The sun was warm and welcoming to Luna, her hair was flying in the wind as she walked to Rivertown. She soon entered the tavern, slipped on her apron, and started cooking daily food. The first customer as always was her good friend, Aaron, he stepped up to the counter, bowed, and said, "How are you, milady?" Luna smiled at him and said, "Very well my good sir." Aaron stood at his full height and laughed harder than Luna thought possible, Luna joined the laughter and they were soon talking about all of the different things that had happened since the day before, Luna listened intently to Aaron and made occasional remarks. Luna told Aaron about her encounter with a madman who had lost his pig and was wild with anger trying to find it. Aaron laughed when Luna told him the pig had just been behind the barn the whole time. Aaron was a blacksmith and had no time to lose, as soon as he had eaten a bowl of soup he waved a hand at Luna and left. The rest of the day went by fast and what seemed like only a few hours was now the end of the day, Luna was closing the tavern, and as she stepped out of the door she was aware of a shape

flailing in the distance, she cautiously took several steps forward and saw the shape of a boy who had to have been no older than 11, Luna ran over to help him, he was wedged under a wagon wheel that had gotten stuck in some thick mud, Luna called out to him and he answered in a quiet voice. "How long have you been here?" Luna asked as she grabbed a stick and wedged it under the wheel. "I don't know," said the boy, "I was trying to get my ball that rolled on the other side of the wheel and I got wedged under here." Luna had soon gotten the wheel far enough away from the boy that he could slide through, he reached a little farther in and pulled out a small ball. Luna asked the boy what his name was, he said, "My name is Calum, I live down the road."After Luna had gotten up Calum said "Thank you, I'd love to have you over for dinner, to say thank you. Luna looked at Calum and said "I shouldn't," "Please?" said Calum, "My father will want to meet you." "Luna sighed defeatedly and said, "Well let's go." Calum led Luna back to where he said he lived and saw the unmistakable barn where the madman she had seen looking for the pig had been, Luna's eyes widened and she said: "You live here?" "Yeah, my dad will probably want to meet you," he said as they neared the house. "I

never got your name," said the boy "Oh, I'm Luna," she said with a smile on her now muddy face. Calum led Luna through a path where she saw a house not much bigger than the barn where she had seen the man looking for the pig. Calum opened the door to the house and held it open for Luna. She thanked him and stepped inside, as soon as she stepped inside the house she smelled soup and freshly baked bread. "Who is this," said a voice from behind her, "This is Luna," said Calum, "She helped me get out from under a wagon wheel today." The boy was older than Luna by at least a year, he nodded at Luna, and said, "My name's Hunter." Luna nodded in understanding and Calum said, "A while before you helped me, a group of what could have only been the princesses who must have come for the ball that the prince is hosting passed me and I called out to them to ask for help and they told me that I wasn't worth getting dirty for" "That's terrible!" said Luna. Just then the man Luna had seen yelling while looking for the pig came out of a small door, "Who is this?" he said in a ground trembling voice. "This is Luna, Dad," said Calum, stepping forward, she helped me from under a wagon wheel today." "Why were you under a wagon wheel," said the man, turning to look at him, "stupid

thing to do," "I didn't mean to get stuck, Dad, I was trying to get my ball, it had rolled under a wagon wheel that had gotten stuck in the mud and when I tried to get it I got stuck." "Oh, I see," said the man, "Well, would you like to stay for a bit of supper miss?" Said the man who was now wearing a wide grin on his face. "Yes, I would, thank you." Hunter pulled a chair out and Luna sat in it, he pushed it in and sat in the chair next to her. As soon as everyone was seated Hunter gave Luna his hand and took Calum's hand, Hunter smiled at Luna and she took his hand they all bowed their heads, and Marcus (Calum, and Hunter's dad) prayed. While they were eating Marcus shook Luna's hand and smiled at her. After they finished eating Hunter said, "Do you want me to walk you back to your house, it's pretty late." "I'll be fine," said Luna, "Are you sure?" said Hunter. "Luna, sometimes it gets bad out there at night, there are more and more crazy people than ever, you had better let Hunter walk you back," said Marcus. "Alright, fine you can walk me back Hunter." Hunter smiled at her and opened the door, she walked out the door, and he closed it behind her. "You really don't have to walk me back," said Luna, "I'll be fine." "It's okay," said Hunter, "I like to get out of the house occasionally." Hunter

and Luna walked for about twenty minutes when they saw Luna's house "Do you want me to come and explain where you were?" said Hunter. "No," I think it's better if I do it," said Luna. "Alright," said Hunter quietly, "But I'll come to the tavern tomorrow, bye." "Bye," said Luna, the word lingering in her ear longer than she would have liked. Now all that was left was to make up some great story that her parents would believe. Just as she was thinking about her story the door to the house swung open and Luna heard the familiar voice of her father, "Where have you been?" "And what happened to your dress?" came a cry from her mother, "Well?" said her father in a demanding voice. Luna quickly devised a story, "They needed extra help at the tavern, because of all the extra people in town for the festival." "Really," said her father, "they let a fifteen-year-old girl stay until nearly midnight?" "Yes," said Luna, "there were simply too many people for me to leave them, they probably would have still been at the tavern." "And what about your dress?" said her mother. "I was on my way back to the house and slipped in the mud," said Luna. "Well, you could have at least told us beforehand," said Luna's mother. "I'm sorry Mother, I just wanted to help." She sighed. "It's alright, but you must tell us first

next time." "There won't be a next time." said her father who had been listening quietly. "Yes sir," said Luna moving quietly to her room. The moment Luna had told that lie her heart had an awful beat going, she knew that she could never tell her parents what had happened that night.

The king had his chefs prepare a feast for them before they went their separate ways. 

