3 years later, 1532, Scottish Highlands,
Arlen rubbed his hands, which were numb from the morning cold, and reached out towards the fire burning inside the fireplace in the living room of the house.
Even thought he wore the woolgloves his mother had knitted for him last autum, his hands were icy.
"Don't be like that, we still need to lay out the herbs in order for them to dry properly.", scolded Farlan Arlen, as he saw the boy kneeling infront of the fireplace.
Arlen glared at his master angrily, whereupon Farlan only rised his eyebrow.
With a sigh the boy stood up to help his teacher tie the herbs, they had gathered since dawn, to bundles and hang them up above the stone setting of the fireplace, where they would receive warmth but wouldn't get smoked.
Later on, they would make medicin from them, which they could then give to the villagers living around here.
That also included Arlen's family, so normally he was more then enthusiastic about this work, but today his mood wasn't the best.
It was only the beginning of April and it still took a while until the sunrise at around 6.45 am.
Moreover, many places still had snow laying atop the earth and the herbs that grew already were meager and distributed over wide areas.
Even thought he was wearing warm clothes and had even put on another Leinen above his normal one, Arlen was freezing after staying an hour in this weather outside in the highlands.
He always wondered how his teacher wasn't feeling cold even then they spended the same time outside.
The boy believed, that his teacher was using some magic spell to keep himself warm but he still hadn't teached it to Arlen yet.
"We are going on a trip starting the day after tomorrow and will only come back next Saturday. That's why I will allow you to visit Kyle and Ailis tomorrow already. You can tell them then, that we won't be here for the coming nine days.", Farlan said suddenly.
Arlen, who had been lost in thought, pondering about the spell to keep oneself warm, turned his head towards is teacher very fast and he looked at him with big eyes.
He had never been away from theier cabin deep inside the highlands for such a long time befor.
Branagh was the village the futherest away that he had ever visited and even that one was only two days worth traveling away.
Just where are we going?, Arlen asked himself, as he continued to tie herbs together.
Farlan had fallen silent again, a sign for Arlen, that he wasn't going to continue this conversation, no matter how many questions Arlen had.
That was one of the first things the boy had learned.
So instead he had just nodded and said:"I understand, Maighstir Farlan."
The rest of the day passed by him like it was clouded in thick fog.
Befor he even realized it, darkness had fallen outside and he lay, wrapped into his blanket in his bed, which stood inside one of the three back rooms of the cottage and which also was Arlen's room at the same time.
He restlessness turned around in his small wooden bed.
The thick blanket kept him warm against the nightly cold and the sharp winds trying to find a way inside the cottage.
In the end, he sat up, sighed and looked outside the glazed window.
Just like quiet a few things inside Farlans cottage, the glass in the window seemed strange, especially since there weren't any other houses with glass windows in any of the villages Arlen had ever visited.
The only exception there the beautiful stained glasses used in the small churches in some of the villages.
Then he had first arrived here, he had asked Farlan over and over again, why he had glass windows and how he got them, thought he never recieved any answer.
As his thoughts wandered he gazed at the night sky, which was filledwith stars, who were reflected in Arlen's eyes.
Luckily, the sky was clear today, so he could see the almost full moon, which faintly lit up the surroundings.
Silently, Arlen changed into warm clothes and slipped out of the house.
Outside, the cold hit him like thousand needles and he wrapped his mantle even more around himself.
As he walked over the ground, which was partly frozen again, his breath created white clouds in the air.
After a few steps he had left the forest clearing, on wich Farlans cottage was located, and had trees all around him.
For a moment he just stood there silently, without moving a single muscle, then he started running.
He didn't look for a direction, and just ran, ran, ran.
After a short time - there it minutes or just seconds? - his thoughts turned silent and disappeared and he could only hear his own heavy breath, the cracking of twigs beneath his feet and the pounding of his heart.
His lungs started feeling as if they were on fire and he felt the sweat flowing down his back, even thought it was so cold.
He turned to the right, then to the left, one more time left and then right again, jumped over a small stream, which flowed through the forest and down the mountain.
At one point, he stopped.
His hands support on his knees he breathed heavenly, needing some time to grasp his breath again.
Only then did he notice, that the first shadows of dawn had arrived.
He completely stood up and looked around himself.
Almost everyone wouldn't have had the faintest idea about his current location, after running around without thinking, but Arlen was a Druid and he knew the mountains around him like his vest pocket.
After he had calmed his breath, he turned around and started going back to the cottage slowly.
Then he arrived there, the sun had started rising as well, appearing behind the mountains.
It was a breathtaking sight.
As the boy watched it, the memory's of his mothers story rushed into his mind.
She had always told him, that in the evening the sun went into the mountains to rest and the next day, she would wake up and rise from her bed of stone to shine again.
Later, his master had teached him that the sun wasn't actually resting in the mountains but circling around the world, and even thought his master had often teached him strange things, like, for example, that the world was round not flat, he knew that Farlan would never lie to him, so he had come to believe and accept those facts.
