The Ruins of Gorlan- Character Reaction

10

After a quick and delicious supper, the group walked back to the room and took their seats, eager for more of the story.

"Here, Will," Crowley said. "I'll read, and then our favorite person can read." He grinned easily at Halt, who gave him a flat stare. After Will had handed it to him, the Commandant cleared his throat before reading.

"Time you learned about the weapons you'll be using," said Halt.

The four Rangers each thought of their weapons with great fondness. It was a Ranger's weapons that made them complete.

They had eaten breakfast–Horace smiled brightly at the mention of food–well before sunup and Will had followed Halt into the forest. They'd walked for about half an hour, with the Ranger showing Will how to glide from one patch of shade to the next, as silently as possible. Will was a good student in the art of unseen movement, as Halt had already remarked, but he had a lot to learn before he reached Ranger standard. Still, Halt was pleased with his progress. The boy was keen to learn—particularly when it was a matter of field craft like this.

It was a slightly different matter when it came to the less exciting tasks like map reading and chart drawing. Will ducked his head in embarrasment as Halt nodded empathic agreement. Will tended to skip over details that he saw as unimportant until Halt pointed out to him, with some acerbity,"You'd find these skills would become a little more important if you were planning a route for a company of heavy cavalry and forgot to mention that there's a stream in the way."

"Horses can make it through streams though, can't they?" Horace asked.

Halt shrugged. "What about a lake?" And there was no answer for that.

Now, they stopped in a clearing and Halt dropped a small bundle that had been concealed beneath his cloak.

Will regarded the bundle doubtfully. When he thought of weapons, he thought of swords and battleaxes and war maces—the weapons carried by knights. Gilan and Crowley both laughed–It was obvious that this small bundle contained none of those.

"What sort of weapons? Do we have swords?" Will asked, his eyes glued to the bundle.

Will wanted nothing more than to slap his younger self. Had he really been this clueless? he wondered.

"A Ranger's principal weapons are stealth and silence and his ability to avoid being seen," said Halt."But if they fail, then you may have to fight.

Crowley snorted. "They're Rangers. Failure isn't an option."

"So then we have a sword?" Will said hopefully.

Halt knelt and unwrapped the bundle.

"No. Then we have a bow," he said and placed it at Will's feet.

Will's first reaction was one of disappointment. A bow was something people used for hunting, he thought. Everyone had bows. A bow was more a tool than a weapon. As a child, he had made his fair share of them himself, bending a springy tree branch into shape. Gilan smiled. "This is a bit more than a simple branch." Then, as Halt said nothing, he looked more closely at the bow. This, he realized, was no bent branch.

It was unlike any bow that Will had seen before. Most of the bow followed one long curve like a normal longbow, but then each tip curved back in the opposite direction. Will, like most of the people of the kingdom, was used to the standard longbow—which was one long piece of wood bent into a continuous curve. This one was a good deal shorter.

"So it suits you," Horace quipped cheerfully. Will rolled his eyes at the group chuckled.

"It's called a recurve bow," said Halt, sensing his puzzlement. "You're not strong enough to handle a full longbow yet, so the double curve will give you extra arrow speed and power, with a lower draw weight. I learned how to make one from the Temujai."