Chapter 30

The fourth day was the last of the apprentice trials. The rest of the Gathering would be spent on various projects and meetings. Halt had already spent quite a bit of time showing any of the other rangers who were interested the non-visual techniques he and Will had worked out for wayfinding, fire starting and other skills. The reasons for these were obvious: to gain the ability to do these things under cover of darkness or in case of injury. Many of the other Rangers showed interest and wanted to learn the techniques.

The last apprentice trial was usually just called "Strategy and Tactics" and referred to the ability to understand battles and advise troops or commanders if the need arose. Apprentices were usually given a strategic problem to solve and asked to write out a solution.

This year, the leader, a Ranger named Michael who particularly loved history and battle strategy, set the apprentices the details of the famous Battle of Oreinó-pérasma which the Sassanians with a much larger force were held off for seven days by the much smaller Helleno force at the narrow pass. The Sassanians finally won due to the existence of a small, secret shepherd's path that allowed the Sassanians to outflank the Helleno and ultimately annihilate them.

Michael set two questions to the apprentices, and they were asked to answer one. The first question was: if you were commanding the Sassanian army and had not been told of the secret pass, how would you find a way to win?

The second question was: if you were the Helleno holding the pass, what could you do to ultimately win the battle?

The apprentices sat quietly, pens in hand, thinking. Will had chosen to use charcoal pencil and he had the wooden writing guide Halt had made for him. But his problem wasn't the act of writing; it was figuring out what to write.

He sat there in the glade with the other apprentices, feeling the warmth of the late summer sun on the top of his head. He much more sympathized with the Helleno in the problem, since they had been defending their homeland from invaders. How could they possibly win, though? History had already recorded their defeat, and surely they had done everything they could have done at the time.

He thought about everything he had learned over the past year and tried to distill it down into one single lesson that might help him now.

Information, he thought. Blindness is merely a lack of information getting in. Find another way to get that information and you're good to go.

He thought about the Helleno and what made the difference between winning and losing for them. Information, he thought again. The Helleno didn't know about the secret little path through the pass, and certainly didn't know the Sassanians would use it.

An idea struck, and he began to write furiously. He wrote that if he was in command of the Helleno army, he would send a few trusted consorts to talk to all of the local people they could find. People who knew the area. People like the shepherd who knew the secret paths. If the Helleno learned about the shepherd's path before the Sassanians learned of it, they could either destroy it or defend it. With that source of access gone, the Helleno might have been able to hold the pass much longer or possibly win the battle.

Will sat back, the tip of his knuckle in his mouth, thinking. Basically, he thought, he would organize a Ranger Corps. He would appoint special, trusted and even trained people to gather all of the information that they could. That's often what the Rangers did for King Duncan. That's what he had done in the north. Will smiled to himself. He wrote a few more details and put his pencil down, thinking back over what he had written. He couldn't actually read back over it but it didn't really matter.

Satisfied, he turned in his answer to Michael, and went to find Tug.

Later that day, the Rangers gathered to hear the results of the last assessment. Although it certainly wasn't as exciting as the archery or the unseen movement trials, every Ranger was aware of the necessity of the knowledge. Hadn't their own Ranger Halt helped win the Battle of Hackham Heath?

Michael stepped up in front of the group and cleared his throat. Only one apprentice chose the side of the Helleno, he said. He went on to praise the ideas from the other apprentices who had sided with the Sassanians. It was always a good idea to show up to a battle with more men. Tactics such as piercing through the middle, climbing the cliffs to shower down rocks or oil and attempting to use attrition were all solid battle plans with a basis in historical fact. Still, he thought that Will's answer showed not only risk, siding with the smaller army, but also original thinking, realizing that sometimes strength and numbers can fall behind knowledge and information in gaining the upper hand. He was pleased, he said, with all of the thoughtful answers given this year.

A few days later, the last day of the Ranger Gathering, meant the time had come at last for the Oak Leaf Ceremony and then the Final Feast. This was the time that fiefs were assigned, apprentices promoted, and retired Rangers given their gold oak leaves. Afterward all the Rangers would celebrate with a special feast prepared by trained chefs brought in for the occasion. This was the day Will had dreaded and anticipated for a full year.

"And you know…" he told Halt before the ceremony, "the Ranger Gathering is so late this year that today is exactly one year since I got sick."

Halt gave his usual grunt at this announcement. He wasn't one for marking anniversaries. But to Will, the fact added additional significance to the day.

Although the ceremony was a formal one, the Rangers were a fairly laid-back bunch when it came to this sort of thing. They sat on the ground or leaned against trees at the edge of the clearing. But their relaxed attitudes belied their intense interest in the proceedings.

Crowley stepped into the center of the sunny meadow. Clearing his throat, he waited for the talk to die down. When he had everyone's attention, he spoke.

"We'll start with the gold Oak Leaves," he said without preamble. There were two Rangers who had requested retirement, one for his health and the other to spend time with his grandchildren. These were given their gold Oak Leaf pendants and thanked for their many years of faithful service.

The apprentices came next, and Will's mouth felt dry.

"Would the five apprentices please stand forth," Crowley ordered. Will scrambled to his feet and grasped the handle of Toot's harness with a sweaty palm.

