Ranger's Apprentice - Race For Halt

Ch. 30 - Will's POV

Back at his cabin, Will had gone to bed early.
Halt had been waiting inside to send Maddie off for some good rest while he watched Will. Shortly after, Will had gone to his room and laid down.
An easy knock startled him.
"Will?" Halt's voice said.
"I'm still alive," Will groaned. It was a joke, but Will didn't have the energy or the attitude to make it sound like a joke.
Halt opened the door and stuck his head inside.
"What happened today?" He asked.
Will sat up in bed. "What do you mean?"
"It's still light outside and you want to sleep?" Halt reasoned. "I know you better than that. What happened?"
Will just shook his head. He didn't trust himself to talk about it.
Halt watched him carefully. When Will didn't answer, Halt shrugged.
"I'm going to make coffee. Want a cup?" He asked.
Will shook his head.
Halt hesitated before closing the door.
Exhausted and overcome with emotions, Will laid back down and drifted to sleep.

It was one horrible crash of emotions after the other. Dreams that Will knew weren't really dreams.
They were memories.
Maddie getting hurt. Him blaming himself. Alyss, and every little detail he'd forgotten. And then the day he'd decided to take revenge of her death. All the anger.
Halt getting hit with Genovesan poison. Malcolm. Malcolm dying. Skandia. Warmweed. Cassandra and Horace. Arrida. Tug running off. Himself almost dying in the desert. Nihon Ja. All the deaths.
The earlier years even came back. Halt taking him as an apprentice. The war with Morgarath. Him meeting Tug for the first time. When he found Shadow.
All his memories, every last one, flooded back in. He'd wanted this for so long, to remember. But not like this. Not all at once.
It was supposed to be a good thing.
It was supposed to be an answer to everyone's prayers.
It was supposed to make things normal again.
Instead, it was haunting.
It was heartbreaking.
It was smothering.
And it was unbearable.