Chapter 13

The meeting seemed to drag on for eternity though Will later assured me it was only five minutes. Then finally the false Wakir left and the guards dragged Ishea out of the room. Will and I quickly made our way out of the building before running to where our horses were tied. All three of our mounts were still there making me wonder why they hadn't been taken. Will said, "They must have assumed she was only watching them for someone else. Come he said, lets go back to camp. We need to come up with a plan."

The ride back to camp was silent. I was almost bouncing with nervous energy waiting to be expended and I envied Will who was riding Tug as calmly as ever. Ishea's horse followed along without a lead. I realized I had never asked Ishea her horse's name and the red burning of shame came over me. I promised myself when we rescued her, because it will happen, we would become close friends. After an eternity we reached camp. Will simply went about the menial tasks of cleaning the horses feet, feeding and watering them without a sound and I just snapped. "STOP ACTING SO NORMAL", I yelled, "ISHEA HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY SOME THUGS AND YOU ARE ACTING LIKE ITS JUST AN ORDINARY DAY!"

Will turned toward me without a sound and had no expression on his face. "What would you do about it. Do you have a plan created with the resources we have to rescue Ishea and the Wakir? Are you ready to discuss this as a strategist, as a ranger. Calm yourself, take care of Coconut and then come ready to discuss our options." Will didn't raise his voice throughout his lecture but he simply oozed authority. And what made it worse was, he was absolutely right, I wasn't acting like a ranger. Once the crisis is over you can release the emotions, the fear, and the anger but until everyone is safe and the job is done, we must remain professional. And so I took care of Coconut before joining Will who was sitting cross legged by the fire looking over the map of the surrounding area.

"Alright", Will said, "are you ready to plan our attack"

I nodded my assent and Will continued, "The traders will be heading to these wells before crossing the rest of the desert. I will ask the Bedullin to come with me and we will force the traders to surrender Selethan. You and a Bedullin scout will find Ishea. You don't have much training so be careful, this is a delicate situation and I don't want to have to rescue you and Ishea. I wouldn't normally give you a solo assignment but circumstances require it. You will need to rely heavily on the Bedullin scout he knows the city and its protection far better than you and I do. Get a good nights sleep, and we'll set out at first light.

At dawn we set out to the Bedullin camp. The chieftain agreed to Will's plan and assigned Talmar, one of the more experienced scouts to work with me. He was tall, strong and older than Will with a faded scar across his cheek. "Good-bye Will", I said, "good luck".

"Good luck to you as well, Amber watch and listen if you are not sure what to do. Listen and be safe. That is my advice to you. We will rendezvous where the ship will pick us up. Now get a move on and don't look back."

We mounted our hoses and Talmar and I turned toward the city while Will set off with some of the best Bedullin warriors. We rode up onto the hills overlooking the city and I said, "So it begins, right here, right now" feeling the weight of the world resting on my shoulders.

Yay a new chapter is done. So I lied in my last authors note. School starts on Tuesday and I am not near the end of this story. Now I am back onto a normal schedule because of school I will try for weekly updates every Friday. Please review it motivates me so much and I save each and every review. I will finish this story and I thank my faithful readers.

Wolfdragonz