Halt had spent nine days in captivity, when one night they came upon a barn. Halt was led to the barn, and took the time to survey the wooden, easily burnt building as he was marched in.
The barn was in the middle of the forest, and entirely empty. It made no sense for a barn to be in the middle of a forest, with no field or village in sight, but Halt didn't waste time worrying about it. The barn was rather solid, with few holes or knots in the wood that Halt could see, a solid wooden door and little draft through the building.
Halt was tied to a chair in the middle of the barn, the chair having been retrieved from the far corner of the dark barn. Halt wasn't entirely sure of the chair's integrity, but it felt nice to be seated on something other than the uncomfortable ground, so he didn't bother worrying. His captor dumped his pack and most of his weapons in a corner, before stomping out muttering something about rabbits darkly to himself.
Halt smiled as the door shut behind the man, then began to count slowly the seconds. He counted to one hundred eighty, three minutes, before standing up, bent over double by the chair he was bound to, and waddling over to the corner where his captor's stuff lay, smirking to himself. Such a position was uncomfortable, but necessary, so Halt put up with the discomfort.
He managed to use his teeth to pick up a knife and cut his arm loose from its bindings, nicking himself with the knife twice, then he took the knife out of his mouth with his free hand and cut himself loose, throwing the chair off as soon as he was freed of it.
The chair landed with a loud crash, and Halt winced, while mentally kicking himself, thinking that the captor would hear it and return. But nothing happened, and Halt quickly turned back to the pile of abandoned supplies, searching among them quickly, bandaging the cuts he had accidentally inflicted with his knife on his upper arm, and cleaning up his hand with the water from the canteen his captor had.
He took the time to eat and drink also, wolfing down the semi-stale bread and the leathery water with no regard to the taste, only the satisfaction of actually having food. Then he took the sword and the knives, noting his captor had taken the bow with him as he drew the shorter weapons, and prepared for his captor's return.
Nearly five minutes later, Halt's captor strode loudly down the path, and an armful of wood, kicking the door open and walking in. He nearly cried out in surprise as he found himself tackled against the wall of the barn, a sword to his neck. His bow and quiver were pinned between himself and the wall, he'd left his knife with his pack and Halt was holding his sword to his neck. He tried desperately to struggle to free himself, but Halt had the advantage of adrenaline coursing through his veins and the fact that he'd finally had some food and water to eat.
"Who sent you?" Halt hissed, and the man didn't answer, eyes glaring a reply. Annoyed, Halt tore off his captor's hood and mask, and then froze.
YOU ARE READING
Halt's Test (Gone Wrong)
ActionWhen Halt is captured one night and taken from Castle Araluen, he has no idea that it's a test. But things go badly wrong, very badly wrong, and neither can do anything to prevent anything getting worse. But it still gets worse.
