Sparks Flying - A Ranger's Apprentice Story

Chapter Eighteen

Will stared in shock at the slip of paper in his hand. He felt frozen, paralyzed. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move.

There was a firm hand on his shoulder, and then Will was moving, someone guiding him across the campsite to sit down, push his head between his knees until the dizziness dissipated. 

There was a quiet voice in his mind, the only thing he could somehow hear over the roaring in his ears. It's happening again, it repeated over and over again. Alyss. She's gone. Again. 

Then he felt someone shaking him, and it snapped him out of his reverie. The first thing he saw was Halt crouching in front of him, his hands on Will's shoulders, his face set and grave and concerned as he stared into Will's eyes. "Will? Are you breathing again?"

Will nodded distractedly as his senses, now on high alert, picked something else up. Crying. And not just anyone crying.

He turned his head to see Maddie curled into a tiny ball on the ground, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees. She was sobbing. Gilan crouched next to her, rubbing her back, with an expression on his face that clearly said he had no idea what to do.

Will was next to her in a flash, almost knocking Gilan out of the way. He wrapped his arms around his apprentice, almost fearfully. Even though his world was upside down, Maddie was a constant. No matter what happened, she would always be important. And he had no intention of her going missing or getting hurt, despite the fact that he couldn't even protect his own wife. 

Maddie looked up at him with tear-filled eyes for a long moment, before launching herself up at him, locking her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. Will tightened his grip, one hand cradling the back of her head against him. 

"Are you okay, Maddie?" he asked gently.

Her voice was very small, and muffled by his shirt, but he could still pick out the shaky words. "I was so scared!" she said. "You were so quiet and still, and you weren't even breathing, and I thought you were going to die!" She tightened her arms around Will's neck to the point where Will was almost having trouble breathing.

"Maddie? Can you loosen your grip a bit? You're almost choking me," Will murmured.

She complied, but didn't let go of him completely. She still refused to let go when Will came to his feet, pulling her with him, so he just picked her up and carried her towards their tents. He finally set her down next to her tent, reaching up and back to gently untangle her arms from around his neck. 

"I need you to pack all your things as quickly as you can, Maddie," he said softly, looking at her seriously. "Then go saddle Bumper."

"Okay," Maddie said, sniffling. She wiped her face on the corner of her cloak. "But you're not going to go all still and pale and stop breathing again, are you?"

Will shook his head. "Not if I can help it," he said grimly.

"Good, because that was too scary," Maddie whispered.

Will found a smile, somewhere deep inside, for her. It was small, and sad, one of wistfulness rather than joy, but it was for Maddie. He tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.

"Go on, now. Hurry up," he said. "We have to go find Alyss."

Maddie nodded once, before turning away and beginning take down her tent. Will left her to it, and began to pack his things as well. His mind was far away as his hands worked, the actions so familiar he didn't even need to think about him. A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts.

Halt stood next to him, visibly concerned. "What are you doing, Will?"

Will frowned. "Isn't it obvious? Maddie and I are going to go find Alyss."

Halt sighed. "So what's the plan? How are you going to go about this?"

Will opened his mouth to reply, then realized he didn't have an answer. He forged ahead stubbornly. "Something will come to me once we get going," he said.

Halt shook his head. "No, Will. That's never going to work. This Ruhl, he's deadly. He'll be expecting you. If you're not careful, it won't just be Alyss's life in danger. I wouldn't be surprised if he's set up some sort of trap for you, with Alyss as bait. You could die."

Will shrugged. "What do I care, if Alyss is safe? And besides, I set out on every mission knowing I could die."

Halt pressed on, his hand tightening on Will's shoulder. "Or Maddie could get hurt - or worse, killed - in the process. You can't just run into this blind, Will."

As soon as Halt mentioned the danger to Maddie, Will relented. He couldn't risk his apprentice's life like that. Will's shoulders slumped, and he did what he always did when he was desperate. He asked Halt.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked, looking up at Halt. Some part of him reflected that even though he'd been a fully fledged Ranger for almost two decades now, he would always be Halt's apprentice. Always still learning. And Halt would always be his mentor. It couldn't be any other way.

Halt regarded him steadily. "I think you should finish packing, and then we should leave," he said.

"We?" Will asked. "What do you mean?"

"You'll need backup," Halt said grimly. "So 'we' will be me and Gilan, and you and Maddie. That way we'll have the numbers if we need to split up or surround somebody. And we can always send Maddie for more help."

"Like me and the Kalkara," Will said.

Halt nodded. "Exactly."

"Okay," Will said. "But what about the Gathering? Doesn't Gilan have to be here for its entire duration?"

"Technically, yes," Halt said. "But he's ending it early and sending everyone home. Everyone's supposed to keep a sharp lookout in their fiefs for signs of Ruhl, and then Gilan can call on backup from nearby fiefs."

"It's well thought out," Will had to admit.

"Well, of course it is," Halt scoffed. "I'm Halt, the famous Ranger, after all."

"Let's go," Will said. "We have to get back to Redmont. The trail begins there, after all."

A/N: Okay, you guys, I owe you a huge apology. Give me a second. *Gets down on hands and knees in preparation to grovel.*

I am so sorry I left that awful cliffhanger! I never meant to leave this story hanging for this long. Hopefully now I'll get some momentum going and finish this up soon! I have it pretty much worked out in my head, but it's been really hard to work through all the plot twists. (And there's a lot of them.)

Also, I have literally had zero time to write. I've been so busy lately. I just got a job. I have a ton of school. My sister and I are playing with an orchestra (two hours away from our house) this coming Sunday, so we had to drive for rehearsals all this week and last week. I am accompanying thirty violin students for spring violin recitals the weekend after. And the weekend after that, my family is performing on a two-hour-long benefit concert at our church raising money for stained glass windows. So yeah. Legit no time.

On the bright side, though, I am going to get to go to my first choice college!!! I am super excited, especially because I thought for awhile I wouldn't be able to get enough scholarships. They gave me more than they said they would for music, and it was just enough! I do have to work for the summer though because I'm still a little under, and I have to get like a computer and a phone for school.

So at least you guys now have something on this story. I will do my best to keep it going. Like I said, I have it all in my head. The hard part is writing it down.

So I hope I still have some readers, at least. You guys are AMAZING for putting up with me and my erratic writing habits. Thank you guys so much. I have no idea what I'd do without you. 

Also thanks to @AqilTariq for motivating me on this one!

Koko