Chapter 2:
hey guys! here's the second chapter for you :) Hope you guys are enjoying it. Good news is that my brother and i have nearly finished working out the plot so we should hopefully be shooting out chapters pretty often! anyway yes. enjoy. bye. -Mir
"They were here not long ago," Halt whispered more to himself then his companion.
"Yes," agreed Crowley, "but how long ago?"
Halt shrugged, wincing at the pain in his back. He groaned softly as he got to his feet, his aching muscles trembling with the strain. Restless days and sleepless nights were starting to catch up to the two rangers.
"it's hard to tell," He finally replied. "but it's still fresh."
"Listen Halt, I've been thinking-," Crowley began.
"Always a dangerous pastime," Halt interrupted with a shadow of a smile.
Crowley rolled his eyes. "I suppose I did have that coming. But really, I was thinking. The tracks are showing a lot of Wargals. Maybe we should head back? Get some reinforcements?"
Halt stopped examining the tracks and looked up, giving Crowley a withering glance. "Really Crowley? Reinforcements? We don't need help from the soldiers. We have done just fine up until now!"
"I'm just saying that we're both exhausted and are following a huge party of Wargals... It's likely that we may get overwhelmed in this state." Crowley shrugged. "But if you really think its fine then I trust your judgement."
With that, the conversation died down as the rangers turned back to the tracks in front of them and continued to slowly make their way after the Wargal party.
As Crowley followed Halt deeper into Thorntree Forest, he was suddenly struck with a similar memory of them wandering slowly through the woods, only the roles were reversed. Halt was a foreigner who relied on Crowley to lead the way around Araluen at that time, as they traveled together throughout the kingdom to gather the scattered rangers and to get rid of Morgarath once and for all.
Now, here he was, following Halt as they tracked the very Wargals who got them into this mess. He thought of Pritchard, their brilliant mentor. Crowley missed him. He never had a chance to say goodbye and that's what hurt most of all. He knew that Halt was suffering too, but he took the pain and went after the Wargals with renewed vigor. He was determined to avenge his mentor's death. Crowley, on the other hand, was exhausted. All he wanted now was a nice warm bed with a fireplace and a nice hot meal waiting on a table for him.
Lost in thought, Crowley crashed straight into Halt, who had stopped and was currently standing up, looking around in deep concentration.
"Are we turning back? Because I totally wont judge you for being wrong, don't worry! You'll still be my best- "
"Can you shut up?'' Halt interrupted Crowley.
"Oh c'mon! it was just a-" but Crowley was interrupted once again as Halt yelled "Duck!" as he pushed Crowley and himself down to the ground. Just then, Crowley heard the swish of something rushing through the air and looked up to see a spear flying right through where he was just standing.
"Wha- what happened?" Crowley looked at Halt demandingly.
Halt pointed around them and Crowley could see shapes appearing all around. He cursed himself for not noticing them earlier. "This is what happens when I'm exhausted" he thought.
"The tracks suddenly split into a concerning amount of directions," Halt went on to answer Crowley's question. "And I guess now we know why."
The Wargals were drawing in closer as the rangers drew their bows, considering their options. They could of course shoot as many as they can and then run out of a breach in the circle, but it would be extremely risky. Calculating quickly that it was the only thing they could do, they looked at each other and nodded firmly. They were raising their bows when a voice cut through the tension.
"Now, now. Lets all calm down shall we?"