Lord of the Rangers

3

Halt blinked, looking around him. He, Gilan, and Alyss had been walking for only a few minutes when the ranger heard something. It was faint, but he had definitely heard something. A soft cry, sounding like someone's name, or a place. Another yell, another name, and then a third.

"Did you-" Alyss began but stopped at both Ranger's swift nods, and Halt's gesture for silence.

They waited for a few moments but did not hear the cry again. Halt looked around at the silent forest, sighing internally. "Gilan," he began in a low voice. The young ranger turned to him, a silent question in his eyes. "Go ahead, see what you can see. Go quietly, under no circumstances are you to make contact unless you find someone that you personally know. Be back by dawn, or we'll assume you've been captured and then we'll have to come up with an escape plan."

Gilan nodded once then ghosted away. He placed each foot carefully, moving with practiced ease and natural skill. He went quicker than he might have, only because he could see nothing in the dark forest, and had no idea where his enemies might be.

He swung in wide circles, glad for the task that kept his mind off everything that had happened, and the sheer impossibleness of it all. The thought threatening to overwhelm him once more he lost concentration and a small twig cracked under his boot. Cursing himself internally Gilan refocused, and went on unseen.

After a time he finally spotted something in the distance. A fire. Several fires. Stilling instinctively Gilan stopped, now moving with utmost care. He didn't see anyone moving against the fires, but that didn't mean that no one was there. He drew closer and closer, careful to remain unseen. Soon enough he was close enough to see the details of a camp, that wasn't really a camp at all.

He saw the main fire, a cook fire by the looks of it, and several small torches set around the clearing so that it was illuminated. In the circle there was only a long table, set for seven, and the remains of a meal. Confused, Gilan was tempted to call it a party. His brow furrowed he chanced moving closer. He was behind the fires, but he had seen the horses tethered to the side of the 'camp'. He drew a few meters closer, peering into the clearing.

Then someone emerged.

Gilan held his breath, then managed to force himself to take slow and even breaths. If he held it too long sooner or later he'd have to inhale, and more likely than not that would be rather loud. He shrank back against the tree, wrapping his cloak around him, his face shadowed in the deep cowl as always. Trust the cloak, he said to himself.

The figure was tall and had long raven hair, though he was obviously male. He carried himself with authority, but it was also clear that he was in some amount of stress. The man was pacing the clearing, and peered often into the surrounding trees. He wore a long tunic trimmed with gold and deep red, with nice trousers and thin boots, no so unlike the soft footwear rangers favored. He was some sort of nobility, but the sword buckled at his side showed him as a warrior. His face was young, surprisingly so, Gilan saw when he turned around.

His clothes were foreign, and if anything resembled Araluen's fashion. Yet he was of noble blood, or held some sort of high rank, and he did not resemble anyone that Gilan knew.

He stifled the urge to jump when someone else emerged from the far side of the clearing. This one had long hair as well, though it was a blonde-ish color in contrast to the other's dark shade. He had no sword, but akin to the ranger himself he had a bow strapped to his back, a recurve instead of a longbow, and a knife in his belt, though only one. Gilan amended the statement when he saw the second knife in a sheath on his back, near the quiver, as the figure turned.

The young ranger was reminded of the stress and sense of worry when the two men quickly met. They started discussing things rapidly, and Gilan leaned forward only to be disappointed. They talked in a language that Gilan could neither understand nor identify.