...It's been a while..and by a while, I think it's been about 7 years? As a quick life update, I graduated high school, graduated from college, and have successfully taught two years of middle school English since this was last updated. If you're still here and willing to read this, then I thank you. The story is still incomplete, and the chapter is a bit of a mess, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. Without further ado, here is Ch. 10.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or The Ranger's Apprentice Series.

Ch. 10: Making Progress

Merlin awoke early the next morning, exhausted after a nearly sleepless night. He had tossed and turned in his bedroll all evening, worried that Will would expose his secret. However, nothing had happened, and Merlin was hoping that things would stay that way.

Lifting his head up from the ground, Merlin realized that everyone was still asleep except for the older ranger. It seemed that the man was taking his turn at keeping watch. While Will and Merlin had talked quite a bit throughout their trip so far, Merlin had yet to really speak with Halt. In truth, the man was somewhat of a mystery to him. He was gruff and seemed to want to keep to himself more than anything.

Deciding to make himself useful, Merlin began getting breakfast ready for everyone. As the food began cooking, the other members of the party began to stir, gradually getting up and ready for the day. Eventually, everyone settled down to eat and began making a plan for the day.

"We should reach the border villages by midday if we keep a decent pace and don't run into any problems," Arthur explained. "Once there, we'll speak with the village leader and see if there have been any signs of the kalkara roaming about."

"Sire, it might be beneficial if we send Halt, Will, and Merlin to go out into the town and speak with some of the villagers. No offense to any of you, but you might fit in a little easier than the rest of us," Sir Leon mentioned.

At that comment, Halt nodded his head. "The man has a point. The villagers might be more open to sharing any information they have with some fellow commoners than with a bunch of flashy knights."

Merlin noticed that Arthur looked somewhat offended by the man's last comment, but for once in his life, he chose to not comment on it. He agreed to the plan and gave the order for them to pick up their campsite and head out. In a short amount of time, the group was on the road, intent on tracking down some much needed answers.

By the time the border villages finally came into view, Merlin's backside was sore. He had been on plenty of trips with Arthur during his time of service to the prince, but he still hadn't developed the necessary endurance for long trips in the saddle. Looking over at Will, Merlin was a little jealous at the ease with which the younger man sat a horse. He looked like he could ride for days on end and never experience a pained butt.

Eventually, they made it into the town itself and the group separated. Merlin, Halt, and Will decided to go and find the local tavern while Arthur, Sir Leon, and Sir Michael went in search of Miles, the village leader.

Somewhat surprised, Merlin watched as Halt instructed his apprentice to take off their molted cloaks. They tucked the cloaks into their saddlebags and began heading in the direction of the center of the village. Common sense said that a tavern or inn would be located there.

Stopping outside of a ramshackle building, the three men tethered their horses outside and then made their way inside. They, or more rightly Halt, were immediately approached by a busty barmaid that said in greeting, "Welcome to the Badger's Armpit! What can I get for you?" She smiled directly at Halt as she asked her question.

Halt, to his credit, was doing his best to ignore the lady's advances. "Three drinks and whatever you have to eat for a midday meal will do nicely." After placing the order, Halt walked away from the woman and went and sat at a table near a group of elderly men. Merlin exchanged a glance with Will, a slight smile on his face as he saw the lady's eyes linger on Halt. The two of them made their way over to the table and settled down to the business of gathering information.

It turned out that it wasn't that hard to find out if the villagers knew anything about the location of the kalkara. The group of men next to them were actively discussing the large amount of livestock that had recently gone missing, and they were debating the cause of it.

"I'm telling you that it's a wolf that been snatching my animals!" one man cried.

"Do you even have eyes in that old head of yours? Those prints you showed me the other day looked nothing like a wolf's! They clearly belong to a bear!" replied another.

"Aw, come on now. We all know that it wasn't no bear or no wolf. It's old man Smythe that's up to no good! He hasn't liked you, Johnny, since the time your youngest boy ran off and married his daughter!" said a third man throwing his two cents into the conversation, making the elderly group laugh in amusement.

Their focus on the conversation was interrupted as the busty woman came over with their drinks and what he assumed to be food. The lady roughly sat his and Will's plates in front of them, but Halt's plate was set down nicely. "Can I get anything else for you, honey?"

Will, who had just taken a drink, sputtered into his tankard. Without looking at him, Halt shot out his foot and delivered a swift kick to his apprentices shin. Will quickly smothered his laughter.

A painful looking smile appeared on Halt's lips. "No, that'll be all for now." The woman finally left them, a small pout on her lips as she walked away. Halt, meanwhile, was grumbling something that Merlin couldn't quite catch.

As Merlin poked at the supposed food in front of him, he returned his attention to the old men's conversation. They had settled back down after the one man's comment, and were talking about the howling that had grown steadily more persistent over the past few nights. Apparently the noise was beginning to really upset many people within the village. As the three men worked their way through their plates of food and their drinks, they picked up what information they could from not only the group of men, but the other patrons of the tavern as well. From what Merlin could tell, they had chosen the correct location in their quest to find where the beasts were hiding out.

Sir Leon stood behind Prince Arthur with Sir Michael at his side. The group of knights had just reached the home of Miles, and they were growing impatient as they waited for someone to come and answer the door. Arthur raised his fist to the door and knocked once again, louder and harsher than his previous attempt. Just as he was about to make a third attempt, a voice cried out to them from behind them.

"Sir Leon! I'm glad that you've returned. I was just about to send for your help once again!" Miles said.

The group turned toward the voice, and Prince Arthur stepped out to meet the man and his companions. "Are you Miles, leader of this village?" At the man's nod, Arthur introduced himself. "I'm Prince Arthur, and I believe we might be able to help each other." Everyone, including Miles, moved into the village leader's home. The all crowded into the room, standing around Miles' table.

Derrick, or at least that's what the other villagers assumed his name to be, kept himself tucked into the back of the group as he listened to what the knights and the other villagers were discussing. Neither group was offering up information that he hadn't already known. People were becoming increasingly concerned by the supposed bear prints becoming increasingly more common, the disappearance of livestock, and the incessant howling that could be heard for a period of several days.

"We did want to make you aware of the fact that the king is well aware of these recent events. He has sent us to try and get to the bottom of what's been going on," Arthur told the gathered group of men.

"Do you have any idea of what's going on? We haven't even had a chance to share this with you yet, but just the other day, the bodies of a local farmer's daughters were found. Like the body of you knight Sir Andrew, there were no outward signs of a cause of death. The facial expression were are only clues."

Derrick's eyes watched the face of the young prince as he took in the new information. As the man crossed his arms in front of his body, he replied, "We believe we have an idea of what's going on." At this, Derrick's ears perked up. He listened eagerly as Arthur continued his explanation. "We've had word from the kingdom of Araluen. According to the two ranger's that were sent to help us, we seem to be dealing with creatures known as the kalkara."

As the meeting eventually drew to a close and everyone began to disperse, a smile spread slowly across Derrick's face. Despite the pesky rangers making an unwanted appearance, the plan was working perfectly. The prince had come in search of the creatures, and from what it seemed, would soon be coming into contact with them. If he was lucky, the Ranger Halt would finally reach his own end as he foolishly offered his help to Camelot.

Derrick, or Morgarath as he could properly be called know that he was leaving the village, quickened his pace, excited to share the progress being made to Morgause and Morgana.