The next day Luna woke up bright and early, she put on a black shirt, a pair of jeans, and her boots, she walked at a pretty fast pace, and was soon at the tavern, as much as Luna didn't want to admit, she wanted to see Hunter again, she liked the mystery that she knew he held. Several cooks were already there, Luna slipped on her apron and went to work. "How are you?" said a voice from behind Luna. She turned around and saw Rosie, (one of her fellow cooks) "I'm pretty good." said Luna "What about you?" "I'm good," said Rosie. "Do you have any news?" said Rosie. "No," Luna began but she caught herself and said, "Actually, I have something to talk about for once, but you have to promise not to say anything." "I promise," said Rosie, "now what is it?" "Yesterday," Luna began, "I saw a boy stuck under a wagon wheel and helped him out, he ended up inviting me to eat dinner with him and his family, and by the time I got home it was almost midnight and my parents were pretty mad that I was gone for so late that I lied and told them that I was here all night." "Wow," said Rosie, "What's his name?" "Calum," said Luna. "I think I've seen him before." said Rosie, "Oh yeah, his brother is the boy that used to get in fights with everyone at school and our teacher had him

and the boys he was fighting sit on the porch of the school house until their parents came to get them." "I didn't know that," said Luna, trying to avoid snickering. Hunter wasn't small, he was muscular, and other boys didn't like that but they didn't usually try to mess with other boys. Luna had just finished school and had gotten a job at the tavern to get away from her house which was seldom allowed. Luna had gotten the job at the tavern without her parents' permission but after a lot of begging and pleading they allowed her to keep the job at the cafe, Luna thanked God that she was granted a way out of her house. "So, what are you doing later?" said Rosie. "I don't know," said Luna, "I might go to the festival." "Yeah, that would be fun, if your parents would let you," said Rosie. "Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to convince my parents to let me go," said Luna. Just then the door swung open and Hunter stepped inside, he was wearing a Fisherman's Smock, a white shirt, and thick rubber boots, Luna hadn't noticed that he had dark green eyes and black hair that shimmered in the sun. As he walked forward as Hunter got closer Luna saw a small smile playing on his lips. "Hello sir, what would you like?" said Luna to Hunter. "I would like a cup of coffee please." Luna wrote it down

on a piece of paper and handed it to Ben, (another cook) "So, did you think I would really come?" "I hoped that you would," said Luna smiling. "Luna, would you like to go to the festival with me?" "It's in three days if you need time to think it over," said Hunter. "Uhhh, I...Umm...yes, I will go with you," said Luna. Hunter smiled and said, "Do you want me to walk you from your house?" "My parents might not let me go if I tell them I'm going with you," said Luna. "Well, can we meet up by the maple tree in the middle of town?" said Hunter. "Yes," said Luna, "I'll see you then." Luna walked off and several moments later arrived with his coffee. Hunter thanked her and handed her the money for the drink, after a few minutes he finished it and told Luna goodbye. 

Lune knew that Hunter was a fisherman, he was rather young, only sixteen, so most older boys tried to pick on him, but after they pushed him too far and fists started flying, they knew he was not to be messed around with. Hunter was more than a formidable fighter, Luna knew that with his speed and strength, he could beat most boys in town, Luna had never witnessed him fight except for once when he and another boy were fighting in their schoolhouse. They were younger then and Hunter had a hard time trying to fight a boy

almost twice his size, Hunter wasn't as good as a fighter back then, but he still ended up besting the boy. Hunter wasn't a gloating type, he would move on after the fight was over, but some of the boys he fought didn't forget it.

Soon the day of the festival arrived, the tavern was closing, and Luna went back to her house, put on a floral dress, and left Luna soon saw the shape of a boy underneath the maple tree. Luna walked towards the figure, expecting to see Hunter's kind face, so you can imagine her surprise when she saw the one boy split into three, Luna took a step back, and the moonlight illuminated three boys who had to have been older than Hunter or herself, as Luna turned around to leave a hand from one of the figures grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Luna let out a scream but it was cut short by a hand that went over her mouth. Out of nowhere, Luna saw Hunter come out of the shadow and immediately sensed the danger, as fast as he had appeared he was holding one boy to the ground with his elbow while fighting another with his other arm, Hunter was a formidable fighter and overtook both boys holding their arms behind their backs he pushed them to the ground and with a quick

jab to the head they both lay still, (not dead mind you) Hunter pulled himself up and looked to see that the third boy (who had now let Luna go) had a fishing knife in one hand. It was at that moment that Hunter knew who the boys were. They were some boys that he had fished with before, but trying to hurt Luna just to get back at him was something that Hunter had thought incapable for someone only eighteen. "Jack," said Hunter, 'What are you doing!" "When we got into that fight that school year, I was humiliated," Jack began, "I was so much bigger than you, and you beat me faster than I had beaten a boy even younger than you, I knew that one day I would get back at you, one way, or the other." "But to go so far as to hurt Luna," Hunter's voice began to have a deep growl, "That is too far, even for you, or so I thought." Jack looked behind him and saw Luna, she had a frightened look on her face, and her cheeks were red. Jack turned his attention back to Hunter who now looked more disgusted than anything, Jack felt ashamed, so he looked back at Luna again, and said "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me, and don't think that my friends are bad people, they were just doing what I told them to do. Hunter looked at Luna and said, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm

okay," said Luna. Jack was now looking at the ground and Hunter stepped toward him and said: "You should go." "I know," said Jack turning around. "Wait, Jack," said Hunter, "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow." Jack smiled at Hunter and left. Luna ran to Hunter who didn't look too bad except for a few marks that were sure to leave bruises. Luna hugged Hunter, and said, "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." "Well they did come here because they knew I would be here," said Hunter, his eyes fixed on Luna, "I'm just glad you're okay." Luna smiled at Hunter. "Oh, no!" said Luna. "What's wrong?" said Hunter. "I never told my parents that I was coming to the festival tonight!" said Luna who was now clearly panicking. "Luna, it's okay," said Hunter in a soft voice, "Do you want to go ahead and tell them?" "You've only been gone twenty minutes." Luna looked at Hunter and said, "I'll be gone for a few minutes, but I'll come back." "Do you want me to come with you?" asked Hunter. "No," said Luna, "I'm telling them that I'm going with a friend, and if they ask which one I'll say Rosie because I am going to see her today." "Okay," said Hunter, "I'll wait here." Luna smiled at Hunter and slowly walked back towards her house. Luna didn't see her parents as she approached her

house; the lamps in the windows weren't lit, Luna knew that her parents weren't there, so she turned around and returned. After a few minutes she saw Hunter waiting by the tree, he ran up to her and said, "No trouble?" "My parents weren't there," she said and sighed. "Maybe they just decided to come to the festival, because they knew that you would be here," Hunter suggested. "Well, in that case, we don't need to find them," said Luna. Hunter smiled at Luna and said, "Let's have some fun." Several competitions were going on, one, in particular, was a fighting competition, Hunter looked at Luna and said, "Now this I have to try." How the competition works is that it starts with two men fighting each other, whoever can either knock out the other man or pin him to the ground wins the round, then the next person fights with the winner, and so on until five men fight, usually the same man doesn't win all five fights, but it is a fun thing to watch. Hunter stepped forward and got in the ring they had made, they had used shovels and made a circular shape in the ground just deep enough so that you could see a thick line around the circle, a forest covered one side of the circle, and on the other side, the ocean was the boundary. There was a young man already in the ring,

