Chapter 1
Will and Tug rode into a clearing where he would meet his two best friends, Gilan and Halt. When he got there, he saw a rather pleased looking Gilan and a very wet Halt.
"What's wrong, Halt?" Will called out, rather amused," Did you fall into a lake or something?"
"No," Halt growled, looking unamused, glaring at his two grinning former apprentices.
"Abelard activated a trip wire that Gilan set up that dumped a few buckets of water on me."
Will snorted, "Looks more then a few buckets to me."
"Whatever." Halt rolled his eyes, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
Halt turned to Gilan. "Ivy wouldn't have let you do that, you know," he snapped, then immediately regretted those words.
Will had no idea who Ivy was but he could tell that it wasn't a subject that talked about in front of Gilan, as his face grew haggard and pale. Still, he couldn't help himself and asked who Ivy was. When no one answered, he decided it was a topic best to keep quiet.
As they rode through the Gathering Ground, Gilan's face got noticeably brighter, but you could still see some anguish in his face. When he left to get some water for his water skins, "Used it all up on Halt," He had said, and for their horses in a nearby stream. Will decided that it was a good time to ask Halt who Ivy was.
Apparently, it wasn't because all Halt would say was that she was Gilan's first and only apprentice. When Will pressed on, Halt told him to drop it. "Go find Crowley for something to take your mind off Ivy." Will obliged because he knew that Halt knew what was truly right for him, but he couldn't help still wondering who Ivy was.