Rangers Apprentice

•[20] Ruins

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3rd POV

The four companions spent a sleepless night as the haunting cries of the Kalkara dwindled to the north.
When they first heard the sounds, Gilan had moved to saddle Blaze, the bay horse snorting nervously at the fearsome howling of the two beasts.
Halt, however, gestured for him to stop.
"I'm not going after those things in the dark," he said briefly. "We'll wait till first light, then look for their tracks."

The tracks were easy enough to find, as the Kalkara obviously made no attempt to conceal their passing. The long grass had been crushed by the two heavy bodies, leaving a clear trail pointing east-north-east.
Halt found the trail left by the first of the two monsters, then a few minutes later, Gilan found the second, about a quarter of a kilometre to the left and travelling parallel – close enough to provide support in case of an attack, but distant enough to avoid any trap set for its brother.
Halt considered the situation for a few moments, then came to a decision.
"You stay with the second one," he told Gilan. "Will, Y/n and I will follow this one. I want to make sure they both keep heading in the same direction. I don't want one of them doubling back to come behind us."
"You think they know we're here?" Will asked, working hard to keep his voice sounding steady and disinterested.
"They could. There's been time for that Plainsman we saw to have warned them. Or maybe it's just coincidence and they're heading out on their next mission." He glanced at the trail of crushed grass, moving irrevocably in one constant direction.
"They certainly seem to have a purpose." He turned to Gilan again.
"In any event, keep your eyes peeled and pay close attention to Blaze. The horses will sense these beasts before we will. We don't want to run into an ambush." Gilan nodded and swung Blaze away to return to the second trail.

At a hand signal from Halt, the four Rangers began riding forward, following the direction the Kalkara had taken.
"I'll watch the trail," Halt told Will. "You keep an eye on Gilan, just in case. Y/n, look for any odd tracks or patterns."

Will turned his attention to the tall Ranger, some two hundred metres away and keeping pace with them. Blaze was only visible from the shoulders up, his lower half masked by the long grass. From time to time, undulations in the intervening ground took both rider and horse out of sight and the first time this happened, Will reacted with a cry of alarm as Gilan simply seemed to disappear into the ground.
Halt turned quickly, an arrow already at half draw, but at that moment, Gilan and Blaze reappeared, seemingly unconscious of the moment of panic they'd caused.
"Sorry," Will muttered, annoyed that he'd allowed his nerves to get the better of him.

Halt regarded him shrewdly. "That's all right," he said steadily. "I'd rather you let me know any time you even think there's a problem."
Halt knew only too well that, having called a false alarm once, Will might be reluctant to react next time – and that could be fatal for all of them.
"Tell me every time you lose sight of Gilan. And tell me again when he reappears," he said.
Will nodded, understanding his teacher's reasoning.

Y/n strained her eyes to see any change in the environment around them, even the little things like if a branch was bent an opposite way; signalling the Kalkara used the same track too and fro places. But she could hardly see any change.

And so they rode on, the keening cry of the Flutes swelling in their ears again as they approached the stone circle. This time, they would pass much closer, Will realised, as the Kalkara seemed to be heading straight for the site.
As they rode, their passage was marked by intermittent reports from Will.
"He's gone ... still gone ... All right. I see him again."
The dips and rises in the ground were virtually invisible under the waving cover of tall grass.
In fact, Will was never sure whether it was Gilan passing through a depression or he and Halt.
Often it was a combination of both. There was one bad time Gilan and Blaze sank from sight and didn't reappear within the customary few seconds.
"I can't see him ..." Will reported. Then: "Still gone ... still gone ... no sign of him..." His voice began to rise in pitch as the tension grew within him.
"No sign of them ... still no sign ..." Halt brought Abelard to a stop, his bow ready once again, his eyes searching the ground to their left as they waited for Gilan to reappear.
He let go a piercing whistle, three ascending notes. There was a pause, then an answering whistle, this time the same three notes in descending order, came clearly to them.
Will heaved a sigh of relief and just at that moment Gilan reappeared, large as life. He faced them and made a large gesture with both arms raised in an obvious question: What's the problem?