Chapter 5

Authors Note- The last chapter was short and boring, so I figured I could make it up to you guys by updating within the next day. Thanks to all the reviewers! Amazing feedback! Please continue read and review. Enjoy!

Disclaimer- John Flanagan owns RA, consequently; I do not.

Will groaned as his first feeling was one of stiffness and smoldering fire. It felt like someone had lit several candles on his stomach and let them burn until the hot wax melted and pooled to still on his abdomen. His whole side was a sharp ache and he found it harder than normal to breath. He laid unmoving on his back, he lacked the strength to roll over, which was confusing him because the last thing he could remember was him firing arrow after arrow in to the crowd down below all the while fighting off the small number of raiders who had made it up to his vantage point. So what am I doing here? Where is Halt and the rest of them? Gilan? Horace? He thought. Looking around, his eyes in slits, to limit the amount of sun exposure, he saw nobody, Oh god! Was I able to stop the execution? Panic seized him, he squeezed his eyes, concentrating, trying to remember. His memory was spotty, all he caught were flashes. Bit of color here and there, but not enough to piece together a timeline. The only image that came through clearly was a giant object, of some kind, hurling towards him from the sky. Sighing, he resolved to come back to that later because other sensations were coming back to him; His head felt like the anvil for the blacksmiths hammer. Maybe what Horace always said had finally come true, "all that thinking was going to hurt his head". On top of that his right eye brow itched like crazy. But now that he was paying attention to his body, he discovered that his whole right arm was limp, so limp in fact he wondered if it was there at all. He lifted his head slowly, with a lot of effort, and found it was very much still attached to his body, maybe a little too much since it was tied firmly to his chest. He also noticed that his tunic was cut open so exposed his mummy like, bandaged torso Will, exhausted by the effort, was more than willing to let his head drop back on the pillow. He let his eyes drift close for a few minutes. He tried to recall the events leading up to him lying in this bed and what happened to his friends, all the while drowning out the buzz of life taking place just outside his tent flap. He heard the crunching of sand underfoot approaching, so he continued to keep his eyes shut, kept up with the pretense of sleeping and made sure to breathe in as deep as he could without outwardly showing pain. Just until he identified the newcomer, Will told himself. Already the breathing was getting more painful than normal.

Halt came back from the stables with his big cup of kafay in hand. He was ready to settle back down to resume his vigil waiting for the young man to gain consciousness. He sighed and sat heavily back down in the chair. He watched Will as his chest rose slowly and fell even slower. He glanced down at his boots wondering when a miracle would come. Little did he kno-

"Can I have some of that?" Will inquired softly, almost at a whisper.

Halt jerked his head up in shock; Will's eyes were still closed so for a second he wondered if he had imagined the sound. No definitely not, he decided. Will's eyes were moving underneath his lids almost as if he was trying to open them. Will had recognized Halt and let the faint tension run out of body, leaving him bone tired again, so much so found he hard to open his eyes again.

"Does it really take something as simple as that to bring you around?" Halt asked incredulously, successfully keeping his glee and relief out of his gentle sarcastic tone.

Will still didn't open his eyes but he smiled.

"How do you feel?" Halt inquired in a softer tone.

Will nodded his head a little bit, in assurance that he felt fine, so that he would not dig the dagger, that he felt was protruding from his head any farther in to his aching skull. He grimaced.

Halt decided not to comment on the facial expression, instead he asked, "Could you try to open your eyes or does it hurt too much?"

Will grunted, hoping Halt understood that meant yes. It seemed he had since he continued, "Here just try. I'll even be your personal maid and block the sun for you." Will smiled at that, the very image of Halt wearing a dress and serving anybody anything other than a knuckle sandwich was comical. But Will recognized the plea hidden in the request; he knew he must have been in bad shape to get Halt in this attitude. He felt Halt's rough and calloused hand gently being placed over his eyes to shield his sensitive eyes. The youngest ranger took this as his cue. Halt waited until he felt eyelashes timidly flutter open against the inside of his hand before slowly pulling his hand away.

Halt looked down on the confused, pain filled, deep brown eyes. He thought he was never going to see those eyes open again. Will for his part was feeling uncomfortable under the continuous silent scrutiny. He tried to shift his position, then instantly wished he hadn't due to intense pain engulfing his side; which felt like a fire that had gotten a gust of oxygen. He slammed his eyes shut as white erupted in his vision. He clenched his jaw shut but could not stop a gasp of pain eliciting from him. Halt looked panicked for a split second before masking it. He replaced it with reassurance. The master laid his hand on his apprentice's uninjured shoulder to steady him. Halt softly squeezed it in comfort; he only released once he saw Will pry his eyes back open. The pain was more prominent in his eyes now than they were earlier. The older man made a mental note to harass the healer for some pain medication as soon as possible.

