A/N: Oh gash we're getting so close to the end right now. I don't want it to end so soon. I hope you all enjoyed it so far. AreiaCannaid thank you once again for your wonderful support in the reviews.

As I hinted last week, I can officially tell you guys that I'm currently writing a short rangers Christmas story (yes writing two stories at the same time, what am I doing to myself as a beginner). It will start at December 14th so hope to see you guys then!

Well that's it for now, let's get back to our lovely friends.

Chapter 11

They had been running to the area where Halt had pointed on the map. Will could hear the screams so he knew it was not far away anymore. He just had to be on time before the Scotti would reach the castle.

The last couple of minutes had been agonizing for Will. His shoulder felt like it had been dislocated all over again and breathing became more and more a problem due to his painful ribs. Tug did his best to trot as evenly as possible, but it was no match for the heavily injured man on his back.

Will had promised Malcolm to return immediately after he had delivered the message to Erak. But somehow the excitement of his Skandian friends and the horrific screams in the distance had forced him to come along to this battle.

Tug hadn't even protested to this. They both knew that the journey back to Malcolm would also be painful and when they were this close to helping their friends, they would go beyond every limit.

But now as they reached the last distance to the battle, Will began to doubt himself. With a shoulder like this he couldn't even take one soldier down. Let alone the whole army. But he knew that there were always risks in a war, as Halt had told him many times, now it was time to once again take such a terrible risk.

As they stormed into the field they immediately met the first warriors. Two seconds later and most of the army would have probably reached the castle of Norgate.

Erak, Gundar and Svengal were leading the small group of warriors into battle and within a few seconds they took down loads of men. One by one the Scotti soldiers were taken down by an axe before they could blink.

Will saw the army in a moment of panic, but they were regrouping once again. They had had just enough time to get most of the Araluen army in their back. Will knew that two groups of the army would attack from the sides, but the Scotti army had retreated quickly and now both groups had probably joined the frontal attack from the Araluen army.

Of course fifty Skandian warriors were a lot, but not enough to hold back the entire Scotti army. Will hoped with all his heart that there hadn't been too much casualties and the Araluen army would dare to attack with full power from the back. If Halt decided it would be too risky to run after the Scotti to Norgate, then all would be lost.

Halt had seen all of his nightmares come true in just a few days. First he nearly lost Will to a mission, which he knew had saved many lives. Then he had to let go of Gilan and Horace to lead the side attacks. And now he saw a great man and greater friend, Baron Arald in the grass. Eyes staring blankly at him.

And all for what? The Scotti army had too soon realized his plan. They had retreated and had run like hell was chasing them. Even if they chased them, they would not stand a chance against them in the castle. The Scotti would have sturdy walls to protect them and they could get an overview of the whole Araluen army.

Halt raced towards the king. A decision had to be made quickly and he needed his trusted friends around him. At times like this, he truly missed the young and spirited mind of Will. Will had reached the resourcefulness of his mentor, even though Halt would never say that to him.

But more importantly, Will was always ready to correct Halt for flaws in his own plans. Something which the king or Crowley rarely did.

He arrived at the place where king Duncan and Crowley were standing. He saw Crowley limping towards him and blood flooded out of the wound on his leg. "you need to bind that quickly, before you bleed to death." He said to his friend. There was no time for nice chit chat. Crowley knew this too and ripped a piece of his cloak to bind his leg.

Halt turned to the king "We need to make a decision right now. If we wait there is no chance of victory. If you decide to draw back, it would mean we will lose a great deal of land of Araluen and we will probably be at war for the next years for other parts as well."

Halt knew there was no pleasant outcome either way. Duncan knew this too and he knew as a king he needed to decide which risk was the worst right now. "what would you do Halt?" he simply asked.

Halt took some time to decide his answer. His strategic mind knew it was a great mistake to chase after the Scotti, because they would lose more men and little chance of success. However something in his heart told him there was a glimmer of hope somewhere. "I would ride with all our strength we have left, and meet whatever it is to come. Either way we're doomed, so let us take some major risk for a little victory."

