Halt was awake, that much he knew. But from what he could hear, he didn't know if he wanted to open his eyes.

He fluttered his eyelashes as a cool, early evening breeze brushed against his face. It felt uncannily like his mother's hand gently stroking his cheek when he was little to help him go to sleep... But then again, maybe he was just hallucinating. Then all at once, the pain hit. Every bone in his body ached and burned from falling out of the tree. The huge open cut on his hand stung sharply in the cool air and his ribs throbbed where the harness had bit into his torso. He was lying on his back, and his hands were tied tightly together in front of him with a thick piece of new rope. He tried to flex his wrists, but winced as the cut on his hand oozed out fresh blood. His ankles were also tied together over his boots, and the familiar weight of his knives and quiver were gone. He moved his head just the tiniest bit, and immediately felt the knot on the back of his head from hitting a branch on his way down. The small movement made his vision flash red again, but he forced his eyes to move under his lids. The light overhead was patchy and dappled, but getting progressively dimmer. The leaves rustled around him, and somewhere nearby there was a large river. Maybe they're gone, Halt thought. Maybe these blasted Temujai thought I was out cold so they left me here. What if I could just escape now? But as his awareness expanded and adjusted to his surroundings, he could just pick up the sound of voices. There had to be at least six of them nearby, speaking in low tones. Halt knew there had to be more of them around than that, but for now, with his eyes closed, it was hard to tell. So much for escape.

After lying there for a few moments in peace, he heard one of the men say in a louder voice, "Alright, that's enough. I know you're awake, Ranger. You've been up for a while, and I think you've wasted enough of our time." Halt heard his footsteps crunch through the leaves as he walked over right next to where Halt lay. "Open your eyes, or I'll kick you in the ribs."

Oh no. Kicking in the ribs right now would not be good. I have too many bruises there already. Guess it couldn't hurt to take a peak. He reluctantly peeled open his eyes, and even the dim light filtering through the branches above him was too much for his concussed senses. He couldn't help but wince and writhe, and the Tem'uj laughed.

"Rise and shine, Ranger. There's someone here who wants to talk to you."

Halt felt two men grab his arms, and he clenched his teeth as they dragged him to his teeth. Every single bone and muscle in his body fiercely protested the movement, and Halt struggled not to pass out from the pain. He felt his feet finally find their footing, and he cracked his eyes open again. It was now mid evening, and the dim forest around them was sparse. He could just make out a drop off a few hundred yards to their right, where the rock sloped into a steep, jagged cliff, and a river whooshed down at the bottom. He blinked over and over, struggling to make his eyes focus, but his head had been hit too hard. All he could make out was a blur of colors and people. Two of the Tem'uj had hauled him to his feet, and now he was standing, leaning heavily on them. Another figure was walking towards him. He caught a flash of blood red on what he assumed was the man's arm. It's Or'kan, he thought. The Sha'shan's son. The one who wants to kill Will. And me.

"Welcome, Ranger, to our humble aboad. Or should I say, campsite."

Or'kan's voice was deep and thick and gravelly. His very body seemed to rumble when he spoke. Or maybe that was just Halt's head pounding and his ears throbbing. Who knows at this point whether I'm witnessing reality or simply some dream I'm inventing for myself. Or maybe I died. Maybe I'm in the afterlife. Halt's stream of thought paused for a moment. It this is the afterlife, then it's sure as hell not what I was expecting.

Halt couldn't top squinting, although his vision was getting better. He could now make out Or'kan's face. "I would say your campsites are anything but humble. I've been observing them for the past few days. That large bonfire you always light? Not very humble, if you ask me."

Or'kan cracked a smile. Halt felt a small sense of relief when he realised he could now make out the Temu'jai's lips. I'm regaining my senses. Thank god for that. The world outside suddenly didn't seem to be quite so bright, and he realized he was standing with a bit more ease now.

Or'kan had continued talking. "We weren't really going for humble, Ranger. In fact, you fell right into our trap."

"Your trap? What kind of trap did you think you were setting?"

"We knew we would catch one of you eventually. Now all we have to do is wait for the other to come rescue you."

