Chapter 17
The howl of the ever present winds intensified as pin drop silence replaced blood thirsty cries. Everyone was in a state of shock. Their predicament remained that although the young Araluan had come here as a slave he had quickly turned into a figure of respect, for physical strength and ingenuity, and losing a person who had helped them momentarily win the war was painful, though the prospect of no fighting bore foremost in the minds of those who had been taken in to the makeshift infirmary. The only solution it seemed was to hand over Will, which each of the Skandians were wary of doing.
If Will's face could have gotten any paler it would have. Now filled with sickness from the long suspense and from the option Slagor had stated there was a slight twinge of green to his face, which could have been interpreted as a cue that he was going to puke. Horace had also paled and his mouth was open in a perfect circular shape as he looked to his best friend who he had just gotten back, and to have him painfully snatched away from him again, from Halt, it wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He now felt stupid for ever disliking Will. Their disagreement and Horace's resentment towards him faded away in the light of this new danger. He needed to be his friend again. His loyal trustworthy friend and he had to diminish any thoughts of his present girlfriend from his mind. Evanlyn it had seemed literally had fallen down. Her legs crumpled as the booming voice radiated from the centre of the field and the meaning of his words sunk deep into her flesh, piercing her heart with a dozen knives. Her eyes watered as she remembered all their times together, all the times they had comforted each other and laughed together and so much more. She wanted every trace of his being imprinted in her mind, so she could never forget the way his eyes lit up when he saw her, or the way his hair always remained tangled. They couldn't take Will away from her, not again. Because she was sure that this time if they did, he was not coming back.
Surprisingly, the only one who recovered from the dramatic proposal was Erak. He had come to admire the young boy and had no intention what so ever of handing him over, though the Skandian Oberjarl may think otherwise. It was commonly known that Ragnak didn't care about any of his slaves and since he hadn't had any dealings with Will personally, he was more inclined to giving him away Erak knew. He had to do something before Ragnak could gain his wits and immediately agree to the deal. Halt, he saw hissed furiously at the suggestion and scanned wildly into the country side to find Will. Erak empathised with him. It must have been galling to find his apprentice, his son, then to immediately be separated from him. Gathering his resolve and preparing his words carefully the senior Jarl stepped forwards and spoke.
"What is the meaning of this Slagor?" There was a sense of power that radiated from him. He spoke without increasing the volume of his voice and yet his words which had been delivered with a growl rang out clearer than Slagor's blustering self could ever have done. The pitch remained silent and perhaps it was this that made the Skirl sneer. Slagor had always been jealous at how easily Erak could attract others attention and gain power, now that he had one moment to shine his adversary had to put an end to that as well. The skirl stepped forwards with the horn still clutched to his hands, unlike Erak he couldn't magnify his voice as well without it, and he answered with a sneer still stuck to his unpleasant face.
"WELL IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS BY NOW SHOULDN'T IT?" When everyone had still remained frozen with incomprehension Slagor continued.
"RANGERS ARE WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR KINGDOM, SO IF THIS ARMY WERE TO WANT TO TAKE OVER ARALUAN THEY WOULD NEED HELP, LIKE THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND AND ALL THAT." The talk had become increasingly boring to the Skirl who yawned whenever strategies or geography was the topic of a conversation. He was simpler and tended to rush out and knock others unconscious with a wooden bat or a weapon. He decided to steer the conversation back to knowledge he knew most of.
"OF COURSE WE COULD HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE THE FULLY FLEDGED RANGER BUT I HAD A PERSONAL WORD WITH THE GENERAL AND IT ONLY SEEMED RIGHT TO GET HIM BACK FOR THE THINGS HE DID TO ME." Others looked around in shock possibly wondering what the small boy could have done to have deserved this much loathing from the Skirl. Only Will, Evanlyn, Horace and Halt knew what had happened in Skhorjjill and at the ruins. Slagor's anger which at first was bent towards the serving girl had changed course once he realised he was outwitted by the same seventeen year old boy again.
