Chapter 10

There was a new purpose about Antil now. He pushed up Halt's shirt and grazed his fingers over the swollen skin around the bandage. At first, he was hesitant, then all the years he had served as a healer came back to him. He held the limp wrist to feel the fluttery pulse, checked the temperature of the sweaty forehead, lifted the eyelids and, finally, undid the dressing that covered Halt's wound.

Ruch occupied himself with the fire, a smile on his lips at the newfound hope the healer was showing. The girls backed away, as both of them new better than to disturb Antil now.

Will found himself crouching uselessly. He licked his lips and had to swallow several times. Sure, Antil was glowing with fresh energy, but was that enough? What if he turned around and said: I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do.

"This is infected," Antil said after a long silence. "He didn't get treatment in time."

Will was falling, spiralling down, the words crashing around his head like waves on the rocky coast of Picta. He bit his lip, tightened his fists, forced down the insistant tears.

"You could have given him treatment earlier." He shouldn't have said it. Accusations weren't going to help Halt, he knew that. But Will was tired and miserable, and he really wanted to be home at Redmont now, strumming chords and singing to Alyss by the glowing embers of the fire.

Antil scowled. His eyes were starting to glaze again. He was drifting back into despair.

"I'm sorry," Will forced himself to say. "You're doing a great job. Is there anything else we can do for him?"

For a moment, Will thought the healer was going to go off on his 'we're all going to die anyway' rants. Antil shrugged and stretched his stiff arms.

"There might be some herbs for a poultuce that could help. Or at least a painkiller," he muttered. Will brightened a little.

"Describe them to me and I'll find them," he said.

The list that Antil gave him was so detailed, Will had to ask him to repeat parts a few times before he had it memorised. There were various roots under the richest soil, prickly leaves, long leaves, short and sticky leaves. Each variety of plant had a particular colour, and some had flowers that might not be in bloom- Antil couldn't remember the flowering season for many plants. He spoke of distintive petals and colours, then added that if they weren't there, he no longer needed some other plants as the flowers were a crucial part of his herbal remedy.

Will wanted to head out searching right away, but Ruch insisted that he wait until morning. So they all curled up in their shelters, their bones aching, as a light misting rain began to fall. By now, Will was more trusting of the Oramine. Antil had proven himself as a healer, Ruch had always seemed reliable, and since Will was so tired he couldn't bear the thought of a long watch, he could persuade himself that even Sirisa was trustworthy.

It was still raining come morning, and Will realised with some irritation that he would have to scour the forest for dry firewood. But this annoyance passed as he figured he had to find the herbs anyway and he could complete the two tasks at once.

"I'm hungry," Lillian complained.

"I have snares set up," Will told her. "With luck, they'll have caught something."

Lillian sighed and drew her knees to her chin. "I want to go home," she murmured. "I never want to go on a mission again. I think I will retire from being a courier and marry a nice boy and live in a comfortable house and have children."

Will glanced at her glum face in some surprise. He was about to say something about all her studying and how it would go to waste, then remembered she tended to be sensitive about it. Instead, he let his natural grin show through, searching for some of the comfortable camaraderie that existed between his friends when they were on missions together.

"Any particular boy?" he asked. His fingers slipped into his pocket to finger the engagement ring, thinking of the girl he would like to marry.

"N-no, of course not!" Lillian shook her head quickly, a blush heating up her cheeks. "I don't have a lover."

"Not even a close friend?" Will cocked his head, amused at her embarrassment.

"No! I mean, yes, I have a friend. But he's not...I mean...he's just a childhood friend of mine," She waved her hands, flustered.

Will grinned. Ruch crawled from his shelter just at the right moment and saw the expression.

"You're cheerfull today, ranger Will," he said, moving to help himself to a sip of water.

Will shrugged. He wasn't, really, but he knew if he showed too much negativity it would affect the others. He waited until Sirisa and Antil had woken up and was pleased to notice Antil checked on his patient before joining them around the fire. Then, when they had all drunken a little water, as they had nothing else for breakfast, he told them the plan for the day.

Antil was to stay at the camp and watch for any change in Halt. Ruch would go with Sirisa to check the snares and fetch more water, as he was the only one who could stand her, and he kept her in line with gentle admonishing when she protested that she would not go anywhere near the river after the monster fish had grabbed Will.

Because the two girls couldn't co-operate, Will decided Lillian would have to come with him. Her analytical mind and sharp memory for facts would help him in finding the right herbs, or so he hoped, and they would also take any dry firewood they could find.

He was right to have faith in Lillian. She could remember clearly everything Antil had told them, and once she settled into her rythym, she became very critical: "A Reethe root would grow in moister soil, ranger Will" "in Araluen, a plant with leaves like Antil described would be a kind of vine" "We have these back home in Caraway, they bloom in spring so there's no use in getting them, which means we also don't need the ystrelle, kajkil or frue." The names of the plants were all in Oramine, yet she remembered them with ease. Will was careful not to make any comments, though he was starting to think she might have been more suited as a scribe, or a teacher rather than a courier.

Lillian was lost in her own little world of facts and Will spoke to her only to direct her whirling mind in the direction he wanted. He fingered the ring in his pocket. If it were Alyss beside him, they would be sharing banter and she would whip out an acid comment from her never ending list of witty replies. Lillian did not see the need for such jokes, she stated stiff information and bristled when Will disagreed with her.

