Avery and Ryder stood before the trio with their eyes scanning for any damage.

"Your leg!" Avery exclaimed, rushing over to Myra and taking her from the boys who were helping her walk with their eyes downcast.

"We ran into a Vizican but we didn’t catch it. There was also a rebel helping them, according to Milo and Mort. We are sorry. " Myra blurted out, her eyes pointing downwards as she broke the news, guilt and sadness latching onto her tone like a leech as a loose tear ran down her face.

"Come on in, Myra, and let me take care of you. Do Mordred and Milo have any injuries?" Ryder said in a comforting tone, as he got some bandages out of the bag.

Both boys nodded as they began dressing their own wounds with Avery’s help. Mordred had a small graze left by a tree he had cut his arm on when the monster had thrown him to the floor, while Milo had a few bruises littered around. Within a few minutes, they were all bandaged up, to the delight of them all. Myra, Avery, and Ryder ended up going to the river to get some to use on Myra’s leg in order to sooth and wash her cut. They agreed to bring back the boys some to use on Mort’s cut and drink.

This left the two youngsters in silence. They sat on the ground, Milo twiddling a knife around while Mort occupied himself with his thoughts.

‘What if he finds out we let them go? He's already going to be annoyed enough at the failed raid, but what if he ends up training Milo too? Damnit, why am I not thankful he's doing all this to make me better and stronger? Why am I so scared of him?’

"-dred!" Milo said, waving his hands in front of his eyes.

After blinking and taking in his surroundings, he asked Milo what he wanted, with confusion in his voice.

A smirk was planted on the boy's face as he dove into his bag, revealing a bag full of marshmallows.

"How-"

"I was able to sneak the m out of the kitchen." He said, passing him one.

"Go on, don’t be afraid."

Mordred rolled his eyes.

"I’m not afraid of a marshmallow, it's just... What if Aiden finds out?" He said this with alertness in his tone as he gulped in fear.

"Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you and Aiden, but it’s okay to break the rules sometimes. If you're worried about getting in trouble, I'll take the fall but-" Milo said before getting cut off.

"No!" Yelled Mordred, launching up and turning to him with wide eyes. He didn’t want Milo to go through what he had. Despite the fact that it was for his benefit (it was for his benefit... right?) his methods were harsh at times.

His breathing quickened as Milo began to reassure him.

"I was going to say, I won’t need to take the blame, we won’t get found out." He spoke, putting a hand on Mordred’s shoulder.

Mordred knew Milo had only put his hand upon his shoulder to comfort him, but he couldn’t hold back a flinch as his breathing quickened again, shakes erupting throughout his body as tears rimmed his eyes. His legs felt as if they were jelly as he began to stumble.

"Hey, it’s okay. Why don’t we sit down? " He said as he slowly began to sit down, gesturing for the boy to do the same, which he did.

"You’re okay, we don’t have to eat them if you don’t want too." Milo began to reassure

"No, I do, I do!" Mordred protested in a stutter, not wanting the boy’s effort to go to waste.

"I’m just-"

"Afraid of being found out?" Milo said, finishing the boy’s sentence.

"I promise, we won’t get found out. You don’t need to worry, Mordred just focus on breathing." Milo said as Mordred nodded as he began trying to get his breathing to the right rhythm.

As he learnt how to breathe again, the two boys just sat there, the sound of wind and leaves rustling filling their heads. After a while, Milo reached out slowly, a marshmallow in his hand.

"Want it?" He offered. Mordred smiled before nodding his head and taking the marshmallow, the texture bringing him back to his childhood and the nights spent in the garden around a campfire as he rested his head on his mother’s shoulder, chewing on the sugary treat when an idea hit his mind.

"Do you think we could heat these up?"

Mio smiled at the boy as he jumped up, announcing he was off to get some firewood. After a while, he returned, and the two boys began making a fire.

When their first flame erupted, they cheered. It was as if they were kids again.

Eventually, they started a fire, Milo getting some chopsticks out of his bag.

"Don’t ask." The boy said, passing him one. Mordred smiled as he nodded, pocking the marshmallow onto the end of the stick before holding it over the open fire, twisting it as the sound of crackles filled his ears. The heat radiating from the fire reminded him of songs from his childhood, which he and his mother would sing around a campfire just like the one in front of him.

It was as if she was still here.

"You guys have marshmallows?" Myra yelled in excitement as she began to speed up slightly.

"I was able to sneak them out of the kitchen." Milo said proudly as he threw one over to Ryder, who had an intrigued look on his face. He smiled while eating it, his face brightening at the familiar texture and taste. Myra swooped in, taking a rose marshmallow and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Thankyou!" She said, though the words were muffled, you could still work out what she had said.

"No problem." Milo said, with a slight chuckle. Avery planted herself next to her brother, stealing a marshmallow from his hand with a grin on her face.

"Hey!" He yelled in annoyance.

‘Yes,’ thought Mordred, ‘it really is as if we are kids again.’