Ranger's Apprentice

Ranger's Apprentice

The Way Back

This takes place immediatly after Halt and Horaca had found Will and Evanlyn in book 4, and saved Evanlyn from a quick death by the Temuai. They are on their way home

I am Sorry if my english sucks! I hope you enjoy this story, and reviews are most welcome!

Halt, Will, Horace and Evanlyn rode through the forest. The sun was already setting, they had ridden their horses almost all day. They sat slumped forward in the saddle, their faces down.

Horace felt his back ache from the heavy metal shield he wore on his back. Evanlyn was moody. Since that day, three weeks ago, they hadn't done anything but ride. The day that she was kidnapped, the day Will had come and tried to save her, the day Halt and Horace found her, and Will. Since that day, they were riding towards home. Riding out of this God forsaken country, riding through forests, across rivers, through swamps, with only 5 short rest periods a day. Halt really hammered on it, to make haste. If the Scandiers found out spies from that other country had invaded Scandia, the borders would be filled with Scandiers. And if that happened, there would be no point of return. Halt himself could easily get past them, but with the others there, there was no change. They would be trapped, and killed. And so it was that they had done nothing but ride their horses for more than three weeks now.

Will had only began to slowly recover when Evanlyn was kidnapped. Now that they were riding their horses for more then three weeks, even on Trek, his loyal horse who tried to easy it for his boss as much as possible, his recovery had slowly began to decrease. His body ached, his muscles burned, the world had slowly began to lose his colours, he couldn't concentrate much, sounds and voices were drifting through a long tunnel before reaching him. He felt exhausted all the time, and the cold seemed to be chewing on his bones. The weather wasn't helping either. It was raining or snowing at least once every day. The others dispatched his sickly feature as his recovery from the warmth-herb.

Halt also felt his back ache a little, and his knees also started to protest slightly. He had to admit it, he was getting old. He looked at the others, and saw their faces. He signed softly. These last months hadn't been pretty for either of them. Horace having to become a knight, and defeating hundredths of other knights. Will working as a slave and getting addicted to the warmth-herb. Evanlyn also working as a slave, learning that she wasn't a princess here, helping Will and herself escape, and taking care of him through the whole winter. And on top of that being kidnapped again, and almost killed by those spies. They had all gone through a terrible time.

A soft sound of falling water pulled him out of thoughts. He listened carefully. It was a waterfall, to their left, and the path seemed to be going exactly towards the waterfall. "Halt?" Horace asked, wanting to know why Halt had stopped. Halt shook his head, making clear that whatever it was, it wasn't posing a threat. Horace lingered for a second, but then continued his way. Whatever Halt had heard, he trusted him and his skills blindly, and if Halt thought it was nothing, then it was nothing.

"Water... I hear water" Evanlyn said after a while. "You're right!" Horace said, having stopped to listen. "It's a waterfall!" Evanlyn yelled, leading her horse towards the sound. She trotted off and disappeared through the trees. "Wait" Horace yelled, rushing after her. Halt looked at them, and then at Will. He saw that his apprentice hadn't followed a word. "Come Will!" he said, looking at him and Trek. He trotted off through the trees, knowing that Trek would follow, dispite his bosses lack of response.

The sound of falling water was getting louder and louder. Evanlyn saw the light getting brighter. She was almost there. Then suddenly she was out of the forest, and before her a valley unfolded. The water was falling into a big lake, the sun was shining on the trees around it and on the water, making all kind of colours appear, and a rainbow around the waterfall. The sight took her breath away. Horace skidded to a stop next to her. "Wow" he whispered. She nodded "Isn't it beautiful" "It sure is" Horace whispered.

Halt appeared from between the trees. "If I remember correctly, this is the Comet-valley" he said to them. "Why Comet-valley?" asked. Halt signed, the questions of that boy never stopped. Horace seemed to notice Halts inner thought and quickly turned his attention back to the valley. 'The Comet-Valley huh?! It sure is a peaceful place' he thought. "The comet-valley..." Halt continued, "Is named after it's history. A long time ago a Comet made it's way down to the earth. It hit the ground with a great force, so great that it made this huge crater. After a long time the trees began to grow back again, and this valley formed". Horace nodded. "So, a Comet can do all this? It is amazing".

Will and Trek appeared from the trees. Halt looked at them. Will looked terrible, slumped forward on Trek, like an empty shell, like his mind was somewhere else, like his mind had took of and wasn't planning on coming back anytime soon. It was clear to him that Will needed rest, no matter how inconvenient it was. "Well, Okey, that's enough staring. Close your mouths and take a last look, because we have to move. The border is still far away, we need to hurry. "Aaaw!" Evanlyn said, Horace signed. Their faces dropped immediately. Halt turned his horse towards the path again, looking at them from the corner of his eyes. The others followed, their eyes gloomy, immediately slumped in their saddles again. Halt grinned a little, and turned around. "Or we could make camp near the lake" he suggested. Evanlyn and Horace just looked at him, not sure if he made another joke or not. Halt grinned again. "Or we can continue to ride" he followed, raising his hands up in a slow gesture, "You try to do something good" he said to himself. With this Evanlyn and Horace yelled "Yes!" "Yeah!" and in their enthusiasm almost fell of their horses. Halt laughed out loud. "You should see yourselves! Haha. Well, come on, I want to have camp set up before the sun has set" he said, and he led the way, soon lost in his thought again.