Luna recognized him as a rare customer of the cafe named Jake. Jake was strong for his age, (18) but he wasn't very agile, still, Luna didn't like the thought of Hunter fighting him. Hunter and Jake were now on opposite sides of the ring as a man stepped into the ring to introduce the men to the crowd, "On this side," said the man pointing to the side Jake was on, "Is the butcher's son, and fletcher, Jake!" The crowd cheered loudly. "And on this side," he continued, "Is a fisherman, and a man like no other, Hunter!" The crowd cheered loudly again. Now in a quieter voice, the man continued, "I want to see a nice clean fight out there, no hitting below the waist, except for leg sweeping," both Jake and Hunter nodded at the man and he stepped out of the ring, "Three. Two. One. Fight!" Jake was the first to make a move, he stepped closer to Hunter and said "I'm gonna take you down," he taunted, Hunter grunted a reply, he didn't like talking during fights, and it made him lose his pattern, so he ignored Jake altogether. Jake swung at Hunter, who easily avoided the punch and threw a counterpunch and hit Jake in the ribs, Hunter heard a loud cheer and turning his head gave Jake a chance to throw a few small punches, Hunter grunted at the punches, but they were of no concern, but they

had made Hunter lose his balance and he fell to the ground, as soon as he fell, he swept Jake's legs out from under him and got on top of him and held him down, Hunter's punched were never hasty, they were always precise, he felt so alive when he fought, the feel of his hands, when he landed a blow, which was like a power that he could control with speed and precision, the overseer counted to three and Jake was out, Hunter got off of him and offered him a hand up, after a moment he took his hand and he pulled him up. A man offered Hunter a drink of water which he drank eagerly. A sudden rush of adrenaline gave Hunter a boost of energy. Soon, the next person stepped into the ring, and Luna immediately noticed him as Aaron, was older than Hunter, 18, just like Jake, but Aaron was a blacksmith and was very strong. Luna had never seen Aaron fight, she knew he could, maybe not well, but he could, Luna held her breath as she watched in shock and just hoped that Aaron and Hunter didn't hurt each other. Hunter was shocked at Aaron, he didn't want to hurt him but he wasn't going to back out either. The overseer introduced Aaron to the crowd and started the fight, this time Hunter was the first to make a move, he cautiously stepped forward two steps at a

time until he reached Aaron, Aaron swung first but Hunter was quick and dodged the blow, he threw two quick blows to his head, sending Aaron to the ground, he quickly got back up, but Hunter was already on him, he landed a hard punch to his jaw and pushed him down to the ground, while they were on the ground Aaron punched Hunter in the face hard, it didn't seem to affect him, but the blood dripping from his nose, and split lip tainted the air, his nose screamed for attention, but he wasn't about to stop, Hunter punched Aaron in the back of his head, and got on top of him, after the three seconds were over he got off of him and helped him up. Hunter's heart was pounding and the familiar, salty, and rusty, taste of blood filled his mouth, he wiped the blood off of his face, and after a brief respite he stood to face the next person, the next man was a young boy, no older than 14, Hunter eyed him carefully, put an arm around him, and whispered, "Are you sure you want to do this?" The boy nodded eagerly, "I won't take it easy on you," the boy looked at him and said, "Do you think I can beat you?" "I will gladly accept the challenge when you get a little older, but I don't want to hurt you." Hunter said apologetically, the boy nodded at Hunter and left, the boy stood on one of the sides just

outside the ring, and another man stepped into the ring, he was fast but small, the overseer introduced him as John, and started the fight, Hunter walked up to him and quickly laid a punch to his ribs, he reacted by swinging his arms around Hunter's neck and held on, Hunter quickly reversed the grip pinning the man's arms behind his back, and forced him to the ground again the overseer counted to three and he was finished, Hunter was getting worn out and with a little difficulty defeated another man, and a boy as old as him, with that being five fights Hunter won and was given 5 silver coins for his prize, Hunter reluctantly took "That really was something," she said "Thanks," said Hunter. "It was exciting," said Luna, "but also, kind of scary, are you okay?" "I'm fine," said Hunter, Luna looked doubtfully at Hunter as a thin stream of blood came from his split lip. Hunter quickly wiped it away and gave her a reassuring smile, Luna looked around at the stands set up and at the carnival games, and all of a sudden a rush of sadness came over her, she had never been to something like this before, her parents had sheltered her all her life, and all of the commotion and laughter was overwhelming, Luna turned to face Hunter, who was eyeing her in concern, "I'm okay," she said trying

to act happy, her eyes were welling up with tears. "Are you sure," said Hunter. Luna could tell that his concern was genuine, so she said, "I've just never done anything like this before, my whole life I've been cooped up in my house until I started working at the cafe." Hunter looked at Luna with a playful twinkle in his eye, "We can have some fun," he said, smiling at her, he offered her his hand, she hesitated for a moment but after looking into his dark green eyes she took his hand and he led her to a small stand where they were selling food, Hunter looked at the man behind the stand and said, "Would you happen to have some fried fish? The man nodded at Hunter and gave him two fried fish on sticks, Hunter gave the man 3 silver coins, and the man nodded at Hunter and Luna and served the next customer. Luna and Hunter wandered around as they ate their food. They were soon a 10-minute walk from the festival and Luna and Hunter hadn't said anything to each other for a little while so Hunter decided to break the silence, "Look over there," Luna turned her head and followed Hunter's gaze, she saw that he was looking at a small overgrown stone bridge, its cracks and various missing stones showed the age of the abandoned bridge, Luna looked back at Hunter who had