After the sun had fully risen, he went back inside, there his teacher was already roaming throughthe kitchen, preparing breakfast for them.
"Did you have a good walk?", he asked Arlen, as the boy entered.
"Yes, Maighstir Farlan.", Arlen answered with a smile.
His teacher nodded and after a quick breakfast, he allowed the boy to go down the mountain to visit his family.
After stepping outside, Arlen called Neala through theier telepathic link.
The wolf came running right away and Arlen sat on her back.
He knew, that soon he would be to big for this, but right now it was still possible.
They took the same way they had taken for years and once they reached the outskirts of the forest, Arlen went down from Nealas back and walked the rest of the way.
The village was already lively, even thought it was early in the morning.
Arlen passed by a group of women going to the river to wash clothes and some man walking towards the fields with rakes.
The boy wasn't sure if his family was still at home or had already left for work, but he still wanted to trie his luck back at home first.
After arriving at the cottage, he pushed open the door and entered the house.
Inside, silence and emptiness greeted him.
Seems like everyone has already left, he thought.
But that was only natural.
Today was Wednesday, which meant that everyone needed to work.
With a sigh, he turned around, left the house and went towards the fields.
There, men and women were already working hard.
Some children were also there, helping the adults out.
Arlen looked around but befor he could spot his family he heard a wave of words:"Ainm an Diabhail! Na innis a leithid de amaideas!"
Arlen would have recognized his fathers voice everywhere, so he quickly turned around and ran over to it.
There, a group of farmers were standing around his father and the third son of the Craig family, Ruadh, while the others were stretching theier necks to see what was happening.
Arlen's older brothers Calahann, Sullivan and Brannon were standing behind his father, trying to calm him down.
In that moment his father continued speaking:"Mo behag is at the mountain…".
He couldn't say anything else, since Arlen interrupted them through a cheerful:"Athair, tha mi aig an thaigh!" which leaded to all of the people turning around to him.
Ruadh smirked, while saying:" I didn't lie, your youngest son really was in the village.", but no one focused any attention at him.
Everyone just stared at Arlen, then at Kyle, then at Arlen again.
Suddenly, Kyle came marching over and befor anyone could even react he had pulled Arlen into a big hug already.
After he let go of the boy, Arlen finally got the chance to tell him, that Farlan had allowed him to come home today.
His father nodded and soon after everyone had gone back to work.
At first, his older brother tried to teased Arlen, saying he wasn't used to fieldwork anymore since he only worked with herbs now, but all of them knew that it was only them making fun of him, since Arlen barley lagged behind his brothers in terms of skill.
Time passed, and the bell of the church rang, to tell them that it was already twelve'o'clock.
All the farmers packed theier things together and started marching home.
Then Arlen entered the house this time, it was full with the other members of his family and brimming with voices.
Thought, they did went silent the moment they noticed Arlen.
Especially his mother ran over to him right away and started searching for injuries, asking him if he had come back home because anything happend.
Arlen shook his head and his father said that he was fine as well, thought he only received a glare from his wife together with the question, why he hadn't asked Arlen, what the reason for him being allowed to come home in the middle of the week was.
Arlen catched his breather, and, under the watchful eyes of his mother and older siblings, started explaining:"Maighstir Farlan will take me on a trip tomorrow, and we will only come back nine days later. That's why, he allowed me to visit today, since I won't be able to come on Sunday."
His mother sighed, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to change Farlans mind or stop his plans on such a short notice, so instead she only said:"Mallachd mhòr ort, Farlan! Gu'n tuit an t-anshocas ort!"
The whole family knew, that she didn't really mean it, but they also knew that right now theier mother needed to let out all of her anger towards Farlan, which happend through the curses, which continued on a while after.
Finally, she stopped and finished making lunch and even thought her mood was still a bit sour, the overall mood in the family was happy.
During lunch, Arlen sat next to Anna, who whispered:"I'm glad that your here today. Thought, I will miss you on Sunday, Bràthair càraid."
Arlen nodded, and grapped her hand beneath the table.
"I will try to bring a present for you back, Piuthar càraid.", was his whispered answer.
Since the room was filled with voices, it was hard for anyone besides the two of them to understand, what they had just talked about.
The rest of the afternoon still passed by quietly and happily and they had a lot of fun.
Then dusk started, Arlen needed to return to Farlans cottage.
"Take these with you.", his mother said as she gave him a small pouch while saying goodbye.
"Cùm ort fhèin, mo behag.", his father said.
Both of them gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead while saying goodbye.
Anna also hugged him, and whispered into his ear:"If anything happens to you, I'm going to personally kill you, Bràthair càraid."
Arlen answered:"I will stay safe. Tha mi ga ghealltainn, Piuthar càraid."
It was an old ritual between the two of them.
Then Arlen had first moved to Farlan, they had done it exactly like that, and afterwards, everytime Arlen went on a trip with Farlan and was allowed to inform his family in advance, they had also followed it.
As they hugged each other, only Arlen noticed the single tear flowing down Anna's eye.