Spirits and Sorrows
TWO

Ruben Erikson peered from the shadows, watching for any sign of Kane Moonblood’s army. His friend, Nathaniel Young, shifted beside him, his silver eyes bright and alert.

Both of them were leading this scout mission, and it had been successful so far. They had ventured into the forest to gather food and water and briefly went into Raven City to gather more supplies and went undetected by Kane’s army.

The two leaders carefully examined the area and determined the coast was clear. They made eye contact gave each other a brief nod and gestured for the rest of the scouts to go forward.

They arrived at the tree where the entrance to their hideout was located. Nathaniel pressed his hand against the bark of the tree, whispered in the native faerie language, and it opened to reveal the passageway. The group quickly entered.

The hideout led to a valley that had been home to Ruben and others for the past four years. He didn’t know how this place existed since it was like its own little world. It was a valley that consisted of a waterfall, and cave, and had day and night. He had asked Nathaniel about how this place functioned and Nathaniel, despite being one of the leaders of the community that gathered here and knew a great amount of faerie history, only knew that it ran from faerie magic though didn’t have all the answers.

Regardless, Ruben was grateful for this place and community. It helped give him a semblance of life during this terrible time. This was considered The War of the Eternal World ||, the second deadliest war in the Eternal World’s history. Kane Moonblood had invoked The War of the Eternal World | over a hundred years ago. Four years ago despite being taken out by Queen Lilith during the first war, he had resurfaced and invoked the second war which was even more deadly than the first.

Ruben and the others had no idea what had happened to Queen Lilith or her Council since Kane returned. They didn’t know if the Queen and her Council had somehow been killed during the attack or were in hiding. All they knew was that they were on their own.

Ruben, Nathaniel, and the other scouts reached the valley. As usual, his girlfriend, Laura, and her sister Alison, who was dating Nathnienl, were waiting for him.

Ruben and Laura embraced and Nathaniel and Alison did the same. It was always gut-wrenching when one of them left to go on a scout mission because they never knew if the other would come back or not. He knew Laura was worried whenever he would go and when the roles were reversed he felt the same way, terrified she might not ever come back.

She pulled away and had a worried expression on her face.

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you about something. The four of you.” She waved Alison and Nathaniel over. “We need to have a meeting.”

The four of them gathered inside Laura and Ruben’s tent. He was nervous about what Laura had to say and hoped it wasn’t bad news.

“I think I dreamscaped with Peter,” she blurted.

That was the last thing he expected to hear. “What?” he asked incredulously.

“Last night I had a dream about him and it was like we were talking to each other. I don’t think it’s a coincidence and I woke up before we could say anything other than ask each other if this was real or not. I don’t know if it was a realistic dream or if we were talking to each other but it’s something we can’t rule out.”

“I agree,” said Ruben. His mind raced, wondering and hoping this was real. In the four years that had gone by he thought of his friend and hoped that whatever happened, he was okay. As far as he and Laura knew, Peter was dragged to the Human Realm by Hannah though there was the chance something could’ve gone wrong with the portal and they could’ve ended up somewhere dangerous or killed. He hoped and prayed that whatever happened to them they were okay. “But how would that be possible?”

“Sorcerers and sorceresses can dreamscape with the ones they’re close to,” said Nathaniel. “It could be possible that he’s reached out to you.”

“But after four years? Do you think that could be a coincidence?” she wondered.

“Nothing should be ruled out for a coincidence. Dreamscaping is an anomaly that’s hard to explain. Perhaps he’d been thinking of you a lot and subconsciously reached out and formed a connection with you and vice versa. Have you thought a lot about him?”

“Lately, I’ve been thinking about him and Hannah. I’ve been wondering about them and where they’ve been. What can I do to keep it going? Is this a one-time thing?”

“There’s nothing you can do except keep an open mind and tell us if anything else has happened.”

Ruben placed a hand over hers. “I’m sure he’s safe, wherever he is.” He didn’t know for sure but was trying to reassure her.

“I hope so,” she said tentatively.

Later, the sky was darkening and Ruben clenched the ring in his hand. Nathaniel had helped him create the ring a few days ago and he’d been working up the courage to do this task he’d been working up the nerve to ask this question.

He found Laura sitting near the waterfall, her knee pulled up to her chest as she gazed at the water, her long dark hair blowing in the breeze. He figured she was thinking about Peter and the situation all of them were in.

He took a deep breath and approached. He knew this wasn’t the best time but if he didn’t do it now then he didn’t know if he would have the courage to do this later or not. There would never be a good time to do this and he didn’t want to take the chance of never being able to ask this question.

She looked up with questioning eyes as he knelt beside her. “What’s up?”

He took a deep breath and pulled out the ring. “Laura, there’s something I need to ask you.”

Her eyes widened and her voice came out as an airy whisper. “Ruben . . .”

“I know this is not the ideal time and I wish I could be doing this under different circumstances, but I can’t keep putting this off. I love you, Laura Paige Harper, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you -”

“Yes!” she screeched and jumped into his arms, nearly knocking him over. “Of course! Of course!”

He laughed as he put the ring on her finger and they kissed. He felt his heart soar with love and joy as he and his true love prepared to enter a new chapter of their lives together.

Applause and cheers erupted behind them and they turned to find the rest of the community standing there. Ruben and Laura laughed as they walked over to them and were immediately embraced and congratulated by everyone. It felt like a ray of happiness for everyone during these difficult times.

Alison cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, “It’s about damn time!”

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