The Ranger's Apprentice. Timed Disaster

Part Seven-Reunited

Will had had a hard time of it, through the long afternoon. In the back of his mind was the fear that he would fail, would be drug back to Skandia after everything he had been though. Trying to move quietly was a chore, and there was a time or two when he lost his footing, or stepped on a twig he hadn't noticed earlier. Then came the moment when this strange figure had walked into the clearing, as if he had materialized from the bark of the tree. The man's back was to him, now might be his only chance.Will's muscles strained as he pulled back the bowstring, sighting between the shoulder blades. His hand shook with the strain, and he could feel sweat running down his back as the bow wobbled.

  He took a breath to steady himself; then a voice yelled from the   branches above his head, and startled he let the shot go, the man simultaneously dropping to the ground.

>>------->>

 "Halt, behind you!"

  The Ranger had already dropped to the ground before the sentence was finished, hearing  the lethal whistle of an arrow flew past him harmless and slightly wide a shot, burying itself into the trunk of a tree. Halt recognized the voice as Gilan's, and was momentarily grateful his former apprentice had come back; then as the person behind him began crashing into the underbrush, he leapt to his feet and followed in close pursuit.  Time to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

 Gilan dropped from a tree, nearly in front of him, and grabbed his arm but not slowing his pace,as they ran side by side. His face worked before he managed to talk. Halt noticed he was also rather pale looking under his tan.

"Halt! You need to know-I don't know why,  or how, but, that-that"

"Would you please stop going in circles and get it out, Gilan!" Halt kept running, trying to get a glimpse of the figure ahead. He was so close.

 The lanky young man groaned, "It's Will ahead!"

"What!" Stopping so quickly it threw Gilan several steps ahead, he felt the blood drain from his face. "You're trying to tell me that was Will all along?" As the ranger nodded, he took a deep breath, thinking quickly. That explained much about the shadowy form and his skill at eluding.

But why had Will tried to shoot him without identifying him first? It didn't make sense, but Halt knew one thing for sure, his apprentice needed him. Without another word, or waiting to see if Gilan would follow, Halt took off again.

 They burst out of the woods suddenly, into the light of a  bright sunset that was going off in fiery red glory. Now Halt could see the slight figure better, and recognize the rangers cloak he was wearing. Will looked back over his shoulder, and Halt's heart clinched at the lack of recognition in his face-it seemed as if he was not even looking at them, but through them. 

 "Will, stop!" The boy staggered but kept running. It was Gilan who put on an extra burst of speed, his long legs eating up the intervening stretch of field. Dropping his bow as he neared, he tackled Will headlong; rolling over and over with the velocity, they came to a stop, Gilan on top, holding Will's arms pinned to his side.

 Halt gave a gasp of relief that was quickly replaced with alarm; Gilan was trying to calm Will who seemed near to hysterics.

 "I won't go back! I won't! You can't make me go back!" Gilan struggled to hold him down, looking at Halt with concern at the boy's incoherent screams.

 "He's been drugged, I think. Look at his eyes, they-gaaahhhh!" He yanked his hand back from Will, who had twisted his head suddenly and bit Gilan hard. Taking advantage of the surprise, Will kicked free but was caught by Halt before he made it off the ground.

 Grasping him tightly, Halt tried to speak calmly and reassuringly. "Will, it's me, Halt. No one is going to make you go back boy, you're home-it's Halt. Come on Will." Tears filled his eyes as he looked at the panic on his apprentice's face, and the dilated pupils. "Please, boy. Come home."

 Will had subsided, his breathing still irregular, but then he blinked and his eyes seemed to actually see Halt this time. Confusion wrinkled his brow, and he began to shake. "H-halt? Where am I?"

Halt hugged Will tightly, staring over his head at Gilan who gave a tentative smile, tightly gripping  his hand where he had been bit. "You're home boy, safe." Will's shoulders shook in ragged sobs, and Halt let him cry uninterrupted. As relief washed over him, so did a furious rage.

 "I vow I'll find who did this, and when I do, Gilan-I won't have mercy."