Ailouros Tails book 4: The Return

Chapter 13~ Doubts Arise

Will glanced back at the odd house once again with another sigh. He was aware of the sigh.

"What's on your mind Will?" Gilan asked softly beside him.

"I have a bad feeling about leaving her here Gil. I can't shake the feeling that something really bad is going to happen." Will confided in his old friend.

Gilan nodded. "I feel the same but Nico won't let anyone hurt her. He is more powerful than we know."

"Then the same could probably be said about Pitch and this Kronos who keeps popping up."
Will responded slowly, his mind whirled as he tried to figure out how he might defeat this next obstacle.

"Anyways, we both know Ailouros can take care of herself. She wouldn't wear the silver if she couldn't." Gilan said, trying to reassure the younger man. As they walked he let his own thoughts drift off to some of his time training Ailouros.

Ailouros sighed as she sat by the target after another day of practice. Ilan pushed her hard but that was understandable since she was taught by someone taught by a legend. She listened to the townsfolk talk about the grizzled older ranger.

"Ten feet tall!" One boy had declared.

"No! Eleven feet!" Another one argued.

It was amazing how far out of proportion stories could become.

Ailouros watched the sun setting beneath the treeline making the forest look magical in the beginnings of twilight. There was a slight fog in the air. As darkness surrounded her she was left to her own thoughts.

"I wonder why Halt cared enough to take care of me all three times... It's not as if I'm Will. Will is like his son. I'm just a stranger from a far away place no one has even heard of. Will is so kind and sweet. Why do they care so much about a stranger?" She had asked herself.

"Because you are now a ranger's apprentice. We look out for our own kind as much as we can." Gilan answered from behind.

"But why? You don't know much about me. I'm a stranger. I don't belong here." She had whispered holding her arm with the bandage.

Gilan could see her trembling softly. "I may not know much about you Ailouros. But here is what I do know. You are in an unfamiliar world. You care about your friends. You are smart, loyal. kind, and a good person. You may not be from here, but you needed somewhere to go with people who wouldn't ask too many questions. Halt knows personally what that's like. He wasn't born in Araluen you know. He knows what that's like. He was taken in by his mentor when he, like you, needed somewhere to go. I think this is his way of repaying his former mentor for everything." Gilan sat beside his young apprentice.

"That explains Halt, but not the rest of you." She replied, her voice soft.

"For one, we are good people. For another, we trust Halt and each other. As rangers, we protect the kingdom and those in the kingdom with us. Ailouros, you miss your own home don't you?" Gilan asked softly as he gently wiped a tear off her cheek.

"I feel so lost, Gilan. I don't fit in anywhere. I'm not sure that I ever really did." The tears were streaming freely now.

"I see," Gilan said softly pulling his young apprentice into a hug and letting her cry the tears she had been holding back.

The memory had returned to him as he kept searching for Amaterasu with Will, Halt, and this Jack fellow. From what he had learned by teaching Ailouros, Amaterasu was her closest friend.

"We have to find her Halt." He whispered to his mentor.

"I know Gilan." Halt sighed then looked at Jack. "How far did you say these blasted caves were, Frost?" He then growled.