CHAPTER 3:  The distractions.

The two elves look into the man's eyes defiantly. The three men have a long history, and not a good one.

Ruven managed to shove Finnen behind his back, and keeps him there firmly.

"Elves." Huxley says in disdain.

Ruven stands up even taller, giving the impression of being even taller than the man in front of him. He nods silently, while he glares into the man's eyes daringly.

No one says anything.

After a moment of complete silence, the elves look at Gray briefly, nod their goodbye, and walk past Huxley.

Gray looks their father in the eye, waiting for him to start speaking.

"You shouldn't hang out with those elves, my daughter, and you know it." He says in a deep voice.

"Don't call me that. And you don't know them like I do. They are more humane than most of the Kronin I know." Gray says coolly.

"You'll always be that to me, and you know it. And, I am trying. Be happy that I'm this supportive, those elves would treat you a lot worse." Huxley says, raising his voice slightly.

Gray stands up from the bed. "I'm going for a walk." And walks out of the room. They hear how their door is slammed close, and they quicken the pace ever so slightly.

After a few more restless days, the final preparations are made.

As the night is quickly approaching, Gray is sitting in the twin's room, discussing the final details with them.

"So, did you ready the smoke bombs?" Gray asks.

"Yes absolutely!" Nix smiles excitedly.

Nox is sitting on one of the shelves, chuckling gleefully. "Don't you want to know how we made those?"

"Nox, honey, we both know that I wouldn't understand. All the terms you're using sounds like abracadabra to me!" Gray exclaims.

Nix chuckles. "That's true. But yes, we do have all of them. And we got the other supplies as well. We made a nice boobytrap for the reserves their post, and we'll hang those tonight. We also got the bombs in position, just give us the sign, and no one will be able to see further than their nose!"

Gray chuckles softly, and stands up. "Well then, I'll start getting ready. Thank you guys so much for everything. I'm sure that we will see each other again soon."

They quickly walk to their room, and close the door behind them. They walk to their bed, and rummage through their bag. They pick up some of their favourite trousers, a brown one with multiple pockets, and shove it in their bag. They continue packing clothes, and decide at last, that they don't want to leave their favourite book and sketchbook. They shove it in their bag, and put some pencils in it as well.

They look around the room, and don't see anything more worth taking with them. They sit down on the bed, and grab one of their other books, and start reading it to pass the time.

Finally, the appointed time is approaching. Gray stands up, and puts the book down. They grab the special bag they've sewn to put Finnen in, and hang it around their shoulders.

They check for sounds through the closed door, only to hear nothing. The castle is asleep.

They speed through the quiet halls, quickly making their way to the stables.

They enter through the big doors, to see Asra and Ruven already saddling their horses. They give a quiet nod to each other, as Gray walks to their own horse. That is one of the things that their mother did allow them to have.

They hastily saddle their horse, a grey mare, and walk over to the part where the dragons are kept.

They open the door to Finnen's enclosure, and step inside. They pick Finnen up, and he lets out a sleepy coo. Gray gently puts him inside the bag, where he shifts twice before falling back asleep.

Gray walks back to their horse, and grab her reins. "Come on, Rhea. We have to go." The mare whinnies softly, and obediently walks along.

Asra and Ruven had also have their horses ready, and the three walk outside in silence.

They lead the horses through the main doors, and stand in the courtyard. Gray hands the reins to Asra, and walks to the main gates, ready to lower them.

A loud voice yells out in the dark, startling the three of them. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Shit!" Gray mutters under their breath as they increase their effort to open the gates.

They hear footsteps quickly approaching, and the sound of their companions mounting the horses.

With a loud clang, the gates finally fully open, and Gray sprints back to Rhea.

They mount her quickly, and kick their heels into the belly of the horse, who switches to a trot.

"Halt!" The guard yells, running onto the courtyard. "Don't move any further!"

Gray doesn't look back, and quickly rides out of the main gates, their companions in front of them.

As their horse trots further away from the castle, Gray sings two high, clear sounds, filling the night.

The next second, they hear how the first of the smoke bombs are dropped, and after hearing that sound, they kick their horse into a gallop, leaving behind the place they had called home for the entirety of their life.

As they canter away, Asra lets out a whoop of pure thrill, and is followed by Gray, and even Ruven joins in.

Finnen, who got woken up by the noise, pokes his snout out, and lets out a tiny screech, sounding excited as well. Gray bursts out in laughter, and whoops one more time.

As the three friends race through the lands that are so well known to them, they share a few soft words of congratulations, and promises for the future.