now moved a little closer to the bridge, it was obvious that the bridge held some sort of significance for Hunter. He sighed as they rounded a corner that led closer to the bridge. Luna looked at Hunter, his face held a level of pain that Luna hadn't seen before, "Are you alright?" Luna asked Hunter. Hunter sighed and said, "When...when my mother...passed away," he sighed and continued, "After I had gotten a little older and realized what I was missing, I hid here...I was rarely home, Marcus isn't my father, and Calum isn't my brother, my mother died when I was a little boy and Marcus took me in" he hid his face and said, "But that was a long time ago." Hunter stepped away from Luna and covered his face, Luna's hand found his, and she stepped closer to him, "I know it's hard to lose someone," said Luna, "When my grandmother passed away, I pushed my family and friends away, and that was when I needed them the most." Hunter looked at Luna, his dark green eyes shimmered in the remaining shadow of the sun, Luna leaned close to Hunter, her deep blue eyes searching his. What was going to happen next was inevitable, Hunter leaned closer to Luna, their lips almost touching, when all of a sudden they heard a rustling noise. Hunter pulled away from Luna and looked at

where the noise had come from, Hunter pushed through a bush and saw Aaron, he was crouched down behind the bush, Hunter grabbed Aaron's shirt and jerked him up onto his feet, Hunter knew that Aaron had been watching them and he was furious, the one time he decided to trust someone, he was being watched by her, "friend," Hunter pushed Aaron out of the small clearing her was in, and into the spot where Luna was standing. "Aaron! What are you doing here?" "He was watching us," said Hunter in an eerily low voice. Luna looked at Aaron in shock and Aaron hung his head. "I just wanted to ensure you were safe," said Aaron quietly. "Why wouldn't she be safe with me?" said Hunter in a dangerous tone. Aaron ignored Hunter and said "It's not that I don't trust you," he said to Luna, "But I didn't want you to get lost." Hunter was furious, he had told Luna something that he had never told another soul, and Aaron was eavesdropping and listening to their conversation. Luna looked at Hunter whose face was filled with hatred for Aaron, it was clear without a word that Hunter didn't like Aaron. Luna nudged Aaron, indicating for him to apologize, but he only nodded. They all stood there in awkward silence for several moments before Aaron looked at Hunter, (Who was

almost a quarter head shorter than he was) and said, "I'm sorry," Hunter huffed and said, "There's nothing to forgive, but if I catch you again, I won't let slide so easily." "Don't worry," said Aaron, "I won't do it again." Luna smiled at them both and said, "Why don't we go back to the festival?" "Sure," said Hunter smiling back at her. Aaron hesitated but managed to nod. After Luna had walked a couple of paces Hunter stopped Aaron, and said, "Did you hear what I told Luna when we were talking?" Aaron shook his head and Hunter said, "If you did and I hear a word of it going around, I'm not going to be happy, you get me?" Aaron quickly nodded and said, "Even if I had heard something, no one could pay me to tell them." Hunter looked warily at Aaron and said, "I want to be your friend, Aaron, I really do, but you're making it mighty difficult." Aaron nodded at Hunter and said, "I know, but Luna has been my friend since I can remember, and I just didn't want to see her get hurt." "She's not a kid anymore, Aaron, she's 15." "I know, but 15 is still a kid, especially for a girl." Hunter looked in her direction, she still hadn't thought to look and see if they were following, her beautiful brown hair was floating in the breeze and Hunter looked back at Aaron and said, "She's still not a

girl, she knows how to think and act like a woman." "How did you figure that out?" said Aaron who was now smiling. "She knows what she's doing, that's all I meant," said Hunter quickly Aaron made a slight chuckling sound and Hunter became aware that Aaron was joking with him and Hunter smiled at him. Aaron's head spun with confusion, he had seen Luna and Hunter almost kiss, but he didn't think that they were going to, he had heard a little about what they were talking about, and when he saw them, he thought that Luna was hugging Hunter, he had shifted his feet when Hunter had heard him, and now here they were, Aaron was having an almost casual conversation with Hunter.

As the festival went on Aaron was getting increasingly jealous, he didn't like the idea of Hunter getting close to Luna, Luna was one of Aaron's only friends, and he kept a distance from them but still had a steady eye on them.

Luna's heart beat fast as they walked around the festival, they played several small games and Luna noticed that Hunter was a deadly shot with a bow, almost as soon as he set the arrow on the string he had the height that was perfect for different targets, and every arrow that he let loose was almost in the dead center, as he shot the last arrow he let it slip very lightly and it hit the very edge of the target, he huffed in frustration and said, "Dang, it slipped." Luna hadn't even noticed the arrow slip, but she knew he must have been right. "When did you learn to shoot?" asked Luna. "When I found that bridge there was a leather quiver and a hunting bow that had to have been there for a while, and I just picked it up and it just...it just felt right in my hands, you know?" Luna nodded and he went on, "After a little while I started getting better at shooting, and I...I haven't told anyone this yet...but I think you are the first one I should tell...I'm leaving." "What!" Luna shouted, "Shhh," said Hunter, "Yes, I'm

going to leave here, I'm going to be a SilentEye." he said in a serious voice. (A SilentEye is a person who has a very special set of skills where you can blend in and make it seem as if you have disappeared, you must be able to move without making a sound, SilentEyes wore a cloak that looked like any thick forest, they have a longbow and three knives, each for a different purpose, they were almost invisible, and were feared by any who saw them, they were almost like scouts, and during an invasion they could easily sneak behind enemy lines and listen to their battle plan.) "You can't," said Luna frantically, "Luna, I'm 16, I'm the perfect age to be a SilentEye, and I already have skill with a bow, I mean not with a longbow, and I have nowhere near the skill of a SilentEye, but I can get better, and I already made up my mind, I'm leaving tomorrow." Luna's eyes showed the horror of what he had said, she knew how dangerous being a SilentEye was and how rare it was for someone to be chosen to be one, (the people who were chosen were sent a letter telling them that they had been watching them and that they were chosen to be a SilentEye apprentice) they were free to do whatever they usually wanted without the king's consent, but with an older SilentEye's permission, they

kept their missions a secret and Luna knew that once he became a SilentEye, there was a very small chance that she would see much of him, if you came into town on the same day as a SilentEye you wouldn't even know it unless he wanted to be known.

