Ranger's Apprentice- Revenge

Chapter 9

  Halt heard a faint groan of pain as yet again, those hidden rocks bumped the litter. They were roughly an hour's ride away from the gates of Redmont and each step was mental agony for Halt. He could only imagine how much worse it was for Will.
Thankfully, Will did sleep, due to the root, but it wasn't nearly as long as Halt had hoped.

  Halt glaced over to see Gilan look at Will with a worried and thoughtful expression on his face. "I think we need to check his injury again. He looks in a lot more pain than before."

  "That's expected considering all the jerks and movement that is agitating his side." Horace replied, but Halt could tell that he wasn't entirely convinced that that was the entire case.

  Halt reined in Abelard and jumped to the ground. He knelt beside his apprentice and could see that Gilan was right to call a halt to the journey. Sweat was clinging to the boy's forehead and neck and Will was tossing his head from side to side; groaning.

  Halt freed Will from the restraints that were securing him. He then unwound the bandage and could immediately see that the skin around the wound was red and not just from the blood that was seeping anew. He gingerly touched around the inflamed skin and felt that it was hot.

  Halt pressed his lips into a grim, thin line. "The wound is in its first stages of infection." He announced.

  Horace gasped. "But, how could it be infected? It was cleaned and treated almost immediately! How did it just become infected now?"

  "It's hard to keep it totally clean with only limited medical supplies and with the injury so big; added to the fact that dirt always find a way to creep in places. Well there was a pretty good chance of it happening." Answered Terrin, his face stonily grave. He ran a hand through his sandy hair.

  Halt frustratedly shook his head. "There's nothing we can do except clean and rebandage his side. And of course, keep a closer eye on him."

  The Rangers cleaned and tightly wound a long, clean, strip of cloth back on, despite Will's weakened cry of pain as they touched his inflamed side. But, they were soon on their way again and at a faster pace.

  The continued ride was more tense and strained than before, but they soon saw the drawbridge to their beautiful home. Will was getting steadily worse and he now had a fever by the time they came rushing past the gate guards. A knight stopped them and said that he was ordered to escort the group to Baron Arald as soon as they arrived. The knight assured them that the Baron has his best physicians ready to receive young Ranger Will.

  After handing over their horses to the castle stable hands, Halt and Horace carried Will on the litter to the castle's medical room. The physicians buzzed around the incoherent boy, unwrapping the bandage and clicked their tongues at the damage.

  Halt didn't want to leave and he could tell that the others felt the same, but he also knew that it would only make them feel worse by just standing around and unable to do anything more about Will's condition. Besides, there is a Baron to report to.

  Just as he had the thought, a woman poked her head in. "If you've finished, Baron Arald is waiting in his office." She said in a sweet, honeyed voice.

  Halt reined his emotions in check and pulled the grim, emotionless mask on once more. He turned to the woman and nodded gravely. "Let's not keep the Baron waiting then." He said in a low voice.

  She glanced at the group, and met his eyes for a second then quickly looked away and looked as if she wanted to curl in on herself from either embarrassment, shyness, or fear; Halt couldn't tell exactly which one it was, but he suspected a little bit of all three. He couldn't say he blamed her, he knew when she looked at them, she saw legends. Even young Will and Horace was somewhat a legend already and they weren't near as frightening and intimidating as Halt or the other grown rangers were; not to mention the nonsensical rumors of ranger magic. The woman clutched the door frame and stared at the floor. "Would you like me to escort you?" She said in a timid, small voice.

  "No, that won't be necessary. We know the way." Gilan said, and Halt could hear the comforting smile he was giving her.

  The young woman blushed deeply and nodded. She then spun on her heels and walked swiftly away.

  "Now you've done it, Gilan. You nearly gave that poor girl a heart attack." Horace said with a grin, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Halt ignored them all and started to head toward the Baron's office.

  When they reached it, Arald was sitting behind his desk and was studying his papers. His forehead was scrunched up, trying to make sense of all the different reports. As the group walked through the doorway, the Baron glanced up and stood. "Glad your back safe. How is Will?"

  Halt breathed in deeply and let out his breath. "His wound is deep and it got infected along the way. He has a fever and is weak, but I believe he'll live." Halt shook his head. "But it was close." He added.

  Arald nodded. "Glad to hear he'll make it and I'm sorry he got hurt in the first place. I'm trying to figure out exactly what happened and my men filled in some of the details, but I need the full story from you."

  The rangers and knight all took a seat and started to explain what took place. Terrin beginning the story by retelling how Corek escaped and swore revenge on the ranger that killed his son. Halt and Gilan told what happened when they, Terrin and Will split up. Terrin then explained the trap that had been placed for him and Will. Horace and Gilan told about how Gilan brought reenforcements and Horace joining. Halt then took the floor by finishing the tale about how he had drawn the Death Strikers away from Terrin and the shot Will and told about their anxious journey back to Redmont.

  Arald stroked his chin. "Quite an interesting mission. But then again, they always are. The Death Strikers and Corek is safely in our most secure cell, deep underground. Well, what's left of the gang." Arald said with a wry smile and a glance at Halt. "They will await their trial and hopefully this will be the last time we will have to deal with them."

  They continued to talk a while, but Terrin said that he needed to get back to his fief. He'd been gone long enough and no telling what the people will have cooked up while their ranger was gone, Terrin said with a grin. He then asked Halt to give him a regular update on Will's condition and wished Will well.

  Gilan stayed another day at Redmont to be sure that Will was stable before leaving for Norgate and promising that he would visit when he could be spared.

  Horace and Halt stayed by Will's side often when ranger and knight duties didn't call on them. But even then, Halt still found a way to sneak in.

  The first day of waiting was torturous. Will was in constant pain and would come in and out of consciousness. His fever was making Will delusional and unbearably hot. But finally, on the third day, his fever broke.