Halt forced a laugh. "Oh, really, so that's your 'trap'? Accidentally catch me and hope that my friend comes running to my rescue? Not a very good trap, if you ask me."

Or'kan's smile was painful now. "Well, you can talk all you want, but I wasn't the one who fell out of a tree. If I'm not mistaken," he said, pulling what seemed to be rope out of his pocket, "you were thoroughly tied into the tree, were you not? And you still managed to drop your bow and fall off the branch? Not a very good Ranger, if you ask me."

Halt's face darkened. "I wasn't asking you."

Or'kan's face, though young, as young as Will, still managed to look so ferocious in that moment that Halt had to fight to keep a straight face.

"And I wasn't asking you." His voice was full of venom.

The Tem'uj turned away, walking back to where he had come from. He seemed to be leaving.

Better keep him talking. It might prolong my survival. "Enough with the small talk, Or'kan, why aren't I dead yet?"

The Shan froze, with one foot hovering in the air between steps. He briskly turned and strode back toward him. His face was impossible to make out, some mix of confusion, anger, and perhaps a bit of admiration. "Finally, you ask me the right questions. But we are not on even ground; you know my name, but I do not know yours."

Halt raised an eyebrow. Even that small motion hurt. "Even ground? I'm beat to pulp, barely standing, tied up, and you think we're not on even ground because you don't know my name? I wonder if you know what 'even ground' means."

But Or'kan just rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask how you were doing, I asked for your name."

Halt gave an eye roll of his own, and hid a small measure of satisfaction as Or'kan's scowl deepened. "Halt. My name is Halt. Not that it matters, since you're going to kill me anyway."

Or'kan nodded. "Yes, I know of you. You were one of the Rangers that we already knew the name of. You were..." Suddenly his eyebrows flew up, and his jaw clenched as registered the name. His eyes blazed with sudden realisation and fury. "You! You were the Ranger who lead the attacks in Skandia, the Ranger who defeated my father's army, who sent us scuttling back to our country in bits and pieces! You left us for dead!"

Halt could do nothing as Or'kan took several long, angry strides toward him, until he was right in his face. "You - you destroyed my country, my family, and my future, Ranger Halt. You and the other one, Will Treaty. You both will pay for what you have done. To me, to my father, and to my country." He spat in Halt's face, his voice barely above a whisper, but containing enough venomous anger that Halt was afraid he would be killed instantly. But then the Shan backed away, calming down again.

Halt took his chance. "You tried to destroy the entire known world. It was only right that since you set out to capture everything, when you lost you would also lose everything. That is the way of the world. I did not do that single handedly, nor did Will. We were simply protecting our Skandian friends and our own country. Surely you can understand that."

Or'kan turned back toward him, his face disturbingly calm. "I don't care who or what you were defending. You destroyed my country in one day. I will destroy your family in two. Revenge is the way of the world. Don't let anyone tell you differently. " A ghost of a smile flitted across his face. "You asked why you weren't dead yet? You really don't know?" He walked back toward Halt, though this time at a more relaxed pace, as if they were taking a walk through the park making simple conversation. "You're a smart man, Ranger Halt. I'd be terribly disappointed if you hadn't figured it out by now."

Halt shrugged, then immediately regretted it as he had to clench his jaw tighter to keep from wincing. Definitely got some cracked ribs down there. "Yes, I think I know."

"Well, have at it. Tell me why you're not dead." He spread his hands and sat down gracefully on a tree stump like he was sitting down to an elegant feast in a palace, not on an old dead stump somewhere in the middle of the Araluen forest.

Cocky bastard. I'll show him. "Well, it's all very simple, isn't it?" Halt kept his tone light and flowy. "I'm your bait."

Or'kan noticed Halt's voice, and the only thing that gave away his irritation was the flick of his eyebrow. "Very good. Care to elaborate?"

Halt trudged on through the explanation. "You keep me alive solely to lure the other Rangers in. You failed to kill enough of us in your ambush, so you have to finish what you started. They all flock to help me, you kill them as they come. Like sheep to the slaughter."

