The Ranger's Unusual Apprentice

Prologue

Morgarath

It was all falling into place. Every last part of my plan for vengeance was laid out perfectly, I just had to start putting it into action.

“Are they ready?” I called out behind me to the wargal standing there. He was supposedly the general, until he was killed that is. And he would die, just like the ones before him.

“Yes sire. They are ready to move at your beck and call.” I nodded and he left the room. When he was gone, I cursed. None of this mattered, none of it. I used to be powerful, I used to have an entire fief to call my own. I was the Baron of Gorlan, which is now a ghost town. Now, all I had left to me was an army of empty bodies to bend at my will, and this scraggly land of the Mountains of Rain and Night.

I thought back to that battle, the battle which had ruined me. Some little snitch had told the King of Araluen of my dark magic, and I had been told to give up my position as Baron, and leave the country peacefully. I had refused, and it had turned into a battle. A battle where some little Ranger had been the end of my glory. I would've won the war, and become the King of Araluen, if it weren't for that damned Halt.

Scrying was an ancient dark art used for spying on one's enemies. What it does is let you see through the eyes of your enemy, so you can see everything that they see. I had been forced to use it very frequently when I was pushed here to these damn mountains. Right now I was watching a young girl who Halt had been watching for quite some time. Since she was quite young actually. One would say he was quite attached to this young maiden. And for good reason too. Even by my standards, she was a true and natural beauty.

Her long dark hair fell far past her slim waist. Her face was beautiful, perfect one might even say. Her eyes were the color of rich chocolate, and her skin looked soft as a feather. I would've loved to be able to say I knew more, but I don't. Halt doesn't look at her in an 'inappropriate' way. He looks at her as though he were looking at a daughter, or a sister.

Anyway, this young girl seemed to be a soft spot for the impenetrable Halt. And she was the key to his downfall. Halt took away anything that ever mattered to me. I would take away anything and everything that Halt treasured, starting with this young girl, whose name was.......

Lexi

“Lexi! Come on, we're all going down to the village for a spell. Come with us.” I looked down from my tree-top perch at my friend. Horace was a big, brawny fellow. No doubts that he would get into Battle School. I could see why the local girls all fawned over him, I just didn't do it myself. All the girls around here told me how lucky I was to be living with a man like him, but I knew that they really understand him. He was a pain in the ass and annoying.

“Why should I? I don't feel like it.” I replied, trying to go back to my nap in the sun. Suddenly, the tree started shaking, and I almost fell out with the force of it.

“Quit being anti-social. Come with us. Please?” Horace took his arms from around the trunk of the tree. I sighed. I glared at him the entire way down the tree, and the entire way to the castle, where we were meeting the other wards. The ward is the place where the orphans of the fief go. We were all very lucky that out Baron Arald had a kind soul, and had started this trend.

Alyss held out her arms and I hugged her tightly. I had always been the most comfortable with her, seeing as we had been put in the ward at around the same time. She was tall, slim, and very pretty, with hair that fell down her back in a blonde wave. I always saw quite a few of the village boys staring at her as she walked down the street. And she was quite diplomatic. Jenny was the other girl besides Alyss and I in the ward. She was a bit taller than me, but was, how do I put it? Pleasantly plump. That's what she called herself. Her hair was blonde as well, just quite a bit darker than Alyss's nearly white blonde hair. She had very pretty green eyes, and I saw quite a few of the kitchen boys watching her as she talked to the cook in the local pub. George was lanky and scrawny, with big glasses pushed all the way up his nose, which was constantly stuck in a book. He wanted desperately to be a scribe, he didn't even have to say it, and we all knew. Horace was tall, taller than Alyss even. Even without the exercise that comes with Battle School, he was very well muscled. He had light brown hair that sort of shaded his bright blue eyes. Even I had to admit that he was very handsome, but still. All of us in the ward saw each other as brothers and sisters. It never went very far beyond that. Maybe the odd dare to kiss someone's cheek, or give someone a peck on the lips, but never beyond that. It was like an unspoken rule.