The Ranger's Apprentice. Timed Disaster

Part Six Best Laid Plans

Back in town, Elroy was having the time of his life. Not from the area itself, he had no trouble blending in and joining a crowd at the local ale house, the best place for food and talk.
Sitting back in his chair, his face split into a fragment of a smile, as he rubbed his hands together and sighed.
On to the next phase of the game, O'Carick..

Clearing his throat, he turned conversationally to the man beside him; a stout farmer, currently engrossed in his meal and ale.

"This certainly has been a most profitable visit for me here, in your fine town. I must say, the crime rate around here is fairly low isnt it. I mean, compared to the feif I used to live in."

The man gnawed on a leg of mutton and then wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"S'pose so. Never been far myself."

Elroy continued as if he had been lucid in his agreeing. "Certainly.  The Ranger over our fief, well," Elroy laughed a little in a tolerant manner "I don't mean to speak bad of a ranger, but we didn't live in a very peaceful territory. Of course, one has to wonder about these men..what are they really?"

The farmer grunted, as he tore a slice of bread, dripping it into the gravy on his plate. "It don't do well to be speaking of them at all." he glanced toward the door, as if expecting one to materialize there. Elroy smiled tolerantly. He had experience enough with rangers, none good, but his often encounters had led him to realize they were slightly more human that most people believed.

"I have yet to meet this man. They say your ranger stays mostly to himself..strange, isnt it?"

"We like it that way. The less I see of one, the better." The man took a swig of his drink and sighed contentedly. "He keeps to himself in his cabin out in the woods, they say. I don't hanker to go see."

Elroy raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise.  "A cabin in the woods? Then I-surely not." He broke off suddenly, shaking his head and muttering. The man beside him became curious.

"Now what's all this about?"

"Oh dear, well I just hope that wasnt the man I saw today as I came in, that's all. But, I am sure it wasn't. " he acted as though he would change the topic but now the man wanted to know more.

After a moment of letting himself be prodded, Elroy spread his hands wide. "Well, all I know, is he certainly didn't act like a ranger. I mean, he acted rather demented..or like he enjoyed smoking more than tobacco in his pipe, if you know what i mean.."

The farmer did, and with a rusty laugh, the alchemist watched the seed of doubt and worry he had planted, grew to exaggerated proportions around the tavern.

>>---->

Gilan had found Halt's trail, and been going farther and farther into the woods after him until they were almost in the very  heart of the forest.
He was getting very worried now. From the ranger's tracks he was stalking someone, which also explained why he hadn't returned. Either that or something had happened to him.
He pushed that thought away quickly. Nothing happened to Halt, he assured himself. There was always that horrible what if, though.
Gilan looked up at the branches above his head, considering.  With the stealth of a panther he scaled it, and stretched out flat on a limb, overlooking a clearing ahead.
A squirrel began chewing him out, above his head, and he had almost decided to  climb down again when the scene suddenly came to life.

Halt slid around a tree, scanning the clearing as he paused momentarily, his bow at the ready. Then another dark form rose from almost the ground itself, just behind the mentor, also clutching a bow.
Gilan opened his mouth in horror; the figure about to let fly his arrow at Halt, was Will.