An:I don't own Ranger's apprentice, that honor belongs to John Flanagan

Of Witches and Wolves

Chapter 1

Marshes

As the war with Morgarath finished, Halt was shoving his way through the field of non moving wargals as he desperately searched for Will. The boy that had come to mean so much to him. More than all the people in the world. More than his king that he would defy to get him back. More than his first apprentice Gilan and for sure more than his idiotic, hair - brained commandant Crowley.

He remembered the night that he and Gilan had found out that Will had been taken by the Skandians. How he had seen a sad and sorry looking ranger at the sentry post and how he had nearly begged to go across the fissure after him. Gilan, he knew saw Will as his little brother and how much Gilan had blamed himself for that loss.

Halt thought now as he made it on to the open meadows, he remembered saying to Gilan " do you think for one moment that I don't want to tear that plateau apart stone by stone until I find Will? but you and I took an oath when they gave us these silver oak leaves and now we have to live up to it" and how tears had fallen that night from both of them for the boy they both cared about so much.

Then Halt heard a weak cry that pulled him from his memories. It was a Skandian, fatally injured, slumped against a tree. From the blood that was pouring out of him, it was easy to see that he did not have very long left to live. The cry came from him because he had dropped his heavy sword and was to weak to go and get it. Halt knew now from looking at this pathic man that what he knew of Skandian belief was true. That Skandians believed that they needed to die with their weapons in hand in order to get into Valhalla.

But this one was too weak to hold his any longer. Halt hated these pirates with a passion. He knew what they did to young men on their ships, instead of using the females that they captured, knowing that they will get more for them if they are whole. Boys were a another matter it was better for their owners if they were broken.

Then Halt remembered that Horace had said that Will and Evalyn had been taken by Skandians. Halt wondered maybe he could get his answers. So he gave to sword back to the dying man in hopes that he would think he would give him what he wanted to know.

"The boy, where is he?" Halt asked hoping that Will had not been touched but known that the opposite was more likely. when he did not get an answer Halt shook the dying man.

"Oh the boy, the innocent boy we took back in Celtica? well let's just say not so innocent now" said the Skandian with a dark chuckle. He had remembered the courage but mostly he remembered the boy's screams as they took him for hours on end. No the boy was not so innocent any more and very broken.

Halt clenched his fists with the need to hit something when he realized what they must have done to Will. Then knowing the answers were more important right now than hitting the man that had done that to his boy, he said again "where is he?"

"Well" the Skandian thought "I do have to give him some thing for finding my sword". Then he said "the marshes," he choked out then he gathered up last of his strength "through the marshes to the ships" and with that he died.

Halt ran to Abelard who had been grazing quietly and vaulted into the saddle. The marshes were a bad place to go through, too many places for you to sink into. He knew a lot of people avoided the marshes but rangers were different and so were their horses. Ranger horses were sure footed and fast and the path to the beach was easily seen.

Halt could smell salt in the air as he came closer to the end of the path. He had to get to the beach soon other wise, he would be gone, taken to the snow bound land of Skandia, where he would be sold as a slave and they would do who knows what to him and as for the princess it could be worse.

The sand dunes soon joined the grasses of the marshes and as Halt galloped his horse, he leaned forward urging him to go faster as he could now see the ship anchored off the shore and down by the water's edge Halt could see Will and the others boarding a small boat.

"Will!" Halt shouted as with hands and knees he urged Abelard onwards. It was that shout and the horse's drumming hooves that alerted the pirates. One of them quickly picked up Will and held a weapon to his neck.

Halt slowed Abelard down as he came into easy arrow range. Halt knew he would have to take his time and make sure that he did not hit Will, but with that pirate holding that sword at Will's neck It would make getting of a shot hard even of him.

"Stand down ranger or by Hergel's long beard, the boy dies right here in front of you" growled out the pirate, then he raised the weapon higher drawing blood from Will's neck. The boy's eyes were full of tears.

"Please do not hurt him. I will lower my weapon, now release the children" Halt said.

Will was lowered to the ground but not released as the Skandian said "no I don't think so, these two will fetch a high price at the slave markets seeing how young they are"

Halt knew this but still he had to try so he said "please release them and I will offer myself instead" before he was cut of by an angry man.

"No the slaves go with us" said the man who was holding Will until one of the other spoke "Erak maybe we should listen to the ranger if we try and take off with these two ranger will most likely shoot us down before we take another step"

"You maybe right there Svengal but I will not loose such a prize" said the lead Skandian with a thoughtful look on his face.

Halt now knew he would not get both of them back but maybe he could save at least one of them and with a little bit of luck he could save the other when they landed, so which made him come up with this plan.

"Fine, how about this" Halt started to say and when he had their full attention he continued "myself for the girl"

An: Was that good? it was written mostly by my older sister when she found my first chapters of "the changeling" on my computer.

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