Jeth watched in horror as the minotaur charged Gavin. It's horns dug into his flesh. Jeth leaped at it, swinging his sword. He grabbed one horn, wrenched its head to the side, and stabbed it. Then he knelt beside Gavin. Gavin looked very pale and breathed shallowly. He said, "Jeth" in a quiet voice, almost a whisper, and smiled weakly, his eyes full of pain.

Jeth was panicked. "No! No!" He said, but Gavin was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Jeth woke with a start. He was breathing hard. He saw Gavin sitting beside him, his brown eyes full of concern. He had his hand on Jeth's shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked softly. 

Jeth gradually calmed down, seeing that Gavin was okay. "Yeah", he said, "just a dream."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Asked Gavin.

"Nah, it's okay. Go back to sleep" assured Jeth. He was embarrassed by his weakness, but the dream had seriously rattled him. Gavin was the closest thing to a family he had left. He was terrified at the possibility of losing him. After a few minutes, he heard Gavin's deep, even breathing and knew he was asleep. 

The next morning, Aldros, Jeth, and Gavin packed up their things and Aldros led the way to the encampment. A voice shouted "Halt! And state who you are and why you have come!" They did what they were told as a young man strode forward. He was between eighteen and twenty years old with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He was tall and thin. He looked serious but his face broke into a wide grin when he saw Aldros.

"Aldros!" He called! "You're back!"

"Indeed I am, Ben" said Aldros, chuckling. "And I've brought friends. This is Gavin. And this is Jeth. They've come to join us."

"I'll have to take them to Arken" said Ben seriously. He led the way to a large tent and inside there sat a tall man with longish dark brown hair, a short beard, and grey eyes. He had a certain nobility of bearing and bore an uncanny resemblance to Ben. Jeth wondered if they were related.

Sure enough, the man, Arken, said to Ben, "Hello, cousin, how are you? And who are these newcomers?"

Ben answered excitedly "Arken! Aldros is back! And he brought new recruits! This is Jeth and this is Gavin."

Arken questioned the boys and they told him their story. Arken asked "Benjamin, could you take the horses to the stables?" 

"Of course, Ark," said Ben.

"Don't call me Ark," said Arken grouchily, but his eyes showed he didn't mean it.

Ben answered back, "But you CAN call me Ben. Everyone else does. Goodbye, cousin." And he left the tent. Arken shook his head, but he was smiling. He told Aldros to take the boys to meet Bran to begin training and be armed, so he took them. 

Bran was a broadchested and square jawed man with short brown hair and small dark eyes. He was in the middle of leading a training session when they arrived, so they waited until he was finished, and then he came to speak to them. "Hullo Aldros, old fellow, how're you?" He said by way of greeting. 

"I am very well, thank you," answered Aldros, and said, "I have come to introduce you to our new recruits, Gavin and Jeth. I have begun training them in basic fighting moves, and Jeth can shoot a bow moderately well. Gavin is very strong and a quick learner. I'm sure they will both do well." Then he left for his meeting with Arken.

Bran spoke to Jeth and Gavin and armed them with swords. In the following days and weeks, they learned how to use them. They trained for many hours every day. They came to know that Bran was as tough as nails and did not tolerate weakness, laziness, or whining. He was sparing in his praise, so if he told you "good job", you knew you deserved it. He was never cruel unnecessarily. He believed strongly in honor and chivalry. 

Eventually, Gavin and Jeth joined the rotation for sentry duty. Not long after, they began going on scouting missions with Ben. They became good friends with Ben. They learned that he was a very friendly and respectful man, and usually serious, though he did joke around with Arken because he was Arken's cousin and got that privilege. 

Arken loved his younger cousin dearly. Jeth and Gavin learned that Arken was a wise and kind leader. 

Chauncey was stabled with the other horses and seemed to have become fast friends with Ravenwing. Arlo was a big hit with all of the Knights, many of whom had been farmers once, in better days and had canine friends of their own.

Sometimes groups of men would go out and have small battles and skirmishes, and sometimes raids against Darkomal's armies. Some men were always left back in camp to guard it. Gavin and Jeth had not taken part in any of the skirmishes as of yet, but they had proven their value in reconnaissance, finding out where soldiers were so the Knights could fight them. Bran had trained them well in fighting and Ben had trained them well in scouting. 

There was another group of Knights out closer to the capital, fighting battles. Their goal was to take a few major cities. They sent reports to Arken periodically.

One day, Gavin and Jeth were on sentry duty when they noticed a large group of people coming from the North. They didn't look like soldiers, though. As they got closer, Jeth and Gavin realized that they were the villagers from Derlos. Vrallen was leading them. Jeth ran toward them. He asked Vrallen what had happened.

Vrallen said, grimly, "the soldiers came back again after you left. They have stolen most of our food and livestock and burned many of our buildings. We have come to fight for what is ours!"

Gavin ran to tell Arken and after some thought and some questions for Vrallen, he allowed them in. Gavin stood still and looked at Steph. Steph looked at Gavin. Steph was a large man. He was tall, with a square jaw, muscular arms, and a thick neck. His dark hair was a mess. Under Gavin's gaze, he seemed to shrink visibly. His dark eyes were full of remorse. 

"Gavin", Steph said quietly, much more quietly than Gavin was used to. "Could you ever forgive me for being such a horrible father? For not showing you I loved you? It's just after your mother died... never mind, I have no excuses. Other people have lost their wives and they didn't turn out like me. When you left, I realized what a bad person I've been. I made an effort to sober up, stopped going to the tavern. I hoped you would come home." Gavin was shocked to see tears in Steph's eyes and told him yes. He would forgive Steph.

Jeth went to say hello to Rauroc and Talon. They were smiling and Jeth knew they had not lost their cheerful natures. Talon was carrying Mouser in his arms. He handed her to Jeth. "The army has no need of cats," he said. 

For the next few weeks, Bran was busy training all of the men of fighting age and a few of the women. Old men and women were given jobs to do. Some people were trained as medics. 

A few weeks later, Arken gave the order to march. He had received information from his General in the field that they had captured some important targets and that the time had come to act. The rest of the Knights would march toward the capital. The two groups would converge along the way. They could expect opposition before they got there. Everyone helped pack up camp. Everyone was moving out. The group organized themselves into columns. Chauncey had been pressed into service pulling a wagon. Mouser hitched a ride in it. Arlo stayed with Jeth. Jeth and Gavin marched, just soldiers among other soldiers. But every person would count if their outnumbered force was to defeat Darkomal's empire.