Will watched the arrow fly high into the air. He had known that it would not miss its intended mark. He had known it from the beginning. The mark it was intended for?
Him.
For some odd reason or another, the group had not liked rangers.
Will gave that last thought some thinking and amended it.
Lots of people didn't like rangers. Well that's nothing new.
He was exhausted to the bone, quite possible through it. Will had fought 1 on 4 for three hours before the remaining one managed to capture him.
No torture. Nothing like that.
Just 1 arrow.
The man had wanted to avenge his fallen comrades. He had wanted to torture him but had thought the better of it. He had just wanted him in hell as soon as possible. The single arrow flying through the air.
Yes, there were things in life that he wanted to change and to do, but that was just an aspect of life. Just an aspect of something that would soon no longer be available to him.
If he had that chance he would go back and propose properly.
Thank Halt for everything he had done for him. Helping a poor nameless orphan become an Araluen legend.
Give tug another apple as thanks for everything he had done.
Maybe even play a bit more with Ebony.
He wondered about what Tug was doing now. Will had sent him to try and get Halt right before he had killed the second one. He knew that it would be a lost cause. Where was he now?
Where was Ebony? Will had left her with Alyss for this mission. She had not finished her training yet and he had not wanted to risk her. Ebony had not seemed to mind at least. Will then wondered if she would mind living with Alyss for the rest of her life.
A black and white thing shot through the air in Will's vision. It caught the arrow in its mouth and landed with a small thud. The thing with maniac eyes dropped the arrow and pounced on the still tied up Will. As this happened another arrow flew simultaneously through the air. Travelling a lot faster than the first one it was more expertly shot and had more power behind it.
The look in his eyes as he died was anger.
Will let out the breath he had not known that he was holding. Closing his eyes to take in his situation was rewarded with a loud bark.
'Hello, Ebony. What are you doing here girl?'
'After you sent Tug to get me, I thought that it would be a good idea to bring her along as well just in case Tug got lost and could not pick up the scent. Luckily you sent Tug. Otherwise you would be dead by now, Will and I could not live with myself if that happened,' Halt told him.
Will turned over and started a great big hacking cough, which made Halt run over to him. It was one of those coughs that made you immediately want to go over to the person and ask if they could die a bit quieter, or at least somewhere else.
'Where are you hurt?' in response to this Will looked up at him and bested even his most famous death glares.
'Not hurt at all,' Will managed to say, though it was heavily loaded with sarcasm. The infamous Halt raised eyebrow came into play here and Will cringed slightly.
'Will, tell me before you die and I am forced to resurrect you and know that I will kill you again just for the effort,' Halt said and swore when Will lost consciousness.
The Baron of Redmont looked up from his paperwork on his desk in his study, when he heard the galloping of two horses and the loud barking of a dog. Despite all the extra weight he had managed to gain by, "riding too many chairs too often", he still reached the gate as Halt was dismounting.
He glanced back in time to see Alyss fall to her knees as she saw the body lying on the second horse. Or maybe as she saw the actual horse.
Halt pulled Will from his saddle on Tug and placed him gently on the ground as he gave instructions to the two horses. Ebony he ignored as she had already run over to Alyss and laid her head in her lap.
At the Baron's orders a healer came rushing out.
'He's not going to make it. He probably has about a month before he slips on. Depends on how much he fights,' the healer murmured to no one in particular.
'He is a strong fighter,' Halt said back to the healer. The healer nodded his head yes in response.
The light in the infirmary was dim and mostly artificial. The only windows that were there were in the rooms for those special cases. If it was something serious and you were only going to stay there for a week at the most then you had a bed in the main room that was curtained off from everyone else. If you where a more serious case, like Will was, then you would be given a separate room.
As Will was placed on the bed the healer in a roundabout way told everyone to leave.
'I am going to try and stitch up some of his wounds and it would be best if none of you are here. You can come back and see him tomorrow,' he said and moved over to one side of the room to get what he needed.
As the Baron watched Halt walked off with his head hung low and without protest. Well that's a first, he thought, realising that it might not be too smart to say that out loud.
Alyss went back to her room with Ebony in her arms. The poor little puppy was asleep after all that running to keep up with a horse going at its top speed.
The next morning, Halt was gone.