Ranger's Apprentice: Tales Untold

The News

So, we never get to see Halt's initial reaction in The Burning Bridge when he discovers, oh wait, Will is captured by the Skandians. So here it is!

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HALT FROWNED AS A commotion rose outside. Striding out of the tent, he was greeted by the party that had gone out to retrieve the Princess. His heart flooded with relief. In truth, he had been worried for his apprentice, unused to sending him off. But now, he was back.

In front stood a weary Gilan. Halt rushed forward to meet them, ignoring everyone else. "Gilan!" He clasped the younger man's hand.  "Are you alright?"

The tall Ranger sighed and managed a strained smile. "As well as I can be, I suppose," he said.

Halt nodded, and then looked around. "Where's–?" Before he could finish the question, a voice called out to him.

"Halt!"

Halt looked up, but his heart fell as he saw the young warrior...and not his apprentice. "Horace?" he asked. The warrior apprentice stopped in front of him, panting. He looked back at Gilan, who refused to meet his gaze. "Where's Will?"

Horace looked down. Halt was tempted to shake the boy, and then he finally spoke. "There...there was a bridge, Halt. A bridge across the Fissure."

"What?" Halt looked from Gilan to Horace, but neither of them denied it. "What happened? Where's Will?"

A long silence passed, and Halt took a step back. "Horace Altman," he said in a low voice. "Where. Is. Will?"

The young warrior sighed and looked down as he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Will and Evanlyn...they burned the bridge. But they didn't make it. The Skandians took them."

A million questions ran through Halt's mind. How had the bridge been built? What the devil were Skandians doing there? What else had Morgarath planned? But all that was overshadowed from Horace's last words.

The Skandians took them.

He fought to keep his hands steady. Will was gone, taken by the Skandians, most likely all the way to Skandia...as a slave. And he, Halt, couldn't do a thing about it. Not with Morgarath on the loose. Will was gone, and Halt had to stay.

He clenched his jaw and strode off, ignoring Gilan and Horace. It occurred to him that the Princess had been taken as well, but he brushed the thought aside. She wasn't his charge. Will was.

"Halt?" He turned as the Ranger Commandant approached him, a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?"

Halt stared at Crowley, his face blank. "Horace is back," he said. The other Ranger frowned.

"But what about–?"

"Captured." Halt turned back around, swallowing. "Crowley. You have forty nine other Rangers. I want to go after Will."

He didn't expect his friend to comply with the request. They were in the middle of a war. The Rangers were all needed. It was no surprise to him when Crowley spoke. "I'm sorry, Halt. But you know I can't do that."

Halt walked away from the sandy-haired Ranger and to the edge of the camp, watching the way where Gilan and the rest of the party had come. He watched, though he knew there would be no cheerful Ranger's apprentice approaching from the distance.

"Will," he whispered, but the lump in his throat prevented him from saying much else.