Prisoners
Chapter One
"The Burning Bridge"
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters.
(A/N: I have noticed that there's not nearly enough Will/Cass stories here. I personally ship them and think that they're the best couple in the series, hence why I actually like Icebound Land. Anyways, enjoy the story and please review.)
"Will!" Evanlyn yelled as a warning.
She was too late, a large, jagged rock collided with the head of the apprentice ranger. Will let out a grunt of surprise before falling to the ground unconscious, dark blood seeping from the wound n his head.
The girl dropped the saxe knife she had lent from Will and picked up the fallen apprentice's bow. She attempted to nock an arrow but the surrounding Scandians had closed in around her and knocked the bow from her hands. She attempted to break free from the Scandian holding her but it was to no avail. Next to her, Will lay still on the hard ground. Evanlyn let out an anguished and angry sob when another burly Scandian picked Will up and slung him over his shoulder. Moments later the massive, burning bridge plummeted into the fissure below.
Will's eyes slowly fluttered open, his head hurting an abnormal amount as a rhythmic thudding resonated in his head. As his vision cleared, he saw that his sight completely blocked by a sheepskin vest and woolen leggings. Will let out an audible groan that man carrying him seemed to hear.
"Erak," he called, "he's awake."
The man then proceeded to roughly set Will down. The leader of the group, Erak, leaned down to examine him. Will felt his eyes being opened by a thick thumb that was nether cruel nor gentle.
"Hmmm," the Scandian leader observed, "looks like he's been concussed; good throw, Nordal."
The man Erak had praised beamed with pride.
"Grew up hunting seals that way, I did," said the giant of a man.
Erak released his eyelid and walked away. Moments later, Will felt a far softer, gentler touch on his face. Will opened his eyes again and found himself looking into Evanlyn's striking, green eyes. She softly stroked his forehead, concern written on her face.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Will stared nodding but quickly realized that this was not a good idea.
"Fine," Will managed.
"Where's Horace?" he asked.
Evanlyn put a finger to her lips.
"He got away when the bridge collapsed," she whispered
"We did it then? The bridge is gone?" Will said with relief.
This time, Evanlyn nodded, a smile even graced her face.
She's so pretty when she smiles, thought Will.
"It's gone, well and truly," said Evanlyn.
They both smiled at each other, staring deeply into each other's eyes.
"And no thanks you'll get from Morgarath," Erak told them
Will's happy thoughts were quickly dashed, a twinge of fear going through as he heard his name. Erak then turned to face his group.
"We'll take a break," he said, "Maybe our friend here will be up to walking in an hour or so."
The Scandians sat down and took food and drinks from their bags. They tossed them each a small flask of water and a loaf of bread.
As they ate, Will overheard Erak saying that they should abandon the raid, that it was all coming apart. At first, his men disagreed but as Erak continued to point out that there would little to no profit from this raid. That got his men's attention; they decided to high tail it through the fens to Horth's ships; and that they would be taking Will and Evanlyn with them.
Erak approach the two hostages.
"Can you walk?" he asked Will, "or do you need Nordal to carry you again?"
Will stood up quickly, despite the immense pain.
"I think I'll walk," said Will defiantly.
Erak looked at him with respect in his eyes.
"Yes," he said, "I daresay you will."
Later, when the group to a stop once more, Erak spotted a group of horsemen riding towards their position. He ordered Will and Evanlyn to hide behind one of the larger rocks surrounding them; he also informed them that the man on the white horse was Morgarath himself. The lord of Rain and Night rode up to Erak.
"Captain Erak, where are you bound?" he asked in a silky yet commanding tone.
As the man spoke, he felt Evanlyn shiver beside him; he promptly wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to comfort the girl.
"My title, Lord Morgarath," said Erak in a falsely even tone, "is not captain, but Jarl."
"Well then," replied the cold voice of Morgarath, "I must try to remember that, in case it is ever of the slightest interest to me. Now, Captain..."
He put extra emphasis on the word 'captain.'
"I repeat, where are you bound?"
Erak lied saying that they hoped to join the forces an Three Step Pass. Eventually, Morgarath and his escort departed. Erak then reminded the two prisoners that if they were t escape, they's have Morgarath to deal with.
They had almost made it to the fens when the encountered Morgarath once again. This time, there was no where to hide their prisoners.
"Who are they?" Morgarath asked pointing at the two teens.
"They're Celts," replied Erak, "We took them prisoner in Celtica and were planning on selling them as slaves to Oberjarl Ragnak."
"Celtica is mine, Captain. Slaves from Celtica are mine as well. They're not for you to take and sell to your barbarian of a king!" Morgarath stated.
Erak's group stirred angrily at these words.
Meanwhile, Erak continued his bluff.
"Our agreement was we fought for booty and that includes slaves," Erak insisted but was cut off by Morgarath.
"If you fought!" he shouted angrily, "if, not if you stood by and let my bridge be destroyed!"
