Author's note: Trying to get this back up as quickly as possible, only minor changes to fit the beginning! Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! :)

***Unknown location***

He breathed in the wood smoke, laying low and out of sight, unbothered by the rain soaking through his clothes. He didn't shiver in the cold wind that carried his scent away from the little cottage. From where he lay he could see the distress in the young mans body language. Walking back and forward, arms waving, head shaking. It would only be a matter of time before the he snapped and left. The master's plan had been perfect. Once that young man left, the prey would be alone.

***Halt's cottage***

"I'll be fine Gilan!"

"You won't!"

Gilan was pacing back and fourth, looking between Will and the door. The hour had grown late, and with still no sign of Halt he was starting to worry. And Will… Hunched and shivering, but putting on a brave face. He felt a stab of sympathy for the boy.

"And if I did go looking for Halt, who's to say you aren't going to die on me while I'm out?"

Will gave a ghost of a smile. I feel fine, Gil." He was suddenly racked by a coughing fit so severe Gilan was reaching for the healers potion yet again, but Will waved him away. Instead, he watched the boy sip nervously at his water.

He did seem a little better, Gilan thought, at least he was awake now. Perhaps I can slip away, just for a little bit, Just to be sure nothing has happened. He thought.

Will coughed again, then looked up at Gilan with big eyes. "Halt could be out there , the dark could be teeming with Assassins. What if it was Morgarath that sent them? He'd know that Halt won't go down easy. They'd come prepared. Right Gilan?"

Gilan said nothing. As much as he wanted to dismiss the thought and reassure Will. (Because Halt was Halt after all and the wasn't any person or situation he couldn't handle) Gilan knew better. Halt was a man. A very capable, terrifying man. But a man none the less.

He heaved a great sigh. "Let's give it one more hour. If he doesn't show up by then, I'll go look for him."

It had been a long time after all. Thought Gilan.

Will settled back against the couch at that, obviously reassured. "You promise?" he coughed.

"Yes, I promise." But Gilan looked at the clock, willing it to stop moving until Halt came back. He really didn't want to leave Will like this. He sat down beside the younger boy and wrapped his arm around him. Will leaned in, still sweaty and shaking. Hurry back Halt. Gilan thought.

That hour slipped by with a cruel haste, and after what seemed like barely seconds, Will was nudging Gilan again.

"It's been an hour."

Gilan hugged Will against him, feeling the fever heat through the blanket.

"I can't leave you like this."

"You promised."

"I also promised Halt I'd take care of you."

"Gilan please."

He looked at Will and that was his downfall. The boy looked close to tears.

"I'll be fine." He whispered again, and finally, Gilan's resolve broke.

Heavy with remorse, he stood and headed for the door.

"Don't die on me, Will," He pleaded, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Will nodded weakly, pale and shaking from beneath the blanket. Gilan realised he didn't have the strength to talk and his chest seized. He couldn't leave him, not like this. As if sensing his thoughts, Will took a deep breath in. "Go, Gilan." He coughed, "Halt might need you. I can look after myself."

Gilan doubted that, but Will's fear and the late hour were gnawing at him. In his mind, he decided he would just have to be quick. Very quick. In and out. As soon as Halt was confirmed not dead, he'd be back in an instant. And he said as much to Will, who had closed his eyes again and was breathing steadily on the couch.

Gilan moved outside and Blaze trotted over at the ready. He mounted and tapped his heels into the horses side and within seconds, the landscape was reduced to shadows. He flew through the dark, feeling the cold bite, and shivered as rain soak through his cloak. He could barely see, but he didn't turn back. Not once. So he never saw the set of eyes that watched him go.

The figure in the dark was a woman, though Halt could barely tell. She had been that badly beaten, her eyes were almost swollen completely shut. In her hands she held a knife, gleaming silver but covered in blood. The assassins knife. Halt realised with a start, she'd been stabbed. The blood on the knife was her own. Blood that now ran down, soaking her dress, soaking the road. She was dying.

He stepped forward out of the shadows, but she didn't shriek. Halt realised she didn't have the strength. Instead she lunged forward, and with one hand grabbed the front of his shirt, her eyes red rimmed and pleading.

"You're the ranger." she wheezed, her lips wet with blood. "I know the man you're hunting."

She collapsed in his arms, and he lowered her down to the cobblestones, cushioning her head on his hands. He could tell she didn't have long, and there would be nothing that could save her. She'd lost far too much blood.

"What happened to you?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

She sighed. "I made it out. Tried to follow. To warn.."

"Follow who?"

"The other."

"Who is the other? Do you mean the assassin?"

The woman looked pained and shook her head, saying nothing. Halt pressed on anyway. "Who were you trying to warn?"

Halt realised the woman's eyes had closed and she was scarcely breathing.

"Why target the Baron?" Halt shook her gently and her eyes fluttered back open, "Who's after him? Was it Morgarath?"

The woman coughed, and her eyes glazed over. "Am I going to die?"

Halt resisted every urge to growl at the woman. "Yes." He breathed, "So tell me what you know. I need to know."

The woman took one more big breath, but she was dead before she could answer.

Halt sighed. He lowered her head onto the cobblestones and stood up, looking around for someone, anyone who could help here.

"Halt!"

Halt looked up sharply at the voice. He recognized it immediately. "Gilan!" He hissed, "What are you doing here. Is Will…"

"Will's fine. I came for you." Gilan looked horrified.

"For me? Gilan what.."

"You're bleeding," the young man breathed.

"Not my blood," Halt dismissed, "What's happened."

"I could ask you the same."

Halt raised an eyebrow, and surveyed the young man. Who shifted uncomfortable under his watch.

"Halt you've been gone for hours."

Halt gave him an exasperated look. "Your concern is touching Gilan, but I can handle myself. Will is an entirely different matter. Did you at least send for the healer to stay with him?"

Gilan froze and looked down. "He's awake now though and doing much better…"

He fell silent.

"He may be awake. But he's far from out of the woods." Halt went on, "You need to get back."

Gilan leaned around him and looked now at the woman sprawled on the cobblestones.

"That your assassin?" He asked.

"Never mind her."

"Did you kill her?"

"No. She'd been stabbed before I got to her."

"So then who?"

"I don't know Gilan. There are a lot of things not adding up here."

Halt crouched back down to examine to woman more closely, looking for any hint as to who put a knife in her. "Could be just a disgruntled citizen too, not an assassin. At first I thought Genovesans, but they're usually more subtle than this." he gestured at the woman.

Gilan looked baffled,"If it is an assassin here, they're making a piss poor effort to conceal themselves, attacking the Baron in a crowd like that. Anyway, we should get back to Will."

Halt grunted in response, still looking down at the woman. He noticed then that in her hand was a scrunched up piece of paper.

He grit his teeth and pried open her fingers. The paper was smeared and wrinkled, and the words were barely readable, but Halt understood them in a heartbeat. His stomach felt like the sea in a storm and the words echoed through Halts mind over and over. It was an assassination order. But it wasn't for the Baron, nor was it for Halt.

"Gilan. It's Will. They're after Will."