Ranger's Apprentice: A Twist in Time
Chapter 8: Real Mission
Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranger's Apprentice or any of the characters involved except Hueven and Adam
Hueven and Adam were riding away from the Gathering grounds. The annual meeting had wrapped up and everyone was being sent home, save for them. They had been tasked to investigate a storm similar to the one Hueven had appeared from three years ago. Officially, it was just the two of them, but they had been informed that Will would be tailing them from a distance, and if anything happened he would intervene. Or, failing that, fall back to report.
"Good to see they have such faith in us they need a backup plan," Hueven said after a few hours of traveling.
They were maintaining the Ranger's forced march pace, an hour of riding, followed by an hour of jogging, then an hour of walking, then repeating. They were currently coming up on the end of their walking period.
"Well, Crowley just wants to be safe, right? No one knows what this storm is, or what might be coming through," Adam answered.
"Fair points, but I was more concerned with the fact he sent a Shadow and a Ranger on this mission and thinks another Ranger is necessary… y'know, there's an old saying: one riot-"
"One Ranger," Adam finished for him.
Hueven looked over his shoulder at his apprentice, "Yes…"
"I've heard Crowley mention it a few times," Adam added as an explanation.
Hueven stopped and looked up at the sun to gauge the time.
"We can remount, it's been an hour," He said.
The two swung up into their saddles and set the horses to the kilometer eating lope that their breeds were known for.
"So, this other Araluen, where you come from… what's it like?" Adam asked.
"It's not a pleasant place," Hueven replied.
"But what else is there to say? Military strength? Prominent leaders? If we're going to be fighting them we'll need to know more about them right?" Adam asked.
Hueven shook his head, "We don't know what's coming through. While I agree it's best to prepare for the worst, we just don't know enough yet. That's what this mission is."
Adam nodded at the explanation and went silent.
The two rode quietly for a while before Hueven spoke up.
"Sometimes, I wonder… what my family has been doing since I disappeared? Do they even know I'm gone? What if time works differently there as well?" He asked.
"Well… I guess my question to that is: what of it?" Adam asked.
"What do you mean?" Hueven turned to him.
"Well, I assume you don't want to go back. And we can't bring them here… can you imagine two King Duncans or Princess Cassandras? Or even two Halts?"
Hueven shuddered at the idea, "Halt's gone, but I see your point with the other two…"
Adam nodded to affirm his point, "So if they can't come here, and you don't want to go there… I don't mean to be rude, or blunt, but what's it matter if they notice you've disappeared?"
Hueven considered Adam's question as they rode, it made sense: he couldn't do anything to change the history of his Araluen, and trying to salvage it by bringing everyone here was too risky, not to mention confusing.
"Uh… Hueven," Adam said.
It didn't draw Hueven out of his thoughts, he began to consider alternative options: Maybe his father and sister could come over, take new identities, and live new lives. He doubted either of them would mind forgoing the chance to reclaim the throne.
"Hueven," Adam said again.
Yes, that could be the answer! Duncan and Cassandra remain on the throne, while Hueven, his father, and his sister all took on new identities and lived different lives.
"Hueven!" Adam shouted.
Hueven came out of his stupor and looked ahead to see large creatures barring the road. They were humanoid but covered in thick fur. They wore studded, black, leather armor, and carried an assortment of spears, clubs, and swords.
"Oh no…" he said aloud.
"What are those things?" Adam asked as he and Hueven reined in their horses.
"Wargals…" Hueven said absently as he drew his bow from behind his back.
Adam looked from him to the Wargals, then back again. He noticed Hueven reaching for his bow and did the same.
"What are they doing here?" Adam asked.
"They're what came through," Hueven answered as he laid an arrow on the bowstring.
"What?"
"They're Morgarath's army… they're fearless, pitiless… the perfect killing machines… and we need to stop them," Hueven said as he drew and sighted.
In a flash, he leased his arrow, then drew, sighted, and leased a second, then a third. Adam was quick to pick up his pace and begin firing. Their small barrage of arrows pierced the distance between them and the Wargals, and as the first arrows began to connect and drop them, the remaining Wargals ducked off the road and into the bushes that lined it for cover.
"We need to get back," Hueven said.
"What? But we don't know anything about them!" Adam responded.
"We know there are Wargals, and that they're the ones from my home Araluen,"
"How do we know that?"
"They're bigger, thicker. Morgarath has had twenty years to groom them up and make them into real monsters. These are far more powerful than what the ones here would look like," Hueven answered.
Adam looked back to see a few of the Wargals they'd shot beginning to stand up, the arrows protruding from their chests and limbs appearing as no more than toothpicks compared to their size.
"I… yes, we should fall back," Adam said.
The two put their heels into their horses' sides, and the mounts turned and began to run back the way they'd come at the signal.
As Hueven and Adam disappeared around the bend, a figure approached the attack site. One of the Wargals who had avoided being shot stood at attention as the figure came closer.
"Master… we spotted two figures, they fired upon us, then turned and fled on horseback," it said in a deep, grizzled voice.
The figure was riding a large, white, battle horse, wearing black armor with a lightning bolt icon emblazoned on his shield.
Morgarath lifted his helmet's visor, his face was wrinkled, and his formerly ink-black hair was now beginning to show signs of silver and gray.
"So it would seem… Rangers. T'would seem my theory was correct," He said, more to himself than those around him.
The Wargal awaited his orders patiently.
"Pursue them, hunt them down, then bring them to me. Alive," Morgarath said.
The Wargal nodded and turned to his remaining troops, only two had fallen to Adam and Hueven's barrage, a testament to their durability that they had survived a barrage of a dozen arrows from the two shooters.
The Wargal sheathed the large, two-handed sword he carried on his back. Then he looked to his companions.
"Sheathe your weapons brothers, tonight we hunt!"