Hey readers of mine! Houskeeping out of the way first: Basically, you all owe IZWICK because she convinced me not to do the whole revising thing the way I said I'd do it. Here's what's up: I'm going to write normally (read as: in class) and revise on the side. Whenever I update, I'll just add a thing at the end that says what chapters have been revised/updated. So, yes, Izwick, you are the hero of the day. *bows* Also, thanks to Tortoise the Storyteller, who poked me with a stick. You all owe her lots.

The song from the last chapter was "Courageous" by Casting Crowns from their Come to the Well album. The Merlin reference was from wayyy back, actually, season one episode one. The scene when Merlin and Arthur meet, and Arthur says "I could take you apart with one blow" and Merlin replies with "I could take you apart with less than that." Ringing bells? :) And now-it's a rock song-"I Dare You" is written/recorded by [insert band here]. Lyrics below, as always.

Review reply to AlexR34: Your PM system was disabled, so I couldn't reply personally, but I wanted to say thanks for the compliments; I'm glad you like what I'm doing so much :) thanks for taking the time to review.

Review reply to fandomatic: Very sorry it wasn't as soon as I would've liked, but here it is!

Review reply to Kelleeraytreaty: C-L-I-F-F-I-E :) So here's the next part!

Review reply to Daughter-of-Halt: Well here ya go :) thank ya darlin'

Review reply to WarriorStar: Thanks for the review :)