Or'kan's emotionless mask came down in a single moment, going from a passive, uncaring leader to an angry, bitter, deeply hateful man who wanted nothing more than to kill him. His eyes suddenly seemed to burn red, and his whole body tensed, his lips curling into a snarl. It was one of the most terrifying things Halt had ever seen. He couldn't hide the flash of shock and fear in his eyes, and he saw Or'kan smile at his terror. "Exactly. I am going to keep you alive just long enough to look each and every Ranger in the eye before I kill them. You will get to watch as I destroy your family the way you destroyed mine. You and Will Treaty. Oh, the plans I have for the both of you. You'll be begging for death by the time I've finished."

Halt struggled to keep his tone calm. "I never destroyed your family. I didn't invade your country and directly target your father and your mother and your brothers and sisters and your comrades. Are you really so blinded by your hatred that you will do anything to satisfy your thirst for unjustified revenge?"

Or'kan jutted out his chin, sticking his face into Halt's. "I am not the one who is blinded. You are the one who cannot see what you have done. I am the only one who can help my country. And you can die knowing that you fed the phoenix who emerged through the ashes of the Eastern Steppes. You were the doom of my nation, but you will now be the hope; the hope of a world without Rangers, and the hope of a new, budding Temujai empire."

Halt's face hardened. "If Rangers are truly blind, then why is Araluen the most powerful country in the known world? And if you see so clearly, why did your ambush not kill as many of us as you had hoped? How many did you even kill?"

Or'kan's brows lowered. "Two. We only killed two, as far we know."

Halt pushed on. "Which two?"

Or'kan crossed his arms, and Halt blinked away a sudden flash of an image of a young boy crossing his arms and pursing his lips right before he threw a tantrum. "According to my sources, a young one named Trevor and and old one named Jonathan."

Halt felt a hand close around his heart and squeeze. He sighed with both relief and sadness. Gilan and most of the others were alright, but poor Jonathan... Halt remembered many a good time with him. He had always been a good friend. He had just retired, too, Halt thought bitterly. So much for a nice peaceful retirement. And Trevor, poor Trevor, he was only a small boy. He had so much left to live for...

Or'kan saw the sadness on Halt's face and grinned with sick satisfaction. "I'll leave you to wallow in your misery. And I assure you, you'll be the first to know if any of you dear friends turn up, especially that old one you were travelling with. He'll be the first of many to die..." He trailed off as he walked away into the forest, a few of his men following behind him. The soldiers holding Halt up unceremoniously dropped him, and his injured legs couldn't take the sudden weight. He crumpled to the ground and moaned in agony as his cracked ribs and many bruises flared with pain.

Halt lay there, curled up in a daze of pain, and hid his face as he cried silently for Trevor and Jonathan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing he noticed was that he was walking. He was moving down a path - no, he knew this path - to Redmont Castle. His body didn't hurt anymore, his ribs didn't throb, he felt full and satisfied. It was such a relief to feel healthy again that Halt couldn't hold back a soft sigh of relief. He was safe. He had made it. He wasn't dead. He was going home and he was going to see Pauline and Will and.. And Will.

Where was Will?

He continued down the path. It was surrounded by thick, fat, familiar trees, and many layers of dead leaves under his boots crunching and rasping like tiny voices whispering to him. The leaves swished and twisted and hissed in the breeze, which was unusually chilly. The faint mid afternoon light filtered through the dense greenery, and a few small squirrels could be seen running around. He suddenly knew he had to keep going, he couldn't stop, he just had to get there. There? He didn't know where he was going - but he knew he was going somewhere. He was nearly there - just around that bend - the clearing - the cabin! Wills cabin! He ran for the house, now gasping for breath. He hadn't realized he had ran nearly all the way there. His boots thumped on the porch steps as he brushed past the chairs that he always loved to sit in. His hand closed on the cool metal knob and he flung the door open, shouting, "Will!"

He didn't see anything at first, just the normal furniture, the cozy little kitchen, the door that lead to Will and Alyss's room. There was even a vase of fragrant flowers, freshly picked, on the table. The other door, where Will had slept in when he was an apprentice, was open as well, but from where Halt stood, he couldn't see anything in it. He stepped over the threshold gently, and whispered hushly, "Will? Alyss?"

