❝𝘼 𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙠𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖❞

Chapter 23: Sunrise

When they finally pushed through the last mile and came within sight of Hallasholm, the entire army drew up short.

The sun was rising slowly behind their backs, and the city was still bathed in pre-dawn gloom, but it was clear to all eyes the low, simmering smoke that came up from inside. They could see the thousand splinters from the broken gates out on the open field, and Temujai running around the gates, some entering, some coming out. There were hostages among them, the women and children of the Skandians, bound hand and feet, and gagged, being forced to sit in front of their fallen homes to wait.

"Where's Will?" Erak muttered to Alaric. "Didn't you say he's going on ahead to help first?"

"I don't think we should hold any high hopes that either of the Rangers are alive," Alaric sighed.

Erak scowled. "Hallasholm isn't falling today."

And he would have charged full out immediately, had Alaric not rushed forward and stopped him, quite literally dragging him back to his senses.

"Easy there, Oberjarl," he said, trying for a lighter tone with the Skandian's title, "I didn't say we shouldn't at least try to locate either Will or Halt first. Or one of the two couriers, for that matter. It would be kind of stupid to just rush in with no plan."

"But we have to be in there to find them," Erak muttered.

Alaric nodded slowly. "Correct. But not the entire army. I'll go in first, sneak in from the back maybe, and try to find them, then I'll give you some kind of signal, and you can charge from the front."

"I'll go with you, and I'll take the Skandian horn. When you're ready I can just sound the horn."

"Impatient old warrior," Alaric said with a slight roll of his eyes. "Fine."

Quickly, he loosened his sword in his sheath and set off. Behind him, Erak gave a few quick commands to his second-in-command, grabbed the horn, and followed him.

>>>———>

With his last arrow spent, Will turned his borrowed horse and galloped quickly behind his men to find Alyss and Pauline.

Edwin fell in beside him for a short while and shouted from his horse, "Orders, Ranger?"

"Break the formation to form avoid forming a clear target, then retreat!" Will shouted back.

As he got to the back, Alyss rushed to him and reached out a hand to grab his arm. "Will! You're still alive."

Will chuckled. "I should hope I still am. Listen, you and Pauline must stay with the rest of our archers, and you are all to retreat beyond the shooting range of the Temujai and wait. It's useless to continue this before Erak and the others are back. We'll just end up wasting our men."

Alyss stiffened in her saddle. 

"And where will you be?" The words came out as a whisper.

Will sighed. "In the thick of things, I guess. I need to find Halt. I need to get up that wall and inside the city. It might cost my life but I can't just stay out here wondering if he's dead or alive."

"And I'm supposed to wait out here and wonder whether you're alive or dead?" Alyss retorted, her voice a fierce whisper.

"You'll be safer here," Will replied in a similar whisper, gathering up both her hands and pressing them to his lips. "Just stay here and stay alive, and I promise I'll come back to you."

"And how could I ever believe such a promise could be kept?" Tears spilled from the courier's eyes, though her voice was calm and level, not even once hitching up. She was too far beyond that.

"Trust in the strength of our love, Alyss. I will come back. I Promise." Squeezing her hands once more, he let them go and turned his horse around, trotting back towards the walls of the city, expertly dodging around the arrows of the Temujai.

"If you die, I'll kill you." Alyss said softly to herself with no logic as she watched his receding back, knowing that no one else will hear it anyway.

Once he reached the wall, Will slid from his horse, setting it loose, and grasped the ropes of the Temujai, which still dangled there unheeded. Most of the Temujai on this side of the wall have already reached the battlements, and were too preoccupied with fighting the few Skandians there at the top to pay attention to the fact that one from among the many retreating archers had turned back round and was taking advantage of their overlooked ropes.

Using the same skill that had filled his childhood up with some fun, Will scaled the walls with relative ease, and quickly swung himself over the parapet. There he crouched for a full minute, completely still, so that any who saw him would soon think that he was merely one of the many dead lying around, creating the illusion that he had been there for a long time.

Only when one of the Temujai came too close to him did he spring back to his feet, his saxe knife flying out and straight into the man's chest, felling him in the blink of an eye. Will flinched slightly before pulling his knife back out and starting to prowl around the battlement.

It was hard to look every person lying there in the eye, knowing that they were gone, or on the edge of being gone, and that part of the reason was just a simple mistake by their leader, while another part might be the fact that false information was spread at first, by himself and Halt, not to mention. And then there's the other part, something that involves the ridiculousness of the war itself. But he knew that to find his old mentor and hopefully save his life before it was too late, he had to do this. Trudging around heavily, and dispatching the occasional Temujai that tried to interfere with him, he had nearly given up hope when at last he saw that slight glimmer of silver.

A silver chain. Around the neck of a man, rather small, turned back unto his face.

A strangled gasp came from his throat as he rushed forward and fell on his knees beside the still form, turning it around and feeling desperately for the pulse. There was a terrifying moment where he felt nothing, just a still coldness. Then, like the weak wings of a dying butterfly, he felt a tiny flutter. So weak he thought for a second that it might have been imagined.

But then, to his immense relief, it was repeated, and in a considerably stronger version.

"Halt. Halt! Wake up!" He said, softly. As he peeled around the old Ranger's clothing, he finally found the wound. A deep, ugly gash on the man's leg. It had stopped bleeding for the most part, but because of its length still looked ghastly.

His fingers trembling, he started to pull away the ripped and slippery wet fabric of what used to be leggings. Before he could do much else though, some sixth sense warned him to look up, and his hand flew to his knife instinctively as a shadow fell over him.

It was fortunate, however, that he had cast the saxe knife on the ground beside him when kneeling down beside Halt and could not find it in the scabbard where his hand went, because it was Erak. And Alaric. Will noticed, as though for the first time, that he had felt their shadows, only because the sun was rising.

And a new day has dawned. 

A/N: I'm back...promised to give an update this weekend so here it is! Hope you'll like it and please give me a few votes + comments~