Finley was drifting off, or at least, hoping to drift off and get some sleep, but she couldn't. Her mother, when she was a little girl, had constantly told her to put family and friends above all else. As child this advice appeared quite trivial, as Finley lived part of her life trying to rebel against her family and their rules. She once struggled to grasp the concept of sacrifice until she was married and had two boys of her own.

She could still picture her husband and sons vividly. No matter what happened, she still remembered them. Guilt flooded her head every time she began to forget pieces of her family. It was the dreaded fortress that did it. In some ways, she had been lucky. Most were brought there as kids. They forgot things.

But of course, every time she would begin to forget, her mind drifted back to that day, that day in which her family's lives would never be the same again...

A roasted chicken seemed like a fitting dinner for that particular fall evening. A fall evening where the leaves began to turn beautiful colors of red, orange, and yellow before falling to the ground.

This, and it was the one dinner Finley's family all agreeably loved to eat. While her two sons played outside, she was able to enjoy a little peace while cooking. Of course, she could hear them well from the open window, but she didn't think much of it.

Instead, she pulled the roasted chicken from the oven along with vegetables and placed them on the dining room table. She smiled at the already set dining room table by her sons before they went outside. As the mouth-watering scent of chicken wafted out of the window though, her peace ended quite quickly.

Her oldest son, Wesley, came in first. He was soon followed by Hugo, the youngest. Their faces were completely smudged with dirt.

"Turns out Hugo's skills with a sword are still abysmal," Wesley said as they both sat down at the table.

"They are not! You just cheat at every duel we have!" argued Hugo.

"How do you cheat at a sword duel? Honestly, Hugo you're as dumb as a—"

"Boys, enough bickering, please. Oh dear," Finley said, stifling a laugh. "Boys, your faces are completely covered in dirt. Go wash up and come back."

Finley waited for them to return.

"Mom, we forgot," Hugo piped up. "We forgot you are able to swordfight too. You've never taught them to us though."

Finley handed her sons a plate. "Your grandfather taught me, and it was a while ago. Mine are probably a bit rusty."

Wesley and Hugo turned away from their mother, their eyes set on a picture of a little girl smiling toothily with a sword in one hand, and a man standing next to her; her father. Finley saw them looking at the picture and sat down.

"Boys, I don't think I can teach you, but I can at least tell you more about him, and about all of it if you would like," Finley said, but not before adding, "If you two agree to stop bickering for the evening."

The boys glanced at each other before slowly nodding in response.

"Perfect. I will tell you about him while we wait for you father," Finley said. "I really wish both of you had been able to meet your grandfather."

"Was he strong? Was he brave?" Hugo questioned. "Didn't he fight in the Shadow War?"

Finley was about to answer Hugo's questions, but both her attention and her sons' attention shifted to the door. Her husband, William, walked through the door.

"Welcome home dear. Dinner is ready," Finley said tiredly, and yet there was still a smile on her face.

"Roasted chicken. Thank you," he said in response as he sat down at the table, kissing his wife on the head as he did so.

"Wesley cheated during our sword duel again," Hugo mumbled under his breath as he took another bite of chicken.

"What was that?"

"Just ignore them. They've been going on about this for a while," Finley told him. The boys continued their conversation and occasional bickering.

Finley noticed how her husband actually hadn't touched his dinner yet, which was quite unusual for him.

"Is everything alright?" she asked him, seeing him tense up as soon as the question left her mouth.

"Everything is fine. For now, at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finely asked them. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No dear, it's not. There's word that Celosia is for more...recruits," William replied. He gave his sons a quick glance to make sure they weren't listening. "She'll probably be stopping door-to-door. That means any day now she could be coming for them."

Finley's eyes widened, and she too put down her silverware. She heard time-to-time about the Red Cloaks kidnapping children and causing chaos, but they had never been this close. Lakebridge hadn't been in any danger. This was the first time she felt concerned, worried. Her husband noticed her shift in demeanor and placed a hand over hers.

"I know it's concerning, but I only told you so we would both be prepared," William said, voice still low. "We can only hope they don't show up here for now."

Finley turned to her sons again, who were chatting away about something while eating their dinner. Their bickering became tiresome at times, but she couldn't imagine a life without them or her husband. They were her sons. She couldn't help but think about how many families had been robbed of a normal life because of the Red Cloaks.

Although the night continued as if the conversation between Finley and William never happened, it was all Finley could think about.

Even as Wesley helped Hugo read a few pages of a chapter book near the fire (without arguing), Finley's mind was completely occupied. She continued to mentally prepare herself for what she might do if the Red Cloaks did show up.

"Time for bed," William told the boys, snapping Finely out of her thoughts.

Wesley put the book down, and him and Hugo left to get ready for bed.