Duncan nodded and tried to say he agreed, but was interrupted by another ranger. Gilan stormed towards them. He was covered in mud and blood but after a quick glance Halt saw no major injuries. He sighed of relief, he hadn't seen neither Horace nor Gilan in the battle and he had feared the worst. Seeing his former apprentice before him lightened his heart.

However the cheer was quickly gone when Gilan told them the news, "Horace and his group of soldiers are gone. We had agreed in case of this scenario that we would join the three army's in the middle but his army never showed up. I found no bodies so I have no clue were they are. We're outnumbered by a lot right now."

Gilan recalled what happened. After the attack from the sides the Scotti army had begun to retreat to the castle. According to the plan the side groups would join and start the chase after the army. But Horace's army never showed up. Gilan had made the decision to command his group to continue the chase, while he would report to Halt and the king.

Gilan looked straight at Halt "Horace is many things, but not a coward. He didn't run away so there must be another explanation."

Halt nodded, he too knew that Horace was anything but a coward. He didn't like to make decisions on his own, so there had to be a reason that Horace defied the commands being given.

"What in Gorlog's name would bring him to pull a stunt like that." He asked himself aloud. When he heard his question coming out he immediately knew the answer. Gilan too had realized at the exact same moment what or rather who Horace would change plans for.

"Will!" they said in unison. Gilan's eyes went wide "but how? He should be in bed right now and no way is he in a state where he could travel near Horace, right?'

Halt's mind was racing at the moment. Was it technically possible for a man to ride in a few hours to at least the flanks of the battlefield. Yes, he thought. But why would Will do it, he knew Will wouldn't be happy to stay behind, but once given the order he also knew that Will wouldn't defy him.

He looked at Gilan, "there has to be something he knows. He was trying to tell me when I drugged him, I just thought it was a last attempt of convincing me to let him come along. But the only thing I can think of that could change our fate is an army coming from the back of the Scotti."

Gilan puzzled the last pieces together "Maybe Erak did get the message on time. That's the only army I could think of that would stand a chance there. And maybe Horace saw Will and decided he needed help there." At that moment they saw something happening in the distance where the battle was still going on.

The Scotti had stopped running, and were once again scattering around. Somehow they had been hindered so they couldn't run straight back to the castle.

Even though Halt's mind was still trying to figure out how this was even possible he knew they had to act quickly. "Sire, I think Will is giving us a chance of victory. We need to take it right now and attack full power."

King Duncan and Crowley had listened silently to the conversation between the two rangers. Duncan couldn't believe that the badly wounded ranger had managed to ride to the back of the battlefield and had somehow come up with a force large enough to hold the Scotti army back. But he believed his advisors, so if they said Will was there then he knew it was true.

"let's give them hell." He said and without further explanation he charged back to the battle and yelled his orders to attack.

Halt, Gilan and Crowley remained a few moments in the back. Crowley knew what his best friend was planning and he knew he had to stop him. "Halt I know you want to ride towards Will to help him right know, but we need you here. We need to make sure Duncan gives the right orders so we can close every gap for the Scotti to escape."

Halt shot a glare at his friend. He had indeed started to calculate how he could reach Will the fastest way possible. "You can help Duncan, there is not much to do now just close them in and we're done."

Crowley shook his head "You know I'm not like you when it comes to war strategic. And not to mention my leg, I can barely stand on it so I would have to pull off a miracle like Will to keep up with Duncan." He saw the worry in Halt's eyes. He knew that Halt was worried about his former apprentice, he knew the two shared a bond like father and son. But this was not the time for Halt to abandon his post. "Halt, he managed to do this. Have faith in him that he can manage just long enough for this war to be over."

It didn't work as Crowley had hoped, instead Halt became more and more worried. "The fact that he rode that far is the problem. He can't fight right now and someone has to put that into that thick skull of his. I'm immensely proud he did this and he probably saved all of Araluen, but he was in no state to even get out of his bed as you might remember."

Gilan saw Crowley opening his mouth again, but he had realized that the commandant had a poor choice of words when it came to his friends, so he decided to step in. "Halt, I think Crowley is right. You need to be with the king and make sure that Will's actions are not wasted. My group is already fighting so they can cope without me, I will ride to Will and make sure he stays safe, I promise you."