"Careful! Take it easy…just rest. You had a spear of wood sticking out of your side; you lost a lot of blood. You were unconscious for three days. Gave us quite a scare Will." Halt soothed.

Will's natural curiosity, never to be dampened, even by a near death experience, was able to help him focus on filling in some blanks in his memory, instead of on the intense pain in his side.

"What happened? Where are the others? Is Evanlyn alright? What about Horace and Gilan?"

Halt hid a smile at the typical styled Will question; it always led to more questions.

"They're alright; they're all fine, thanks to you and some Arridi soldiers and Bedullin warriors who appeared out of nowhere." The amusement at Will ingenuity was clear in Halt's voice. But then it grew somber as he continued, "But Yusal managed to destroy your tower using a catapult. Gil, Horace and I found you under a large support beam. Do you remember any of that?"

Will frowned in concentration, trying to recall anything. Now that Halt mentioned it he did remember lying in the dark underneath something heavy. There had been a painful itch at his side. And his cheek felt slick with something. He remembered being so annoyed at the persistent twitch in his side that he had grabbed whatever it was and pulled. As soon as he did that, he had wanted to put it back in. The pain flared up so much so he had let himself pass into unconsciousness.

"A little bit. Not much. I just remember being in the dark." Will admitted.

They fell silent for a few moments, satisfied with being in each other's presence.

Will sniffed as the aroma of coffee reminded him of his first question that Halt had tactically ignored, "So can I have some of that coffee?"

This time the smile really did break through on Halt's face.

"No this is my cup, made it myself. You want a cup, you make it."

Will was about to respond in similar sarcastic fashion when a different voice cut through the tent, "That's funny Halt because I seem to recall that I made that cup of coffee for you."

"Gilan!" Will exclaimed happily. He would have moved to embrace him, but his body wouldn't let him without punishing him harshly.

Both the older rangers seemed to sense this, Halt laid a gentle restraining hand on Wills chest while Gil replied, "Easy Will don't move. Although it is comforting to see that you haven't lost your impulsiveness." Will had the grace to look embarrassed at that; Gilan continued in a less joking manner, "It's great to see you awake. You were in pretty bad shape."

"So I've been told." Will yawned. Suddenly the coffee didn't seem like such a good idea because then it would hinder him from falling asleep; something his eyes seemed to desperately want to do at the moment.

Halt took the cue, patted Wills chest once, stood and ordered, "Get some sleep Will. We will be here when you wake up." Will didn't argue as he slipped in to darkness effortlessly.

Now alone the two rangers conversed, "How is he really?" Gilan inquired.

"He's in pain; I'm going to see the healer and get something for that. He can't seem to remember much of what happened after the tower collapsed. I probably should be worried but I guess it's a small mercy that he doesn't remember all of it."

Gilan nodded in agreement. He could see the relief overshadowing the exhaustion in Halts eyes. But that didn't mean that the tiredness just went away. Halt had barely slept for three days now. Horace and himself had tried to coax Halt to get some rest in the that time but he had declined. Now since Will had woken up he hoped Halt would take some down time.

"Come on. He's exhausted just like you. Let's go get some food. Maybe you can reconnect with the outside world, if it hasn't already forgotten you."

Halt snorted, "This world owes me to much. It would never forget me. I'm too valuable." He said as he made his way out of the tent.

Gilan laughed while he followed, "I think your confusing valuable with dispensable." He joked.

While others might have taken offence, Halt merely snorted again, "No that would be you. Now where is the food? I'm starving."

"Ha! This way, if Horace and the skandians left us anything."

Will's tent grew quiet as the footsteps receded in to the background, it was peaceful; faintly one could hear Will breathing softly as he slept. Then the atmosphere shattered as a shadow appeared against the white sheets. It could have been a passing stranger except it paused at the edge of the entrance, as if listening for anybody inside. Hearing none the figure peered into the door way. Cruel eyes surveyed the empty tent save for the vulnerable, sleeping figure on the cot in the corner. The eyes lit upon the boy, he approached silently. A long dagger seemed to leap into a darkly tanned hand. He reached the end of the bed and observed the unconscious young bowman.

"Left you all alone did they? Well that was their mistake, unfortunately you will be the one paying for it." The sinister whisper could hardly be heard; if one could not interpret the words, the evil smirk that spread across the man's face spoke volumes.

A/N-Well that's it for now, until next time! Ha ok maybe the ending was a little cliché but I got the point across. Will is in trouble! Again. I do have one request though, could somebody honestly review and tell me if maybe I waste too much time describing stuff, especially in this chapter. I know description is good but for some reason I think I'm over doing it. Ha well what do I know? Thanks for reading and your continued support.