Through the Flames Read Free

not find it in him to disagree with his friend’s father. It was not as though he was pleased with the situation either, after all.
     
    “It’s good to see you before I go, Mr. Sullivan,” Gabriel said, not noticing the tension between his father and his teacher.
     
    “I couldn’t let you leave without seeing you off,” Michael said as he stopped next to Andrew. “We will all miss you.”
     
    “I’ll miss you guys too,” Gabriel said as he walked up to Michael and shook his hand. He then turned and gave his father a brief hug.
     
    “Good luck on your trip,” Andrew said when the hug was broken. “Be sure to write every once in a while, and we’ll see you when you return.”
     
    Gabriel nodded before turning around and walking back to his mare. Stepping in the stir-up and swinging his leg over the horse’s back, he sat in his saddle and took the reins in hand. With a soft whistle, Gabriel nudged the mare into a trot. He did not look back towards Kirakath until it was completely out of sight.
     
    Caleb watched his friend until he was no longer within his line of sight. Even then, his eyes remained focused on the trail, almost as if he expected him to turn around and ride back.
     
    “Are you going to stand out here all day?”
     
    Caleb snapped to attention and looked around, quickly seeing that the only people still out there were him and his father.
     
    “I’m sorry,” Caleb apologized softly with a noticeable inclination of his head.
     
    “There’s no need to apologize, my son,” Michael said with a softer voice than he normally used. “Your best friend just left, and you know you won’t see him again for the next five years. I can’t blame you for being distracted.”
     
    Caleb was unsure how to process his father’s words. They were quite unexpected.
     
    “I want you to listen to me very carefully, Caleb,” Michael said as he looked his son in the eyes with a tone that exuded importance. “It is commonplace for an apprentice hunter to be given his first hunt alone a month before his eighteenth birthday. Though you have not yet seen sixteen and a half years, it has been decided that you will be allowed to go on a hunt by yourself.”
     
    His son gasped in shock at that. It was unheard of for such a thing to be allowed.
     
    “This won’t be the hunt that marks you as a full hunter, however. This tradition can be bent, but it cannot be broken,” Michael said as he realized what had crossed Caleb’s mind. “This is good for you in many ways. For starters, there will be no repercussions if you fail in your hunt. It will also provide practice for you that other apprentice hunters do not receive.”
     
    Though that sounded good to the apprentice hunter, a single question came to mind that needed an answer. “Is it fair for me to get this opportunity when others don’t?” Caleb asked immediately.
     
    With a smile, Michael said, “Life is not fair. When it is fair in favor of another, you must endure, but when it is fair in your favor, you must seize the opportunity.”
     
    Caleb nodded his head slowly as he considered his father’s words. The man had always said things like that for as long as he could remember. It seemed that he had a talent for delivering thought provoking explanations and arguments.
     
    “When do I need to leave for this?” Caleb asked after a few moments of consideration.
     
    “You can go in the morning,” Michael said as he laid a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You can get everything together tonight.”
     
    Caleb nodded his head with a small smile, but something felt different to him at that moment. He suddenly had a feeling that something was wrong, but he dismissed it as nothing more than his imagination.
     
    What could possibly go wrong? He shook his head, breaking away from the earlier train of thought. Gabriel will be gone for five years, but Dad is here. Nothing can go wrong with him around.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Hours passed before Caleb