They took the herbs back to the camp. Antil didn't bother thanking them, just began pounding the leaves with a rock. Will left him to it. He'd managed to find firewood and remade the fire. Lillian crouched by the flames. She didn't seem open to casual conversation, so he went and sat by Halt, stroking his mentor's sweaty forehead and whispering what he hoped were comforting words to him. But really, he was trying to comfort himself more than Halt.

Antil applied some of his poultuce to Halt's wound. He laid out the rest on various flat rocks to save. The painkiller- he called it fujinjelli- he mixed with a little water to dribbled into Halt's mouth. Perhaps Will was imagining it, but he thought Halt seemed more peaceful in sleep after that.

"Let me see your hand," Antil said. So Will held out his injured hand and watched as Antil treated it. He declined the offer of the painkiller. Halt needed it all, and his hand didn't hurt too badly.

"What I want most in the world right now is a cup of coffee," Will mused.

"I don't really like coffee," Lillian admitted. He shot her a disbelieving look. She'd said much the same on the boat over to Oramin as well.

Ruch and Sirisa returned with, joy of all joys, a deer. They roasted it over the fire and filled themselves with the rich meat. Halt woke breifly and Will told him how Antil had agreed to help.

"I do feel better," Halt agreed but he might have just been saying that for Will's benefit because he was still pale and feverish. He managed a few bites of meat, then his face scrunched up and Will had to hold him steady as he threw up all over the undergrowth.

"That is not good," Antil said flatly, but no statements about inevitable death followed it so Will didn't bother getting annoyed with his matter of fact tone.

"Will," Halt grasped weakly at the younger man's collar. "You hurry and get out of here so you can propose to Alyss."

Will's eyes filled with tears. "I'm not leaving you, if that's what you're trying to say. If you want me safe home, you'll have to get better quick so you're well enough to cross the river."

But even the thought of the river filled him with dread as he recalled the monster fish.

…...

That night, there was a storm.

Will wasn't sure what roused him from sleep. Perhaps it had been the roar of thunder, or the sudden flash of lightning, or the wind buffeting against his shelter, or that fact that he was now lying in a pool of water an inch deep. Any of these things might have woken him.

The pool of water was the most alarming. The others had been going on for some time. Will crawled out of his shelter, ignoring the mud the coated his clothes, and hurried over to Halt's shelter. He regretted not building walls now- the older ranger was shaking violently and he was soaked through and muddy, just like Will.

A torential downpour obscured his vision. It was actually hard to breath through the thick mass of water pouring through the trees. Will became aware that the water on the ground was rising. Never had he been in such heavy rain.

"Will." Ruch had his arms over his head in an attempt to ward off the rain. He'd been on watch. "I was just about to wake you. It's a typical Oramin storm. We have to get to higher ground."

"Higher ground?" Will repeated. His boots were sinking into mud and he pulled them free with a squelching sound.

"The river will flood," Ruch explained. They were yelling over the rain. "This whole place will turn into a swamp."

Will bit his lip. He didn't want to move Halt, but he equally didn't think it a good idea to leave the ranger to drown. Obviously. "Wake the others," he told Ruch and bent down to scoop up his mentor. Halt's eyelids fluttered and he gargled something incoherent.

Lightning flashed again and for a split second, Halt was illuminated with white light that made him look even sicker than he was. Will held his mentor close and hoped his body warmth would be enough to keep the ranger alive despite his wet clothes.

Ruch appeared again with Sirisa and Lillian. All three of them were shivering and soaked to the bone. Will stumbled a few paces, squinting against the enslaught of rain. He wasn't sure which way was uphill, and when he tried to take a step, he tripped and crashed to the ground. Halt yelled out in pain; an almost inhuman cry, and Will cursed.

Blood mingled with water. Somehow, when Will lifted Halt again, his hands ended up stained red.

"Dammit," Will whispered. Halt's wound must have reopened.

"This way!" Ruch yelled. Will followed behind him. He was weak from days in the wild and it was much harder than it should have been to carry Halt.

Especially uphill. There was a steep slope that had turned into a mudslide more than anything else, and Will's feet were sucked out beneath him. He ended up lying on top of his mentor, trying to push them both up the hill, while mud oozed over them and the rain pounded down.

He was halfway up the slope, when he began to slip down. He desperately reached around and grabbed the trunk of a tree, holding on as a sudden torrent of water pushed the mud down. Ruch was right, the land was turning into a swamp.

But now he was holding on to Halt with only one hand. And to his horror, his grip was slipping.

The mud didn't help, it was making Wills hold around Halt's waist slippery, and the unconscious ranger was being pushed down the slope by the mud. Somewhere around him, one of the girls screamed.

Will closed his eyes, desperate. Halt slipped from his hold, but he managed to grab the ranger's arm. A stab of pain shot up Will's arm- it was the hand injured by the monster fish. The young ranger gritted his teeth. Raindrops stung his eyes, blinded him. The wind buffeted the trees; he was almost dislodged from his position. There was no time to worry about the others.

Then he lost his grip on Halt's arm.

His mentor was snatched away by the storm.

Well, that wasn't planned. Eh heh heh...yeah...

Review please! They go towards the Halt Rescue Foundation, to save neglected and abused Halts from fanfiction authors.