As always, thanks for reading and please review! As we near the end of this tale, I look to the future and what I ought to write next. I have a poll question in that regard on my profile, please voice your opinion!
Alinia's Battle~Chapter Nine~Not Part of the Plan
The days passed in a nervous blur for Will, incapable of doing anything to stop or hurry the relentless pace of time. Five more days.
A ranger's life...
Four.
Is one of waiting...
Three.
Broken up by...
Two.
Moments of heart stopping action.
One.
And tearing hair? Halt had never mentioned it, but as Will struggled to fall asleep, he wondered if maybe that should be part of the saying.
Will opened his eyes. Today was the day. Now that it was here though, Will's nervous energy had dissipated, replaced by a sense of icy calm and restrained anticipation. This was it. Today, something would have to give. Alinia would come to the first day of the tournament, and Will would make her leave of her destructive path, one way or another. Even if it meant betrayal.
Then he heard the noise, a soft, huffing grunt. Will sat upright. Was it a bear? A boar? He stood and scanned the bushes.
What he saw sent his heart leaping to his throat faster than a boar or bear ever could have. Tug was down, thrashing.
Colic.
Will knew in a moment what was wrong with the horse. He also knew it could be deadly. He ran to his horse, and one look told him he wouldn't be riding to a tournament that afternoon. Tug's eyes were wild with pain, and a torn, empty bag, once filled with apples, told him the cause of the horse's discomfort. Will put a halter on his pony and led him around, keeping him from thrashing and ending up with something much worse than indigestion.
For hours they walked in circles, then to the stream and back. Tug would calm down, but when Will tried to leave him, the pony tried to roll again. Will was barely able to snatch a few bites every now and again. Into the night he continued his vigil, as the pony slowly improved.
Toward three in the morning, something clicked as the pony was able to defecate, and drank some water from the spring. The morning sun found Will slumped asleep against a tree, the pony dozing on its feet beside him.
Will dozed until noon, when the sun shone directly in his eyes. He awoke and blinked, then sprang to his feet with a curse. When he saw Tug standing next to him, his features calmed, than fell again as he realized he had missed the first two days of the three day tournament. Alinia could be dead by now, or deeply entrenched in the competition, in which case it would be very difficult to persuade her to leave off. He scratched his head, and looked at the sky, then at the pony. Perhaps he could hazard a ride in…no, best to play safe.
Why did things like this have to happen to him? Why did he have to be assigned a greedy pig instead of a horse?
I heard that.
No, of course he was glad the pony was better, of course he loved him, but sometimes he wished rangers and their horses were as intelligent as the stories said. If I were a black magician things would be so much easier, Will thought. I could just hypnotize her and be done with it.
But rangers weren't signed up for easy, and that was a fact that had to be faced.
Improvisation, he thought, most plans will need it.
Having a horse required a lot of it. He sighed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.
"You fool horse…" he looked at Tug.
The pony innocently put his head down to graze.
Will swore again and kicked out at a tree, then hopped on one foot, making exasperated, and unpublishable, noises.
Is that the same mouth you use to kiss Alyss? My she would be quite shocked…
Will glared. "At least now I know you're cured, you old monstrosity!"
Sorry about the consecutive short chapters, but they were necessary to the story. The action begins a rapid climb to the climax in the next chapter though, I promise!