A/N: So, I should have updated sooner, but I've been extremely busy! I even had homework on the first day of school! Anyway, on with the story!

(Halt)

I saw only one enemy, the one in front of us. There were a lot of them, but I knew we could win. Even though I had no memories of ever fighting in a battle like this, I knew I could rely on my instincts. Seconds passed like minutes, minutes like hours. Then, our leader spoke to the enemy. "If you wish to surrender, then you can come over to our side and fight with us!"

A man, the enemies leader, returned, "We'll never surrender! Also, you may want to think about our hostage! He put up a good fight, but we nearly killed him in the end! Right now, my men are waiting for orders to kill him and start this war!"

"Let the hostage die! He is useless to me now!" The Boss yelled.

There was a paused, then the enemy leader bellowed, "Attack!" The enemy frontlines rushed forward, but we shoved the hostages in front of us to use as shields. However, then enemy never stopped and I heard screams from behind me. Turning around, I saw the back of our army being torn to shreds by a group of knights.

Our leader glared at the enemy, "Forward! Don't stop until either you or them are dead!"

We moved forward with our human shields, leaving some behind to fight the enemy that appeared behind our ranks. The hostages struggled, but none were getting away. Beside me, an arrow hit another man in the arm, making him fall to the ground. His hostage, a young boy, looked in fright, then ran toward the enemy. The enemy took in the hostage with open arms, pushing him toward the back. Another arrow struck down another man, this time in the leg, and his hostage managed to escape as well. I knew if it continued like this, every one of the hostages would get away. I looked for the shooter and finally saw him on the sidelines. I released my hostage and let her run into the enemy ranks, then I charged the archer. He looked stunned for a second as I swung a long knife at him, but he blocked a second before the knife sliced his throat. "Halt." The man said. "You have to remember me!" I ignored him and pushed him backward, then used another knife to swing at him again. This time, the blade met his arm before the man had a chance to block. I swung again, hitting the man in the head with the knife's hilt, sending the enemy stumbling. "Halt, it's me Gilan!" The man stated as he regained his balance, blood trickled down his brow. "I was your apprentice before Will! I annoyed you at Gatherings, nearly shot you with an arrow once while training, and even embarrassed you in front of your wife, Lady Pauline. Come on, Halt, I'm not the enemy here!"

Gilan, Will, Lady Pauline, apprentice... Those words were jammed into my brain and I couldn't let them go, but I knew this was the enemy. After all, the Boss had said so. I swung again, but the man blocked. Eventually, I continued to swing and changed the speed until the man fell to the ground weaponless with my knife at his throat.

(Will)

My orders were to simply kill and that's what I was going to do. I was in the middle of the battle, cutting down anybody that stood in my way; I was unstoppable. Nothing ran through my mind as my knife sliced through flesh, one vitim after another. The hilt of the knife felt heavier with every drop of blood. Screams of both the living and the dying filled the atmosphere, not that I cared. I continued to swing the two knives in my hands, killing anybody within range. Finally, to my surprise, somebody managed to block one of my attacks. Quickly, I kicked the enemy in the kneecap, sending him to the ground. I swung the knife toward the man's heart, but a sword met the hilt of knife, blocking the blow. The man kicked me in the stomach, sending me back a few feet, and then rose to his feet. I had no emotion, so I felt nothing as I attacked. Then, the more tired I became, the more emotions I felt.

Finally, I realized who I was fighting.

(Gilan)

I stared at my mentor, my friend, as he held the long knife at my throat. My heart wouldn't believe my friend was going to kill me, but my brain said otherwise. An overwhelming sadness filled my heart because I knew Halt didn't know what he was doing, but I didn't shed any tears. I just stared into the eyes of my friend and upcoming murderer. Then a gleam of recognition shone in Halt's eyes. "Gilan?"

"Halt?" I asked, hoping this wasn't some trick and he was in his right mind again. "Are you okay?"

He looked at me, then at the knife and finally put it together. "They injected us with something." He put the knife down and held out his hand, "Sorry, Gilan." I grabbed his hand and let him help me to my feet. "What's going on here?"

"War." I stated simply.

