The Fires of Esus - Ranger's Apprentice

Chapter 13: We Need Her Alive, You Know

The table protected them from the bulk of the blast, and they were both thrown back at the wave of heat and air that hit them like a brick wall. The kitchen was up in flames, even the ceiling was burning, and their escape path through the double doors had been sealed off by fire. Will could only hope that everyone who hadn't already left would manage to escape the restaurant before the flames spread further. Especially Halt, Horace, Pauline, and Alyss. And Alyss.

Will swallowed his sudden fear and cracked his eyes open, squinting in the heat and light, and focused on Jenny, who was trembling next to him on the floor. "Are you alright?" he had to yell through the loud crackling of the flames around them.

"Yes," she mouthed, and started to get up onto her knees. She seemed rattled, but not injured. Her tunic was torn and sooty, and her face was streaked with ash and tears, but she was alright. Will could only imagine what he looked like.

He knelt next to her, seizing her hand and squeezing it tightly. "We'll have to run for the back door! No matter what happens, keep running, don't stop!"

She nodded and squeezed his hand back. He didn't waste a second longer, dragging her to her feet and out from behind the table, ducking and throwing a hand over his eyes against the intense heat from the flames.

Although the room was burning, it was only dangerous in the areas the woman had sprayed the kerosene mixture. Thankfully, there was a series of paths that, for the time being, were left untouched by the fire. Will pulled Jenny between the tables, flinching away from the tongues of flame that seemed to reach out to them. Will remembered all too well how the flames had acted during the Stamford fire. It wasn't any different now, he thought, as he felt like the smoke had tied itself in a noose around his neck. He desperately hoped that was just his mind imagining it as he struggled to breathe through the dense black smoke clouds that fogged his vision.

It was thankfully a short distance from where he and Jenny had started to the back door. They threw themselves across the threshold, staggering into the cool night air, gasping for breath. Jenny bent over heavily, rested her hands on her knees, and wept into the darkness. Will put a tender hand on her shoulder. "Jenny, I'm sorry, but I have to find her. Go find the others, they'll help you any way they can."

Her red eyes, swollen from the smoke and tears, stabbed his heart painfully. Jenny was truly one of his dearest friends and he hated to see her like this. But he had to find the woman. He had to stop her and her druid friends from doing this again. He had to know more about her and why this was happening. Nothing would be solved until he spoke to one of them, he knew that full well. And this was his chance.

Worst of all, he was well aware that he had done all he could in the kitchen to stop the fire before it happened. He had truly done his best, he knew that. But all the same, he coldn't stop the sinking feeling of failure from gripping his heart as he saw Jenny's beloved restaurant burning down from the inside. He felt like a failure, a fraud.

He sent Jenny off around the side, towards the front where he saw people standing to watch. She'll find someone there to help her, he thought.

Will crept quickly through the shadows of the restaurant and the other surrounding buildings. In the heart of Redmont, she wouldn't get far. Will knew these streets well, she wouldn't escape him for long. She had little to no weapons, as far as he knew, and she didn't seem to have anyone around to help her. He was confident he could find her, if he waited long enough for her to try to make a break for it into the trees.

Sure enough, after only a few short minutes of waiting in the shadows, Will saw the same woman dash around the corner, heading for the front of the restaurant. "Hey, stop!" he yelled, running headlong after her.

She reached the front and suddenly slid to a stop at the sight of the gathered people, staggering backward, and she looked back over her shoulder, meeting Will's eyes. There's nowhere she can run, she knows that. "Give yourself up, it's over!"

She only shook her head, a deadly resolve settling into her gaze before she reached beneath her cloak to withdraw another silver knife, her second and final one. She brought it over her head in a smooth throw, end over end, spinning towards Will.

He dodged it easily, the silver flashing in the light of the fire and her throw, albeit smooth, was off target. Not a fighter at all, as he suspected. In the same movement, he grabbed an arrow, drew, and fired in the same breath.

"Don't kill her!" he heard the faint voice of Halt shout. But he only shook his head as the arrow flew away.

The woman cried out as it hit the meaty part of her shoulder, a wound that would hurt, but definitely not kill.

"Halt," Will said tiredly as he turned slowly to face his mentor across the grass, taking a few steps toward him. "I'm not daft. We need her alive, you know." Everyone stood there, eyeing him with mixtures of relief and fear. A rapidly dispersing crowd of onlookers, regular village folk, along with a crowd of soldiers attempting to start a bucket brigade to put out the flames, all watched him. Pauline, Horace, and Halt had Jenny between them, comforting her, but he didn't find Alyss right away.

In the same second he heard a movement behind him, meaning that the woman was trying to get up. But before he could even turn, before he or Halt could shoot, speak of the devil, Alyss came charging toward him, her saber in hand and the most murderous look in her eyes he had ever seen. But she wasn't looking at him. She was aiming for the woman.

Will had no choice but to step aside to avoid her already swinging saber as Alyss raised the weapon overhead savagely and smacked the flat of her blade into the back of the woman's head. The poor woman collapsed to her knees, her eyes crossed and unfocused, swaying and careening from one side to the other. "Don't touch him," she hissed, her eyes flashing dangerously in the firelight as the steel pressed harshly against the woman's neck, making her freeze in place with wide eyes.

Will gently put his hand on her tense shoulder, murmuring, "Alyss, it's alright, she's not in any shape to do anything. You've nearly knocked her out cold. Let it go."

She slowly let the saber drop from the woman's neck, still eyeing her with murderous intention. Then she sheathed her blade in one quick, expert motion, turned, and folded herself into Will's arms.

Will watched over her shoulder as a few soldiers from the garrison, running on Halt's urgently barked orders, quickly restrained the woman and carried her now unconscious body away, her blood dripping from her shoulder and her face limp. His gray arrow still stuck out of her, like a flag of victory. Or a flag of her surrender, Will couldn't tell the difference.

Her blood on the grass formed a long trail identical to the lines of kerosene that had nearly killed him and Jenny. The stone was heavy in his pocket, hot to the touch. 

Still holding Alyss tightly, the pair turned and watched with sad eyes as Jenny's restaurant burned to the ground, lighting up the darkness with orange flames, yet darkening it again with plumes of smoke that covered the light of the moon. 

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A/N A double update? You're welcome! I didn't have the heart to leave you all hanging for too long. Thank you for all the love and support on this book so far, I hope it's meeting your expectations. I've got so much more planned to happen still, so stay tuned! Daily updates are still happening! 

Favorite painter? Mine's Claude Monet ;)