A Whole New Mystery To...

Chapter 10

Dang it! I was gonna do the whole 'I have the entire Ranger Corps favoriting my story' thing but nooooooo. *sighs* Oh well. I actually just realized that when I published the last chapter, half of it didn't save so I'm going to do a little shortened version of it here. Luckily it wasn't super essential to the plot, more of a filler but here is the super shortened version of it!

"That's the thing," Halt said, "I wouldn't put something like this over his head."

"He is the best unseen mover in the corps though." Will put in. "It would be really hard to capture him." Halt nodded assent of the statement.

"Exactly. He could just be hiding and didn't want to blow his cover. At least if he's been captured, Morgarath might not know who he was apprenticed to. He is still a ranger though and Morgarath does have a legendary hatred of rangers. And if Morgarath ever does find out that he was apprenticed to me..." Halt continued grimly. "Well let's just hope he hasn't been captured.

Like I said, super shortened version. That part used to be like two pages long but I couldn't remember it all, and I didn't want to spend super long on an unimportant filler part. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!

At dusk we gathered all we would need: food, water, and weapons. I frowned when Halt and Will slung their bows over their shoulders.

I gestured towards them and asked, "Why do you need those? Gilan didn't bring his." Halt snorted.

"And a fat lot of good it did him." I just sighed in exasperation. Sometimes getting a straight answer out of Halt was impossible. Then he shrugged. "Plus it never hurts to be able to back someone up from afar. And we're bringing Gilan's bow too just in case." I nodded, excepting the logic behind the statement.

When we had finished getting ready, we slipped out of camp as silently as we could. And by we I mean Sophie, Evanlyn, and I. Halt and Will were practically shadows, silently gliding from one patch of cover to the next. Compared to the two Rangers, we were sadly lacking in skill. I watched in awe as Will seemed to glide over the ground and slipped into the shadows a large oak provided. I stifled a gasp as he stepped out of the shadows once more as it seemed he had stepped out of the tree. Now I understood why bandits and townsfolk thought Rangers were black magicians. Seeing it first hand was eerily unsettling.

As we continued forward, we finally reached the fissure after about an hour. We stopped there to examine the bridge and what appeared to be a tunnel on the other side. Halt scanned the entire area before adressing us.

"He doesn't appear to be in the vincity, but he is the master of unseen movement, so we'll have to search closely to find him." Then he turned to look directly at me when he contnued talking. "And this time don't argue when I say it, but only Will and I can do this part. Reason number one: none of you are trained, reason number two: none of you have cloaks, and reason number three: I've put you three in enough danger as it is and you can all keep careful watch to make sure nothing sneaks up behind us."

He handed me Gilan's bow and quiver of arrows which I slung over my back. "I've heard you're the better shot so you can cover us from behind if you see any wargals. But for heaven's sake, don't shoot anything if there are more than you can handle or if you aren't sure you can instantly kill them. We don't need anyone or thing triggering the alarm and notifying Morgarath that we're here."

At that he gestured for Will to follow him and they set off, scaning the perimeter of the open area. They searched around rocks large enough for someone Gian's size to hide behind, and anywhere Gilan could possibly use as a hiding place. I never once saw Halt, but I could just barely make out Will, on the occasion where he had to turn to look behind something. Even though he had only been an apprentice for less than two years he was impressive.

Suddenly I heard a noise from across the bridge. My head immediately snapped around to the source of the noise and it felt like my heart had stopped. There staring straight at me were a pair of glittering red eyes. I was frozen in fear and I realized this was one of the Kalkara, staring me down and rendering me immobile.

It's stoping me from raising the alarm. I realized. Please let Sophie notice. Let her see it so she can warn Halt and Will. I silently pleaded. The bow fell from my limp hands, making a thud as it hit the rocky ground, and Sophie finally turned towards me questioningly. Her expression of confusion turned to one of horror as she realized what was going on. She reached down for the bow and grabbed an arrow, nocking it, and firing before shouting across the intervening space to Halt and Will, who were getting ever closer to the lone Kalkara.

"Get back!" She shouted abandoning all attempts at subtlety, as they surely knew we were here by now. Halt was first to react, looking towards where a horrible shrieking noise had been made by the Kalkara as it was struck by the arrow Sophie had fired. It wasn't a fatal shot, and the arrow had barely penetrated an inch into the thick, matted hair of the Kalkara. Halt raced towards Will as he gaped at the monstrous figure while grabbing an arrow and knocking it. He saw Halt coming toward him and shouting at him to get back. Will hesitated for a second longer before running full speed to us. As he got there he spun around and started firing at the Kalkara.

Sophie suddenly remembering the fact that I had been stuck helpless this entire time. She shouldered me football style so I fell and broke the gaze with the Kalkara. I gasp escaped my lips, as when I looked up another Kalkara had appeared. Halt was quickly backing up as the two bounded towards him together.

I was looking around frantically for the third when I suddenly felt a massive force hit me from behind. A cry of pain was torn from me when I felt the blood seeping out my shirt from my back. The edges of my vision began to go black and the last thing I saw before I passed out was the last Kalkara surprising my friends from behind. My last thought before my mind went blank was It's over.

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When I woke up I was disoriented and confused. I seemed to be in a dark stone room with no light. I stood up and tried to walk around only to realize there were chains on my wrists. My mouth went dry in fear when I realized I was in a dungeon. Frantically I squinted my eyes, trying to make out if the others were here or not. I remember seeing Evanlyn, Sophie, and Will getting surprised from behind by the third Kalkara and so I could only hope they were okay. I stretched my back and shoulders and cried out, feeling a searing pain flare up on my back. I heard someone groan and jumped at the sound. I had thought I was alone. Apparently the cell was bigger than I had previously thought.

As my eyes finally adjusted I could make out other sleeping forms. One of them was Will and the other Evanlyn. The third was no longer sleeping and was who I assumed had groaned. Just as I was worrying where Halt and Sophie were the person standing up caught my eye and I gasped recognizing them.

He he, well here's a cliffhanger for ya. See how well all you readers cope, although I'm guessing you already know who it is. Btw, 500 reads!!!! Thank you so much all you lovely RA fans!! Until next time... So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen goodbye!!! OK that was random. But seriously BYE!!!!!!