I'll Be With You Again (A Ranger's Apprentice Fanfiction)

Ch. 4

Chapter 4

The group made their journey back. It had been two months all told. They hoped that they weren't too late. Malcolm didn't know exactly how bad Will's condition was, but by the way the others were trying to rush, he knew it wasn't good. A gang of thieves, pretending to be knights of the Norgate castle, had stopped them. When Horace had defeated three of their numbers in less than five seconds, the rest had run off. Now, as the group rode into Redmont, they hoped that the small intervention, no matter how short it was, hadn't made them late. They rode into the forest, and left their horses in front of Will's house. Malcolm went inside, and started to treat Will.

***

Halt and Pauline rode in to the forest a few hours after. They had heard that Horace and George had brought Malcolm along, and they had rushed over. They saw Horace hugging Madelyn, and smiled. Everything was fine. But when they dismounted and went to talk to them, they saw Madelyn's face. She turned to Halt.

"I saw Uncle Will die." She said, in a barely audible croak.

A cold hand clutched at Halt's heart.

"No."

Horace turned to him. His face was red, and there were tear streaks on his face.

"He's gone."

Halt slapped him, angry. Angry at this joke they were pulling on him.

"What do you mean, gone? He can't die! He's- He's Will." He finished, weakly. Then, he just let go. Let go of the tears that he had held back. He knew this wasn't a joke. Will was gone.

"Did he say anything? His last words?" He asked.

Horace nodded.

"He only said one word."

"What?" Halt asked.

"Alyss."