wouldn't give for a nice warm meal right now.' The Guardian produced some dried meat and bread from his cloak and offered some to Ethyn. The boy took it happily as his own stomach roared like a ravenous lion. They walked for a moment in silence as they ate. Finishing off the bread, Ethyn smacked his lips. "Thank you."
"I can carry us home quickly. Climb on my back and I…"
"No, I started this day like a man, and I want to end it like one," the ten-year-old answered firmly. He stared defiantly at the Guardian.
"You are not less of a man by accepting help."
Ethyn arched his brow. "If you can explain how riding piggy back on someone can be considered manly, then I will happily climb aboard."
Silver, of course, had no reasonable response, so they plodded slowly on toward Rynnlee. The sounds of night gradually took over and filled the air. Crickets chirped off in the distance and on the river bank the first few toads croaked their greetings. A stray owl hoot added to the symphony.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ethyn struggling not to shiver. "Are you ok?"
Ethyn nodded, but his shoulders began to shake as he rubbed his hands steadily up and down his crossed arms. Silver looked around quickly. No one seemed to be near. The Guardian nodded, removed his cloak, and draped it around the young boy. Ethyn stifled a gasp as he felt the cloth wrap around his body.
"This is yours!" he protested, beginning to remove the fabric.
Silver held up his hands. "If you can tell me how wearing a black cloak is unmanly, I will take it back. Otherwise, accept the help."
Without waiting for and answer, the Guardian pulled the hood up over the boy's head. Instantly, heat radiated through Ethyn's body as the cloak quickly dissipated any memory of the cold. Beyond that, the cloth seemed to be producing a heat of its own. Yet, the cloak was light, too. Ethyn had seen all of the sundry items Silver could produce from the folds of the garment, yet it rested gently on his shoulders.
Ethyn noticed with surprise that the cloak did not drag on the ground, either. It was a perfect length for his youthful body, though it normally hung to the floor on his mentor's much taller frame. But how? It was a puzzle.
"I must really like you," Silver said nonchalantly. "No one has ever worn that cloak but me."
Ethyn looked at his mentor. The moon had not yet risen, but the stars gave off enough light in the clear sky to cast a glow in the clear space along the stream. Even after a week, Ethyn was still not used to seeing his friend unhooded. Seeing him walk unshrouded in the starlight only seemed to add to his mystique. His dark hair seemed to absorb any and all light leaving a strange void above the guardian's head.
With tan skin and dark clothes Silver's body simply left a tall shadowy outline against the trees. But those eyes. They reflected all the light that the rest of his body refused to acknowledge. More than that, they seemed to emit a light of their own. Ethyn marveled at the thought.
"Are you cold?" the boy asked timidly. While he was now comfortable, he could still remember that the air was turning frigid.
"I'm fine," Silver shrugged. He looked at the boy and laughed. "Is that what I look like?"
"What do you mean?" Ethyn was confused.
"I mean I know you are looking at me, but where your face should be, there's just…" The Guardian waved a circle in front of his own face with his palm a few times. "…blank."
Ethyn smiled beneath the hood. It was nice to be the inscrutable one for a change. "Then that explains why you can't see how angry I am," Ethyn said casually.
Silver's eyes widened slightly, but then a smile touched his lips. "Nice try, my young friend. Your face may be obscured, but every bit of your body language says you are pleased as punch to be wearing the hallmark of the Mighty Silver." The Guardian drew out the last two words dramatically. He did not like that people called him that, but it was no use correcting them. They would only come up with some other even more irritating adjective next time.
Ethyn fingered the edge of his hood. "Maybe I could get a cloak like this." His words came out as more of an unasked question.
Silver shook his head, "I am sorry, Ethyn, but that cloak is rather unique. I don't think Hanna just goes around giving them out." The Guardian had never seen another one like it in person. Only the Guardians of old that he had seen in Hanna's world history had worn anything similar.
Ethyn sighed. "Well, if I meet her, I will ask her for one."
"You do that."
They walked a bit more and although the Guardian couldn't see, Ethyn's face was screwed up, deep in thought. "Silver? How did you find me today? The other men didn't see me. They wandered right past before they gave up searching." Ethyn had wondered about this at the time, but more pressing matters were at hand.
Silver was silent, collecting his thoughts. Ethyn prepared for the worst. Eventually the silver-eyed man answered him. "You know I have superior hearing. When we passed you, I could hear you breathing slightly. It could have been a rabbit or a fox, but my gut told me otherwise." He paused, but the boy could tell he was hesitating to say more.
"What aren't you telling me? Was it a bad spot? You weren't there but those men were right on top of me and couldn't see me." Ethyn stopped. He could see the grim line of his mentor's mouth.
"You chose a spot that was low to the ground. The surrounding ground was uneven and multicolored. It would have taken a sharp eye to spot you if you weren't moving. In short…I found you because it's where I would have hidden in your place. Your skill is better than mine was at your age."
Ethyn's ruby-haired head swam as the words sunk in. There were no higher compliments Silver could have offered. Silver smiled and placed his arm around the boy. He squeezed his young friend's shoulder gently. "If you tell anyone I said all that, I will deny it," Silver warned.
"I won't, but why?" Ethyn had wanted to tell Lily the first chance he got.
"I don't want too many people to know I'm training you. It will be very handy to have people underestimate your abilities." He turned his head toward the river and winced.
'And no one needs to know how close I came to not finding a ten year old.'