"AND OF COURSE IF WILL STILL DOESN'T KNOW AS MUCH AS THE FULLY FLEDGED RANGER WE CAN STILL TAKE WILL ANYWAYS AND TORTURE HIM INFRONT OF HIS MENTOR SO HALT CAN TELL US EVERYTHING HE KNOWS." There was a collective gasp and Halt had stumbled back, ice covering his heart. He couldn't bear this. Not Will being taken from him again. It was cruel game the fates had played on them and all he wanted was Will out of harms way. They could take him and do what ever they wanted to with him but not Will. He was too innocent. Too pure to witness or be a victim of anything as cruel as this. No one had the power or determination this time to defy Slagor. People were at a loss of how to deal with the situation. They could continue fighting but with the extra men on the opposite army they had no hope at all of winning and further casualties would result in this. Though handing over a seventeen year old innocent was no easy task either. Daunting consequences lay after each prospect.
Finally Will had managed to regain control over his legs, which had turned to jelly, to stumble forwards drunkenly, still in shock. A cry was torn from Evanlyn's lips as she saw what he was doing but she was in no position to stop him. Horace was too numb to have noticed Will's action and others surrounding Will had conflict written on their faces and instead had decided to do nothing as he walked past them. Only Halt was certain that he was never letting his apprentice fall loose from his grasp again. As Will staggered forwards he felt a rough hand on his collar dragging him back as he met face to face with his furious mentor.
"Where do you think you are going?" He snapped. Despite being a couple of inches taller than him, Will felt himself shrinking upon the looming face of his angry father figure.
"To-to go to Slagor." His voice grew in confidence as he continued. "Look I know you're worried about me but with their reinforcements if I don't go many lives will be lost and we will undoubtedly lose this battle. If I go all they're gonna do is hurt one person. Me. Which is a lot better than having hundreds hurt." Hearing this, Halt felt a rush of affection and pride for the boy before him. It couldn't have been easy saying that and he admired the boys use of logic when he should have been in a traumatic state. Though in spite of this Halt still remained adamant on his decision and shook his head softly at Will's words.
"You're wrong Will. They're not just hurting one person if you go. If you go it will hurt me too." Glistening tears run down Halt's face and he was unashamed of them. He didn't care what people thought of him or whether he looked deadly or not, all he knew was that he wanted his son home. But deep down a part of him knew that Will was doing the right thing. He had to let him go. He could try bargaining and pleading to take him away instead but the sickening look of glee on Slagor's face and the triumphant eyes of his Temujai enemy made it clear he only had one choice. Those surrounding the boy gave him fierce hugs and marvelled at his bravery though Halt's hug was the longest. There too were tear stains on Will's cheeks as he saw how many people cared for him. He turned at last to face Horace and Evanlyn both of whom it was obvious, were also in tears. Though Horace's was less distinguishable and Evanlyn's eyes were red and puffy. Will stood awkwardly when he faced his best friend. He didn't know whether to say anything or just move on, but that changed as Horace choked and then crushed him in a bear shaped hug.
"Look after yourself." He croaked. It was all he could manage without breaking into more tears.
"I'll try." Will gave a half hearted smile which already showed he had given up on any prospect of survival. He then turned to meet last but never least. Evanlyn. She flung herself at him with a hug so tight and emotionally painful it was worse than any bone crushing hug he could have had. It crushed him inside seeing her like this but it was the only way she could survive. He would take it if it meant she was safe. She let go reluctantly her body only inches away from his and kissed him with such love and desire that those around, even Horace and Halt, had to look away. Their young love burnt fiercely in their eyes and when they parted Evanlyn slumped to the ground still crying, the energy of standing up too much for her. Will turned around to face his enemy and concentrated with all his might to putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that those steps could well be his last. He never looked back.
Hello people very sorry indeed for the late chapters but my laptop sort of went haywire and internet wasn't working. Any ways I'm not sure where to take this. Should I do a 5 years later so on and so happens in the next chapter where everyone has moved on and Will dies or should I do one continuing exactly what happens after he goes to them. I don't know so you guys please decide. Let me know what you think in the review thing.
Here are the choices:
a) 5 years later Evanlyn and Horace get together after Will dies going to Slagor and Evanlyn never forgets him but learns to love Horace
b) 5 years later and Will and Evanlyn are happy together and everything sorts out
c) Just continue on, abandon the 5 years later thing and make Horace and Evanlyn sort of have a fling while Will is captured but Evanlyn feels really guilty about it later on.
I have no idea. These thoughts have been taxing my mind for quite a while now. Please let me know what you think. A,B,C or maybe another totally different idea.