The Surprise Siege - Ranger's Apprentice

Faster, Tug

"Help us!"

"We are locked in here!"

"Mario! Guido! Someone! It's us!"

Mario turned the corner and saw the door at the end of the hall shaking on its hinges as the two assassins banged furiously. He ran to the door and twisted the lock. Giovanni and Giuseppie were writhing and wriggling like worms on the floor. They each had large egg-shaped lumps on the backs of their heads and had thumb cuffs and ropes wrapped around their wrists and ankles.

Mario whispered harshly, "You fools! I leave you with an injured prisoner for fifteen minutes, and I come back and you are bound, locked up, and the prisoner is nowhere to be found! You are worthless excuses for assassins!" He whipped out a dagger and brandished it at them angrily. Then he sliced their ropes off. They both flinched and cowered as they were freed.

"I want you to go out there and find him!" They both nodded and bowed and ran out of the closet and down the stairs. Mario turned to another of his comrades. "Those two are worthless. Go after them and kill them." The assassin bowed, a grin of pleasure taking over his face, and then he bounded down the hall after the other two. Mario smiled at the thought of his two countrymens' fates, and laughed as he turned back down the hallway.

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Will stood in front of the castle treasury door, his hand holding the door open a little, his foot stuck out in front of him as if he had frozen while opening the door, and his back turned. Halt was a little farther up the hallway around the corner. Will heard his signal: a little scuffing sound on the wall. That was Halt warning him that a Genovesan was approaching. Will heard the footsteps, the muted sound of heavy boot tips on the stone floor, and he readied himself. Just as the footsteps were about to turn the corner, Will wrenched the door open, letting it creak and groan noisily. "Hey! Stop!" That was the Genovesan, then he leaned around the corner and shouted a long stream of Toscan, alerting the other five. Will got the door halfway open before the Genovesan yelled, and then he turned and ran as fast as he could for the end of the hall. Will could hear the thumping of boots suddenly become louder as more Genovesans joined the chase.

"Ranger Will!" He heard Mario snarl behind him. Will dared to turn around briefly in his head long dash and saw that three Genovesans were right behind him.

I really hope Halt is ready, because if he isn't, I'm doomed. And I hope he managed to avoid the other two Genovesans. Will turned several corners and finally made it back to the entire main doors of the audience hall. He headed straight out the door and into the courtyard where, sure enough, Tug was waiting, all saddled up and ready to go. Halt had left silently after giving Will the signal and went straight to the stables and gotten Tug and Abelard. Then he had brought Tug to the courtyard and rode away on Abelard to go and deal with the portcullis.

Will sprinted towards Tug and leaped onto his back, shouting, "Go, go, go!" Tug exploded into a full gallop and they raced down the road. Will whipped his head around and saw the Genovesans had followed him and were running after him. Good, they won't catch me on Tug.

He urged Tug on. "Faster Tug!" He whinnied and ran faster. Will turned back around and gasped. The portcullis was closing already! He wasn't close enough yet! What had happened? Will urged Tug on, despair already closing in. If he didn't make it, he and Tug would slam into the gate and injure themselves, then the Genovesans would finish him off. Will braced for impact.

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Halt had just scratched his fingernails lightly on the wall, warning Will that an assassin was close. He had reluctantly agreed to another one of Will's hair-brained schemes, because it was so simple it was genius. It was also a little desperate, but in times like these, Halt was willing to accept desperate. Then there was the issue that Halt himself, although he hadn't told Will, didn't have any better plans than what Will had suggested. So he was stuck with the crazy but simple plan. If Alyss knew what had happened, or what is happening right now, she would kill me. Although, if this plan doesn't work, which is very likely, she'll have to get in line behind five Genovesans. And possibly Will. Then Halt turned and silently slipped back down the hall and turned a few corners before suddenly stopping. In the middle of the hallway lay the bodies of the two Genovesans that Will had knocked out. They each had stab marks in their chests, and one of them still had the dagger stuck in his sternum. Halt leaned over him and wrestled the dagger out of the bone. It was a Genovesan dagger. Make that three Genovesans who want to kill me. Mario sure wasn't pleased that these two were responsible for Will's escape. He touched their necks to feel for a pulse. There was none, but they were still warm. I had better get out of here, they could still be close. He wiped his bloody hands on their clothes, dropped the knife next to the body and stepped over them. From seven, to five, to three. The numbers are slowly becoming more in our favor.

