All right! Here's the next chappie, lol. Aren't you glad I'm ready to write again? I sure am, I know that. Beth and I partied all last night. Here she is now, writing a hello (God, she types so slow)! Heh...that rhymes.

Hiya! Shut up Corinne. I didn't sit in front of a stupid comp for a year writing like you did

Yep...That's Beth. Isn't she awesome? XD! She also made some errors...such as the comma after up (The correct version is this: "Shut up, Corinne."), you shouldn't call it a comp all the time, and you should put a period at the end of the sentence...Yes, I am a grammar, spelling, punctuation Nazi.

Anyway, you should read now. I hope you enjoy the next installment of Our Solemn Hour!

Chapter Five: The Countdown, Day Two

"Halt!" At the shout, Halt opened his eyes and then sat up straight immediately, thinking that a Demon must have broken into the infirmary. Then he looked around to see Will, sitting up in bed and breathing hard, eyes wide as if he'd just woken up. Realization dawned on Halt: his apprentice had been having a nightmare.

Then he stood up, frowning, as Will swung his legs out of bed and stood as well, stretching and yawning. "I feel better," he informed Halt, who was ready to push him back into bed, thinking that he was still in pain and affected by the Demon's poison. "No more pain. I feel pretty good, actually."

"I'm sure you do, after that nightmare," Halt said sarcastically. "Oh, did Will have a bad dream?"

"It sounds like I'm a child when you say it like that," Will accused of him.

Halt gave him a withering look. Even though he had just woken up, he was in a very bad mood. "Will, you still are a child. If you weren't, don't you think you would be getting married to Alyss sometime soon, and have a family?" Will looked a bit surprised, for some reason, and then Halt found out he hadn't been listening. The hard way.

"You're getting married?"

"Just never mind, Will," Halt told him, turning away with a sigh. He was nearly shoved out of the way as a bubbly blonde girl suddenly darted by and then nearly smothered Will in a huge hug, practically shouting in his ear with what seemed to be words full of joy. Either that or anger, Halt told reminded himself, and then watched as Jenny began to yell again, eyes shut tight as Will tried to pry her away.

"Will! OhmyGodyouwouldn'tbelievewhathappened!" The girl paused, and then let Will fall onto his bed, gasping for breath. Halt was too busy wondering what she had said to help Will. At least, that was what he would say later when Will confronted him on the fact. "Pauline almost got attacked, and so did Alyss!"

At that, Halt began to try and listen to what she was saying; Jenny's words were being jumbled again as she spoke as quickly as she could. "!"

Halt and Will shared a glance. What did she say? they both seemed to ask each other. Jenny saw the looks, and then took a deep breath, having become slightly dizzy from talking so quickly and without any kind of pause in her words. "Last night, Pauline and Alyss were getting ready for bed when something crashed through Pauline's bedroom window and tried to kill her. Alyss came in to see what had happened, and she almost got attacked as well. Sir Rodney was going down the corridor at the time, and happened to hear their screams. He went in and saved them. They would have been dead just about now!"

Chewing his bottom lip, Halt forced himself to stay silent, to not ask how Pauline was doing. Will corrected the problem for him. "How are they? Pauline and Alyss, I mean."

"They're doing fine now, but I'm sure they'd like to see both of you!" Jenny exclaimed, and began to push the two reluctant Rangers toward the door, not minding the glare from Halt and the protests from Will.

"I'm not even dressed to go anywhere!" Will complained repeatedly, but Jenny continued to hum a song while still shoving them toward the door. "Jenny, just let me get dressed first."

Jenny stopped. "You have five minutes. Hurry up! And you," she said sharply to Halt, who was silently moving toward the other door, at the end of the infirmary, "stay right there."

Will watched in surprise as Halt, scowling, did as was asked, and leaned against the wall while waiting for his apprentice to finish dressing and hurry up. Looking up, he saw what was taking the boy so long: gazing at his reflection in the mirror, he was trying to fix up his tangled hair. Mentally slapping himself, Halt strolled over quietly, reached out with both hands, and then messed up Will's hair. Dragging the protesting boy along by the elbow, Halt growled, "I think we've gone through this once before. You don't need to look like a girl for Alyss."

"I was almost done!" Will cried, trying to find something to hold onto, so that Halt would let go and allow him to fix his hair again.

"That doesn't matter. I'm sure she'll fix your hair for you if you just ask her."

"Does Pauline ever do that to you, Halt?" Will asked curiously, and Halt stopped, gazing at him pointedly. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a 'you'd better shut up now, Will,'" Halt told him almost cheerfully.

"Oh." Will let the matter drop.

They reached Pauline's apartment in what seemed like no time, and Jenny knocked on the door. It was answered a few seconds later by a tall blonde girl who gave a beaming smile at the sight of Will, who was sitting on the ground, his elbow still held in an iron grasp, but he brightened up at the sight of Alyss, who hauled him to his feet. "Now that Will's here, I'll be leaving," Halt said to nobody in particular. "I have things to do, and Abelard and Tug won't be able to feed themselves."

