A Time of Great Sorrow
This is about a battle after the battle at Skandia, and the Araluens realize that Morgarath is not dead, and is attacking once again at the Plains of Uthal. Someone may not survive….
It was a cold, dry evening at the Plains of Uthal. Halt had to admit to himself, he was tricked. Not just a little mishap, a whole battle. He paced back and forth in his tent. Morgarath was to come at the break of dawn, according to Will and Gilan. He had sent for them to check on how fast Morgarath's forces were moving along. They had come back only an hour ago, and at the pace of Ranger horses, they had left the midnight before. He couldn't think of any way to trick Morgarath back.
Evanlyn was worried, sick to her stomach. If her father found out that she had dressed up as a knight and came to battle, it would be an immediate escort back to the castle and a long lecture of how ladies are NOT knights. But yet, she felt that she could at least best a Wargal or two, but then realized that the third would kill her before she had a chance to even turn around. Thankfully, no one was sent to be roomed with her, and she always locked her tent when others were in sight.
Before Will knew it, the day of the battle began. This time, Will was told to stay out of sight, and only fight when a sword is brought down upon him, and the same went for Horace. (No one knew who Evanlyn was at the time, so she was supposed to fight like the rest of the men.) In the distance, Will could see the outline of an army. A huge, huge army. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay put. He saw Halt gesture to get to the back of the army line with Horace, and he did so. It was only 5 minutes until the Wargals came attacking, head on. He and Horace ran father back, about a good 20 meters away from the clearing. Only one Wargal came charging at them. As he expected, Horace went charging into battle saying,
"I can't take this anymore!"
Will followed behind. He used his Saxe knife to drive through the Wargals, but he couldn't find Horace. He had charged in so quickly and unexpectedly, Will was too shocked to go right in right away after him. Then, Will heard the most horrible, familiar, screeching sound. Then it hit him. The Kalkara were back.
Gilan shot with his long bow from behind a rock. It was the most uncomfortable position he had ever been in, but it was worth it. Wargal after Wargal they dropped like flies. When he felt he finally thought he could have a break, he heard a terrible screeching sound that made his eardrums seem to pound out of his head. He realized that this sound came from the Kalkara. His worst nightmares had come true, so it seemed.
A cold hand clutched Halt's heart as he heard the Kalkara's shriek once again. He had thought that the last one Will had killed at the ruins of Gorlan. Almost as quick as Halt shot his arrows, he sprinted to see if Will and Horace were alright.
Gilan knew how to defeat these beasts: a flaming arrow. But there was nothing he could light his arrow with. Finally, he came to a conclusion, he had to use tree sap and wood to set a fire, then put sap on his arrow. He did this and aimed at the one, huge Kalkara. It seemed that it had hypnotized a dozen soldiers. Then, fling! Another large shriek followed, as the Kalkara turned to ash. Gilan was heaving with excitement and many of the soldiers and Wargals turned in his direction, but they couldn't spot anything, for Gilan was wrapped in his cloak very securely.
Will heard another horrifying screech, and then a loud boom. Someone must have killed the Kalkara, the last one ever, thought Will. That might have been his last thought.
They weren't there! Halt had specifically told them to stay out of the battle. He felt ashamed, for his current apprentice, but realized he felt a flicker of excitement as he saw Gilan shoot a flaming arrow at the Kalkara, and it turned to ash. He searched through the crowd of fighting men and Wargals, but only found Horace.
"Where is Will? Halt asked.
"I don't know. The last time I saw him was when I-," Horace stopped in midsentence.
"I'm sorry Halt! I couldn't take it anymore! I couldn't just watch our men drop, one after one! I needed to help!" he said as his excuse.
"I'll talk to you about it later. I need to find Will!" Halt said. But Horace was too busy with a Wargal to hear Halt's last sentence. Soon, Halt was busy with one too. After he brought down the Wargal, he continued his search for Will, telling a knight to keep an eye on Horace. The knight nodded instead of yelling his response. This was very queer to Halt.
Will felt a surge of what it felt like devastating pain. He screamed in pain as he fell to his knees, trying to touch the wound on his back. He winced as he saw the blood on his hand, and heard this sentence, in an all too familiar voice, that made anyone's blood turn cold:
"Goodbye, Ranger."
Halt heard and unmistakable scream in pain, as tears streamed down his face. Then, he saw it. It was Morgarath, standing triumphantly over a figure in a grey and green mottled cloak. Halt's legs were moving, before he even thought of a plan.
"Halt," a small voice croaked.
"Ha! You fool! You could never outsmart me! Now you will pay for all you have done to me! First him, then your sword wielding friend, then you. You will die the slowest, pain fullest of them all, 'Ranger Halt'. Rangers aren't as smart as they say after all!" yelled Morgarath.
Gilan heard those sentences, for he was standing right behind the scene. At first he was too shocked to do anything, but then, he felt everything inside of him bundle up, until it let go in one, powerful motion.
"Are they smart enough to wield a sword?" he said as he drove his sword all the way through Morgarath's body, to make sure he NEVER would harm a soul again.
At that moment, all of the Wargals stopped fighting, and simply walked away. Horace at first was confused, but then realized that Morgarath was gone, for good this time. He saw Halt and Gilan crouching over something, then, saw a grey and green mottled cloak, and there were only three Rangers at this battle….
"WILL!" Horace screamed at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards his dying friend.
Evanlyn heard Horace scream, since she was told to "keep an eye on him". She saw him sprint over to Halt and Gilan, and realized why he was sprinting there. She took off her helmet, and sprinted towards Will as many soldiers gasped.
Will couldn't hear, speak, or see anything. He only heard Horace yell his name, and he could see Halt's teary eyes and Gilan's too. Will's eyes were fluttering, as if trying to stay awake, but Will realized he was trying to stay alive. Then, he saw Horace's face, and then, Evanlyn? No, it couldn't be. The last thing Will felt was Evanlyn's warm lips on his own, and then, white light.
Evanlyn kissed Will's cold, lifeless lips, and then she cried into Horace's shoulder, as Will, lay there, motionless. Through her blurry vision, she could see Halt, for the first time, weeping in his hands. This made Evanlyn cry even more. Will, had died a Ranger, saving the life of the Araluen soldiers.
Halt rode to the pool, with Will in front of him in the saddle. Once they got there, Halt put Will's finger into it, and waited, with Will in his arms. After 30 minutes or so, Will started breathing, as if sleeping, and the wound in his back was gone. Halt thanked the heavens for leaving this healing pool in Araluen. Will was cured, but only this once. One can be cured only once.
Will woke up in Halt's cabin, in Will's bed. He though that he had been lost, here he was, awake. He got up, sore all over, but walked to the kitchen where Halt was. It was about an hour before noon, Will noticed. As he walked in, Halt arose from a hunched sitting position, to a straight, standing position.
"Will. You're awake," Halt tried to sound as normal as possible, but he could barely hold it in.
"Yes I suppose I am. First annoying question, what happened?" Will and Halt shared a small chuckle, as Halt began to tell Will of the whole story.
"Where is my cloak? Tug?" Will winced after speaking so fast.
"Slow down Ranger. Your cloak has a huge, gaping hole in the back, so you'll need a new one. And Tug is fine. Don't worry," Halt replied.
A breeze of sadness blew over Will.
"That was my first cloak," Will exclaimed.
"It's okay. I lost my first one in a heartbeat," said Halt.
"One last question," Will said, "Were you, Halt, grim, crying when you saw me lying there, motionless?"
"That is a question I can't answer. Now come on. Time to work," Halt joked as Will grinned.
The End