A/N: *peeks around the corner* yep I'm back, took a little longer than expected. I won't bore you with everything that has been going on in my life lately. Let's just say it's been pretty shit and I wasn't in the right place to write for some time.

But on the bright side, chapter 4 is now almost done! And….. I'll probably going to do a 12 days of Rangers again this year! (If you don't know what it is, shame on you). So a lot to look forward to.

I want to thank AreiaCannaid for you wonderful support each and every time! Also a big thank you to Mel for your lovely review, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much!

Chapter 3

They broke camp early in the morning and started down the pass towards the border. While Halt was gathering his supplies, Will quickly sought the opportunity to confront Evanlyn about what he had seen that night in her saddleback.

"Why do you have it with you?" he hissed in her ear trying to keep his posture nonchalant to make sure Halt wouldn't get suspicious.

"Have what with me?" Evanlyn asked, confused by the angry tone of her friend.

"Warmweed, I saw it in your bag." Will answered and Evanlyn's eyes went wide as she realized what must have happened.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, "I wanted to have it just in case. You know what Erak said about relapses and I couldn't risk it that you have a relapse and there is nothing around."

Will remembered what Erak had told Evanlyn about the consequences of not giving warmweed during a relapse, but he was terrified of using that drug ever again. He looked straight at the princess and almost begged.

"Even if I had a relapse I want you to promise me not to give it."

"I can't Will, we don't know what will happen, but if it comes to the point of choosing between your life and the warmweed, it will be an easy choice." She answered resolute.

Will didn't want to think of the option going back to that horrendous state and he grabbed Evanlyn's shirt stepping closer to her, "please Evanlyn, I don't want to go back to that. You of all people should know that I can't do it again." He pleaded quietly so no one would hear him beside the princess.

Tears were welling in her eyes as she looked at the desperate face in front of her. She had grown to care so much about Will that she didn't want to risk his life. But Evanlyn had also seen the damage done to the young ranger and decided that she couldn't be a part of inflicting more damage.

After a moment of silence she sighed and nodded, "Okay…. I understand and I promise never to give it to you even if it saves your life. But I can't say the same for Halt, you know that."

The stiff hands holding her shirt fell down, Will nodded and knew if it ever came to it, that Halt would never risk his apprentice's life. But at least he had the reassurance from Evanlyn that she wouldn't ever do it.

Evanlyn saw the pain in Will's eyes and she softly put her hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way and that I wasn't there when you encountered that horrible stuff again. Are you okay?" she asked, her voice thick with compassion.

Will hesitated for a moment, she had seen him on his lowest point. She wouldn't judge him if he told about the panic he experienced when the scent had reached his nose. But he had made the promise to himself to never show that kind of weakness ever again, after all a ranger was not supposed to be this weak. So he rose his chin up in the air and answered.

"I'm fine, I was surprised when I saw it, but it didn't do much to me." He lied.

Evanlyn rose her perfect eyebrow, she couldn't quite believe that the warmweed had no impact anymore on him, especially after how he had begged her a few seconds ago not to give it to him. But before she could answer a voice came from behind her.

"Something wrong here?" She turned around and met the dark eyes of the ranger. She knew ranger's weren't to be feared, she had actually known a few of them at the castle. But still, Halt was no ordinary ranger and he gave her chills all over her body.

That moment of awe gave Will the chance to answer the question, "Everything is fine. We were just talking how happy we are to go home."

The dark eyes were now piercing through the young boy's head trying to figure out why he was suddenly lying to his mentor. But there was a certain stubbornness in the eyes of the young man that Halt knew was impenetrable for now.

"Well you better settle your horse if you're so eager because he's been driving me nuts." He gestured towards the shaggy little horse dancing on his place. And there it was again, that flicker of fear in the brown eyes, muscles tensing as soon as Halt had moved his hand.

"Will, What…." He started but before he could ask anything, the boy had taken off and was already petting his horse, leaving a confused greying ranger behind.

Once on their way the dancing and head shaking were passed on the Abelard to great surprise of Halt.

"Now he's got my horse doing it too," Halt said and he calmed Abelard with a quiet word. Then he turned to Will again, "you seem popular among the horses of this world, anyway. I thought…" his voice trailed away and he didn't finish the sentence.

Already on alert Will heard his mentor swear under his breath and together they looked around for the threat their horses had tried to warn them about.

"Skandians!" Exclaimed Will, as he recognized the horned helmets and round wooden shields carried by the warriors.

Halt's shoulder slumped in a gesture of disgust with himself. He berated himself for endangering his boy just days after he found him.

In the corner of his eye he saw Horace drawing his sword and without turning he warned, "put it away, Horace. I think there are too many of them, even for you."

The Skandians stopped in front of them with the leader curiously watching the group as he held his axe ready.

"I think we'll have you down from those horses if you don't mind." He spoke, and suddenly Will recognized the familiar voice.

"Erak!" he blurted out, getting a disapproving look from his mentor.

