After a good night’s rest with his friend, Caleb Crowsnest heard distant footsteps coming closer to him. He tried to doze off again, but finally got up when he heard Jake slam open the door to the stables. “Caleb!” Jake said, as he ran towards the four-years-older child and gave him a hug. “I’m so happy to see you! Yesterday everything was so scary and you were so brave! I’m so sorry I couldn’t help more!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Caleb responded, not wanting his friend to feel bad, “we’re all okay and the city is safe.”

“Oh! You have to tell me about that! What happened?” Jake inquired.

“Oh, it was so cool!” Edward began. “Uh...where do I start?” he asked Caleb.

Caleb laughed. “I’ll tell him what happened,” the boy said, and he proceeded to do just that. Jake and Edward listened intently, despite the latter having heard this story already. At the end, Jake gave his vote of approval, figuratively speaking. “That was so cool! I can’t believe you charged the old lady head-on like that!” And as that reminded him of something, the child added “oh, that’s right! I came out here to tell you all that Gramammie is making her special pancakes! Come on, they should be ready now!”

As Caleb, Edward, Jake and Flower walked to the house, the hippocampus had a question: “what are pancakes?”

“Oh, they’re great! They’re these flat circle batter things, usually with syrup and butter, and Gramammie’s are extra great too, with cinnamon and whipped cream and whatever you want!” As they approached the door, he added “I’ll be sure to bring you some!”

“Don’t worry Eddy, we’ll be back,” Caleb said, hugging the golden stallion before he followed Jake and Flower inside.

Even before they got to the kitchen, they could smell the battery breakfast food in the air. Everyone was at the kitchen table except for Sara (who was making the food), Roger and John Jr., who were eating in the doctor’s office.

“Hi Calbh!” Rainbow said between pancake bites as he saw the child come to the kitchen. “Y’ sshld try these, thy’re great!” Mary and Marrathew waved to him also, the latter doing so while eating his food in a hurry. Even Ribbon was there, waiting for any stray pancake scraps that might fall from the table.

“Can you please make mine look like a heart, Gramammie?” Skyla asked with her innocent voice as she waited for another pancake. From the looks of things, she had eaten one and was waiting for another. “Oh, me too!” Kayden jumped in.

“Certainly, dears” Sara replied as she continued her cooking, “Caleb, Jake, take a seat. Any requests for yours?”

“A biiiig pile of whipped cream please!” Jake said. Caleb wasn’t used to this; he occasionally had meals at people’s houses, but usually the Red Twig Orphanage served meals in a cafeteria-like style, and customized pancakes were never on offer. “Uh...surprise me?”

“Okay,” Sara said with a smile. And so once the food was ready, everyone ate their pancakes with pleasure. Caleb was pleased with how the eldest Nieve made his pancakes: shaped like birds with cinnamon mixed in. There were even blueberries that were meant to be bird’s eyes. In the back of his mind, the boy had to wonder if being together like this was what being in a family was like.

Marrathew finished his first. “Thanks for the breakfast mom,” he said as he hugged her, “but I need to get to work. Love you all, good work yesterday Caleb.” Saying this, he rubbed the hair of all of the kids, then grabbed a briefcase and left the house. Once everyone else finished, Sara had a suggestion. “Mary, why don’t you and the kids go bring some pancakes to Edward?”

“That sounds like a great idea, mom” her daughter responded. “Come on kids, follow me.” The four youngsters got out of their chairs to do so as Mary grabbed a plateful of pancakes, but Sara looked over at Caleb as he was moving. “Oh, Caleb, could you stay here actually? I need your help with something.” The young boy nodded, so he sat down again as Mary took the kids outside.

Once everyone else left, Sara sat down with Caleb and Rainbow. She looked hesitant, but pressed on anyway. “Okay, Caleb, so I need to tell you something.”

“Okay, what is it?” the boy asked.

“It’s a little long, so please listen until the end. Anyway, you haven’t met her, but Roger has a daughter, Lydia. About six months ago, she was kidnapped into slavery. We know where she is, so Roger hired some mercs to save her. That didn’t go well, and they were mostly killed. I am truly sorry Caleb, but I need to go rescue her; I can’t let her live that kind of life.”

