The Battle for Skandia- Character Reaction

14

"Here. Your turn, Alyss." She took the offered book and began reading.

'WAIT HERE," HALT SAID BRIEFLY. "I'M GOING DOWN FOR A closer look."

"To hell with waiting here," Erak told him. "I'm coming with you."

Erak smiled; Will and Gilan exchanged snickers, while Halt glared at all three of them.

Halt looked at the big Skandian, knowing it would be useless to argue. Still, he made the attempt. "I suppose it will make no difference if I point out I'm going to have to be as inconspicuous as possible?"

"Nope," Erak said cheerfully.

Erak shook his head. "Not in the slightest. I'm not taking back a secondhand report to my Oberjarl. I want to get a closer look at these people, get some idea of what we're up against."

"Wait a few more days, and you could have figured that out the hard way," Halt remarked.

"I can tell you what you're up against," Halt said grimly.

"I'll see for myself," the jarl said stubbornly, and Halt shrugged, finally giving in.

"First time for everything, I suppose," Gilan remarked.

"All right. But move carefully, and try not to make too much noise. The Temujai aren't idiots, you know. They'll have pickets out in the trees around the camp, as well as sentries on the perimeter."

"Well, you just tell me where they are and I'll avoid them," Erak replied, with a little heat. "I can be inconspicuous when I need to."

Halt coughed. Erak raised his chin in defiance. "I can," the Oberjarl said stubbornly. The Ranger looked towards Thorn, who shrugged, hiding a snicker behind his hand.

"Just like you can ride, I suppose," Halt muttered to himself. Gilan coughed. The Skandian ignored the comment, continuing to glare stubbornly at him. Halt shrugged. "Well, let's get on with it."

They tethered their horses on the reverse side of the crest, then began to work their way down through the trees to the valley below them. They had gone a few hundred meters when Halt turned to the Skandian.

"Are there bears in these mountains?" he asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Crowley asked. Halt shrugged.

"Just a hope."

His companion nodded. "Of course. But it's a bit early in the year for them to be moving around. Why?"

Halt let go a long breath. "Just a vague hope, really. There's a chance that when the Temujai hear you crashing around in the trees, they might think you're a bear." It was a few minutes before everyone was controlled enough to continue.

Erak smiled, with his mouth only. His eyes were as cold as the snow. "You're a very amusing fellow," he told Halt. "I'd like to brain you with my ax one of these days."

Halt snorted. "If you can get close enough in time."

"If you could manage to do it quietly, I'd almost welcome it," Halt said. Will and Pauline both raised an eyebrow.

Then he turned away and continued to lead the way down the hill, ghosting between the trees, sliding from one patch of shadow to the next, barely disturbing a branch or a twig as he passed.

Erak tried, unsuccessfully, to match the Ranger's silent movement. Halt sighed. With each slither of his feet in the snow, each whip of a branch as he passed, Halt's teeth went more and more on edge. He had just determined that he would have to leave the Skandian behind once they got within striking distance of the Temujai camp when he glimpsed something off to their left in the trees. Quickly, he held up his hand for Erak to stop. Gilan raised an eyebrow. The big Skandian, not understanding the imperative nature of the gesture, kept moving till he was alongside Halt.