Chapter 25

Arrows of flame

part two

"Will its been a long time since Halt and the others went in there and we have not heard a thing from them"said one of Will's wolves.

"Yeah, we should be able to hear some thing"said the other wolf.

Will thought about that. The castle was so big and he was sure that the room that the witch was in would be in the center. Will's ears strained forward trying to hear any thing at all, but there was nothing.

"Alright we will give them a few more minutes,if there is nothing after that we will go in but you two must do what I say our lives and those of Halt and the others might depend on it"Will said finally.

Deep inside the castle Halt and the others were human again. Chase sat with his head in his hands, the man had tried every thing to get through to her even going into their special place in their minds to reach her. It did not work, what ever the monster had done to her was obviously not some thing that could be changed.

"Chase you can not blame yourself, you did all you could"said Gilan placing his arm around the man.

But Chase did blame himself. He could see what was left of the wolves and other creatures that she had captured, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before she did the same to them,why she did it,what she had to gain he did not know.

Then suddenly the door opened to reveal one of the witch's slaves. He looked around at the men in the room before grabbing Halt. The slave growled at Halt, who had resisted before the man said "if you don't come with me now, the lion man dies where he is".

So Halt had no choice but to do as the man said. Before Halt left the room he saw that chase was watch him, he had some thing hidden in his hands but how did he get it. Halt knew that Chase was fast, he was de finely faster than any one else. Halt wondered, did he have the key to the rooms, he hoped so.

So they were in the witches room, Halt could smell the blood and toxins that perminated the room. He could see chains hanging from the roof and all sorts of weapons on the walls. This place was a torture chamber. As he was now chained in the center of the room he was glad that Will was outside, at least he would have the chance to get away because whether Chase had the key or not there was no way for them to her.

Little did he know that Will was coming to him. His mind would be one of the only ones that could save him. As the torture began, Will was running quietly and swiftly through the castle to save Halt and the rest.

"Will, I smell lion, it must be Gilan"said the wolf to Will's left.

As one the group turned and headed down the passageway that lead to that smell. They found the group a little to late...they had freed themselves. Gilan was outside the cell they had been in knocking out the guard, Will was not sure how they had done it but he was glad they did.

"Will, Halt will kill you for coming in here, but I am glad you did"said Gilan half yelling, half whispering.

"How we got out is all down to Chase. It seems that he can do more than just become a wolf, he can copy any piece of metal he wants" Gilan told them.

"So I made the key to our cell. I did not know I could do it but I knew the spell and thought I would give it a try. It took some time to pull it off but I did it"said a proud Chase.

"And as to where Halt is?we were going to go find him. He was taken from us only a short while ago"concluded Gilan.

"Well lets find him then, that witch must pay. Sorry Chase"said Will.

"Its all right I know is no hope for her now and that maybe by killing her we will be freeing her"said Chase.

"Lets stop talking and find him"said Gilan.

Deeper in the castle Halt was in a wasteland of agony with no beginning, no end. It was like every nerve in his body was burning with misery. His screams echoed from the stone walls and when finally he was allowed to go limp, the witch whispered in his ear "I will make you scream delightfully for death before I give it to you".

Halt sagged in the shackles he knew in his heart that he was not going to be able to take much more of this. His teeth hurt from gritting them so hard, she would drag a potion tipped knife across his chest that raised fluid - filled welts and when she pressed harder they filled with blood from the wound.

Halt had no idea of idea of how long the torture lasted but he was soon starting to heard same thing, some thing that sounded like Will and Gilan talking. The words gave him courage to go on for without it he was sure he would have died.

The noises that Halt heard grew louder until the witch heard them too, but she was now chanting some thing, some thing Halt was sure that she would hope would protect her and the room until she was finished with him.

Master of the dark guide me

Master of the dark teach me

Master of the dark protect me

in your shadows I thrive

in your wisdom I am humbled

I live only to serve

my life is yours

"No longer sister dear!"yelled a wolf man from the doorway. He was in between the two forms, his head and hands were kind of human like but the rest was wolf. He was also standing up on two feet.

Also just behind him was a small brown wolf. Halt could see in this wolf's eyes all the hate, all the malice, all the anger he held for the witch. It must be Will.

"One last chance end this or die"roared Chase, in his human like hand he held a long glowing sword.

"No"she said darkly "and do you think you can stop me with that, I am fire, I am death, I am immortal, no human blade can pierce my heart".

"It is lucky that this is not a human blade it is father's"Chase said before lunging forward and ramming the sword home.

There was no resistance, the sword went through her as if she were gossamer cloth. Chase twisted the sword and took it out of her, catching her as she fell down. Chase her say some thing as she took her last breath.

"Sorry Chase, thanks for freeing me at last" and with that she died, but also freeing Chase from the world too because his life was joined to hers. As he left the world he saw two former rangers go to their master, Halt.

Will moved quickly taking Halt down from the chains. Halt was still breathing, he was terribly hurt but he would live. Halt hand moved to Will's face as the boy's tears fell.

"Will my love it;s over. You and I are safe, no more Will it is time for us"Halt said softly

"Yes Halt it is time"said Will simply

And it was that over time Halt's wounds healed and his and Will's hearts mended. It was time for love. A love that would last forever and a day.

The End

An: that's it, hoped you like it.