Meanwhile, Finely and William washed the dishes, the only sound in the kitchen being the sound of splashing water.

While Wesley and Hugo dozed off quickly, Finley struggled to fall asleep. The house was quiet besides the sound of William's snoring.

It wasn't the snoring keeping her awake. The nagging thought of the Red Cloaks was what kept her awake at such an hour. It never really bothered her before, but suddenly it was all she could think about. When she finally began to doze off, rapid knocking and shouting made her lurch from her side of the bed.

Her husband woke up with a start as well from the sudden shift in the bed.

"What's going on?" he mumbled.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered.

The two of them sat in silence, and it only took a moment to hear more shouting from outside. Finley's heart skipped a beat when they both heard more rapid knocking at the door.

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

Both of them jumped up from the bed.

"You go answer the door. I'll go to Wesley and Hugo," Finley said.

William nodded and they parted ways.

When Finley went to her sons' room, both of them were already sitting on the edge of their beds, wide eyes blinking back at her.

"Mom, what's going on?" Hugo asked as he rubbed his weary eyes.

"Boys, I need you to listen carefully. You need to stay in your room and remain completely silent, understand?" Finley began, taking a deep breath. "The Red Cloaks are outside, but your father and I are going to take care of it. Under no circumstances are you allowed to say something or come out of the room. Do I make myself clear?"

The boys nodded, but Wesley frowned.

"Mom, are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Stay here," Finley said. "I love you both. See you soon."

She left her boys in their room and went to front of her house to find her husband standing face-to-face with Red Cloaks. She stood tall beside him.

One Red Cloak in particular stood slightly in front of the rest, a girl looking like she was most likely in her teens. She could only assume this girl was Celosia, but she could never grasp the idea that the leader was a teenager.

The other person she noticed was a man, who was only slightly taller than her. She would soon learn this man's name was Wells. He pushed past her and stepped into the house.

"What an...unimpressive house," he muttered.

"What an...unimpressive man," Finley quipped, not flinching when Wells glared at her.

As Celosia stepped inside as well, William blocked them from coming in any further.

"What do you want from us? Isn't it a bit late for a visit?" William growled.

"You have two sons, unless I'm mistaken," Celosia said. She lifted her hood off to reveal her entire face. "We are looking for more recruits, and I heard that you have two sons, isn't that right?"

Finley shook her head. "You're mistaken. My husband and I don't have any children."

William nodded.

A wry smile spread on Celosia's face. "Oh, you don't? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. I think I would be sure of something like that," Finley snapped. "You people don't have any right to barge into our house. Doesn't matter if it's late at night or in the day."

Celosia searched both of their faces, either waiting for one of them to cave under her glare, or to find any hint that they were indeed lying. Only, she became even more frustrated when she realized she couldn't. Neither of them seemed to be lying, so she needed to step it up.

"Fine. What's your name?" Celosia asked.

"Finley."

Celosia clasped her hands. "So, Finley. If you really are telling the truth and don't have any sons, then I have a proposition...prove it. If you don't have any sons, then you will volunteer to join the Red Cloaks."

Her husband went to protest. Even Wells seemed to be thrown off by what Celosia was saying. Finley almost declined Celosia's request, but if she did, Celosia would know she was lying and take her sons away. So, she knew what she had to do.

"I accept your request," Finley said, gulping down her fear.

Celosia waved ever so slightly at her response.

"Wonderful. Give me one moment to have a word with Wells," she said, turning away sharply. "This wasn't supposed to happen. They told us she has two boys. How could we get it wrong?"

William shook his head. "What are you doing? You can't go there!"

"Yes, I can," Finley said, lowering her voice. "It's going to be fine. I'll be hone sooner than you think. We just need to keep them safe."

William sighed, taking Finley's hands in his. "Well, then you better give them hell."

Finley nodded, clearing her throat so Celosia would turn around.

"If that doesn't convince you, I might add that I am skilled with using a sword. Might be a little bit rusty at first, but I'll figure it out pretty quickly," Finely said.

Celosia glanced at Wells, who was once again shaking his head, trying to convince her to not accept this girl. But at this point, they obviously didn't have sons, and this girl seemed like a competent candidate.

"Fine," Celosia said, snapping her fingers.

Two guards charged in and yanked Finley from her home, and with tears welling in her eyes, Finley took one last glance at the place she called home.

That was the last time she ever saw her family. The Red Cloaks and their fortress weren't exactly the most terrible place. In other words, it was well kept. The atmosphere on the other hand, usually made Finley scrunch her nose.

All the children were incredibly nasty to one another, and the adults treated the kids poorly as well. Against Finley's better judgement, she found it best to blend in a bit with everyone else. This is what she called, "laying low." Finley's Placement had gone smoothly, as she was placed in one of the higher-ranking groups. The downside of that, was that she was stuck in the same group as Wells.

