HEEY EVERYONE!
Sorry, for being so superlate again, life is so hectic, HOLY PATATO!
Anyways, I apologize for being so not-on-time but well, I have a life outside this so forgive me (:

Don't forget to review, it makes me happy :D

"So that was the first chapter, do you want to take a break?" Duncan asked everyone. He didn't really want a break, but it was his duty as host to ask so.
"If it's okay for you dad, I want to continue, we only have been reading for 20 minutes or so." Cassie answered her dad.
"Okay then, but let's eat after this, I'm starving!" Horace informed everybody, it was true after all Horace could eat like a horse.
"You're constantly hungry Horace, seriously from all that eating you would almost think you'd explode or something!" Gilan laughed, very amused by his humor. The rest was happily following this conversation, amused by their childish manners. Well two people excluded.

The apprentice was somewhere else it seemed, his eyes fixed on the floor and his face pearly white, very much in contrast with his normally tanned skin. He was quiet and not laughing like the rest of the company. Lost in some kind of memory, but still being very quiet and secretive doing so, he was a ranger after all.
Maybe that was why the only one that noticed his behavior was an older, very experienced ranger. Halt was indeed very worried about Will. It seemed like the last sentence of the last chapter triggered something.. something bad. Evanlyn didn't seem to experience something similar to Will.
If there wasn't so much people in here, Halt would have surely asked him about it, but before he even could try in this crowded room, his chance passed.

Will was still in that same haunting position when Alyss looked over at him. Because their hands were tied together, Will noticed the movement and met Alyss worried gaze, he smiled at her, though forced and he sat up. Still looking a bit frightened, he looked at Halt en nodded.

"Yeah, let's continue", was the only thing Will croaked, trying to sound convincing but very much sounding more like he would rather have a glaring contest with Halt. And that meant something.

The laughter died, the childish antics between Horace and Gilan too and Pauline asked something.

"If it's okay for you my lord, I'll read now."
"Ofcourse you can Pauline."

HALT STOOD MOTIONLESS AGAINST THE MASSIVE TRUNK OF an oak tree as the bandits swarmed out of the forest to surround the carriage.

Will took a shuddering breath of relief. It seemed that chapter wasn't there yet. If it was mentioned at all...
Instead this chapter would be about Halt, and that interested Will very much. Finally it wasn't about his feelings and emotions.

"Ha Halt, guess we'll be hearing about you too!" Will said.
Halt grumbled something in response, "Seems so, and here I was thinking we could laugh some more about you Will." Halt tried to sound a bit amusing, seen as he clearly didn't think this was a humorous story. Quite the opposite in fact. It wasn't really tactic though, because Will clearly took it a bit too serious.

He rolled his eyes, "Relax Will, I'm joking", and he looked deep into Will's intense brown eyes.

The message was delivered, Will got it and gave him a grateful look.

He was in full view but nobody saw him.

"Nobody ever does, quite funny actually!" Gilan proudly said.
"And quite handy in your case Gilan, then nobody needs to look at your terrible face." Will countered back, back to the witty and playfull manner he normally handled, before Skandia.

Halt smiled, while the rest was laughing and Gilan was pouting. That was the Will he knew.

"Good one Will!" Horace shouted, and high-fived his best friend.

Will laughed, a very enjoyable sound, and high-fived back.
Then he looked at Gilan and laughed some more at his face. "Oh stop it Gilan, I'm only joking!"

Alyss felt a bit nostalgic, seeing the two friends acting like this. And she was happy to see Will back to being so witty, it was not only very nice to see him back laughing again. But his remarks were pretty funny for bystanders too.

In part this was due to the fact that the robbers were totally intent on their prey, a wealthy merchant and his wife. For their part, they were equally distracted, staring with horror at the armed men who now surrounded their carriage in the clearing.

But in the main, it was due to the camouflage cloak that Halt wore, its cowl pulled up over his head to leave his face in shadow, and the fact that he stood absolutely stock-still.

"Are they forgetting the fact that it takes years of training?" Halt asked.