"I know that, you idiot. What's the full story?" Halt said, annoyed.

In that moment, I knew Halt was back. I sighed in relief, then looked at my mentor with a serious look on my face. "Okay, you were captured a few weeks ago. Then, the enemy came and captured children and we were attacked last night without warning. Derrick told us the enemy plans and no we're here. They injected you all with something, but it must have only been temporary, and they used you to attack us. While you attacked us, you also used humans as shields, but they're all safe from what I've seen."

He nodded my hand in understanding, "You can give me the details later. Right now, we fight."

I smiled and picked my weapons off the ground, "Sounds good."

(Horace)

"Horace?" Will asked.

I sighed, "Thank the gods, Will. I knew if I had to block one more attack, I wasn't going to live."

"Okay, I can pretty much figure out what's going on, but tell me who the enemy is." Will stated.

"The same ones that captured you, but most of the Rangers have turned against them. We're winning now." I shook my head, "That's not important right now. We need to start fighting again and end this."

Before any of us could say anything else, thunder boomed in the distance. We both took this as a sign to attack the enemy.

(Derrick)

Finding the leader was easier than I expected, it only took a few threats to get the exact location. As I thought, the leader was in a place where he could see the fight surrounded by the top ranking fighters; he was on a small ridge overlooking the battle. Luckily, there were only three people surrounding the leader, which meant I only had to fight four people. In the distance, I realized most of the Rangers' were attacking my enemy now and I was glad they were in they're right minds again.

"This battle wasn't supposed to last this long! We were supposed to demolish everyone!" The enemy leader yelled to nobody but himself.

I walked toward him, "They won't give up easily."

He and his protectors looked at me, "Why aren't you fighting?" The leader asked.

"Let me rephrase my last statement. We won't give up easily." I pulled two saxe knives from my pocket and lunged at the leader, but one of the guards blocked my way. I swung the knife, left, right, left, and left again, finally managing to hit him in the temple with the knife hilt. As the man fell defeated, another attacked and managed to cut me on the arm. I felt blood trickle down my forearm and drip from my fingertips, but I still managed to fight. Then, before I knew what was happening, the third man attacked from behind, cutting a deep gash into my back. While I was distracted by the man behind me, the one in front of me cut a deep gash into my chest. The man behind me kicked me behind the knee, sending me to the ground. Briefly, I noticed rain began to fall and thunder rumbled above us. There were no more sounds of fighting and I wondered who won.

The leader glared at me. "This is all your fault! You told them our plans you traitor!" His voice was louder than the roaring thunder, and I saw his knife blade glint against the lightning. This was the only thing that saved me from having my throat slit. I jumped backward from my knees, missing the blade by a few centimeters. Qiuckly, I rose to my feet.

"I'm not a traitor to my country! I was never one of you!" I retorted.

The leader grinned, "You think you're a Ranger, kid? The way we trained you to fight went beyond any Ranger skills. We were training you to become an assassain! Do you really think you can be a Ranger when your skills lie somewhere else?"

"I don't kill people just to be killing!" I yelled. "I'm not an assassain!" With this, I attacked. The enemy leader was caught by surprise and I managed to cut his shoulder. The man hissed painfully, then swung his own knife at me while I was still in midair. I twisted my body, so the blade only cut my shirt. However, I landed wrong and my ankle twisted. A loud crack echoed in the atmosphere and pain shot through my ankle. Immediately, I felt sick and knew I fractured the bone, but I still rose to my feet, keeping my weight on my right side. The leader attacked again and I tried to dodge the attack, but the knife still cut my forehead, just above the eye. Blood dripped into my right eye and I blinked to try to see properly and the other two pinned my arms behind my back. I struggled, but they punched me in the head, making my vision fuzzy and my head swim. They lifted me to my feet and held me there. I finally stopped struggling and raised my head to look at the leader.

