Ranger's Apprentice: Alex + The Burning Bridge (Discontinued)

Some Uninvited Guests

There were no answers to be found in Pordellath. The four companions went through the village and found the same signs of sudden departure that they had seen at the border post.

They could find no reason as to why the villager left. Or to where they were heading.

As full night closed in, Gilan finally called an end to their search. They returned to Riadhah's house, where they unsaddled the horses and rubbed them down in the shelter of a small porch at the front of the building. 

They spent an uneasy night in the house. Alex stayed awake for a few hours. She was still terrified that she would have the dream again. She layed down and, finally, she fell asleep.

They were on the road early the following morning. It was obvious that Alex had gotten a better night's sleep and he boys were all glad she was better. 

Gilan was keen to press on to Gwyntaleth, the first large town on their route, and find some answers to the puzzles that they had found so far in Celtica. The boys had a quick, cold breakfast of hard bread and dried fruit, washed down with icy water from the village well, then they all saddled up and rode out.

They wound down the stony path from the village, taking their time on the uneven surface. But when they hit the main road once more, they urged their horses into a canter. They held the canter for twenty minutes, then they went at a walk for twenty minutes. They maintained that alternating pattern through the morning, and the miles went by steadily.

They ate a quick meal in the middle of the day, then rode on. This was the principal mining area of Celtica and they passed at least a dozen coal or iron mines: large black holes cut into the sides of hills and mountains, surrounded by timber shoring and stone buildings. Nowhere, however, did they see any sign of life. It was as if the inhabitants of Celtica had simply vanished from the face of the earth.

"They may have deserted their border post, and even their villages, "Gilan muttered once, almost to himself. "But I've never yet met a Celt who would desert a mine while there was an ounce of metal still to be torn from it."

Eventually, in mid afternoon, they came over a crest and there, in the valley dropping away from them, were the neat rows of stone roofs that formed Gwyntaleth township. A small spire in the center of the town marked a temple, the Celts had their own unique religion, which had to do with the gods of fire and iron. A larger tower formed the main defensive position for the town.

They could see no movement, because they were to far away, but they could hear nothing and see no smoke. Even at this distance, they should have heard hammering, banging, and clanking from the village, as they worked on the metal.

"I think perhaps I might go on ahead alone," he said slowly, his eyes never leaving town in the valley below them. Will looked at him, puzzled.

"Alone?" he asked, and Gilan nodded.

"You noted yesterday that we were making ourselves pretty obvious when we rode into Pordellath, and you were right. Perhaps it's time we became a little more circumspect. Something is going on and I'd like to know what it is" Gilan said. 

Alex shook her head. "I'm telling you, it is the Wargals, for pity's sake." she said. 

Gilan shrugged. "It is possible, but I want proof." he said.

He gestured toward a spot where a small gully formed at sheltered campsite, out of the wind. "Set up camp here," he told them. "No fires. We'll have to stay with cold rations until we know what's going on. I should be back some time after dark."

And with that, he wheeled Blase and trotted him back over the crest and down the road toward Gwyntaleth. 

Will, Horace, and Alex took half an hour or so to set up camp. There was little to do. They attached their tarpaulin to some scrubby bushes growing out of the stone wall of the gully, weighing down the other end with rocks. At least there were plenty of them. Gilan said no fires, but if he arrived back in the middle of the night and changed those orders, they might as well be ready.