Review reply to Jala: Here be your update! I hope you like it!

~~~CHAPTER THIRTEEN~~~

Hello, let me introduce you to
The characters in the show,
One says yes, one says no,
Decide which voice in your head you can keep alive…

Even in madness I know you still believe,
Paint me on canvas so I become
What you could never be…

"He's got to be here somewhere," Evanlyn said for what must've been the fifth time. "It's a small island. It's not as if he could've sailed away."

Gilan paced back and forth in the small hut he shared with Will anxiously. Evanlyn was right, of course, but while Skorghjil wasn't a large island by any means it was certainly big enough to hide on, and if Will was seriously injured in some way…

"D'you think he escaped?" Evanlyn asked tentatively, and Gilan shook his head, absolutely sure.

"No. He wouldn't leave without us." He hesitated. "Besides, I'm not sure how on earth he'd get out of here. No, he's definitely on this island somewhere."

Evanlyn looked up at Gilan. "D'you think Slagor had anything to do with it?"

Her words stopped Gilan in his tracks. It wasn't that he hadn't considered the idea, it was hearing it out loud—because he was nearly positive Slagor had at least something to do with this. And if that was true, then there was virtually nothing they, as captives, could do about it. Whatever "it" happened to be.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens," he said reluctantly. Evanlyn shrugged.

"I do believe I told you that, twice." Her sympathetic smile took some of the sting out of her words. "So if we're going to wait—which we are—why don't you sit down. Please. You're making my head spin just looking at you."

Waiting only worked out for an hour before Gilan stood up and started pacing again. Evanlyn's only reaction to this was a slight shake of her head. The silence in the small hut was stifling, but neither wanted to break it because everything that could have been said had already been said. Except perhaps, for one thing—

"I'm going after him."

"Then go," Evanlyn said immediately. It was like she'd been expecting it. Perhaps she had, Gilan thought to himself—he was predictable when it came to protecting Will, after all this time. "But be careful."

Gilan nodded, hand instinctively going down to his belt for his knives before remembering that they, along with all of their other weapons, had been taken at the bridge. He didn't like going into an unknown situation weaponless, but his hand-to-hand was certainly above anything most people knew. And in the end, of course, none of that mattered because the only thing that mattered was that Will wasn't safe, and Gilan had promised he would be.

"I will." He paused. "I'll come back with him."

Evanlyn's face lightened, and Gilan couldn't help but notice that she looked much more her age when the worry crease between her eyebrows was smoothed away by a smile. "I know." She switched subjects. "I'll tell Erak you've gone to look for him. He was going to send someone anyway, but you'll find him quicker." Gilan frowned.

"Are you sure?"

Evanlyn gave an emphatic nod. That was one of the things Gilan knew he and Will both admired about her—she wasn't afraid to make decisions, especially when they were difficult to make. "Yes. Gilan, he wouldn't hurt us. Not like—" she stopped. Not like Slagor. "Just go find him, all right?"

Gilan gave her a nod, strong and silent, because that was what Halt had always done.

There hadn't been any signs of a struggle. Gilan knew—he'd insisted on going to the beach himself to look before he and Evanlyn cleaned up the dishes that were still lying on the gritty sand. For all that the evidence pointed to, Will had simply walked away. Except that they all knew better, because Slagor was missing and Will wasn't that foolhardy. Not even close. Slagor, on the other hand, appeared to be. Either that or he was merely blinded by rage and a bitter lust for revenge. Whichever it was, there was no disputing the fact that Slagor's poor judgement was going to land him in a world of trouble.

The more Gilan thought about it, the more he wondered what Slagor had possibly been thinking. There was nowhere to run and, on this island, very few places to hide. Erak was already convinced that Slagor had everything to do with this, and his was the only opinion that mattered as things stood currently. There was no feasible way Slagor would escape punishment for whatever this was turning out to be.

Now, Gilan thought wryly to himself as he walked past the last hut, this was where things got a little tricky. He already knew the fundamental geography of Skorghjil, after talking with Svengal several nights previously. The wolfships were beached at the very southern end of the island, and there was a sandy area for several dozen yards inland until the sand gave way to a rough ground. This was where the main building and huts were located. After this, the terrain grew more and more rugged until one reached the jagged, rocky boulders and mounds of stone that basically made up the rest of the island, with the northern beach consisting of nothing but hard rock eroded smooth by years of tides. While pacing, he'd decided that if Slagor was going to hide Will somewhere it would be in the midst of these rocky outcrops, so that was where he headed.

He'd been walking for maybe twenty minutes and had only just entered the boulder field, as he'd termed it in his head, when he heard faint footsteps coming his general direction. He instinctively grabbed for the edges of his cloak before remembering that Erak had taken those as well, so the best Gilan could do was hunker down behind a giant rock formation and hold his breath.

The Skandians most likely thought they were being stealthy, but Gilan could hear them plain as day. He resisted the temptation to snort out loud. Skandians were certainly to be feared, but sometimes they were just ridiculous.

"How long d'you think before they go looking for him?" Gilan didn't recognize the voice, lowered as it was, but he definitely knew the next one.

"A few hours, maybe. Enough time for us to get back. Quit your whining."

A shiver went up Gilan's spine. In some ways, he thought, Slagor was just as daunting an opponent as Morgarath. The battle lines were different, as were the battles themselves, but both had that dark gleam in their eyes that promised bloodshed; and here, two or three henchmen were as good as an army.

And in both circumstances, a Ranger's apprentice was nothing more than collateral damage.

Gilan knew he was having one of what Halt called his "Battleschool moments," where he wanted nothing more than to get rid of all the bullies and tyrants and dictators of the world in one fell swoop, whether they ruled over entire kingdoms or small groups of three and four cowards like they were. But maybe sometimes, those moments were all right.

The sounds faded off behind him, and Gilan made a slow count to one hundred before moving. Even then, he was cautious. Now, though, he knew the direction from which Slagor and his chosen crew members had been walking, and he could move faster and with more surety.