"Find Crowley," he whispered, and the dog obediently led him to the commandant, whom he had come to recognize during the course of the week.

"Face the assembly," Crowley said, and the five boys turned around.

"Lie down," Will told Toot, and the big yearling dog settled with his nose on Will's right foot.

"We will now consider the performance of these five apprentices," Crowley told the crowd. "First Denis. In my observation, he has conducted himself well in the trials, shown courage and leadership worthy of the Ranger Corps. If there is any objection to his receiving his silver Oak Leaf, speak now."

Silence.

"Then let it be so." Loud applause burst from the crowd as Crowley took back the bronze pendant and gave the young man a shining silver one.

The other three apprentices were first and second years, so they retained their bronze pendants. They were all three commended for their performances in the trials.

Will listened to his own heart pounding. Why did Crowley make him wait until last?

"Now we have young Will here, Halt's apprentice," Crowley said loud enough that all of the assembly could hear. "As you all have by now noticed, he is blind." A murmur rose from the crowd, but Crowley continued. "In many cases, such a debilitating illness or injury would result in retirement or removal from the Corps." More murmuring ensued. Will felt as though he could hardly breathe.

"In this case, however, Will has expressed interest in remaining an apprentice Ranger with the future goal of being a full-fledged Ranger. Of course this can only be allowed if he demonstrates sufficient skill and attitude befitting a Ranger."

He waited as the comments swirled around the group.

"Rangers are not charity cases; we are an elite Corps with an important job to do." Loud assent rose from the crowd. Will felt his stomach tighten.

"From my observation, Will has demonstrated in every way the attitude of a Ranger. He has shown himself to be resilient, adaptable, hard-working and responsible." The crowd quieted, waiting to see where this went. "But," Crowley went on, "attitude is not enough. A Ranger needs excellent skills in order to do this job. A Ranger needs to be able to fight, to travel, to move unseen, to shoot quickly and accurately, to track, to hunt, and to plan and command if the occasion requires. Now, I didn't know if any of these skills would be possible without sight…" he waited for the crowd to settle again, "... but Will has demonstrated that with some creativity and adaptations, they absolutely are possible. Will has shown, both in the trials here and out in the field with Halt, that he is equal to any task a third-year apprentice should be expected to handle." The noise in the crowd began to rise again. Crowley obviously made a gesture to quiet them. Will waited, tensely, but with hope rising within him.

"For these reasons, I propose that he retain his bronze Oak Leaf for another year with the future goal of becoming a full-fledged Ranger. If there are any objections to Will retaining his bronze Oak Leaf, speak now."

"Crowley!" It was Gilan.

"Speak."

"When I first heard he went blind, I was against his staying in the Corps. I didn't know what a blind person is capable of doing and I sure couldn't think of a way to do this job myself with no sight. But I have been proven wrong. This year and this week, Will showed me just what is possible and I'm proud to call him my friend and fellow Ranger."

Loud applause broke out, with a few whistles and people calling "aye!" and "hear, hear!" in several places. Will felt tears form in his eyes.

"Will retains the bronze Oak Leaf!" Crowley announced, and the cheering swelled to a roar as Rangers stood to their feet all over the glade.

Will could not keep the tears from spilling down his cheeks.

As the crowd quieted and sat back down, Crowley added, "it would be best if we don't widely advertise the existence of a blind Ranger. I can imagine Will making himself useful in the future using his blindness as a disguise and to make folk underestimate him, so keeping this quiet as long as possible will only help that cause."

There were murmurs of agreement and a few more cheers.

"Apprentices be seated," Crowley ordered. "We move on to fief assignments.

Will hardly heard the assignment of fiefs: one to the new Ranger, Denis, a small, quiet fief on the coast. The fiefs belonging to the retirees needed to be reassigned, and a few were shuffled about. Last year's silver Oak Leaf recipient was assigned his own fief, after a year serving as Crowley's assistant. But Will hardly noticed all of these details, so great was the wash of relief that had flowed over him.

He had been accepted! He would stay in the Ranger Corps! He wasn't quite sure how he would handle being a full-fledged Ranger with his own fief, but he figured he'd have some time to solve each detail as it came up. Maybe he'd be Crowley's assistant for a while too.

Will put his arm around Toot as they sat together on the sun-warmed grass. This wouldn't have been possible without Toot—wonderful Toot.

The puppy had pulled him up out of despair after his illness. Then he saved his life on the cliff's edge. He had guided Will through the trials, and helped him pass the tracking skill. He was a fantastic running partner. Most of all, Toot was a friend, always there, always eager to work.

Will thought too about Halt. Halt had believed he could try. He'd encouraged Will and come up with a lot of creative solutions to the problems Will faced. He'd pushed, or rather allowed Will to push himself and was always there for him.

Ironically, right in that moment, Will wished he could see in order to give Halt a meaningful look that said all that was in his heart without saying any words at all. But he couldn't, so he leaned over toward his mentor, sitting next to him on the grass.

"Halt?" he whispered.

"Mmm?"

"Thanks. For everything."

Halt didn't reply, but set his hand briefly on Will's shoulder. It was enough.

The End