"The stable boy can take care of them," Alyss said flatly.

Halt glowered at her. "I have a report from Crowley that needs taken care of."

"You're not a Ranger at the time."

"I..."

"Somebody else can take care of it."

Halt opened his mouth to speak again, but Alyss cut him off, repeating what she had said just a moment ago. "Somebody else can take care of it, Halt. You came here willingly—"

"Whoever said that?"

"—and you're going to stay here for a while. Willingly."

"That's not exactly fair, Alyss," Halt retorted, earning a steely look from her. Why does she have to be exactly like Pauline? Halt thought to himself. "I'll stay for five minutes, just to make sure Will won't be mauled as soon as I turn my back. Then I'll be on my way and gone from here."

"Don't you want to stay for a little while? We've made coffee, and plenty of it," came a different voice, and Halt almost visibly winced, briefly closing his eyes as he turned around and met Pauline's gaze. "I'm sure you wouldn't want all of the coffee to go to waste, would you, Halt?"

"I'm sure you don't want an insane person in your apartment," Halt growled.

It was Pauline's turn to wince, but she regained her composure just as quickly as he had. "And maybe I've changed my mind about that? Didn't the messenger deliver that note to you?" she said in a dangerous voice. The other three shared glances, agreeing silently upon something, and then Alyss spoke quickly.

"How about we go outside and let Will feed Tug and Abelard? I'm sure he misses them both."

The other two nodded, and then went down the corridor, the opposite way of which they had come, leaving the Diplomat and the Ranger alone to glare at each other. "Why don't you come in, Halt? Like I said, we have coffee. And if I remember correctly, a certain insane person likes coffee very much." After a moment's hesitation, Halt nodded once and then went in wordlessly, hearing the door close behind him. It was as if somebody had just closed a cell door, sending him to his death involving coffee, talking, and a rather angry woman. As that angry woman in particular went to get some coffee, Halt sighed, leaning back where he was sitting, and then gazed around at the wreckage the Demon had made, praying almost absently that Pauline wouldn't kill him for whatever he had done to make her upset.

"You like honey in your coffee, don't you?" Pauline called from the kitchen. For a moment Halt considered just sneaking out the door again and making a run for it, but then decided not to, one of the best decisions he had ever made.

"Will does. I pretend to, but I really don't. Most of the time I hold it against him. It's one of the topics in our arguments," he replied, the last sentence merely a mutter, and he knew she wouldn't hear that last bit. Pauline came back in with two mugs of coffee, and she handed one to him, settling back into the chair opposite from him. Drinking deeply, Halt wondered what she would do if he suggested the steaming drink was poisoned. Most likely slap me, he reasoned. "Thank you."

Pauline bobbed her head slightly in acknowledgment, and then they were both silent. It was a rather uncomfortable silence, and Halt wondered what he should say, if there was anything he could say. Thus he chose one of the stupidest things. "How have you been?"

"Very well, considering a Demon attack, near death, my apartment's destruction, and Sir Rodney's becoming injured and poisoned." She was glowering at him now, and he wondered what he had done to make her even more angry than before. "Other than that, I've been perfectly and completely fine, Halt. And how have you been lately?"

"Sir Rodney was poisoned?" Halt frowned. "How badly?"

"Not badly. He'll be perfectly fine by this afternoon, the physician said." Pauline was still glaring at him, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Why do you look so damned angry at me?" A burning sensation began in two places: his left cheek, where Pauline had slapped him, and his lap, where his coffee had spilled. Standing up, he gazed down at his ruined leggings, and then winced as the hot drink began to burn his legs. "Get something to wipe this up, will you?" he exclaimed, and the wide-eyed Pauline stood silently for a moment while he tried to lift up his pant legs where the spill was, and then abruptly began to laugh, only slightly at first and then into a growing laughter, eventually having to sit down, holding her stomach, her former anger and usual dignity so suddenly gone.

After a moment of wordlessly staring at her, Halt felt the corners of his mouth twitch, and though he tried to force himself not to, he began to grin, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. Finally Pauline stopped laughing, and the grin disappeared instantly from Halt's face, before she could see it. "I was serious. You'll get me something to wipe this up, won't you?"

"Of course, Halt." She stood, and then turned around, embracing him briefly, while he stood, practically frozen, stunned. "I'm sorry."

The rest of the day passed rather smoothly, and when Will, Alyss, and Jenny returned from their long walk, they found Halt and Pauline sitting next to each other on the couch, talking in ease and friendliness now, and Will was slightly surprised to see that Halt was smiling faintly. The two didn't even notice the three apprentices come in.

"You'll be staying for dinner, won't you?" Pauline was saying. "Or do you want to go back to your cabin and at least change your pants? Those ones are ruined."

Halt nearly grinned. "I'll stay. You can hardly see where the coffee spilled, anyway." He looked up suddenly and noticed the other three, standing rather awkwardly in the doorway. His smile faded instantly, and he retreated to the stoic persona he hid behind. Will was chewing his bottom lip, and then met his mentor's eyes with a grin and a wink, looking back and forth from Halt to Pauline.