SilentEyes also kept to themselves, if you saw more than one SilentEye at a time, it was either one apprentice and a full SilentEye, or there was an invasion afoot. Luna had seen a part of an invasion before, there were three SilentEyes in their town, and they were shooting their massive longbows at approaching ships, before the vessel reached the land they were missing more than half their forces, and were forced to retreat, the SilentEyes were feared, but they did their job. Hunter had also seen them that day, that was the day his mother and father had died, they were shot by the archers on the ships, a man found him and took him in, he fed him. He clothed him even though he had a boy who had only been a year old. He had no wife, and he never asked what had happened to her, even though the same question came into his mind every time he saw the boy Calum, they were basically brothers, but not by blood, they had both lost their mothers and that is what drew them together, Hunter didn't like

Marcus very much. Still, he had helped him, and no matter what, he would do whatever he asked him to do. Luna looked at him again, she had tears streaming down her face, she hadn't thought about how much Hunter meant to her until now. Hunter looked at Luna and smiled, "I'll see you again," he said in almost a whisper, "I need to tell Marcus," "So this is goodbye then?" said Luna. "Not goodbye," said Hunter quietly, tomorrow I'm leaving early, as the sun comes up, I'll come by your house and say goodbye then." Luna smiled at him and a tear ran down her cheek as he ran to tell Marcus, but she smiled at the thought that he was coming to see her in the morning.

As soon as there was the smallest speck of light in the sky, he saddled his chestnut horse and set his bags down onto the back of the horse, then he jumped onto him, it was a four-day ride to the castle and Hunter knew that he had better get there as soon as he could, he looked at the letter that the king himself had sent him asking him to become a SilentEye and slipped it into this saddlebag. Hunter looked back at the old house that he had called his home for so many years, then he set his eyes forward and set out for the kingdom, but first, he had to make a stop, he turned

his horse down a small dirt path, and set him to a gallop, in a matter of minutes he could see Luna's house, he dismounted his horse and tied the reigns to a small branch, then he looked around for Luna, in a few minutes he heard the sound of a closing door, he looked at the house and a small figure came out of the shadow of the house. Hunter made a small whistling sound and the figure looked in his direction but turned away and looked around the whole area in the same way, then Hunter's heart was pounding as he stepped out of the shadow of the thick trees. She rushed forward and embraced him tightly. "I'll miss you," she murmured as she drew back from the embrace."I'll miss you too," Hunter responded, his voice filled with sadness. He looked into Luna's piercing blue eyes, illuminated by the gentle rays of the rising sun, and leaned in closer. Their eyes locked as a gentle breeze ruffled their hair, Hunter hugged Luna tightly, and pulling away, he murmured, "I'll see you again soon, and I'll write you letters if I can."Luna leaned into Hunter, and planting a small kiss on his lips, said, "You better, or I'm going to find you." A warm smile played on Hunter's lips as he untethered his horse, gazing at the slightly risen sun. With one final glance at Luna, he mounted his horse and set off

on his journey, leaving behind the familiar sight of Luna's house and looking toward the long hardship of his training as a SilentEye.

Luna watched as Hunter left, he held a steady trot as he followed the trail, it would be a four days ride to the castle, and she knew that it would be a long while until she would see him again, but she decided not to think about it, she watched Hunter until he disappeared around a corner, then she turned around and quietly went back into her house, she slipped back into her bed and fell into a light sleep.

Hunter had ridden nonstop for six hours when he decided to eat something, he tethered his horse and took one of the bags off of his back, it contained all of his food, he took out an apple and some dried meat that Marcus had given him and rubbed down his horse, "Good boy Duke," he said happily, he had ridden without a fight and he didn't bolt when they had come across a snake on the trail, Hunter decided that they would ride until the sun started to go down, and then he would pitch the one-man tent that he had brought. He quickly ate his food, untethered Duke, and remounted him, he was quickly back on the trail and had soon put several kilometers behind him.

After several more hours, the sun began to go down, and the trail was almost invisible, Hunter soon found a small clearing where he made a fire and tried to sleep, Hunter thought about Lunaf, her beautiful smile, and the way she had kissed him that same day, those were the thoughts that brought his sleep.

Another day went by with nothing to see except for miles and miles of seemingly endless trees, Hunter traveled quite a bit that day before he decided to settle down on the side of the trail.

Hunter awoke to Duke running back and forth under the shadow of a huge oak tree. Hunter tried to calm him down but he was acting wild. Hunter grabbed his already-strung bow and set an arrow on the string, he searched the clearing but saw nothing, after a few minutes Duke stopped running and calmed down a little, Hunter was still on high alert but he had taken the arrow off of the string and slung his bow on his back. Hunter ate a small breakfast of dried meat, then looked around the clearing again and remounted Duke. Hunter had stopped being suspicious of what Duke had been doing and instead, he was being rather noisy, he decided to ride Duke at a canter until later in the day

when he would ride him at a trot. Hunter looked at the sun's position and decided that he should stop to eat, he stopped for 15 minutes and then went on.

It was getting later into the day and Hunter decided to give Duke a break and ride him at a trot when all of a sudden he heard a branch snap and someone mutter under their breath, Hunter's heart raced as he quickly nocked an arrow, and said, "Come out, or you'll have an arrow through you." There was quiet for several moments before he saw a bulky figure come out of the bushes, he was carrying a sword and shield and had a full suit of chainmail armor on, on his chest he had a golden dragon symbol that made Hunter realize that he was from the castle, and he was higher in rank. Hunter looked at the man in surprise as he stepped out of the bushes but he didn't show it, he had a hard expression on his face, he had no smile, but instead wore a grim and serious face. "That's far enough," said Hunter as the man took another step towards him, the man stopped and looked at Hunter, it was clear that Hunter wasn't very old, but he looked old enough to be a deadly shot with his bow, after a moment's hesitation the man spoke, "We've been expecting you." Hunter looked suspiciously at the man and asked, "Why would you expect me?" "The king wrote letters to several young men," said the man, "And I suspect you are one of the men who has been called to be a SilentEye?"