Like all Rangers, Halt knew that the secret of merging into the background lay with the ability to remain unmoving, even when people seemed to be looking straight at him.

"That's the hardest part in my opinion." Gilan said, thinking back to all those times it seemed that he was discovered, but wasn't actually. It really took some willpower to stay unmoving then.
He, Willpower... Will must be very good at it.

"I agree" Will said, and he was surprised to hear a grunting noise coming from Halt, one that seemed very much like an agreement. Who knew Halt had troubles with those kind of things too?

Believe you are unseen, went the Ranger saying, and it will be so.

Horace snorted.
"It really only works with you guys, because if I think like that, I'm still seen!"
"As I said before, years of training!"

A burly figure, clad entirely in black, now emerged from the trees and approached the carriage. Halt's eyes narrowed for a second, then he sighed silently. Another wild-goose chase, he thought.

Halt knew he had really hated the feeling of being unable to do anything about Will's situation then, instead being forced to chase and capture some lousy guys who were trying to impersonate Foldar.

Would the situation have been different if I could have been faster?

He couldn't bear thinking like that, it only made him more bitter about the hole situation.
He looked at Will, and he got all guilty again.

The figure bore a slight resemblance to Foldar, the man Halt had been pursuing since the end of the war with Morgarath.

"And that was a waste of time!" Halt said, clearly irritated. If only Crowley had let him go, or maybe even the king. But did they ever repay him for his years of loyalty, ofcourse not!
His angry gaze switched to Duncan, who was wise enough to ignore that deadly glare.

Foldar had been Morgarath's senior lieutenant. He had managed to escape capture when his leader died and his army of subhuman Wargals faded away.

But Foldar was no mindless beast. He was a thinking, planning human being—and a totally warped and evil one. The son of a noble Araluen family, he had murdered both his parents after an argument over a horse.

"Well, talk about spoiled!" Horace said, everywhere around him agreements were outed.
"Even I'm not that bad, and I'm the crown-princess!"

He was barely a teenager at the time and he had escaped by fleeing into the Mountains of Rain and Night, where Morgarath recognized a kindred spirit and enlisted him.

"Sort seeks sort." Pauline wisely noted.
"Yeah, and this was some rotting sort, I hope they all get extinct." Gilan commented. Horace nodded his agreement.
"Well, with people like Will here, I don't think that's a problem." Halt hoped he got Will's spirits up, that boy really needed his confidence back. It was a good quality for a ranger to have.
And by the way Will smiled, Halt knew he had helped. Though, it still needed some working on.

"Don't forget about yourself Halt, or Horace!" Will exclaimed, "He defeated Morgarath all by himself, and Gilan, he got Foldar and actaully... basically everyone in this room is brave." looking around the room, and being glad he was friends with such brave, inspiring people.
And beautifull people, like Alyss.

It almost seemed Alyss could hear him thinking, seeing as she took that moment to smile at him.

Now he was the sole surviving member of Morgarath's band and King Duncan had made his capture and imprisonment a number-one priority for the kingdom's armed forces.

The problem was, Foldar impersonators were springing up everywhere—usually in the form of everyday bandits like this one. They used the man's name and savage reputation to strike fear into their victims, making it easier to rob them. And as each one sprang up, Halt and his colleagues had to waste time tracking them down. He felt a slow burning of anger at the time he was wasting on these minor nuisances.

"I think I could distinctly remember that it was not a ''slow burning of anger'' as you so kindly say Halt." Duncan commented, and he was immediately rewarded with a glare from Halt.
"Then, it still was, but after I heard you didn't agree to see me.." Halt knew this argument was going to burst into real anger somewhere in this chapter. He just felt all those bitter feelings he had then returning to him.

Halt had other matters to attend to. He had a promise to keep and fools like this were preventing him from doing so.