It felt like hours later when he finally reached Will. Gilan had never been a good judge of time, even after Halt's training (and the sun never shone on this island anyway), but he estimated it had probably been another ten minutes or so before he caught a glimpse of him. From what he could see, Will was conscious but looked like he'd been beaten up, and he was definitely bound in some way. Gilan wasn't sure whether it was his relief that Will was alive or his fear that something else had been done that forced him onwards. Maybe it was both. Even in spite of this, his training kicked in, and he moved in between rock croppings cautiously, looking for a guard of some sort.

It wasn't until he was about thirty feet away and close enough to see that Will was gagged and definitely injured that he was certain they were alone. And that was when he started running, small shards of rock skittering under his boots in his haste to get to Will, who was bound hand and foot but wide-eyed and relieved nonetheless.

"Will—" and somehow Gilan knew to rest his left hand on Will's shoulder as his right hand reached up to rip the gag from Will's mouth, and Will was sputtering and gasping from the pain and the foul taste of the gag, and all at once the flashing thoughts in Gilan's head ground to a halt as if he'd doused them with cold seawater so that he could finally make sense of them.

Will was alive. Will was alive, but he was hurt. "What did they do to you?"

Will steadied himself as Gilan came closer, bending down to examine the ropes which bound him. The apprentice took a deep breath. "Slagor—" he began, but Gilan cut him off.

"I know it was him," he interrupted, fingers reaching out to untie the sailor's knot binding Will's wrists. He nearly ground his teeth as he saw how unnecessarily tight the ropes were and how he could see blood staining the undersides. "He and two of his lackeys passed me on the way up. But what did he do to you?"

Gilan could hear the shallow smile in Will's reply, could hear the irony which forced itself into every bitter word. "I guess he made good on his threat," he said, and Gilan stopped.

He wouldn't have—Slagor wouldn't have dared…

Gilan wanted to protest, but instead he heard himself ask dully, "How many?" Lashes. How many lashes. Gods.

"…Eighteen. He made me count."

Gilan swore explosively, finishing with both sets of ropes and letting them fall to the ground. He tried to collect himself, hearing Halt's stern voice in his head. There's a time for everything, and now usually isn't it. The pebbles on the ground dug into his knees as he rested his full weight on them, hands reaching out to help Will. "Right. Don't move too quickly—easy, now, easy…" His tone was milder now, something close to gentle, and he felt Will relax at the change. Moving after being tied up for so long almost always hurt, but Will seemed to be taking it mostly in stride. That, or it didn't hurt much compared to everything else.

When Gilan looked up, the back of Will's shirt was stained with blood, and he felt the red hot anger return again. This time, though, the rage was tempered by Will's pale face and the deep breaths he was taking to control the pain, and Gilan just felt tired. "I'll need to look at your back," he said, hoping he didn't sound too removed. Will's tongue ran over dry lips and he nodded.

"Now?"

"I'm sorry," Gilan said, and he was apologizing for more than his timing. Will understood.

"It's fine." He hesitated. "Could you maybe just get it over with?"

Gilan didn't trust himself to say much as he moved behind Will and lifted his shirt. He felt woefully inadequate to deal with this situation, more so when he finally saw the damage Slagor had done. For all his experience in combat, Gilan was young and had never seen anything like this—he'd never had anyone he cared about hurt in this way. He'd never even seen a flogging (Duncan got rid of the public ones years ago, utterly disgusted by the practice), much less dealt with the aftermath of one.

Gilan released Will's shirt gingerly, making sure it didn't scrape against the still-weeping lashes, and moved so that he was facing Will once more. "Can you walk?"

Will bit his lip. "I'm not sure."

"That's a 'no' then," Gilan murmured. At Will's indignant look, he shrugged. "What—I know how you are." He frowned, forcing himself to analyze the situation. "Now, we need to get you back to the hut. You should be fine, but we don't want those to get infected." He stood purposefully, then knelt down, back facing Will. "Hop on."

Will was, as Gilan predicted, incredulous. "You are not giving me a piggyback ride." Gilan rolled his eyes.

"I know, I know; you're sixteen now and all grown up." The sarcasm was evident, and Gilan could practically sense the eye-roll in Will's reply.

"…Still fifteen for one more month."

Gilan bit his lip—he wasn't even sixteen yet and they'd torn the skin off his back—and forced a little laugh anyway. "Be that as it may, you certainly aren't walking, and I can't think of a better way to do this.

Will sighed. "All right," he muttered, and wrapped his arms around Gilan's neck, using that to support himself as he slowly came up into a semi-standing position. As soon as he tried, a gasp was torn from him and he fell back, soundlessly crying out. Gilan felt fear stab at him. What if the wounds were more serious than he'd realized?

"I'm fine," Will mumbled, and Gilan found himself rolling his eyes again. When they got home, he was going to ban that word from Will's vocabulary until the end of time. Seeing that Will was going to try and move again, Gilan twisted, hoisting the boy onto his back in one smooth motion. Will's breath hitched at the unexpected movement.

"It's all right," Gilan said softly. "I've got you." He didn't start walking until Will wrapped his arms around his neck, however, fearing that he would drop him. Gilan felt Will's hand fist itself into his cloak, gripping tightly as an outlet for the pain and maybe something more. "It's all right," Gilan said again, and he couldn't help feeling guilty because for the first time since their capture, those words really were a lie.

By the time they reached the huts, it was starting to get lighter. Dawn was just breaking. Will sensed a change in Gilan's stride and raised his head. Seeing the approaching cluster of huts, he blinked and asked, "What do we do now?"

In truth, Gilan wasn't entirely sure himself. Slagor had gone against Erak's direct orders, yes, but the three of them were only slaves. Whatever actions Erak decided to take, they couldn't be too severe. On the other hand, he also knew that Erak wouldn't just let Slagor off the hook without any consequences, considering their relationship (or lack thereof). He sighed. He'd been doing a lot of sighing that night.

"Let's just get you to a bed."

I'm really sorry you guys had to wait so long for this chapter. My grandfather passed away near two weeks ago, and that kind of put the rest of my life on hold for a while. That being said, I am back, and I have news! While I can't believe I'm saying this again already, you guys are AWESOME and we're nearing the 200 reviews mark! It's the same as it was before: The 200th reviewer will get a 200-400 word excerpt of something coming up in a few chapters or so in their PM inbox to celebrate. I can only send it to you if you're signed in (very sorry if you don't have an account), and I would like to request that you don't tell anyone else about it.

That's about it for now. Please review, and hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than this one!