A/N: So here is the second chapter...finally. Haha, I suppose it wasn't too long of a wait? Either way here it is and I hope it's better than the first. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but this is my first fan fiction for Ranger's Apprentice so I kind of have to get a feel for things and get in a groove with my writing, so naturally the story will get better as it progresses. Please R&R and no hate mail. Thanks and enjoy!

Will was calm. He was satisfied with the situation. Although he had not been rescued, Will knew that his captors would never win this battle. Will still held the key to the information they desired and they had no leverage now. To be honest they didn't really have leverage to begin with, and that was what had Will uneasy. He was ultimately satisfied with the situation, but Will felt that he was underestimating his opponents, just as he had underestimated them when he was captured.

*—*—X—*—*

Will knew they were there. Watching him through the trees. They'd been following him for a while. He thought they were just bandits, but then there were too many for that. Assassins? Who would want to kill Will? He could only think of one other possibility; they wanted to kidnap him. He only had one question. What would anyone want with Will?

That answer was quite simple really. There were documents about a royal embassy that was to travel to Skandia for negotiations on a treaty. Many people wanted to take that embassy, because it was really no embassy at all. It was the King and Princess themselves. Although the advisors had…well…advised against it, the King insisted, possibly just to be stubborn. The fact was that few people knew the details of the route and such, therefore since Will was one of these few, he was valuable to quite a few different people. That included this group following him.

One thing Halt always told Will was to always assume oblivion, when it came to trackers. If they believed you to be oblivious, then you gained an advantage over them. Will therefore took this statement too far and didn't take enough precautions. It was difficult to remember everything Halt told you. Another lesson being that you should never let your guard down, no matter how much you think you have the situation under control, because as soon as you think you have it under control, that's the moment when everything falls apart. This was Will's downfall. Will had been careless and one mistake was all it took. One stupid mistake. Clearly, although he was skilled, he still had a lot to learn.

*—*—X—*—*

Will grunted as the guard punched him in the gut again. Those broken ribs never really healed. They'd been broken again and again, and eventually, Will wasn't sure they'd ever be able to be mended again. The leader had been bluffing when he said that they could do whatever they wanted to Will. Will supposed that he gained some common sense and decided that until they had some leverage, they would have to attempt at getting the information from Will by torture. A method that, at the moment, did not seem to be paying off for either party.

He didn't even attempt to speak. Will knew that that would get him nowhere at the moment. The guard would harm him either way. If Will spoke, he would only get a worse beating, so to save himself from further pain, Will simply said nothing. Will said nothing because he was afraid of what he would say, and what the guard would do to him. Will knew that if he spoke out of turn, this man was capable of crippling him for life.

*—*—X—*—*

Halt had gone looking for Will as soon as he had gone missing. Will was on a mission with Halt and Halt had told Will to go ahead, because he had some business to attend to nearby. Halt told him he would catch up later. Will trusted his mentor and went ahead. Will trusted him. That was what bothered Halt. Halt made a promise to Will, and Will had trusted him, and now Halt had broken it. Halt had promised him that everything would be alright, when Will came back from Skandia. Halt promised him that he would never let it happen again. It was one of the few times that Halt let his emotional barriers down. It was a brief a fleeting moment of…of…well Halt couldn't really explain it. The point was that the walls had gone back up after that. Everything was back to the way it should have been. Until now.

Halt was following Will's tracks. Everything seemed right…but not this. Halt could tell Will had stopped to rest, for food, something, but he hadn't continued alone…or of his own free will. He was getting close.

*—*—X—*—*

Will heard them whispering a few cells down. Despite them being stone, these cells had nothing in them besides Will's cell, so they were hollow and therefore easy to hear through.

"Rorik, I haven't gotten through to him. Soon he's not going to be able to take much more of this. We need a different plan." Will recognized this voice well. This was the voice of the guard that interrogated and tortured Will. There was no way that Will could ever forget that voice.

"I thought we discussed this Mordrim, we have…help on the way. If we start easing up now, we'll never get what we want. If anything we need to be harsher than ever. We need to break him." This voice was the leader's voice that, up until now, was nameless. Will only knew him as the leader of this group, and his captor. Will had never heard this man's name, but it was nice to put a name to a face.

"But what if-" Mordrim didn't even get to finish his sentence. Will didn't know what went on in there, but he did know the he wouldn't be seeing Mordrim again. Will heard Rorik whisper something, probably saying that Mordrim should not have questioned Rorik's decisions, but Will didn't care. Mordrim was softening and Rorik hadn't hesitated to kill him. Will could only imagine what Rorik would do to Will, if provoked.

*—*—X—*—*

Halt had been searching for what felt like forever. It had taken him a while to convince King Duncan that he wasn't needed in the kingdom for a while. Halt also reminded him of what happened last time Will had been captured. Will had been in Skandia and under the influence of Warmed, a drug that made Will a mindless slave. Halt didn't know what these people would do with Will, but he knew exactly what they wanted from him. Halt wasn't sure how they were trying to get the information from him, but it was a good thing that they didn't know Will very well, because Will has one major weakness…his friends.

—

Will awoke to screaming. It wasn't a man's screams, but a woman's screams. Will couldn't bear the thought of someone torturing a woman, just because he always believed women were something to be treasured and not treated like dirt. Most men in this day and age did not agree with him.

Will couldn't help wondering who the poor woman was. He also couldn't help thinking it was someone he knew. Will knew only a few women. Jenny and Alyss and Lady Pauline. Obviously if they were trying to get to Will emotionally it would be one of the first two. They wouldn't take Lady Pauline, she was too heavily guarded, but one of her apprentices? Sure. It didn't make any sense though. Who could possibly know that Alyss and Will were friends, or maybe more? Only Will's closest friends knew this, and unless this group had been watching Will for some time now, they wouldn't have known to take Alyss of all people. Will would do anything to protect her, but again, unless they knew Will or had been watching him, they wouldn't have known this. Will only had one more question, and that was…who are these people?

A/N: Thanks for reading i hope you enjoyed! Please review and give me any suggestions you might have. Thanks again! Until next time!