Halt looked in the eyes of his older apprentice. He immediately calmed down as he knew Gilan would protect Will with his life. If he couldn't protect Will he would entrust the boy immediately to Gilan. "fine but make haste, I want to see you both alive after this." Gilan smiled and took off to find Will.

They had delayed the army from returning to the castle. Will saw that the army of Araluen had been hesitant in the back, not sure how to proceed in this situation. He knew they had to make a big delay known so Halt or Duncan could see that something was holding the Scotti army back.

The Skandian warriors had fought like animals and were standing their ground firmly. Only a few were injured and only one was dead due to a sword in his back. But fifty men were not nearly enough to hold back the whole army.

Will knew he had to help his friends to make sure they came out alive. He took his bow and reached for his new arrows. All the movements took much more time than normally because he couldn't move his arm properly without feeling terrible pain in his shoulder and ribs.

No time to complain he thought and with all the power he had he pulled back the string and shot the first arrow. Not precisely straight in the heart but close enough to make it a fatal wound. Will took another arrow and looked where he would shoot next. Because of his slower pace he had to make wise decisions on where he should aim.

In the meantime was Tug busy with keeping his master safe. He made sure no soldiers came even close to Will, but he also tried to remain steady so Will wouldn't lose his balance.

After Will released the second shot he heard a scream of pain coming from his mouth. Black dots began to form again in his vision. Don't think about the pain, just keep going. He tried to remind himself. But is became harder and harder every second.

Then something happened which both Tug and Will had feared. Someone had heard Will scream and thought to take down an easy target. He came from the back and immediately Tug's years of training kicked in. He kicked his hooves back to the man and hit him. The man instantly slumped down to the ground.

Will however was still trying to keep it together after his shot and lost his balance when Tug had kicked the man. He fell from Tug right into the grass. Darkness overwhelmed him and he knew there was no chance of staying conscious this time.

Horace saw the Scotti army return to the castle. He knew he had to meet Gilan midway and form the front of the new attack. But something bothered him. He heard screams from where the Scotti had been running. It was not right, no one was holding them back there.

He knew he had orders but something told him that this moment was crucial. A young ranger who had come along with his party had been in the back for most of the time. Horace urged his horse to the young man, "I need you to look what is going on there, be quick and efficient. No details just the big picture and return immediately."

The ranger nodded and raced into the forest. Horace knew the boy would be back in just a few minutes, he had some minutes to spare because they had already run quite the distance toward the middle. But it felt wrong to just wait instead of charging immediately after the Scotti.

His waiting was finally rewarded when the boy returned. His eyes were big like the plates Horace would eat from in the castle. "it's ranger Treaty," he said.

Horace couldn't believe his ears. There was no way that Will could have managed to get there. And why would he even be there. "What? You mean Will? What is he doing there? Is he alone?" he asked.

The boy immediately answered, knowing what was at stake "he was with a lot of men with axes and weird helmets." Now it was Horace's time for big eyes. If this was true then they would be saved. Erak and his men were fighting with Will to hold back the Scotti army.

But Horace knew that Will and the group alone couldn't hold back an entire army. They needed more men. In these times Horace would gladly turn to Halt or Will to make the decision, but he was alone and he was leading this group so he had to make the decision.

He raised his voice and yelled "Everyone to the back! We're stopping these bastards right now!" and they sprinted around the army to meet Will.

They had finally made it to the back of the fight and they joined the Skandian warriors. Horace saw a glimpse of Erak making his way through the Scotti soldiers. But Horace had just one goal left, finding Will.

After what felt like years of searching he saw the shaggy gray horse. But his heart stopped when he didn't see a rider on him. The horse was frantically fighting the soldiers, kicking them with a lot of power. Horace raced towards him and took down the remaining soldiers around the horse.

That's when he saw what Tug was protecting. Will's body lay still on the ground and Tug had refused to leave his master behind.

Well that was a longer chapter than anticipated. I had this chapter in my head already written and suddenly I started to add more and more. (you all should have seen my planning for this story….. just one chapter of the war and a total of 9 chapters for the whole story, hhahah how naïve I was)

I hope you liked it, please leave a review, I'm really curious what you think of this story so far.

Stay safe, trust the cloak and see you next time!