"It was you man Chirath who was in command at the bridge," Erak was started to get angry.
"I will not be spoken to in that fashion, Captain Erak," he spat, "You will apologize at once and then..."
Morgarath stopped mid-sentence, His cold eyes turned to Will.
"What is that?"
Erak felt a sinking sensation in his stomach.
There was a dull gleam of bronze visible in the gap of Will's open collar. Morgarath quickly moved in, he stanched at the bronze chain.
"A ranger," raged Morgarath.
Soon, Morgarath had connected the dots and realized that Will was the one who destroyed his beloved bridge. As his furious gaze turned back from Erak to Will, Evanlyn tightly gripped Will's hand. Will was taken aback by the girl's bravery, to even claim to know him could be dangerous at this point.
Just then a wargal lieutenants rode up to the lord of rain and night. The wargal informed Morgarath the the enemy was advancing.
"We will finish this later," he said staring daggers at Erak, "hold these prisoners here until I return, on pain of your life."
Not long after the dark lord's departure, a wave of unease washed through the wargals. Will, Evanlyn, and the Scandians had noticed. Erak sensed an opportunity arising.
"Something's happening," said the burly jarl, "Stay ready everyone."
The unease was replaced by clear fear and several wargals abandoned their guard post around the small group.
"Now lads!" bellowed Erak.
The jarl swung his double-headed ax at the wargal sergeant in a horizontal motion; the swing removed the wargal's head from his body.
As soon as the fight began, it became clear who would win. For Scandians, two-to-one numbers meant nothing. As such, the wargals fell in a matter of seconds.
"That's better," said Erak heartily, "I've been waiting to do that for days!"
Despite the swift and decisive victory, the wargals had not left their group unscathed. As Erak spoke, Nordal collapsed to one knee.
"Nordal!" exclaimed Erak, "where are you wounded?"
Nordal could hardly talk, his sheepskin vest was already heavily stained with his blood. The Scandian's large sword had fallen from his grasp. Nordal's eyes widened in fear but Horak quickly returned the weapon to his comrade's grip. The fear faded form his eyes and he fell back into a sitting position against a wall of the pass. Will knew that Scandians believed that they must die with a weapon in-hand if they did not wish wander the purgatory in torment for eternity.
Now that his sword was back in his hands, Nordal was not afraid to die. Weakly, he waved off the group.
"Go," he said, "I'm... finished, get to the ships."
"He's right," affirmed Erak, "There's nothing we can do for him."
With that, the group of five made their way to Horth's fleet.
Meanwhile, Halt made his way through the crowds of Wargals, now wandering aimlessly since their leader had been slain. He was searching desperately for his apprentice. As he continued, he came across a Scandian barely clinging to life. It was Nordal. His sword had once again fallen from his grip, his hand far to weak to hold it.
The Scandian's eyes pleaded with Halt to help him. Knowing the beliefs around perishing with no weapon in hand, Halt returned the sword to its owner.
"Thanks... friend," said Nordal weakly.
Halt nodded sadly.
"The boy, where is the boy?" Halt asked urgently.
"Boy..." Nordal repeated thickly.
"Will," pressed Halt, "a ranger's boy. Where is he."
A light of understanding now flickered in the dying man's eyes.
"The fens... Through the fens to the ships," Nordal managed.
Nordal had been glad to help the stranger, he then leaned back and let the warmth overtake him.
Halt looked down at Nordal's body.
"Thank you, friend," he said genuinely.
Will, Evanlyn, and the remaining Scandians were boarding a small boat to reach Erak's ship that was anchored within eye-shot.
As they were loading on, Will heard a voice that he hadn't heard in too long.
"Will!" yelled Halt as he raced Abelard down the beach.
Erak noticed as well; he heard the drumming of a horse's hoofs.
"Hergel's beard!" he shouted, "get moving!"
Will stood up to see his master.
"Halt!" he called.
Before he could do anything else, however, a backhand blow from Svengel sent Will sprawling back into his seat as Erak and Horak got on.
"Stay down!" ordered Svengel to the w=two captives.
Halt loosed an arrow that embedded itself into an oarsman's arm. Erak pushed the wounded man out of the way.
"Pull like hell!" he ordered.
As the raft reached Erak's ship, Halt loosed his last nine arrows; he hit three of Scandians on board, killing one.
"Get under way!" Erak bellowed
Halt knew that Will would never be able to hear his voice but that didn't deter him.
"I'll find you, Will!" he yelled as loudly as possible.
As Halt faded out of view, Will wiped his tears away and turned to face his companion. He found Evanlyn looking at him the same way. We'll get out of this together, they both thought.
As these thoughts raced through their heads, Will pulled Evanlyn into a passionate embrace. She leaned into the embrace, softly crying into Will's shoulder. She's all I've got, thought Will, he's be damned if he let anyone hurt her. They were in this together; each other's only bright spot. Right then they knew that they'd always be there for each other, no matter what.
To Be Continued...