Preparations were now in full swing. All hands were working through many sleepless nights to get the King's army ready to face Erebus and his legion. Lorcán over the last few months had been keeping close contact with his spies on where Erebus had moved and how much time they still had. Each day the loom of war grew closer and closer and the once vibrant city was now one of murmurs and whispers.

Noah and Gabriel spent their days mostly together training. If they weren't training together then Noah could always be found on the range while Gabriel was off training the elite bowmen Lorcán had hand-picked. Theo on the other hand had built his reputation as a skilled swordsman. Though he was fairly young amongst the others that he trained with, he could hold his own well.

Ciro had started sparring with Theo again after realizing just how much he had neglected it. He also missed the time he spent just with Theo and Noah. Though Noah had turned to be a bowman, this didn't stop Ciro from trying to get him to pick up a sword again. However, all those ass-kickings playing in the back of his mind stirred him far away. So Ciro settled for the nightly dinners with the rest.

One night as all four were discussing their day a knock was heard. Gabriel went to see who it was and when he opened the door, he saw a messenger boy who was sent by Lorcán. He handed Gabriel the letter without a word and ran off into the shadows of the castle.

"What is it?" Theo asked, trying to get a good look from where he was seated.

Gabriel turned around and held up the letter before opening it. "It's from Lorcán, but I don't know why he would send something this late." He unfolded the nice parchment letter and read in silence keeping the others in anticipation.

"Well?" Ciro asked impatiently.

Gabriel looked up with both sadness and surprise written across his face. "We're going to war." The room went dead silent. No one spoke or even took a breath. This was it. The months of training and preparations were leading to this and still no one felt ready to face Erebus.

"What do we need to do now?" Ciro asked as he stood. He swallowed his fear and was now focused on getting troops out and marching.

"Just sit back down alright? We need to discuss what's going to happen before we go barking orders." Gabriel narrowed his eyes on his brother. Ciro raised his hands in surrender and sat back down. "I need you two to go into town and give the alarm." The alarm in question was created to get everyone up and ready in the most organized way amongst the chaos.

Theo and Noah nodded. Gabriel and Ciro redressed and headed out in a rush. Theo looked over at Noah and could see the same fear that was in his eyes that he himself had. They didn't say anything but hurriedly dressed in silence and ran out the door to make it down to the city.

~~~*~~~

Gabriel and Ciro were making their way to Lorcán's study. The castle was still fairly quiet as word hadn't made it to the rest. The two's footsteps echoed down the hall and to the door of the king's study. They didn't wait for an invite in and crashed through to see Lorcán and a few others in deep discussion all turn towards the noise.

"There you are," Lorcán said. "Come now there's much to do."

Gabriel looked around at the others and back at Lorcán. "I sent Theo and Noah down to alarm everyone."

Lorcán nodded. "Good good. Ciro, I need you to get the soldiers into the courtyard for weapons and armor. The cavalry has already been left out."

"How long on foot?"

"They've pushed through the forces and are now at least three days out." Lorcán truly looked worried now. Ifera had been at peace for centuries.

Ciro nodded. "The men will be ready to march out soon." Then he was gone.

"What about me?" Gabriel asked.

Lorcán sighed a tired breath. "It looks like our plan will be put into play early."

Gabriel paused for a second. This was it. "Can I at least say goodbye before I just disappear?"

"We are pressed for time here." A glint of guilt flashed through Lorcán's eyes. He stood walking around the desk placing a hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"I just want to do things right this time. If things go wrong, I want to make sure I've at least said goodbye." Gabriel pleaded with Lorcán. Lorcán's eyes softened and he saw not a God in front of him, but a young man who was about to enter a war and he sympathized with that.

He nodded. "Alright but make it quick."

Gabriel gave a grim nod and headed out. He had to make this quick.

~~~*~~~

Theo and Noah sprinted down to the city huffing and puffing but no signs of slowing down. They hit the cobblestones and kept on going. The alarm was placed in the center of the city in the clock tower. The boys raced each down the smaller paths that intertwined between streets and buildings. It felt like an eternity running on and on but they did finally make it. Noah went in first followed by Theo. They started working on getting the alarm ready. Neither spoke but their heavy breathing filled the space. They worked quickly as each passing minute was a minute lost. Finally after preparing everything it was ready.

Theo looked over at Noah. "You ready?" He asked

"As much as I can be," Noah stated. And they turned the keys. An ear-piercing shriek echoed through the clock tower and out into the city. Both held their ears shut to block out as much as they could and left the tower to head back up to meet Gabriel for whatever was going to happen next.

