The Battle of Mackindaw - Ranger's Apprentice

Escape

Halt looked back one last time as the five hundred men under his command readjusted themselves to their new camp site, setting up tents and eating. He and a small party of leaders including the King, Cassandra, Crowley, Gilan, and a few infantry officers had set out on a march about two days prior going to the north, towards Seacliff with about five hundred men. Since Will and Alyss had been out of contact, they had given up on their plan and had put together a force of men to hit the Scotti with full force. Now they were camped in the the plains outside of where the forests began, which marked the border between Scotti and Araluen. They had just arrived at the planned campsite where they would spend the night, and the next day in the afternoon they would use Will's information on the camp's location and they would strike them down and hopefully find Will and Alyss. Assuming nothing's happened to either of them, Halt thought. Just as Halt was mulling over what could have possibly happened to his former apprentice, a scout came running up to him. "Look, sir! A rider, on the horizon!"

Halt looked, and sure enough, a lone rider was getting ever closer to their camp. He was galloping, but nothing was chasing him, so he assumed he must be coming for the camp. "I'll take care of this." Halt nudged Abelard and they trotted off to intercept the rider. Halt let him get within about a hundred meters and then called, "Stay where you are! Declare yourself!"

The rider stopped and then held up his shield. It had an oakleaf on it, and Halt knew who it was before the rider even called out, "Halt! It's me, Horace! I'm alone."

"Well, come on then! We need to get back to the camp!" Halt let Horace catch up to him, and they rode into camp together. "Why in the blazes are you here? How did you get here so fast? And who even told you where we were anyway?"

"Oh... it was Cassandra. She sent me a letter as soon as her father got the tip that the Scotti were going to invade. I left Celtica immediately and followed her directions here. Is Will here as well?"

Halt's face darkened. "Come into the command tent, Horace. Will's not here, and we have a lot to talk about..."

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Will's eyes moved back and forth constantly as he waited for just the right moment to signal Alyss. He observed the people walking by him, and as soon as there was a substantial lull in traffic, he reached up and awkwardly scratched his head. Immediately, Alyss popped out from behind on of the tents with a spear in her hand she walked towards him and right by him swinging the spear back and forth as if she was fiddling with it. But somewhere in that swing, the sharp metal tip seemed to cut near Will's hands, and sure enough, they sliced the ropes. But neither Will nor Alyss reacted at all. Will stayed hunched over, and Alyss just walked right on by. Next came the second phase of the plan. Suddenly Alyss began to shout at the men going by to follow her and to come with her, "Everyone! Listen to me! Listen! Last night I was out hunting in the woods and I saw this huge bear..." and she began to tell them an engrossing lie about the bear she had caught last night. While everyone's attention was on Alyss, Will let the ropes around his wrists drop and he rubbed his hands to get the blood flowing. He stood silently and grabbed a spare cloak he had been sitting on, courtesy of Alyss, and at the same time, unclipped his distinctive Ranger cloak. He quickly pulled on the extra cloak and spread the Ranger cloak over a nearby rock and dragged it over to where he had been sitting. The he artfully draped the rope from the stake to the cloak and hid the ends with the folds of the cloak. This obviously didn't look very good up close, but it would give them a little time to escape. Then he put his hand in the air, another signal to Alyss, and he walked confidently through the camp to the outer tents and stood inside tent number eighty-eight. Soon after that he heard Alyss stop talking and about a minute later, she also ducked inside the tent.