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

Evanlyn

If she hadn't spoken, and Alex telling them about her, they would have thought she was a boy. She stood at the edge of the campsite, a slender figure with blond hair cut short, to a boy's length, dressed in a ragged tunic, breeches and soft leather boots, bound up to the knee. A stained and torn sheepskin vest seemed to be her only protection against the cold mountain nights, for she wore no cloak and carried no blankets. Just a small bandanna tied into a bundle, which, presumably, contained all her belongings.

"Where the devil did you spring from?" Gilan asked, turning to face her. He sheathed his saxe knife as he did so and allowed Carney to fall gratefully to his knees exhausted.

Will and Horace sat by Alex. Will was sitting by Alex stroking her hair and holding one of her hands in both of his. He had tears running down his cheeks, but didn't make any noise. 

Horace was looking at the girl, but also sitting on the ground next to Alex. 

Alex was obviously very weak, and they couldn't do much. The visions she was having were draining her of her strength. Luckily that was the last dream she would have, at least for awhile. 

The girl looked at Alex. She felt sad for the three boys for their friend to be hurt and weak. She knew how sad it was. 

The girl was about Will's age, and underneath a liberal coating dirt, remarkably pretty. 

"Oh..." She paused uncertainly, trying to gather her thoughts, and Will realized she was close to the point of exhaustion. "I've been hiding out in the hills for several weeks now," she said finally. She definitely looked that way.

"Do you have a name?" asked Gilan, not unkindly. He too could see the girl was worn out.

She hesitated. She appeared uncertain as to whether to give them her name or not.

"Evanlyn Wheeler, from Greenfield Fief." she said. Greenfield was a small coastal fief in Araluen. "We were here visiting friends..." She stopped and looked away from Gilan. "Rather, my mistress was visiting friends, when the Wargals attacked."

"Wargals!" Will said, the word jerked from him, and she turned a level pair of brilliant green eyes upon him.  She had a straight nose and full mouth. 

"I told you so." Alex said. She had woken to hear the last bit of information. Then her eyes turned to fear. "That means they're coming true."

Evanlyn looked at Alex confused. "What is she talking about?" she asked. 

Alex tried speaking, but it came out more of a jumbled mess of words. So instead Will told Evanlyn about her dreams, at least the ones her knew about. 

Evanlyn noticed they were still missing a good piece of info. "Most of them escaped to the Southwest Peninsula. But some were captured. I don't know what's happened to them."

Tears formed in Evanlyn's eyes. One of them slid down her cheek, tracking its way through the grime there. She put a hand to her eyes, and her shoulders began to shake. 

"Come here." Alex said. Her voice had a motherly sound. Everybody was surprised she had that voice. 

Evanlyn slowly walked over to Alex. Alex patted next to her and Evanlyn sat with her. Then Evanlyn rested her head on Alex's shoulder.

Alex put her arm around her shoulder and squeezed. It was a very weak squeeze but Evanlyn noticed the care in Alex. 

"It's all right." Alex told her softly, her voice was still weak but she was managing to speak. 

The boys looked at her surprised. Finally Will spoke up. "I didn't know you could act like that." He joked. 

Alex looked at him and shrugged. "There is a lot you don't know about me." She said and shrugged. "Like what is going to happen to me in the future."