He was a grown adult with the maturity of an eight-year-old. Finley had to admit though; it was a bit of an insult to eight-year-olds. He had a temper too, which didn't bode well for any of the people in their group.

Her group sat in the dining hall, all grouped together. It was a known rule that when eating, you were supposed to sit with your squad. It had been three years since Finley had been taken by the Red Cloaks, and although she hated it, she was also getting used to the way it was. There had been rumors that another kid was being brought into the fortress, and this puzzled Finley.

Finley's group had one spot left, and so technically the kid could be put in their group at this point. Finley heard the dining hall doors swing open and Celosia entered. A string of people followed behind her in red tunics. The whole dining hall went silent, waiting for Celosia to introduce the boy staring at his feet at the front.

"Wells and Finley stand up now," Celosia said.

Finley had to admit, it felt good to also be the leader of the group. It meant Wells didn't have the option of ordering her around like he did with most.

"I'd like to present the new, and last member of your group, Felix," she said, pushing what looked to be a twelve or thirteen-year-old kid to the front of the group.

Felix looked around at everyone, watching as all the eyes in the room turned to him. Finley offered him a small smile. She hoped he may feel a bit more welcome. He walked to the rest of them and stood next to Finley. He didn't make eye contact with any of them and kept his eyes glued to the floor.

As time continued, Felix became more confident with the group. He seemed to be a good kid, and how Finley envisioned her son Hugo to be once he grew older. His hair had grown longer, and Finley suggested it would best if he kept it in a ponytail. He always groaned about how it fell in his face.

Then just as soon as things settled, that's when Autumn came into the story. It seemed to Finley however, that Autumn had always been part of the story. Autumn showed up on what would have normally been a regular fall day. She certainly caused quite a ruckus in the Red Cloak realm, and naturally Finley wasn't very interested in their uproar. Something did catch her attention though.

Finley's squad was assigned to keep watch over the prison. They were in the prison at the same time when Autumn was brought in. Autumn and her fairy friend to be exact. She had been blindfolded, but Finley saw Felix's eyes widen at the sight of her. Finley found this odd, but then again, she did recall Felix mentioning something about losing an old friend.

When they were all called to a meeting, Finley felt the need to speak up. "Someone should look after the prisoner, shouldn't they? Felix, you can stay behind while we go to the meeting."

Wells didn't seem to protest, which was kind of a shock to Finley, but she merely brushed it off as their squad went down the stairs to the meeting. Everything else happened so fast and Finley immediately caught word that not only had Autumn escaped, but Felix had helped her escape as well. It then clicked that Autumn wasn't some ordinary person. But especially if she meant something to Felix, then she most certainly was something special.

Finley jolted out of her sleep when door slammed closed. She was hoping to get a little more sleep before everyone started filing back into the barracks, but obviously that wasn't going to happen. The women who had come back in the barracks must not have known the definition of quiet, because they continued to loudly blather on about something. They seemed to carry on like these were the best days of their lives.

"Finley, you're wasting your time. Leave the sleep behind and join us. We're all heading to get our swords sharpened," one of them said.

Finley couldn't deny the fact that she did need to get her sword sharpened. It was becoming a bit dull.

"I'll follow you in a moment," she answered, sitting up from her bed. She waited until the other three had left, and then she gathered her things.

They couldn't be gone for too long. Apparently, there were new people coming in today, and at least one person should be there to greet them. At least, Finley thought that's how it should be. She could vaguely hear the chatter of the women, but this time, the conversation caught her attention.

"It was only a matter time before that kid decided to run away," one of them chirped to her friends.

"Indeed. I always found him a bit odd. Good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks he is," another one of them replied.

Finley finally decided she would join them. The three of them turned to face her.

"Finley! You've decided to join us," one of them said. "We were just discussing how shameful it is for that kid, the one in your group, to just abandon this place."

"Oh, certainly, so very shameful. I'm still shocked that he left us behind," Finley answered, face stoic and the wheels in her head turning.

"See? She agrees with us. It's such an absurd thing to do. Celosia will most likely have his head for this," the third woman piped up and placed her sword back in its sheath.

Finley nearly dropped her sword. She should have considered that. Celosia wouldn't just forget about this. She'd hunt Felix down. This entire situation wasn't really about Felix, but now he was part of it. Finley had no idea about what the matter was regarding the girl, Autumn, but Felix was involved now.

She returned to the barracks and would have been lost in her thoughts for the rest of the day, but something quickly snapped her out of them when she heard the door to the barracks open.

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Note: Chapter Five! I'm happy I was able to introduce Finley to the story. As it continues, please feel free to share who your favorite characters are, feedback you might have, or if you just want to ask a question about the story so far. Anyway, I hope anyone reading this has enjoyed the story so far. Thanks!

-IML