Caleb was truly shocked. Slavery didn’t exist in the Southern Kingdom, so this was his first time hearing of such a thing. But he was also confused. “I’m sorry to hear that, but why are you apologizing to me?”

Sara sighed, then went on. “If I’m gone, someone has to look after them,” she said, pointing outside to where the kids were, “plus Junior isn’t in good shape. Roger needs to be here for that, so that means he can’t go with you to Eagletown right now.”

The look on Caleb’s face was painful for Sara to see, but Caleb didn’t hate her. He was processing what she had told him; it’s not like he couldn’t understand why it was happening. In fact, Sara and Roger had been nothing but kind to him and his friends, from helping Edward with his water sickness to fighting alongside him in battle. Really, it would be more surprising if they [i]didn’t[/i] put rescuing a member of their family ahead of everything else.

“It’s okay,” Caleb said, trying to mask his disappointment.

“Again, I’m sorry. I know Roger would be happy to go to your town once Lydia is safe.”

Caleb’s face lit up at Sara’s words as he got a burst of inspiration. He loudly declared his next plan: “I’ve got it - I’ll go with you!” The determination on Caleb’s face, despite the circumstances, were quite the contrast from his disappointment moments earlier.

Now it was Sara’s turn to be shocked, and unlike in the Great Oak, the older woman couldn’t hide her incredulity this time. “No, no way. That makes no sense.”

“Sure it does! With my help, we’ll rescue her sooner, and then Roger can help me sooner!”

“That’s not the point. It’s not safe for you to go.”

“I’ll be okay, I helped save this city and I fought a bunch of dwarves too. You can’t stop me, Miss Sara.” Once again, balancing familiarity and respect was important.

Rainbow, who until now had uncharacteristically said nothing, decided to chime in now. “Don’t worry Sara, I can look after him too.” Caleb smiled at the revelation that Rainbow would join them.

It was just one thing after the other, she thought. “I didn’t ask you to come, Rainbow” she said as she shook her head.

“Too bad. Caleb is, so I am too. Besides, I owe it to the Captain to help.”

The old woman didn’t know what to say now. Caleb just looked at her with determination; Rainbow just looked relaxed and was fidgeting with one of the forks he had used to eat pancakes earlier, as if he already knew what was going to happen. Finally, Sara sighed, then looked Caleb dead in the eye. “Fine. But let’s be clear now: I’m in charge here. The Blackscale Empire is an endlessly cruel place, filled with dragons and humans who will make your life a nightmare at the slightest provocation. We’re going there to save Lydia, not charge off to help every person in trouble. If we don’t work together seamlessly, you’ll be killed or worse, and you’re both too important to me for me to allow that. Understood?”

Caleb nodded while Rainbow gave her a salute with the fork. Sara responded with a hint of a smile before continuing. “Okay, so first thing’s first; we’ll leave tomorrow morning. You two need more rest and I need to figure out the best way to get us to the Prison Mines without being discovered. Go check up on Edward, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, but don’t mention any of this to the kids yet. I want to tell them what’s happening myself.”

The two nodded, then got up to leave the house; Rainbow walked outside first, but Caleb (after a little hesitation) gave Sara a quick hug before joining his rablin friend. As he walked towards Edward, Caleb realized that he’d have to talk to the hippocampus at some point about what he wanted to do next. There was no way he’d force Edward to travel with him.

Once the boy and rablin had left, Roger walked into the room carrying a few plates and silverware. “You were right,” Sara told him as he set the dishes in the sink, “Caleb wants to go with me.”

“So I heard,” the skeleton doctor replied. He sets a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, that boy can hold his own. If you end up having to fight, he’ll be a great help.”

“But how am I supposed to sneak a rablin into the mines? Or stay undetected until we find her?” Sara asked.

Roger stroked his invisible beard for a few moments, considering the woman’s question, before giving his response. “He can cast illusions. I think the question becomes: how does he sneak you in? And as for a way to stay undercover, I have an idea. But it depends on-”

The undead creature’s thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. “Ugh, that’s probably the witch. Can you get her to John’s room? I need to talk to Caleb and Edward.”