He said putting stress on the last word as if he were expecting Hunter to simply shoot him, Hunter slowly lowered his bow and said, "Perhaps I am, and you are?" "I'm the General Bezo of the North Warden." Hunter took the arrow off of the string, slung his bow across his back, and nodded at Bezo. "Are you coming?" said Hunter as he mounted his horse, I seem to remember hearing two noises," he said motioning to Duke, Bezo stood there in total confusion, and said, "I was sure that he didn't snort or step on anything." Hunter chuckled and said, "I saw a small clearing that you must have walked through, it had hoof prints that were barely older than the marks that Duke was leaving." Bezo looked at Hunter and said, "Now I see why they picked you to be a SilentEye, you don't let anything get past you, even though you looked like you were falling asleep." Bezo walked back into the bush and led out a beautiful brown horse, "This is Rusty," he said motioning to his horse, he mounted Rusty and followed Hunter and Duke.

After what Hunter guessed to be half past 8 they made a small fire, ate some of Hunter's dried meat, drank some water out of his waterskin, and took the saddles off of their horses. After they ate Bezo laid down a small

blanket and used a bag as his pillow, Hunter had his tent but he decided that it was too much work to set up and take down each night so he did the same as Bezo did.

During the night Bezo's snoring was a nuisance for Hunter and as soon as the sun started coming up, he had already eaten, rolled his blanket into a bag, and put it back on Duke. He looked over at Bezo, (who was still sleeping) kicked him, and quickly turned the other way. Bezo woke up with a jump and felt his leg throbbing, he rubbed his leg and said, "I must slept weird." Hunter hid a smile and pointing at a small packet of meat said, "That's for you." Bezo grunted in thanks as he ate noisily, Hunter stopped himself from insulting him and said, "We need to go, we have a day's ride left until we get to the castle, and if we only stop for a half-hour rest for lunch, we'll get there before dinner." Bezo grumbled for a moment before agreeing. As soon as Bezo finished his food they got back on the trail and rode along it for several hours before anything of interest happened but as they stopped to eat their lunch Bezo was telling Hunter a story about an invasion that happened a few years prior when Hunter heard the smallest whisper he unslung the bow off his back and nocked

an arrow Bezo looked at Hunter but Hunter whispered to him and told him to keep talking, after a few minutes Hunter heard another whisper, this time much closer, he told Bezo to keep telling his story while he looked in the bushes, he knew that a small mistake and the men would become suspicious, he moved quietly through the forest and saw two dark clocked figures, he carefully aimed at the bigger man, "Halt!" He said in a loud voice, the two figures jumped to their feet frightened. It was clear that the bigger man was training the younger boy who posed no threat, he was much younger than Hunter, by at least two years. No sooner than Hunter had called for Bezo did he step out of the bushes with his sword drawn, the two men looked at them with terror, and the younger of the two said, "What are you going to do to us?" "We're going to ask you a few questions," said Hunter in a serious voice. The older of the two looked up at Hunter, "And what if we chose not to answer the questions?" said the older man in a deep voice, Bezo smiled and said, "You don't want to know." Hunter and Bezo brought the two men into the clearing and after a moment of thought, Hunter told Bezo to get some ropes out of his saddlebag and bring them back. After a minute or two

Bezo appeared holding several long ropes he had sheathed his sword and trusted Hunter to keep his bow on them while he tied them to a tree, as he was tying the younger man to the tree Hunter said, "Tie him to a different tree, I don't want them getting any ideas." Bezo nodded in understanding and tied him to a tree several feet away from the older man. Hunter and Bezo decided to see what the men were up to and then bring them with them to the castle if they were what they thought they could be, spies. They both thought that it was a very small chance that they would allow a boy as young as the boy they caught to be spies, but there still was a chance. Hunter and Bezo stepped closer to the men and Bezo started the interrogation, "What are your names?" Neither of them answered at first, but after Bezo threatened them they came out with it quickly enough, the older man said that his name was Hels, and his friend's name was Delo, Hels told him that they were travelers from Avaloria, and they came to Celestria to trade, but they had to go to the castle to get permission from the king, Hunter scoffed at the man and said, "That still doesn't explain why you were spying on us." "Spying!" Shouted Hels, "We did no such thing, we heard a loud voice and we didn't

know if you were friendly, which we were obviously wrong about," he said sarcastically. Bezo smiled at Hunter and whispered, "Are we going to let them go?" Hunter looked at them and then looked back at Bezo, and said, "Yes, we'll let them go, after we bring them to the castle for questioning." Bezo grinned at him, "That's perfect," he said happily. Hunter decided to untie both men for a few minutes and let them eat. After they ate Hunter tied their hands behind their backs and put one of them on each of their horses, Bezo insisted on having Hels on his horse just in case he decided that he could get away. Since they had wasted so much time with the two men they wouldn't get to the castle until the next day, Hunter was getting impatient to start his training and the two men were making it an awful lot harder. The day was almost over and Hunter decided that they should stop before it was too dark to see the trail, Bezo agreed and they pulled off the trail after a few minutes. After sharing a meal with the men Hunter tied them to separate trees and told them that they would take them to the castle, but in return, the whole way there they would be bound. After a moment's hesitation, they agreed and let themselves be bound.

The next morning they ate and got back on the trail as quickly as they could, Hunter predicted that an hour after lunch they would reach the Celestial Spire. (As they called the castle)

