The city of Hallasholm on lockdown was not at all what Angie had expected a lockdown to be. Instead of everyone hiding inside their well fortified homes, the mountainous men were roaming the city with battle axes whirling. They upturned everything, shattered crates, busted down doors and sent people into their storages to go through their liberated treasures. Angie was overseeing the inspection of the storage units. Unfortunately Will sent her there with Johnny.
"What do they expect us to do, I don't even know what we're looking for," Johnny complained from inside one of the storages.
"Assassins," Angie called from out in the walkway, watching three rooms while the seawolves searched through their belongings. "Short with ugly purple clothes, wide brimmed hats and crossbows, they have funny accents."
"Everyone here has a funny accent," Johnny muttered darkly kicking a rolled up tapestry on the floor.
"Hey, that is a very important rug," the burly Skandian, Olin, shouted from behind a row of spears. "I don't appreciate you kicking it."
Johnny rolled his eyes moving away from the dust collecting tapestry, "Why are we going through all of this? Do they really think these assassins are going to be hiding in all this junk?"
A chorus of "Hey!" rose around them from the Skandians sifting through the accumulated treasures. Angie grinned, the Skandians did not like Johnny either and they thought she walked on water. "Watch your mouth boy, these are treasures," Olin shouted loud enough for all of Hallasholm to hear.
"We don't know where the Geneovasens are going to be," Angie's mouth twisted at the strange name, she was sure she was still saying it wrong, but everyone more or less understood what she meant. "Will says we have to look everywhere for them."
"Then let's go check the docks," Johnny stuck his head out of the storage room. "You said they were on a ship, wouldn't they hide there until they could kill the jarl?"
"That is an excellent thought," Angie raised her brow in sarcasm. "And if we had actually been here when the ship came in we could do that. And if we knew which ship it was, that would be a great plan. But we don't and it's after dark, we have no idea where there are now, so we're checking everywhere."
Johnny narrowed his eyes at Angie, she was leaning against a wall, spinning her necklace around her finger as she watched a Skandian seawolf across the walkway. She stood beneath a torch, the shadows flickered around her distorting her figure under the mottled cloak. It was not fair that she was ranked above him, she had run away.
"This is pointless," Johnny retreated back into the room. It was so crowded there was no way a person could be in there, no matter how small they might have been. "Why would they be here?"
Angie did not immediately respond, she was doubtlessly thinking of a viable reason for the hired assassins to be hiding in the stashed treasures of the seawolves. Johnny sighed looking at the stash around him, there were more weapons tossed in haphazardly then there was in the entire armory of Redmont. What he would give to have some of those weapons in his possession.
"Why do you have so many weapons?" Johnny pulled a sword out of a barrel filled with them. It was a full meter long and sat more comfortably in his hand than the weapon assigned to him from the Battle School.
"I inherited them from my father, he liberated them from a few places," the Olin's head appeared from behind a wall of rolled tapestries, he had donned a war helmet from the far off nation of Nihon-Ja.
"Where did this one come from?" he held the blade up over his head for the seawolf to see.
"Couldn't say, I don't use swords, I prefer the battle axe." Olin gave a toothy grin, "Much better for braining."
Johnny lowered the sword, staring at in intently. This sword was perfect for him, it fit his hand. He was meant to wield that sword. "Can I have it?" he asked, wading over to the Skandian.
"Well," the Olin was bent over a barrel of jewels, he scratched his temple. "I suppose so, I have plenty of them."
Johnny dug through the weapons until he found the scabbard that fit the sword and tied it to his belt. Feeling satisfied he went to join Angie in the walk.
"How much longer?" he asked looking around at the four opened units.
"I think these are the last four, then we're meeting up with Maddie at the green."
"What about Will and Horace?"
"They're with Hal in the Oberjarl's Palace. They're planning something," Angie slipped her necklace over her head as one of the Skandians emerged from his storage.
"There is nothing in my storage, small Ranger," he announced. "Now, I'm going to patrol the docks," he hefted his battle axe on his shoulder.
"Have fun," Angie called after him. "Brain them once for me!"
"Gorlog's beard, girl! I'll brain them twice for you if I catch them," he laughed heartily leaving them.
"Gorlog?" Johnny watched the man leave. "What is a Gorlog and why is the beard so important?"
"I don't know," Angie shrugged, "but Will likes to include his toe nails."
"His toe nails?" Johnny cast Angie a suspicious look, feeling like he was on the butt end of a joke once again. "I will never understand Rangers," he shook his head quickly.
"Not asking you too, you're just a whack and basher," Angie held a straight face, it was impossible to tell if she was joking or not. "Come on, let's see if they've finished yet," Angie pushed herself away from the wall. She vanished into one of the rooms, reemerging seconds later with a laughing Skandian.
"I've never seen a stunt like that," the Skandian barked, his hand resting heavily on Angie's shoulder. "I thought you were flying!"
