The Surprise Siege - Ranger's Apprentice

Where Is He?

Halt was the first one to recognize the rumbling. He stood in front of the camp, not really looking at the drawbridge, which was now lowered, lost in thought. Then suddenly the ground beneath him began to rumble and the portcullis started to rise. Then he heard yelling and the thumping of hundreds of feet on the ground. Halt squinted into the late afternoon sun as hundreds of Redmont guards came pouring out of the main castle exit, through the small courtyard, and through the main arch to the opening portcullis. Gilan came running out from under the command tent to watch with Halt. "What's going on?"

"Will got them out."

Gilan had no response to this, and he turned back to watch the spectacle.

The men hunched over a little bit to get under the slowly rising portcullis, but had no trouble a few seconds later once the bars had risen high enough to allow them all throught. They came pouring across the drawbridge, and, with delighted cries and shouts, spilled into the camp, immediately greeting their comrades. Once each and every soldier had filtered his way into the camp, the last of the stragglers came running down the bridge. There were only about ten of them, and Halt could make out Lady Sandra among them. Then he saw an even smaller group come sprinting down the bridge as well, and even from a long way away, he could make out the form of his lovely wife, along with the much bulkier figures of Baron Arald and Sir Rodney.

Gilan also saw this and gave a sigh of relief. "They all made it..."

"Not all of them." Halt started walking up toward the two smaller groups that were running. Lady Sandra and her group came up first.

"Ranger Halt! Thank goodness! Is my husband back there?" She gasped as she ran up.

"Yes, but right now I need you to get the others settled into the camp. Can you do that?"

She nodded and guided the others off deeper into the camp. Halt waited patiently as Pauline came running up with Rodney and the Baron. She looked up and saw him waiting, and she smiled a big, beautiful smile. Halt couldn't hide his own smile as she jogged lightly up to him. He stepped forward and she fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. Then she kissed him lightly on the lips for a few precious seconds, and then stepped back.

"Pauline, are you alright? It's so good to see you safe."

"Oh, don't worry about me, Halt, I'm just a little dirty and bruised at the worst. What about yourself? What happened with you and Alyss?"

"I'm fine, so is Alyss, and I'll explain everything to you and everyone else in one moment. But one thing... "

"You want to know where Will is." This wasn't a question, it was Pauline already knowing what Halt was thinking.

He sighed. "Yes. Is he coming out in a few minutes? What was his plan?"

Pauline gave him a sad smile. "I think we both have a lot of explaining to do. Why don't we continue this somewhere where I can get a drink of something? My throat is parched."

"Of course." They both turned back towards the camp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will ran down the hall at a full out sprint. He had just taunted the Genovesans to 'come and get him' and now he had gotten exactly what he wanted: they were coming to get him. As he ran he turned, pulled back his three arrows, and released them, killing the two nearest guards and firing a rouge arrow into the pack of assassins to create chaos. He didn't turn around, but he heard the scream of pain as one of the Genovesans fell. So now there must be five, though Will as he ran though the main doors and hung a hard left, skidding precariously on the smooth stones. He accelerated into another full sprint as he barreled down the hallway. He could hear the five men following him, just barely ten meters behind him. He turned a corner and sprinted up two flights of stairs. Now his lungs were burning horribly, but he knew he had to keep going. He had to give Pauline and Rodney time. He ran for a full five minutes, running up staircases, going through tiny rooms and not turning in any particular directional pattern to keep his enemies guessing. Suddenly the hallway ended and he was inside a large storage cleaning closet. Will tried to turn around but he could hear the assassins, and they were already too close. Having no other choice and not enough time, Will ducked behind the door into the shadow of a large barrel and crouched there, trying to calm his gasping breath and racing heart.
The Genovesans reached the outside of the closet, and Will painfully forced himself to hold his breath as the door creaked open. Then four of the five Genovesans entered the small closet, and one stayed outside to keep watch. Mario kicked a box over, and then called out, "Ranger! You had better come out this time! You have no chance of escaping! This room has one door and we are guarding it."