"Again Will, I'm really sorry I couldn't get to you earlier."
Will had already forgiven him, if he even needed to forgive, Halt had come after all and had taken him back home. He had kept his promise. He had found him.
"Halt, stop, you kept your promise and for that I am so thankful, If you hadn't come I wouldn't know what would've happened.." He slowed down, thinking about what would have happened if Halt had been just a tiny bit earlier by that boat.. Will wouldn't have gotten addicted, or become a slave and Slagor wouldn't have...
It were those three things he hated the most that had happened to him. Slagor.. how he hated that name. He could still remember..
He stopped thinking because Alyss and Halt were both looking at him.

The fake Foldar had stopped by the carriage now. The black cloak with its high collar was somewhat similar to the one Foldar wore. But Foldar was a dandy and his cloak was immaculate black velvet and satin, whereas this was simple wool, badly dyed and patched in several places, with a collar of crudely tanned black man's bonnet was unkempt and badly creased as well, while the black swan's feather that adorned it was bent in the middle, probably where some careless bandit had sat on it.

"Oh my, that is really handsome!" Alyss joked.
Will couldn't keep the tiny flare of jealousy that arouse, he knew after all that she was joking but still..
Alyss saw Will's reaction and was secretly glad with it. Oh, if only he knew how handsome Will himself was. She smiled at him.
Evanlyn watched the little byplay and got a bitter feeling. Will wasn't hers.. Still, she would try.

What was maybe discreet for the three teenagers, was very clear to the other occupants of the room, who all got nostalgic feelings for their teenager years. Well, at least the older one's.

Now the man spoke, and his attempt to imitate Foldar's lisping, sarcastic tones was spoiled by his thick rural accent and clumsy grammar.

"Very amusing, I presume?" Pauline asked Halt.
He nodded, too tong-tied to do anything else.

Will and Gilan exchanged a look, very amused by their normally so stern mentor.

"Step down from the carriage, good sor and mad'm," he said, sweeping a clumsy bow. "And fear not, good lady, the noble Foldar ne'er harms one as fair as thee art." He attempted a sardonic, evil laugh. It came out more as a thin cackle.

The "good lady" was anything but fair. She was middle-aged, overweight and plain in the extreme.

"That's not really nice Halt, surely everybody's special in their own way." Duncan said.
Halt shrugged, "I guess, but I'm more for the long and slender types." Suddenly realizing what he said, he froze.
Gilan took this as an opportunity, "You mean like Pauline, Halt?"
He blushed and glared at Gilan.

Pauline, being the courier she was, discreetly covered her smile.

But that was no reason why she should be subjected to this sort of terror, Halt thought grimly.

"See, I can be nice!" Halt said indignantly.
Pauline took her chance, "It was indeed nice to hear you like tall and slender women Halt.", she continued, "Is it wrong to say I am one of those women?" she finished.
"Of course you are Pauline", Halt told her, "you are very, err," beautiful? Gorgeous? Smart? "likeable." He finished lamely.
Pauline's smile got a bit forced, "why thank you Halt."

Halt could have hit himself.

She held back, whimpering with fear at the sight of the black figure before her. "Foldar" took a pace forward, his voice harsher, his tone more threatening.

"Get down, missus!" he shouted. "Or I'll hand you your husband's ears!"

"Haha, I'll remember that for when you two get married!" Will laughed, pointing at Halt and Pauline.
Sure, Halt liked it when Will smiled and joked, but he needed to know who the master was. "well, I'm not the one holding hands with a courier."

That wisely shut his mouth up, Halt noticed. Though they were still holding hands Ha, young love.

His right hand dropped to the hilt of a long dagger in his belt. The woman cried out and cowered farther back into the carriage. Her husband, equally terrified and more than fond of his ears where they were, was trying to push her toward the carriage door.

"What a coward!", Evanlyn said, "that's just so wrong!"
"Not everyone's as brave as you Evanlyn, cut him some slack." Will said, just stating a fact but not sensing the jealousy that came from a certain courier next to him.
Evanlyn blushed, she did her best and was glad people found her brave, "You're just as brave as me Will, if not braver."
Will wasn't so sure, after all he still felt like a real coward, even she didn't know all that happened on Skorghijl...

