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

Captured!?!?!

Evanlyn and Alex crouched over the pile of wood beside the bridge railing. From time to time they heard the thrum of Will shooting his bow. They forced themselves to work on the fire and not pay attention to Will. 

After they thought the wood was placed correctly, Alex stood and drew her saxe. She cut strips of tar off the cable and put it in the wood, to get it to burn better. 

Alex went over and picked up a burning branch from the other pile. Then she ran over to their fixed fire and put the branch on some tar. It started burning and Alex waved her hand in the air, trying to get it to cool down.

The bridge tilted to the right a little more with a jerk. Alex stood and looked at Will. Then brains got up with her and she crouched and started toward him.

"You get back. Go back." Alex told Evanlyn. Evanlyn shook her head. She couldn't just leave this girl and her brother to the Wargals.

"The other side's burning," Alex told Will. "Let's get out of here."

Grimly he shook his head, then pointed to a jumble of rocks barely thirty meters away with his chin. "Can't risk it," he told Alex. "One of them has got behind those rocks. If we go now, he might have time to save the bridge."

Alex nodded. Evanlyn showed up next to them. They both wouldn't shoot in the case the closest would get closer. Although that left the others to close in too.

Alex felt a sense of accomplishment. She hadn't let down Halt. She had shown him that he chose the right apprentices.

Evanlyn realized that they were both willing to be capture to keep the enemy away from the bridge a few minutes longer. Captured or killed, she noticed.

Alex smiled at Evanlyn. "You can't do much here. Get out of here while you can." she said. Alex didn't stop the tears from running down her face. Evanlyn had become a real friend to her.

"Go!" Will yelled at Evanlyn, his eyes were filled with tears although he tried to hide it. 

Evanlyn looked at Will and hesitated. Then she blinked and just opened her eyes to see jagged rock flying threw the air and hit Will in the side of the head. His eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground, blood welling from his head.

"Will!" Alex cried and dropped to the ground beside Will, holding her hand to his head, trying to stem the blood flow. 

She stood with the bow in her hand and an arrow nocked to the string. She half-drew the bow and spun around in the darkness trying to find someone. When she couldn't she dropped to the ground again and put her hand back on Will's head. 

Her hand was covered in blood, but she didn't care. Then Evanlyn cried out and a Skandian was bearing hugging her, pinning her arms against her body. She was thrashing out. Alex reached for her saxe and sprang to her feet. 

Then somebody kicked her in the back of her right knee. 

It buckled under her and she fell to the ground with a grunt of surprise. Then she put her knife back, slung her bow over her shoulder, and put her arrow back in the quiver in a gesture of peace. 

She put her hand of Will's head. This time not taking it off. Then she added her other hand. 

Then there was a drawn out creak and groan. The bridge let out a huge SNAP! then the bridge collapsed slowly into the depths of the Fissure. 

Gilan watched impatiently as the company of cavalry men remounted after a fifteen minute break. He was itching to be away, but he knew that both horses and men needed rest if they were to continue at the killing pace he had set them. They had been traveling for half a day and he estimated that they should meet Will's party sometime in the early afternoon.