Halt felt his heart tighten as soon as Will spoke, and he focused on the Jarl in front of him. The leader was shocked as he looked straight at Will. Halt knew the cloak obscured Will's face but it seemed the Jarl had just as much ease in recognizing Will as the other way round.

The so called Erak's gaze shifted towards the princess, also buried in her cloak, and his eyes squinted slightly before he spoke.

"Down!" he commanded, "All of you."

The group complied and Halt threw back the hood on his cloak letting the Jarl study his face, hoping it would distract him from Will and Cassandra.

But Will wouldn't be Will if he didn't try to copy his mentor's behavior and as soon as Halt's hood was down, Will's hand started reaching for his own.

To Halt's big surprise Erak quickly stopped him with a hand gesture.

"leave it for the moment." He said in a lowered voice and also looked warningly at Evanlyn. It confirmed Halt's suspicion that the man indeed knew exactly who he was dealing with.

It reassured Halt that Will was confident enough to put his hood down in front of this leader, and from the short description he had gotten from Erak he decided the man to be trustworthy for the time being.

"I've seen you before," began Erak lightly, starting a long discussion with some give and takes from both parties. Eventually the ranger and Jarl came to an understanding to find out what the Temujai were up to.

The plan wasn't exactly what Halt had intended, as he didn't like the idea of leaving Will behind again. However he knew that if it came to it, Horace would go to any lengths to protect his friend, making the option of following the Temujai a bit easier.

Still somewhere in the pit of his stomach, the ranger knew the journey home wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped.


Halt and Erak had been following the Temujai's trail all day. The ranger had thought that being away from youth would give him some slack of endless questions. Alas his time off didn't last very long when the Jarl began to speak during their short break.

"How is the boy really doing?" Erak asked.

Despite the hatred Halt felt towards the Skandians for putting his apprentice through hell, he couldn't help but see the genuine concern on the warrior's face.

"You tell me. The only thing I can see is a malnourished boy, flinching at everything, shivering with the slightest breeze, and desperate to keep me out. Do you say that is normal for a former addict?" Halt asked briskly, as he recalled how annoyed he was to be left in the dark.

Erak wasn't intimidated by the ranger and ignored the tone of speaking as he answered.

"I don't know whether it's normal. I only know that we should thank the gods for the mere fact he survived at all." He responded truthfully. It didn't escape Halt's attention that the man quickly breezed over the question and suddenly he became suspicious.

"What do you mean, you don't know? From what I've heard you lot use warmweed quite often, it should be obvious what side effects could be." He said, trying to keep his voice normal despite the anger flaring up.

Erak stared at the ranger in disbelief, not knowing whether he was making fun of him or not, but soon came to the realization that the man had absolutely no knowledge about the weed.

"I've known no one to survive warmweed. Those who managed to escape were unsuccessful in being weened off, which killed them. Others did manage to get rid of the drug but were captured again after a month and drugged again, which also led to their deaths." He explained quietly.

Halt jumped up, furious at this revelation, and closed his hand around the Jarl's throat. "Then why the hell did you let them escape with some warmweed to god knows where, if you didn't even know whether he could survive all that!" he roared, not caring about anyone hearing him.

"He would have died of that drug anyway, the least I could do was give them a shot." Erak croaked as Halt slowly released some pressure but still kept his hand around the neck.

"Look, I gave them the information I had about weening off from the drug, I helped them escape and made sure they wouldn't be followed. I had seen what that young lad was capable of and how brave the girl was, so I followed my guts in believing that if anyone could make it out alive, it would be them."

Halt released his hand and nodded slowly, and realized how the Skandian had looked when he saw Will's face, "When we met, you were shocked to see him. Not because you thought they would still be in the cabin but because you thought he would probably be dead by now." He stated.

The warrior looked down at the ground, "yes, I always hoped they would survive, but I knew the odds were not in their favor."

He paused for a moment before he continued, "I really like your kid, he didn't deserve any of it." He whispered.

Halt's mouth quirked at that statement, most of the time ranger's were feared and never really liked by people. Will was an exception to that rule, the big brown eyes and the innocent smile made sure he got along with almost everyone.

"Yes he is liked by many people." He said softly.

Erak looked slyly at Halt, again looking for a hint of sarcasm. In all honesty, he didn't knew what Will had revealed about his time being a slave and he felt like it wasn't his right to tell the young man's tale. On the other hand, the ranger next to him deeply cared for the boy and deserved to know the truth.

He decided to leave it in the middle, "Not everyone likes that kid of yours, that I know for sure." And as he already expected, the ranger was surprised to hear that and looked questioningly at him.

"What do you mean with that?"

"You should ask Will that yourself. But be patient with him, I might not know what warmweed does in the long term, but I do know that the weed is only the last measure to keep slaves in line."

Something inside Halt wanted to jump back on Abelard, turn around and sprint right back to his apprentice. Of course he had known that warmweed was probably not the only thing that had happened, but to hear the confirmation coming from Erak was on a whole other level.

However now was not the time to get sentimental, they had a job to do and the sooner it was done, the sooner he could help Will.