As they passed by the building the streets were becoming more and more crowded by confused locals and soldiers trying to figure out where to go. Theo and Noah stayed close to each and weaved in and out trying their best to make it to the road they came down.

"Hey, you." A random boy grabbed Theo. "What's going on?"

Theo turned. "We were told to set the alarm. I don't know any more than that." Partially a lie, but he didn't want mass panic now. He pulled his shoulder away and kept pushing through trying to get away from the boy. "Noah, we're not going to make it through all these people."

"We've just got to keep pushing through." Noah struggled as he used his body to push forward. Theo huffed and pushed his brother's back to try and help.

While the boys struggled through the crowd, Ciro was on his way to start moving out the soldiers. Even from the doors of the castle, he could see the ever-growing crowd. Deep down he felt something was off as he watched then realized that Noah and Theo were stuck in the sea of people.

He turned to the other two. "Get down there as fast as you can because this is going to get out of hand quickly." He then flew off to the city to get down there even faster. He landed right on the border of the city and started making his way through. "Everyone needs to move right now or you won't be happy with me."

Of course, no one could move even if they wanted to. Ciro moaned in frustration and took off again keeping his eyes peeled for Theo and Noah. In the midst of the chaos, he heard a yell from his left and saw Noah waving his hands. Ciro dove for them as the sea of people pushed and pulled like a strong tide pulling a poor soul out to sea.

"Grab my hand." He reached out. Noah pushed Theo in front of him first and Ciro lifted him with ease. Once Theo was in position on Ciro's back, he reached back to pull Noah out of the crowd. "You two, okay?"

"Just get us out of here then we'll see." Noah rushed out between his heavy breathing.

Ciro was able to land safely with the boys jumping off and checking each other for injuries. "We're going to need backup down here," Ciro stated to one of the others that came with him. The man nodded and pulled a piece of parchment. He whispered something into his hands that he cupped over the paper and then threw it in the air for it to zoom off.

"What do we do in the meantime?" One of the men asked as he looked over the growing masses with worry.

"We need to somehow start funneling our soldiers." Ciro was looking for a high point to start yelling out instructions. About this time apartment paper came zooming by Noah's face and the man who sent the first caught it.

"Ciro, Lorcán said to order the soldiers to the courtyard."

"Alright, but we still need to get this crowd under control." Ciro looked like he was ready to blow his top. "And how the hell do we turn that alarm off?"

"On it." The men said and they vanished into thin air. A few seconds later the alarm silenced and the crowd began to somewhat calm down. The men soon reappeared looking relieved.

Ciro found a building near them that would be a better vantage point. He decided to fly up to the roof so he could see most of the crowd and with a booming voice, he spoke. "If everyone would listen for just a minute, all soldiers would need to make their way to the palace courtyard."

There was murmuring among the crowd as everyone waited for this speech from the king. Ciro went back to the boys but they didn't say much in terms of what exactly was going to happen.

As they all were waiting, Gabriel was making his way down the dirt trail. He could see the city streets full of people and the closer he got he could see the three boys standing at the entrance to the city watching the people. Ciro turned around as he heard footsteps and looked confused when he saw Gabriel.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you three for a minute," Gabriel explained, now having all of their attention.

"What is it?" Theo asked, looking worried.

"I just wanted to say goodbye before I head off..."

"Wait, what do you mean? We were supposed to be marching out tonight." Noah confronted Gabriel.

"I know, but there's been a plan in the making for months now that I have to take care of," Gabriel explained. He grabbed Noah's shoulders. "I promise you that I will be there by your side in this." He looked over at Ciro and nodded. He realized what was going to happen. This was a potential goodbye.

Ciro grabbed his brother in an embrace. One that was long overdue. "You better come back this time." He whispered into Gabriel's ear.

"I will."

Gabriel looked at all three wishing he could tell Noah and Theo where he was going. He knew that if all went right then everything would change in an instant. "I've got to go now."

"You're not staying?" Theo asked. Gabriel shook his head feeling a bit guilty leaving. Theo nodded but the sadness in his eyes gave himself away.

Gabriel went and embraced both boys. "You two are going to be great." He pulled back. "I'll see you again." Then he paused, gave a wink and turned to head back up to the palace.

"What is he going to do?" Noah turned to Ciro.

Ciro only shook his head.

Noah didn't pry anymore. He had faith in Gabriel that he would come back. He glanced over at Theo who was looking out over the soldiers who were slowly moving up the dirt path towards the castle.

"This is it," Noah spoke.

"This is it," Ciro stated.

All those months of traveling training were a mere memory. Seeming like a lifetime ago now. All three boys stood there for another brief moment to try and stop time even if it was futile. The war was here and the only way through was to slay the beast.