Halt studied him and figured he was going to ask him about that haunted look that slightly returned back to his apprentice's face. Damn it Will, why can't you just talk?

Enough, Halt thought. Satisfied that no one was looking in his direction, he nocked an arrow, drew and sighted in one economical motion and released.

"Foldar," real name Rupert Gubblestone, had a brief impression of something flashing past, just in front of his nose. Then there was an almighty jerk on the raised collar of his cloak and he found himself pinned against the carriage by a quivering black arrow that thudded into the wood. He gave a startled yelp, lost his balance and stumbled, saved from falling by his cloak, which now began to choke him where it fastened around his neck. As the other bandits turned to see where the arrow had come from, Halt stepped away from the tree. Yet to the startled robbers, it seemed as if he had stepped out of the massive oak.

"King's Ranger!" Halt called. "Drop your weapons."

"That always works!" Gilan proudly said.
The other rangers nodded.

There were ten men, all armed. Not a single one thought to disobey the order. Knives, swords and cudgels clattered to the ground. They had just seen a firsthand example of a Ranger's black magic: the grim figure had stepped clean out of the living trunk of an oak tree.

"It's really amusing to know everybody thinks of us as magicians." Will said, shaking his head. Halt thought about this. "I guess, but it's very handy sometimes. This is good proof."
Gilan nodded his head.

Even now, the strange cloak that he wore seemed to shimmer uncertainly against the background, making it difficult to focus on him. And if sorcery weren't enough to compel them, they could see a more practical reason—the massive longbow, with another black-shafted arrow already on the string.

"Guess that helps too." Horace said, who knew all too well what sort of effect rangers had on people.

"On the ground, belly down! All of you!" The words cut at them like a whip and they dropped to the ground. Halt pointed to one, a dirty-faced youth who couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"Not you!" he said, and the boy hesitated, on his hands and knees. "You take their belts and tie their hands behind them."

The terrified boy nodded several times, then moved toward the first of his prone comrades. He stopped as Halt gave him a further warning.

"Tie them tight!" he said. "If I find one loose knot, I'll…" He hesitated for a second, while he framed a suitable threat, then continued, "I'll seal you up inside that oak tree over there."

Will widened his eyes and laughed, "I can't believe they believed that!"
"Well Will, you always need to use your benefits." Halt teached him, "Even if they sound so stupid."

That should do it, he thought. He was aware of the effect that his unexplained appearance from the tree had on these uneducated country folk. It was a device he had used many times before. Now he saw the boy's face whiten with fear under the dirt and knew the threat was effective. He turned his attention to Gubblestone, who was plucking feebly at the thong securing his cloak as it continued to choke him. He was already red in the face, his eyes bulging.

They bulged farther as Halt unsheathed his heavy saxe knife.

"Oh, relax," said Halt irritably. He slashed quickly through the cord and Gubblestone, suddenly released, fell awkwardly to the ground. He seemed content to stay there, out of the reach of that gleaming knife. Halt glanced up at the occupants of the carriage. The relief on their faces was all too obvious.

"I think you can be on your way if you like," he said pleasantly. "These idiots won't bother you any further."

The merchant, remembering guiltily how he had tried to shove his wife out of the carriage, tried to cover his discomfort by blustering.

"They deserve hanging, Ranger! Hanging, I say! They have terrified my poor wife and threatened my very person!"

Halt eyed the man impassively until the outburst was finished.

"Worse than that," he said quietly, "they've wasted my time."

"Auch Halt, you're really bitter there!" Gilan said.
Halt grumbled something in response, "It was true, I could have gone searching for Will earlier! But those stupid impersonators kept me from it! Ofcourse I was bitter."

THIS IS IT FOR TODAY!
Tomorrow i'll probably be uploading the next part of this chapter...
It'll be a heavy one: fights and memories all in one! Yay!
So sorry for being so late, but I will finish this! NEVER FORGET THAT!
Loveyouguys!