"We should continue, I want to find them before sundown." He grunted and walked towards his horse, deep in thought.


Will, Horace and Evanlyn were patiently waiting for Halt and Erak to return, surrounded by the Skandian warriors. Neither of them really knowing what to say or do.

Will and Evanlyn had grown to live with the silence and had no problems with it whatsoever. However the young knight was a tad more restless and within two hours of waiting he stood up and smiled towards Will, "What do you think, time to start a little training? I know you don't have your Saxe knife and throwing knife but we can do hand to hand" he suggested.

Evanlyn knew immediately how wrong this idea was and started to protest, "Maybe…"

"Yes sure." Will interrupted her. If he wanted things to go back to normal, he should indeed go back to training. How hard could it be?

It turned out to be harder than ever. He knew Horace was holding back and yet Will was struggling to get anywhere close to him. Still, it felt great to work out again, to feel the sweat dripping from his face. He was still fast enough to dodge any hits coming from Horace, making the fight quite interesting.

Then suddenly, with one innocent move, everything changed. While Will was focused on the incoming fist, he missed the foot trying to get him to the ground. In a second he fell down on his back.

Will felt the hard ground on his back like he had so many times before, triggering all the fear he had experienced those days. As he looked up he could only see flashes of a brute standing over him, ready with a whip, ready to punish him for slacking off.

Suddenly the cold rushed back, shivering Will tried to back away from the man. Tears started welling in his eyes as he braced himself for the pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he cried pleadingly, and he realized his legs stopped moving. Fear took over and all he could do was curl himself up, holding his head between his fists and wait for it to be over.

The pain never came and slowly his senses came back to him. He felt soft hands holding him, rocking him back and forth. Then he heard the voice, "ssssh, you're safe Will. It's okay, you're safe."

Breathing in and out he remembered what had happened, he was not at the slave yard at all. He opened his eyes and looked directly into the worried blue eyes of Horace.

"I'm fine," he croaked, surprised to find his voice weak like that.

"The hell you are!" Horace yelled, "You should have told me that you weren't ready to start training, Will." His words came out harsher than intended, but after watching his friend suffer for endless minutes followed by the statement "I'm fine" was just the last straw.

Evanlyn, still holding Will, felt him shrink in her arms.

"Will you don't have to be ashamed of your feelings. We want to help but you have to let us in." she spoke softly while rubbing his damaged back.

Will hesitated for a moment but he knew deep down that Horace would probably smack him on the head if he told one more time that he was fine. And somehow it felt easier to tell his friends first instead of Halt.

"I don't want to feel weak like this." He admitted, and suddenly everything blurted out as tears started streaming down his face, "I finally found my home with Halt, I was becoming a ranger and now everything is just falling apart. How can I ever be a ranger if I have these flashbacks, when I can't stand the cold, and knowing that the addiction is always lurking in the back of my head."

It shocked him that he told them all this, but he couldn't hold it any longer. For a moment Horace just looked in disbelief at him but shortly after that he bent forward and grabbed Will's shoulders, reminding himself not to use much pressure to avoid breaking any of the bones sticking out.

"Will, you're the furthest away from weak. You've been through hell so of course you're haunted by those memories." He said looking straight into those big brown eyes.

Somehow a great burden fell from Will shoulders as he heard Horace speak. Deep down he knew Horace would understand but a part of him was terrified of his friend laughing in his face for his weakness like in their childhood.

Horace interpreted the silence as the message not sinking in and he continued, "I understand if it doesn't feel like it now, but I don't believe that this can throw you of your path of becoming a great ranger. If anyone can help you through this, it is Halt. After everything he has done to get to you, you really think he would abandon you for being scared?"

Putting it like that Will realized how stupid he had acted by shutting Halt out. Despite his grumpiness, he had been the most understanding person Will had ever met.

But then he started to think about what Horace just said, "what do you mean with everything he has done to get here?" he asked curiously.

Will noticed how Horace started to shift uncomfortably, "well, you know, the whole journey. He had to cope with me for days, you know."

The young ranger could tell it was a lie, he was curious to know what Horace had meant with the comment. However a wave of fatigue washed over him even though it was just afternoon.

As a yawn escaped, Evanlyn stood up, "you should get some rest Will. I'll make a fire to keep you warm and we'll wake you when Halt and Erak return."

Will nodded grateful to her, ever since he had left the cabin to search for Evanlyn he had been exhausted by the ongoing events. With the panic attacks on top of it, he couldn't argue that he needed some rest.

Before he turned to the fire to get some sleep, he spoke to Horace. "Thank you for… you know… understanding."

Without saying a word Horace pulled Will into a bear hug, almost crushing the bones underneath him.

When they broke apart Horace smiled broadly, "I would suggest you worry some more about getting meat on those bones again and less about what we all think about some nightmares."

Laughing, the two brothers joined Evanlyn who had managed to get a fire going. Together they waited for Erak and Halt to return, which would hopefully bring them one step closer to home.

Thanks for reading and let me know what your thoughts are on this chapter!

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