The sun poured in through the open tent flap the next morning. My eyes fluttered against the brightness as I wondered whose silhouette stood in the entrance.

 

“Wake up!” Irad exclaimed.

 

Memories of where I was flooded back into my head. I had slept on the ground in the weapons tent where the young boy had left me. With spears propped against every side, I could only make room on the dirt in the middle of the tent. Sleep had not come easy. I had considered running away in the night, but Harkoles’ opinion of me was already tentative. I could still feel the bruising on my throat from when he had mistaken me for a spy. I could only imagine what would happen to me if I was caught trying to abandon his army.

 

“Grab some spears,” Irad told me as he followed his own instructions. “You can help me hand them out to the other soldiers. They’ll be ready to march soon.”

 

I grudgingly did as I was told, needing to build trust among the men of this town if I was ever going to get myself out of this. I stumbled outside carrying ten spears. It was an effort to balance so many of them while also making sure I didn’t accidentally stab myself. Dozens of men stood in lines waiting to be handed their weapons. Irad and I had to make multiple trips from the tent until all the spears were gone.

 

Harkoles had planted himself in front of everyone, studying the sky while he waited for us to finish. “It’s a good day for an attack,” he announced.

 

I looked up at the sky and wondered what he saw up there that would be different from a bad day for an attack.

 

“Men,” Harkoles continued, “today we will embark on an epic quest to take back what is ours! Do we want to let that other village walk all over us?”

 

“No!” All the men shouted.

 

“That’s right,” Harkoles said. “If we let them take our livestock, who knows what else they would do?”

 

“Milk the cows?” One man asked.

 

“Shear the sheep?” Replied another.

 

“No,” Harkoles told them. “They would come back and take more stuff!” 

 

“I was going to say that,” came a voice from the back.

 

“We have to teach them a lesson.” Harkoles continued. A cheer rose from the crowd. “A lesson that those traitors will never forget.” Another cheer. “A lesson that will be told for generations in their village.” A third cheer. “Now, follow me!” 

 

Harkoles turned around and marched out of the village into the pasture. The crowd bundled behind him—spear holders first, then the rest of the men because we had run out of spears. 

 

I loitered about until I found myself among the last group, hoping to find an opportunity to slip away when I noticed Irad strolling with us like he was a member of the army. I clumsily pushed my way through the throng so that I could position myself behind him.

 

“What are you doing?” My whispered question to him was harsh.

 

“I want to fight.” He responded. “There’s so many men that Harkoles won’t even notice I’m here.”

 

“It’s too dangerous,” I told him. “You’re a boy. You’ll get yourself killed.”

 

“I’m strong and I can fight!” He announced with a crack in his voice. We both took a moment to look around and see if anyone was paying attention to our conversation. Most of the other men were breathing heavily trying to keep up with Harkoles’s pace.

 

Then, Irad returned to a whisper. “Whether you agree with me or not, you’re going to keep your mouth shut, or it won’t be hard to convince Harkoles again that you’re a traitor and a spy.”

 

I turned my head and focused on not tripping over any tree roots as we entered the forest. “I’m only trying to help you,” I said. 

 

“I don’t need help from a coward,” Irad hissed. “I’m going to prove my father wrong and return as a war hero to our village.”

 

“Your father?” I asked. “You never mentioned your father. I remember you saying that you’re Cain’s grandson.”

 

“Yes,” he grumbled, “and my father, Enoch, is his son. He was supposed to be next in line to lead our village, but he didn’t want the job. When dad was old enough to start taking his position seriously, he told Grandfather Cain that he wanted nothing to do with him or Grandmother Lilith. He said that they were the reason our people had so many problems.”

 

“What does that have to do with you proving him wrong by going to war?”

 

Irad held a steely glare straight ahead of him as we followed the others. “My father says that I’m weak because I wanted to be a leader like Cain. He says that real men win fights, that they don’t have others do it for them.”

 

“Then why isn’t he marching with us?” I asked.

 

“He picked the wrong fight.” Irad told me. “One day, he started messing around with Harkoles. He said he was just joking, but he said the wrong thing.” A deep breath escaped the boy’s lips. “So, Harkoles broke his leg.”

 

I stared at Irad and stumbled over a tree root. “Just like that?”

 

Irad shrugged. “Yep. Harkoles does what he wants, and my father’s status didn’t matter. He’s been limping ever since. After that, Grandfather Cain chose me to be successor after my father and began my training as potential town leader. I think he was actually happy when Enoch’s leg was broken.”

 

“Why would he be happy about his son’s leg being broken?” I was horrified. 

 

“My father never took to the training no matter what Grandfather did.” Irad responded. “With a bad leg, he had no other options and had to accept what he was told to do since no one else would take care of him.”

 

I rubbed my jaw in exasperation. “So, Cain got the son he always wanted and Enoch paid the price.”

 

“In a way,” Irad said with a shrug. “Although, neither of them are ever happy about it. It’s not like Grandfather wanted a broken leg to be the reason my father would take the position. He wanted a full man to be able to take his spot one day, and all he got was a fragile man that doesn’t want to be there.”

 

“And that’s where you come in?” I asked.  “You either learn to be the man your father wants you to be or the man your grandfather wants you to be?”

 

“I can be both,” Irad answered. “We’ll come back victorious from this war, and I’ll be a soldier worthy to lead my people.”

 

We hiked for a while in silence. I listened to the birds chirping and fluttering through the trees. The sounds of nature around us were no different than where I had grown up. The only thing different out here were the people. 

 

“I didn’t tell anyone when I left home either.” I told Irad. “I just wandered off one day and didn’t turn back.” 

 

“Would you bring me to see your village one day?” Irad asked as he randomly picked up a fallen branch.

 

He looked so young in that moment. Behind the small patches of black hair jutting from his face, a small boy gazed back at me with wonder and hope. I could have been looking at one of my little brothers asking me for a piggyback ride for the dozenth time.

 

“Of course,” I answered him. “We’ll just have to get through this battle first.”

 

“You won’t,” Irad said, then he swung the branch hard at my shin. A loud crack reverberated through me, followed by my crumpling to the ground. I howled and hugged my leg as I rolled around.