Horace and Evanlyn run towards the lake. When they arrived at the lake, they had quickly made up camp. Will, Horace and Evanlyn had put up their selfmade tent, collected fire wood, prepared dinner, took care of their horses and baggage, and after Halt had nodded for them to go, Horace and Evanlyn ran towards the lake as quickly as possible. They dispatched their selves of their clothes, and jumped into the water. Entertaining each other, for a moment free from all the pressure of these days, they laughed loudly, forgetting everything around them.

Will had slumped down on the ground as soon as everything was finished. He was staring in the distance, his eyes empty. Halt looked at him, and decided that it was time for a good check up. He walked over to him. "Why don't you come sit at the fire, Will?" he asked. When Will didn't respond he crouched down in front of him. "Will?" he tried. Still no reaction. He lay a hand on his shoulder, feeling that the clothes were soaked, but Will didn't even blink. Remembering that commanding had helped, he pulled him up and ordered Will to sit down next to the fire.

Will stumbled to the fire, and let himself fell down next to it. Halt followed worried and set down next to him. He pulled him up into a sitting position. Feeling Will's hands brush his own hands, he felt that they were cold as ice. He cupped them in his hands. He bit his lip slightly. Then he felt his forehead. The boy was burning up. 'First he needs dry clothes' and with some effort he pulled Will's shirt of. "Damn it" he whispered when he saw Will's body. Will's torso and back were covered with big scars, burnings and whipping marks. He shut his eyes in guilt. "I am so sorry Will" he whispered. "I should have protected you, I should have found you earlier... I should have... I am so sorry..." a tear found it's way down his cheek, and dripped on Will's arm. Then suddenly Will moved slightly. "Will?" Halt asked, choking back his tears. Will's head moved towards him, and he looked him in the eye. "Halt" he asked softly, "what's going on?" Halt smiled softly. 'What was going on?' Will brought his trembling hands towards his head. "My head... hurts" he choked out. Halt couldn't help it. He lunged forward and pulled Will into his arms. "It's going to be okey" he said to the trembling boy in his arms.

Halt felt goosebumps on Will's skin. "You need dry clothes" he said, releasing Will and reaching for his baggage. Pulling out a set of clothes, a mantle and a pear of gloves made of fur he gave them to Will, who slowly started to pull them on. "What happened?" Will asked again with a trembling voice. "What do you remember?" Halt asked. Will thought about it. "I was looking for Evanlyn. And then you saved us. We were riding home, across that swamp with the large trees in it..." he strained his face trying to remember further. "It's okey" Halt said, trying to comfort Will. His thoughts were racing. That swamp, they had been there almost two and a half week ago. If Will was sick, or had a fall back, then it must have been going on for at least that long. And then continuing this pace for all these days wasn't the best thing. He had needed rest. His apprentice needed him, and again, he wasn't there to help him. He had failed him... again...

Will brought his hands to his head again. He moaned a little. 'First things first' Halt thought, and he carefully lowered the trembling Will to the ground. "Will, what hurts?" he asked. "Head" Will answered. Halt nodded, "what else?" Will swallowed hard. "What else?" Halt asked more urgent, knowing that Will didn't want to show his weakness, but he needed to know. "Everything..." Will whispered "My back is aching... my muscles are burning... my bones are ice... my head... is heavy... I can't focus... on anything... it feels like I am retreating from my own body..." he moaned again, clamping his head with his hands. Halt nodded. It seemed that Will had fallen back in his recovery from the warmth-herb addiction, and on top of that, he had a high fever. "I can give you something for the pain" he said to Will, who nodded slightly. "The herbs I need aren't here right now, so I'll go look for them. It shouldn't take long. I'll give you some soup, try to eat some, stay close to the fire and then I'll be back before you know it". Will again nodded slightly. He wasn't going anywhere. Halt did as he said, packed up and ran into the forest, leaving Will alone next to the fire, with a bowl of hot soup.

Will's hands trembled. Halts words were repeating themselves over an over in his mind: 'it is going to be okey'. He felt reassured by those words. He brought the bowl of warm soup towards his mouth, and took a sip. As soon as he swallowed the hot soup, his head exploded. He let the bowl in his hands fall down, and clamped his head with his hands. He fell sidewards, pulling up his knees, and started convulsing. It went on and on, and Will could only feel the pain in his head, the pain in his body. All he could do was wishing that someone would make it stop. He wanted it all to go away, to just go away. He wanted to leave the world behind, with all it's sadness, worries, pain, he just wanted it to stop. And then as suddenly as it came, it stopped, and he felt himself fall into a deep darkness.

Horace and Evanlyn were swimming in the lake. The jumped off the rocks, tried to keep each other down, splattered each other with the water. Just for a while, they were just playing. Then suddenly they heard somebody scream. They looked up, trying to find it's source, and than Evanlyn found it. "Will" she screamed, looking at the convulsing body next to te fire. If the convulsions took on, Will could get burned by the fire. Before she even realised it, she was out of the water, and running towards Will. She kneeled down next to him in her wet underwear, and pushed Will to the ground, shouting his name. "Will!... Will!...". She couldn't believe it, this convulsion Will had, she had seen it before, but that was a long time ago, months ago. It was a convulsion Will got when he was kicking the habit of using warmth-herb. But he hadn't had one since then, why would he have it now? She knew that Will would only get worse after such an episode. She looked around to find Halt. But Halt was nowhere to be found. Horace also kneeled down next to Will. "What is wrong with him?" he asked worried. Then Will's convulsions turned worse, he screamed in agony, his body rolling from one side to the other. Evanlyn tried to hold him down, and Horace copied it. He grabbed Will's legs and put all his weight onto them. Again Evanlyn looked around and tried to find Halt, "Damn it!" she whispered. "Where is Halt?" she said in tears.

To be Continued