As Hunter predicted after they stopped for their lunch and started back on the trail, it was no sooner than twenty minutes when they saw the Celestial Spire, Hunter untied the two men and let them ride on their horses with their hands unbound the rest of the way. When they were 4 hundred meters from the castle a SilentEye approached them with his bow pointed at Bezo's head, Bezo smiled at the SilentEye and said, "You haven't changed much Jekl," Jekl didn't smile, but he lowered his bow, slung it over his back, he dismounted his horse and Bezo did the same, "Who are these men?" said Jekl, "This is Hunter, he is here to train as a SilentEye." Jekl nodded at Hunter, "What about the other two?" he said motioning to Hels and Delo, "These are two men that Hunter caught watching us, they say their names are Hels and Delo, and they say they came from Avaloria to trade, but to do that they need the king's permission, we decided to bring them here ourselves." Jekl took a step toward Bezo, nodded at the two men, and whispered, "So would I, they

don't look like traders, but then again, they don't look like spies either. Hunter looked at the SilentEye, he was exactly as he thought they would be, the longbow, the three knives in his belt, his quiver, and the clothes, Hunter studied him as he spoke to Bezo and realized that he kept his head so far into his hood that you couldn't see any of his features. Jekl noticed Hunter watching him and said, "Were you planning on watching me the whole day, or are you ready to go to the castle?" Hunter looked at Jekl a moment longer before nodding, he took the lead, led Duke a step forward, and said, "Who will I train under?" Jekl looked at Hunter momentarily and said, "Whoever the king decides." Hunter nodded at Jekl and said, "How many SilentEyes are there?" Jekl huffed and said, "Now I know why they chose you to be a SilentEye, you ask too many questions like all of the other apprentices." Hunter smiled slightly and continued to look at Jekl. Jekl sighed and said, "There are 75 full SilentEyes, and once we start training you and whoever else the king picked we'll see how many full SilentEyes decide to retire." "How many apprentices, will there be?" Jekl turned to look at Bezo and said, "These apprentices ask too many questions," he turned back to look at Hunter and said, "This is the

last question I'm answering, there should be three new SilentEye apprentices, but you won't be trained together, each of you will have a SilentEye train you." With that, Jekl pulled his hood farther over his head and mounted his horse, Bezo followed suit and did the same, Hunter noticed that the horse would be able to blend into the woods just like the SilentEye, it was almost chestnut, but somehow looked like the surrounding trees. Jekl led the way to the castle, it was enormous, and it had four towers each one as tall as the highest trees Hunter had ever seen all stacked on top of each other, and a single flag flew from the top of the highest tower, Hunter had never seen the royal flag, it was beautiful, it had a dragon with huge red wings and flames lined every edge of the flag. Hunter's mouth gaped at the sight and Hunter heard a snort of laughter come from Bezo, Hunter quickly shut his mouth and looked at the ground. There were two guards by the gate they looked much like Bezo but they didn't have the gold dragon symbol on their chests, instead they had bronze symbols with a thin line of silver vertically through the circular symbol. Bezo dismounted his horse and helped the two men off the horses, "Make sure these men get to the king," he said

gruffly. They straightened as they saw Bezo but when they realized that a SilentEye was there they tensed and were very on edge, they made every move they could to avoid making eye contact with him. Hunter looked at the men, they were new to being guards, but since they had a silver line in their symbol they couldn't have been too new at it. Jekl led them to the entrance of the castle where there were several SilentEyes and guards by the entrance, as they rode to meet them the only ones who moved were the guards, the SilentEyes watched them with the eyes of a hawk as they slowed to a halt. Jekl dismounted his horse and motioned for the others to do the same. "Nice to see you again," said one of the younger SilentEyes, Jekl looked at the SilentEye and said, "Nice to see you too Jared." Hunter noticed that another SilentEye had tried to approach Jekl from behind, Jekl quickly realized what was going on and without turning around he said, "Kelf, I knew you would try something." Kelf let out a huge sigh and said, "I still can't surprise you." No," said Jekl turning around, "And I doubt you ever will." Helf smiled widely at Jekl and said, "I'll get it one day, just you wait, and I'll scare the socks off you." Hunter thought he saw a small hint of a smile somewhere deep in Jekl's cloak but

it disappeared quickly as it came Hunter decided that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. An older SilentEye approached Jekl and gave him a huge bear hug, the man was several inches taller than Jekl, and his thin white whisps of hair blew around in the breeze. "Elt!" exclaimed Jekl in a loud shout, "I had no idea you'd be here." Elt grunted in response trying his best not to smile, and said, "I couldn't miss an opportunity to see my first apprentice." Jekl also tried his best not to smile and seemed to go back to his straight, almost angry face easily. Hunter looked at the other nine SilentEyes who had not yet greeted Jekl, who looked as old as Jekl unlike Elt, who had to have been 20 years older than Jekl, who Hunter had estimated to be about 40 years old. The two men who had approached him first were only a few years older than Hunter, "They must either still be apprentices," thought Hunter, "Or they just finished their training and were here to do their final assessment." Hunter thought that the second choice was most likely the most believable. They wouldn't have let any SilentEye apprentices finish their course in the dead of summer, they would have to wait until fall which was just coming up, also, if they were full SilentEyes they wouldn't be here, they would be at their citadel which

would be anywhere over the entire continent. After a few minutes, all of the SilentEyes introduced themselves to Hunter, the other three SilentEyes introduced themselves as Amir, Dale, Kian, Xavier, Osian, Hassan, Arjun, Tomas, and Warner, all of them except Osian, Arjun, and Warner had each had an apprentice before. (As Hunter predicted) Amir and Xavior told him that the two younger SilentEyes were their apprentices and would take their assessment today. Soon after they finished talking six young boys approached them each with a guard except two of them, who were with SilentEyes, Hunter guessed that they would be the other two SilentEye apprentices. The two older SilentEyes dismounted their horses and motioned for the two boys to do the same, the two boys quickly followed suit and were introduced to the rest of the SilentEyes, they introduced the boys to Hunter and the boys talked together for a little while, they were all 16 including the other four boys, the boys that were training to be guards were Jose and Rowan, and the boys who were going to be archers were Travis and Grover. All of the guards and SilentEyes started talking to the other group and Hunter heard the names Komer, Umar, Kian, Monte, Jamal, and Owain so he

figured those were the names of the men. All of the boys who were going to be apprentices SilentEyes were born in October, Hunter was surprised that they were born in the same month as him, in Rivertown he had never met another person who was born in October, the oldest of the three was Hunter, the second oldest was Rafe and the youngest was Amaan, they were getting along great when a guard from inside the castle was sent out to invite everyone inside. Inside the castle was a huge chandelier, it was pure gold from what Hunter could tell, and it was dazzled with several rubies and other small gems. He quickly composed himself and looked at the other men, all of the soon-to-be apprentices were looking around the room in awe meanwhile the older men ignored everything and talked to each other in whispers. After a few minutes, the king stepped out of a room that Hunter assumed would be either his bedroom or a room where he did all his business matters. The king was not at all like Hunter had expected, he had thought that the king would be older with gray hair, slightly or very overweight, and with a beard. As he now noticed the king was not overweight at all, instead he looked muscular, not as muscular as you would expect a warrior to have, but enough to