"I was flying," Angie's face was pale, the Skandian was holding her upright as she walked.
"That you were, and without a sound. You Rangers are terrifying," he clapped her roughly on the shoulder as he turned to leave. "Flying through the air without a sound," he shook his head, "I've never heard of such a thing."
"Glad I could demonstrate," she tried to smile but Angie's stomach was still in her throat from her brief flight in the store room. "Now go brain some assassins for me!"
"That I will girl, that I will," he called back cheerily with a wave of his massive hand.
Angie leaned back against the wall taking a deep cleansing breath. Lesson learned, she thought trying to settle her queasy stomach, always watch where your feet are. She gulped and looked at Johnny, who seemed torn between amusement and concern. He had not see her in the store room, she was thankful for that. The last thing she needed was him teasing her over that.
"It's nothing," she managed to snap, straightening. "Now go see what those other two are doing. We have to meet Maddie."
All four of the rooms were clear. Angie took the torch from the bracket on the wall and led the way to the green. They had been in Hallasholm for nearly a week, and Angie felt she had a pretty good idea of how to get around. But in the dark, all her markers were shadowed and she was lost instantly.
"You're lost," Johnny commented looking around them. He had never been wherever Angie had led them. It looked like a shipyard, which easily could have been what it actually was.
"Maybe a little," Angie admitted. She had never claimed to be all knowing, and she had known Johnny long enough for him to know that she was not. "Everything looks different in the dark."
"Great," Johnny snatched the torch from Angie's hand. "I did not sign up for this."
"Neither did I," Angie snapped crossing her arms glaring at Johnny. "I don't know why they keep pairing us up like this. They know we hate each other!"
The two young apprentices glared at one another in the torchlight. They both knew they had other places to be, Maddie was waiting for them and they would play some role in the plan Will was making with Horace and Hal. But they were too stubborn to allow the other to lead, and too stubborn to admit that.
"Maybe they're trying to chase you away," Johnny finally responded after a few silent minutes of staring. "They've decided you're not worthy since you ran away."
"It's a good thing I ran off, I found out about the assassins trying to kill Hal," Angie's voice rose to a shout.
"It was just lucky," Johnny had no real response to that. She overheard the most exciting point of this trip. But she had still run away. "If you hadn't been such a baby you wouldn't have been out on the mountain."
"It's a good thing I was on the mountain," she said shrilly. "So I guess we have you to thank for that." Johnny's face slackened, his next comment dying in his mouth.
Thank him for her running away? Was she really going to pin everything on him? That was hardly fair, he had done nothing. Well there had been the little argument on the green, but that was hardly a reason to run off.
"If you had just left me alone I wouldn't have given up. I would have been here and no one would know about the Geneovasen Assassins trying to kill Hal so he won't be the Oberjarl. So it's your fault were out here right now, it's your fault we're lost, and it's your—look out," Angie lunged toward him suddenly, her arms outstretched and her eyes wide with panic.
She hit him around the waist, launching him through the air. As he fell, Johnny could see what Angie was saving him from. Several wooden beams had been knocked loose and were falling where Johnny had been standing; and where Angie was laying after her tackle.
He hit the ground, the wind knocked from his lungs, the same time the beams rolled and bounced over the form of the apprentice Ranger. He could hear her scream as the wood went over her body, the sound set his teeth on edge.
Johnny scrambled around on the ground, trying to find purchase to propel himself to where Angie lay half buried beneath the lumber. What had caused the wood to roll?
Not important, he snapped. He had to get her out of there, he had to make sure. She could not be dead, he hated the thought. Not Angie, she would not just die. They had been together forever, he could not imagine his life with her there to taunt.
It was more than that. He might have hated her, teased and made fun of her. He could even accept that he was a horrible person for bullying her their entire childhood. But she was like an annoying sister, she was a large part of his life. "Don't be dead," he whispered repeatedly lifting the logs and tossing them aside.
She was stretched out on her stomach beneath the lumber, one arm covering her head. The other lay at a grotesque angle. One of her legs was bent like it had three knees instead of one and wrapped around the other. Her breathing was short, ragged gasps. She was in pain just trying to breathe. But she was breathing, she was alive.
She moaned when he lifted the last of the beams from her legs, "Johnny," she gasped, her blue eyes dimming as she searched for him in the shadows," are—are you," she moaned softly trying to curl in on herself.
"I'm fine," he gasped, his own breath quickening. "What happened?"
"The Geneovesans," she gasped, her unbroken arm reaching out for Johnny. "They heard us. They're here. You have to go find Will."
"I'm not leaving you," he held her hand tightly, brushing her hair back from her face. "If they're here, they'll kill you when I leave."
"I'm already dead," Angie gasped, a smile forced on her pale face. "They'll kill you too. Go—go get," she stopped, her face twisting in pain.
"I'm coming back for you," Johnny promised releasing her hand. "You're not going to die; I'm coming back for you."
Johnny ran from the shipyard.