I'm pretty excited about this one, since this popped into my mind just yesterday and I already wrote, like, three chapters in my notebook. And school started (in korea school starts at march) so I was kinda driven crazy. Random plot bunnies and a note significantly proving that I do not own Ranger's Apprentice.

The wind flew at him, making his clock flap around him like a useless shield. His left arm was around an unconscious man who he had promised to himself he would never let go, not like all the others he had already lost.

He looked up, trying to peer through the wall of rain pelting down to the ground. He saw the figure approaching, sword in hand.

"Then by my right-"

"You have no right," Duncan retorted, his face showing his anger. "You are a banished knight, an out-"

"That I know." Morgorath cut off his words. "I am no longer Arleen, how many times do I have to tell you?" Duncan opened his mouth with fury, trying to say something, but Morgorath continued before he could do so. "I'm not talking about my right as a chivalrous knight here."

"Then what?"

Morgorath's lips curled in a cold, triumphant smile. "I am talking," he said, picking his words carefully and emphasizing all of them. "about a promise, and a single man I have made pact with."

For a second, Duncan was caught off line. He hesitated, then said, "Morgorath, if this is your way of wriggling out of this situation, I promise you, you will pay for it."

Again, the former baron smiled without humor. "Oh, is that so? Then I suppose you never found out? Never researched, never suspected? Quite odd, now that I know the truth."

"What are you talking about? Explain!" demanded Duncan. "Oh, I'd love to, but I'm afraid I must check first if my opponent remembers our deal."

"Do not-"

"If you want to know, ask your men!" Morgorath thundered, causing the men beside him to flinch. "Bring him out. Ask them."

Duncan, his mind whirling but having no choice, turned to his men. His eyes met those that showed confusion, none of them holding an answer. Only one set of eyes burned with the fire of hate. Halt.

Understandable, Duncan though. He knew the Ranger had lost many things to the sneering former baron, including his mentor, and possibly his own apprentice. Morgorath's taunting certainly hadn't helped. He saw the eyes, dark and stormy, flit to him, meeting his eyes for a second, and then fix again back onto Morgorath.

Duncan turned back to Morgorath, who was still waiting leisurely, as if he was a cat toying with a mouse. "Tell him yourself," Duncan demanded.

But Morgorath was slowly shaking his head. "No," he said. "Sooner or later, he will step up. Show his face, instead of slinking around in the shadows."

Slinking around in the shadows. The phrase stirred a brief memory in his mind, so briefly that he could not grasp it as it slipped through his fingers.

"Shall I drop some hints? I'm sure-"

The arrow slit the air before Morgorath could draw another breath. It slammed into the ground directly an inch away from Morgorath's horse, causing the steed to whinny and back away.

"It's me. I made a pact with him."

Slowly, with a sinking heart, Duncan turned around to face the still-smoldering gaze of Halt the Ranger.

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