He went down the hall and out the servants door to the stables. Tug and Abelard both turned their heads as he came in and whinnied softly. "Hello, Abelard." Halt greeted his horse as he quickly unlatched their stable doors, and each horse walked out and over the Halt. Halt grabbed both of their reins and lead them out into the courtyard. He grabbed Tug's bridle, and whispered, "Will is going to come running out here in a few minutes and needs you to run as fast as you can. So be ready."

Tug shook his mane. I don't need to be warned by you, old man. I can run fast anytime.

Halt glared at Tug. "You're not so young yourself." He mounted Abelard and set off for the portcullis crank down at the end of the street. He came up to the huge wooden machine, dismounted Abelard, and ran over to the huge rope twists that held the bridge up. He drew his saxe and started hacking. About two thirds of the way through, he stopped cutting. Now the rope would fray on its own, leaving just enough to time for Will to get under the gate before it shut, and at the same time keep the Genovesans in the castle. Then Halt remounted and galloped through the now slowly closing gate and off down the drawbridge. He looked off into the distance and could see the camp. He slowed Abelard down to a fast canter, and made his way across the short distance to the camp. He rode up, and Pauline, Alyss, Gilan, Rodney, and the Baron were all waiting.

"Halt, where's Will? Is he coming out?" Gilan said as he peered off towards the slowly closing portcullis.

"He had better be coming out this time," muttered Alyss.

"Thanks for the welcome, I can see you all were waiting for me with bated breath..." Halt scowled at them, then relented. "He should be coming out any second, unless he got delayed..." He turned Abelard back around to face the drawbridge, and his brow furrowed as he saw the portcullis. "It's closing too quickly."

"What?" Alyss stepped up next to Halt. "Halt, what's going on? Where is he?"

"He - he'll make it. There, look he's there!" Halt pointed as the galloping for of a Tug came into view with a green blur on his back. He was a little ways away from the portcullis, which was closing quickly now. Halt saw Will glance back at something, and then urge Tug on faster. Tug turned into a grey streak as he thundered down the stone road. "Come on, Tug. Faster," Halt muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowed into slits as he squinted at Will's rapidly advancing figure. He glanced sideways quickly and saw that Alyss was staring intently at the bridge, wringing her hands.

He looked back. Will was only meters from the gate.

"Faster, Tug."

The gate lowered further.

"Faster."

Will was almost there.

"Faster."

Suddenly, Tug stopped galloping, and flattened his hooves against the stones, so that he slid. Halt felt his breath hitch as they skidded across the path. Then Tug bent his knees, and Will flattened himself against his body...

... And they cleared the gate.

Halt gave a long sigh of relief as Tug's low form came sliding out from under the portcullis, the spikes just a hair's breadth away from Will's back. They slid a little further down out from under the gate and the main arch, then Tug picked up his hooves and stumbled back into a gallop. Will raised himself back up in the saddle a little and gently slowed Tug down, then turned to watch the portcullis slam into the ground with a familiar BANG. The small forms of three Genovesans were visible as they ran up to the closed portcullis and yelled something at Will. But Will just turned around without replying and he and Tug started to get closer.

Halt turned around and put his face in his hands, breathing deeply. Gilan nudged him, saying, "I could swear my heart just skipped a beat. Was that your idea? I'm suspecting not..."

Halt looked up at Gilan, and said very slowly, "No, that was not my idea. And I think I just had a heart attack, so don't talk to me." He turned abruptly and walked stiffly over to Pauline. Gilan watched him go, then turned as Will approached the small group.

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Whew... He made it. I don't know about you, but I'm glad he did. Although, I'm not the type of writer to kill off my main characters... So don't worry too much. As always, please vote and comment if you enjoyed! Expect another update soon... Will and Alyss will be reunited! Thanks so much for reading! ;)