Chapter 3: Invasion!

Halt's POV:

As Will and I rode into town, I pondered what just happened. The petty thief we were hunting was more than your ordinary thief. She was an expert fighter. And, yet, she seemed so familiar. I realized we had entered the town and Will was asking were our quarry lived. A woman pointed to the woods we had just come from. I nodded our thanks and turned Abelard back to the north. We rode on in silence for hour upon hour. Finally, dusk fell and I stopped Will. He looked at me questioningly.

"I hear something," I explained to my apprentice. An eerie sound filled the forest. Will cocked his head, listening.

"I think we'll stop here," I informed Will, who gave me a withering look.

"Of course you pick this spot to camp," Will grumbled under his breath.

"I heard you!" I tell him, turning to relieve Abelard of his load. Will did the same. We set up our camp, had supper and laid down to sleep. However, there was no sleeping for me. Eventually, I noticed what was keeping me awake. The smokey voice had stopped singing.

"Halt?" Will asked.

"Yes, Will?" I replied.

"Something's not right," he said sitting up, his right hand falling to the hilt of his saxe knife. I stood up.

"How about we go investigate?" I asked, scooping my bow and quiver from its position leaning against a tree. That seemed to satisfy Will. We turned and walked into the forest, progressively getting more on edge. Suddenly there was a rustle in the trees and a figure dropped to the ground, rolling to absorb the impact.

Raven's POV:

I sprang to my feet from my rolling position. My quiver was strapped to one hip, a long, thin sword at the other. My bow I held in my hand. I turned to assess the two figures behind me. Presuming them to be the two Rangers from this morning, I dismissed their presence as unimportant. I knew exactly what was wrong in the forest. It was a group of foreign invaders called the Reds. They were not a light matter. The Exiled and the Reds were sworn enemies for millenniums. I turned and stepped forward toward the center and was stopped by a rough hand gripping my wrist. I looked over my shoulder to find the older Rangers face inches from mine.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice gruff. I looked from his dark eyes to the younger Ranger, then to my wrist, wondering if I should answer the question, or tear my wrist free and keep running. Then I noticed the look in the younger Ranger's eyes. It was kindness. So I decided to answer the question, just to see what would happen. I could always escape if need be.

"Raven," I said, keeping my voice neutral. I tugged slightly on my wrist, reminding the Ranger that I was still restrained. He released me and I began walking back to the center of the forest.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" That was the younger one. Not even bothering to stop or turn around I called over my shoulder, "I have places to be." They fell in to step behind me, which I sensed more than heard. We walked in in silence, until was rudely interrupted by a sword arching toward me. I ducked under the swing, flicking my thin sword free of its sheath. It swung again, and this time I parried and flicked my sword into an impossible position, twisted it up, and disarmed whatever was attacking me. I turned back to the Rangers, frowning. We were in huge trouble. A loud tramping sound came in to my hearing range. My eyes widen with horror as I realized what it was. This wasn't a raid the Reds were planning, this was a full fledged invasion. I began running to the tramping sound, the Rangers following. Something wrapped around my waist and pulled me away from the edge of a cliff that I hadn't noticed.

"Thanks," I whispered. The younger Ranger realized his grip on me.

"Anytime. I'm Will, by the way," he said. I nodded, and looked down the edge of the cliff. Thousands upon thousands of Red soldiers marched in a long line extending as far as the eye could see. I retrieved my bow from where it was slung over my shoulder and laid an arrow on the string.

"What are you doing?!" Will asked.

"Lessening their numbers," I replied shortly, searching for a target.

"You're crazy, you're going to get yourself killed!" Will said.

"No. It's actually not a bad idea," the older Ranger said. "If we stay concealed in the woods, they can't shoot back. They will have archers?" This he addressed to me, and I nodded in conformation. Sighting one of the leaders, I grew back the string so that it was touching my chin, aimed and fired. The shot hit home, followed by two others, which I assumed to be the Rangers'. I threaded a throwing knife between my fingers, the ones that pulled the string back, and quickly shot another arrow. I then flicked my wrist and sent the knife flying, not caring what it hit. An arrow soared toward me, which I dodged. While doing so, the cowl of my cloak fell back, revealing my shoulder length, jet black hair. A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, my sage green eyes meeting Wills brown ones.

"You're the thief from this morning!" He exclaimed.

Authors note: ATTENTION: The timeline has changed! Now this book takes place during the last few months of Wills apprenticeship. I changed this because I realized Halt was retired during The Royal Ranger, so he wouldn't be going on any missions. Silly me. I'm blaming this mistake on the fact I've only read The Royal Ranger once. Any way, hope I cleared that up.

Aubrey Cortez: I've tried to write a song before, it's not easy (not to mention I can't rhyme). I am, however, musically talented, so I thought, since Ravens personality Is based off of mine, that she should sing at least one time. She will probably sing again. Thanks for the review!

Mac Gustah: Thanks! I thought so too. Another chapter should be out later today, or tomorrow. Thanks for the review!

Also, I will welcome any ideas my readers my have. Please review!