He grabbed me by the chin and lifted my head until my eyes were level with his. "There is no way I will let a child like you kill me." He raised his knife in the air and was ready to send it into my chest. However, I kicked the man beside me with my good leg, forcing him to let go of my arms. Then, I swung the other one in front of me as the blade came down. The leader stabbed his own guard in the neck, but he treated the man like he was simply an inconvenience. He pulled the blade out of the man's neck and attacked me once again. I grabbed one of my weapons off the ground and turned to meet his attack, but I was already off balance. When the leader saw this, he pushed against the knife, sending me to the muddy ground. Another lightning streak lit the air and I could see the man's face contorted in hate. He grabbed me by my neck and stabbed me in the stomach. First, a frigid coldness formed in my stomach around the wound. Then, came the pain. I gritted my teeth painfully as the knife was pushed deeper into the wound. The leader twisted the knife until I cried out in pain, blood flying from my mouth. He let go of the knife and stepped away from me, watching me writhe as I tried to find a way to escape the agony. I lifted my hand to the hilt and touched the leather material, wet and warm with my own blood. I let my head fall to the ground, allowing the rain to fall on my face. My eyes were closed and I realized it was becoming harder to breathe. The leader said something, but I couldn't understand him. Then, I remembered my conversation with Gilan. He told me to make it back home, to my friends and family. With newfound strenth, I managed to crawl slowly to my knees and pull the knife from my stomach. The leader was walking away from me and I knew he hadn't heard me stir. I stood as still as I could and threw the knife. Lightning streaked across the sky at the same moment the knife made contact with the enemy's head. He crumpled to the ground, dead. I grabbed my stomach and breathed as best as I could, glad it was over. Then, I slowly half walked, half stumbled in the direction my comrades were. I made my way down the path I had taken and finally made my way on the sidelines of the battlefield. I saw a large group of Araluen warriors and Rangers in the distance. I knew they couldn't see me, so I continued to walk. However, I was growing weaker with every step. My hearbeat was beginning to slow and it was getting more difficult to breathe. Still, I walked until I heard someone yell in alarm and I knew they saw me. I looked up to see a few people running at me; I stopped where I was, swaying. Then, I fell into my father's arms.

"Derrick... You're going to be okay." Father said as he put pressure on my knife wound.

I wanted to believe him, but the pain was just too much. Lighting lit up the sky again and I was able to see who was around me: father, mother, Halt, Gilan, Horace, and even Melody. I smiled, everyone I fought to protect was there. I swallowed the blood that rose into the back of my throat and I could hear my own heartbeat. Thump... thump... thump... thump... thump... It was an awful sound and I didn't want to hear it. My eyes began to close and father shook my shoulders to get me to stay awake, but it wasn't working. I closed my eyes and heard my heartbeat. Thump... thump... thump... th-um... th-um... thump...

*Three Weeks Later*

(Melody)

The days after the battle was rough and tragic. A lot of people I knew and loved died. Funerals were held nearly everyday, most of the bodies cremated. I sat on a bank overlooking a creek and grieved for all the lives lost. A few seconds later, a hand rested on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, "It's hard, loosing someone you have known for years."

He sat down beside me, "I know. He was my friend, too. But he died to protect this kingdom."

"I understand that, but it still hurts." I stated. "He didn't deserve to die, none of them did."

He hugged me gently, "Remember how they lived, not how they died. He was one of my best friends and I know he died content with the way he lived."

A tear slipped down my cheek, "It's like everybody I knew has just left."

He made me look up at him, "I lived just to be with you, my friends, and my family. I won't leave you just yet." His lips met mine and I felt my sad emotions and thoughts slip away. He pulled away, "I nearly died and I came back for you and the others. I came back because I love you."

I smiled at my lifelong friend and love of my life, but our moment was cut short by a man yelling for him in the distance. He smiled and kissed me one more time, this time, acting like he could stay in this moment forever, not that I would complain. I laughed, pulled away, and put my hand on his chest. "You better go."

He smiled, "Yeah, or my mentor will die of impatience." He rose to his feet, "I'll see you later."

"Definately. Now, don't keep Gilan waiting. After all, I hear Ranger's are very impatient." I smiled, joking with him.

"You're right about that." He said and ran away as Gilan called for him again. I smiled as I watched the Ranger's apprentice, Derrick Treaty, disappear beyond the trees.

A/N: So, this is the final chapter. Did you like it? Hate it? Should I do a sequel? Will I get feedback?