show, Hunter studied him curiously as he walked, he noticed that instead of a beard he had a thin mustache and a small gote, and his hair was not at all grey, although he was in his forties, his hair was remarkably jet black, such as his hair. Soon the king had reached them and he embraced Bezo, they must have known each other for a good while, he thought, without a hint of a smile Jekl stepped forward and said, "It's good to see you, Your Majesty." The king smiled and said, "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Kieran?" Jekl shrugged and said, "We SilentEyes like to keep things simple." The other SilentEyes grunted in agreement and Kieran smiled at them, Hunter noticed that SilentEyes seldom smiled, they kept themselves composed and never looked surprised, it was almost like they knew everything that was going around without seeing it for themselves. The other men also realized it and watched them as they talked, several times Hunter felt their eyes on him but as soon as he went to look at them they weren't looking at him anymore. Soon they stopped talking and decided to start figuring out who would train the boys They decided that the boys that were going to be trained as archers would go first then the guards, then the SilentEyes. Travis and Grover stepped

forward and saw several men who looked almost nothing like the guards, they carried no heavy chain armor but instead wore a thin leather chest plate with the archer symbol stamped on the right side of the plate closer to their right arm, one of the men that had stepped forward looked very young, no older than 22 he thought they looked the young men over and the king stepped a little closer to the boys, he smiled at them and said, "Umar and Monte, you will train these boys," the younger archer stepped back in disappointment, he regained his composure a little too late and Kieran noticed him, "I'm sorry Jamal, next year you can train a boy, but this year you're a little too young, you are hardly older than these boys and even though I trust them enough to comply they would learn more from a more experienced archer." Jamal agreed and slunk back with the other guards. The two men looked over the boy and each decided that they would train them. A few moments later they decided who would train the guards, Jose and Rowan were eager to start their training and stood straight as they let the guards look them over, Jose was the larger of the two and looked remarkably like one of the guards that Hunter knew must have been Owain, he knew that the obvious choices to train

the boys were the two remaining guards, but Kieran decided that Bezo would train the smaller boy while Owain trained the bigger boy, Kieran knew that Bezo would turn the small boy into a giant in a battle, no matter how small the boys were that Kieran gave Bezo, they always turned into some of the best fighters. Now it was the three boys to be given a mentor, they stepped forward, unlike the guards and archers the SilentEyes didn't step forward to look at them, they simply waited for the king to tell them who would train the boys. The king looked at the boys but first he said, "Elt, don't you have something you want to tell your friends?" Elt looked at the SilentEyes and said, "You all know that I'm not getting any younger, and have trained my fair share of apprentices," he sighed and continued, "I'm retiring," he said quietly. Several of the younger SilentEyes gasped in surprise, but most of the SilentEyes looked at him and gave him one of their rare smiles, Jekl stepped forward and said, "You were the best mentor I could have asked for, and I'm sure everyone else you've trained would agree with me," he sighed and said, "you deserve this, you'll be enjoying your nice warm bed while we sleep in the forest on the ground, but mark my words, you'll be missing this

life," he said with a laugh. Elt smiled at each of the SilentEyes and Hunter thought he saw a tear roll down his cheek, although, his head was in his hood so it made it rather hard to see, but Hunter was sure he had. After a few moments of silence, they went on with the matter at hand. Kieran decided that Arjun would train Rafe, Arjun looked at Rafe and said, "I'm glad I'll have a sane man as my apprentice," Rafe smiled at him but didn't reply. Amaan was to be trained by Kian, he was no older than 35 he thought. The king looked at Hunter, he turned to Jekl and whispered something that Hunter didn't hear, then he turned back to Hunter and said, "Jekl will train you, but first he has something to tell you." Jekl looked at Hunter and took off his hood, for a moment Hunter thought that he looked familiar, he looked away from him and thought for a moment, but he quickly dismissed the fact and looked back at Jekl, "I know you don't remember me, but I'm the man that helped you when your parents were killed in Rivertown, I found you and brought you to Marcus, be said that he would help you so I left, but I kept a close eye on you to make sure you didn't get into trouble, after a few years of watching you I knew that you had talent, I told Marcus that you would become a SilentEye once you

were old enough, you seem to get into a lot of fights, don't you." Hunter looked at Jekl in shock, he had been told that Marcus had found him unconscious and had taken him to his house, he had never once questioned that, and he never thought that he would be a SilentEye, he had never seen Jekl watching him, but then again when a SilentEye is watching you, you would never know they were there. Hunter felt tears starting to form in his eyes, he took a deep breath, determined that he wouldn't let a silly tear embarrass him, after all, he didn't remember his parents, but he still knew that he was missing something inside, something that should have been there all along. Jekl looked at Hunter and said, "I'm sorry that I was too late to save them." That was the last thing he needed, a single tear slid unwillingly down his cheek, and Jekl put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I know it's hard to lose someone." Hunter wiped away the tear and took another deep breath before standing next to the other apprentices, "Now all you have to do is say the oath, and you will each be an apprentice." said Kieran.

The king had his chefs prepare a feast for them before they went their separate ways. The king decided to try to persuade the men to stay at the castle until the following day, since it was getting late they reluctantly agreed, as the older men were talking, all of the apprentices chatted about their lives in their town, and they all decided that Hunter had the most interesting stories with all of the fights and excitement, Hunter found everyone else's stories much more interesting than his own, one of the stories particularly caught his attention, Owain was quite a fighter himself, he had fought several men and won most fights, Hunter thought that it was only right to ask him if he wanted to fight, Owain agreed eagerly, and went to ask the king if he would approve. The king, of course, was a man of a high standard and enjoyed an occasional fight, with the mentor's permission he agreed. Bezo used his sword and created a huge circle in some dirt and told them that if they stepped out of the ring he would get a penalty, after three penalties the fight would be won by the other man. Hunter and Owain knew the rest of the rules, they quickly got into their positions and waited for Kieran to signal the start of the fight. Kieran looked at the two men and said, "Ready?" They