Chapter 4

227 10 1
                                    

   Gilan stares at Errol for a minute, thinking it out. "Did you want to learn more about sword fighting?" Errol looks at him. "I would, but I doubt I'd be any good at it. You would just be wasting your time." "You seemed to have handled a sword pretty well out there, today." "But that person was terrible with a sword. We were more equally matched, except for his strength." Gilan shakes his head. "Adults usually know more about sword fighting than kids. You're a kid, and he's a man. You fought him well." No comment. Finally, Gilan looks at the setting sun. "I'll go and make some dinner. How much can you eat?" "No food for me, please." "Why not?" "I'm not hungry." "You need to eat something. You look like you haven't had a decent meal in ages." "But I'm still not hungry." Shaking his head, Gilan gets up and leaves the room.
   Sighing, Errol tries to stand. Wincing from the pain in his body, he walks to the window and looks out. Bushes. And trees. And bushes. He limps over to the door, and peeks through a crack. No sign of Gilan. Good, now if I can make it outside, I can relieve him of his burden: Me. Errol sneaks to the front door and swings it open. And walks straight into Gilan. Drat.
   Gilan stood there with his hands on his hips.So stubborn, thinks Gilan. "Just where do you think you're going?" Errol sighs again. "I was going to relieve you of me. Now if you'll just move, I'll be on my way." "And where would you go?" "I don't know." Gilan stands fast. Drooping his head, Errol yields as Gilan herds him back to his bed. A few minutes later, Gilan comes in with some stew. "Here you go." Errol frowns. "I thought I said no." "You need food to recover." Gilan sets the tray on his lap. "Eat up." His stomach twisting, Errol lifts one shallow spoonful to his lips. And swallows with difficulty. "Don't you like it?" Asks a disappointed Gilan. "Oh, no. It's nice. It really is. I'm just not hungry." Gilan slowly nods. Then he leaves. The rest of the hour, Errol picks at the bowl. Suddenly having an idea, he shuffles to the window and chucks the area out. Then darts to the bed. Gilan comes in and takes the empty bowl away. "Get some sleep, Errol. You need it. Good night." Errol lies down and pretends to sleep. Later, he hears Gilan peek in, then leave. As soon as everything goes dark in and out, it crashes into Errol. His family, his friends, his home, his life. Silently, he gives in to tears. An hour later, he slips in a troubled sleep.

   Gilan watches through the crack as Errol cries himself to sleep. Halt was right. He's broken. When Errol was sleeping, Gilan goes to bed.
   Two hours later, screams pierce the air, jolting Gilan. Grabbing his sword, he rushes to Errol's bedroom. Errol is on the floor, staring at something invisible. Gilan drops to his side and puts an arm around Errol. Errol recoiled from his touch. Quickly, his screams stop and Errol blinks, breathing heavily. "Are you alright, Errol?" Asks Gilan. Errol nods and shakes the remnants of his nightmare away. "Yeah, it's just a bad dream. Nothing to worry about." "That must have been some bad dream to make you scream like that." Errol shrugs. Gilan settles him back into bed, then does the same.

By the way, if you're worried about the book having bad language or stuff you shouldn't read, don't worry. It's clean.

The Life of a Ranger, Ranger's Apprentice FanfictionWhere stories live. Discover now