Ranger Halt mentally slapped himself. If Will kept it up with his oh-so-knowing attitude about his and Pauline's rumored relationship, though he had no idea what went on between the two, Halt would be forced to punish him. And he was certain that a person looked rather odd without a backside, though he had never seen something like that before. He wasn't sure he really wanted to, but of course he wasn't going to tell his foolish, goofy apprentice that.

"Why is your apprentice looking at us like that?" Pauline hissed in a low voice, so that only Halt heard.

"I have no idea," Halt lied. Pauline sighed but accepted the not-so-satisfactory reply, and then stood up, taking the empty coffee mugs into the kitchen. Halt stood as well, stretching and then going over to his apprentice. "Mind if I have a word with you?" he said mildly, and Will nodded brightly, following his mentor over to the other side of the room, where the two puzzled girls watched them but couldn't eavesdrop. "What are you thinking?" he demanded quietly. He gave Will no chance to reply before he went on. "There is absolutely nothing going on between Pauline and I. You need to stop thinking that."

For a moment Will didn't do anything, but then he scowled. "Then why do you look at her like..."

He didn't get any farther, since Halt was giving him a very dangerous look. "Like what, Will?"

"Like you love her or something! Every time you see her you have this weird look on your face. And then one time, while you were asleep and I was taking the first watch, you said her name. And it was in a love way." Will didn't even know if he was making sense, but decided not to say anything else. The deadly gleam in Halt's eye wasn't encouraging any more words from him.

"I do not look at her in a weird way," he growled. Do I? "And when you heard me say her name, it might have been out of anger. She's always done evil things to me, and enjoys it very much. You need to stop having those thoughts of yours, or else everyone in Redmont will suddenly know how much you like Alyss."

Will's eyes were very wide, and he was gaping slightly—but not at Halt, and his mentor frowned, confused, until his apprentice spoke. His voice was a mere whisper. "Halt. A Demon is staring at you through the window. Don't move."

Halt froze, resisting the urge to spin around and take a look for himself, to see if Will wasn't merely trying to change the subject from dangerous waters and into a different matter altogether. Any doubts melted away when one of the girls gave a chilling scream, which the other girl joined in with. There was a crashing sound from behind him, and then Pauline darted out of the kitchen, stiffening abruptly as she saw the howling Demon in her apartment. Halt had already nocked his bow, which had fortunately been leaning against the wall, and Will drew his saxe knife.

"Get out of here, you three!" Halt said sharply to the women, and they all did as he said immediately, running for help, but leaving the door open. Raising his bow again, the arrow ready to fly free, Halt kept his eyes on the...chuckling Demon? Will's eyes were very, very wide, and went impossibly wider when the sinister creature began to speak. Halt wished that he would never have to hear the voice again.

"Thy attempts art hopeless. Thou cannot win." (I've studied that way of speaking for years now, in order to write my novel, since the Daemon King speaks that way...unless he's angry. This Demon will be the same way.) Will was trying to speak to Halt, who was glancing around discreetly to see if there was any way he and Will would be able to escape.

Escape. It was something Halt thought he would never have to do, honestly, but now here he was, eyes darting around the room desperately. Like a trapped animal, he thought in disgust. The Demon laughed, and the Ranger began to wonder if the thing could read his thoughts. He found out if that was a yes or a no when the Demon spoke a few seconds later. "Any attempts to escape are useless. I'd be able to sense them from your mind as soon as the thought came." There seemed to be a more angry quality in the monster's voice, and Halt noticed (rather absently, too) that he had dropped the formal use of words. That was probably not good.

Will looked ready to throw his saxe, but the Demon laughed. "A mere knife, kill me, the King of Demons? Unspeakable." The beast's voice had changed to a low growl, a warning sign. A sudden claw whipped through the air, and Will's saxe knife was suddenly on the floor by the Demon, who lifted it into the air and stared at it briefly with it's single eye. "This weapon is weak," the monster decided after a moment, and the weapon dropped to the floor. "Useless. I was going to just repeat some words to you that we all want you to know, but now that you've threatened me with weapons..."

There was another crash from the window behind the cornered Halt and Will, and the two Rangers were showered in glass, closing their eyes tightly and lifting their cloaks up to block some of the stinging shards. Then Will looked up, one eye squinted since he had been hit, and shouted a warning Halt didn't have time to hear, as something hit him very hard in the back, between his shoulder blades, and he felt a strange rush of weakness go through him.

Poison, was his last thought before he hit the ground, unconscious.

Oh now! What's going to happen now? Sorry it took so long again; my computer was being a turd and wouldn't let me go on the internet. Stupid computer...-_- well, it finally let me at least.

I'll keep writing and have the next chappie up soon :D! Oh, and the next chapter will be also part of Day Two, since it's not over yet(; XD! I'm having way too much of a good time. Yes, I am pretty messed up, aren't I, writing about deaths and Daemons and writing bloody battle scenes? I love this...*sighs blissfully*

Anyway...you should R&R. And, btw,

Velvet out!