A figure stepped out of the main bedroom, wrapped in a robe. It was Alyss. Her long, blonde hair was even longer than he had remembered, but her face was more tense, new lines had formed along her brow and her smile lines weren't as prominent and charming as they used to be. Her eyes still sparkled, but something was wrong. She looked a bit disheveled, and she did not smile as she greeted him. Her voice came out with its usual warmth, but a rough, low texture which was not normally present.

"Hullo, Halt."

She stepped out into the main room gingerly, and she seemed to wobble on the first few steps. She managed to make her way into the small kitchen, and her hand shook as she reached out towards the empty coffee pot sitting on the stove. "Normally, I would make you coffee, but... I haven't been able to make myself do it, lately." She let go of the handle and turned back to Halt.

He didn't know wait what to think. "Oh... alright, but wouldn't Will want some?"

Her eyes flashed, and a sudden weight seemed to hit her shoulders. Her voice came out even rougher and lower as she murmured wistfully, "Yes, he would." She tucked a shaking hand back inside her robe.

Halt couldn't help but widen his eyes at Alyss's condition. "How are you, Alyss? Are you.... Well?"

Alyss looked at him with those empty, hard eyes again. "I'm doing as well as can be expected. I'm not sick, I'm not tired... It's just been hard. Especially having to deal with the little ones by myself."

The little ones? "I'm glad to hear it..." Halt trailed off. What the hell is going on here?What's wrong with her? "Alyss, when will Will be back?"

She had turned away from him, starting to make her way back towards her room. The moment he asked, she froze. She did not turn around, but her back suddenly stiffened. Her voice cracked and choked as she whispered, "Halt... You know he's never coming back."

Halt froze. His mind couldn't think. What? Never coming back?

Alyss suddenly started talking very quickly, her voice still rough, but stronger. "Halt, you know he's never coming back. He's gone, gone to where I can't reach him, where you can't reach him, where no one can reach him. I know that eventually I'll learn to get on without him, that I'll recover, that I'll heal, but right now - right now it feels like I will never be able to live fully, to love completely, to... To feel anything ever again. Halt, I loved him. I loved him so much. And he loved me. And I know that I will love him just as much until the day I die, and I know he still loves me from where ever he is... I really wish I could see him just one more time." Her hands collapsed to her sides. She seemed exhausted.

Halt couldn't think. He simply couldn't register what was happening. Rather, he didn't want to.

They stood there in complete and utter silence, a sad, forlorn kind of silence for several minutes, until a small movement inside the other bedroom caught his eye. The door moved, then creaked open ever so slightly. What was beyond that door was something altogether different and unexpected; the one thing Halt never thought he might see.

A boy.

The boy.

The small toddler, with a mass of curly brown hair, light skin, large and dark eyes, tiny, fisty hands, long lashes...

"Oh, did we wake you up, darling? I'm sorry, go on, back to bed. You can visit with Grandfather Halt in the morning." Alyss's gentle, loving, tender voice snapped him back to reality.

But the boy did not do as she asked. He simply stood there, staring intently at Halt, his small lips still forming that little 'O' of surprise. Then the small boy spoke, in a light, cheerful voice.

"I told you I'd see you again, didn't I?"

Halt simply could not think. He didn't answer the boy.

Another movement behind the boy caught Halt's eye. A flash of light blonde hair - and there she was. A little girl, even younger than the boy, barely walking, peeked out from behind him. She had large, light eyes and thick hair like her mother, but something about her smile that she was now flashing at him reminded him of, well, of Will. The way her eyes crinkled at the corners as she grinned at him, the way she giggled and said softly, "Hullo, Grandfather."

Alyss brushed past him as if he was not there, gently prodding the two beautiful children back inside the room. "Come now, back to bed. It's awfully late. You can visit more in morning, alright?" The boy and girl took one last long look at Halt, the turned and disappeared back into the darkness behind the door.

Alyss turned back to Halt. "Sorry about that, they weren't supposed to be awake."

"Were those your - your children?"

"Well, of course, Halt." Alyss looked at him strangely, as if he was crazy.

"And who's their father?"

"Halt? Are you alright? You know who their father is... Maybe you need to lie down..."

"Who?"

"Will! My husband, Will. My... Dead... Husband." Alyss's voice broke. "Your son."

He's dead.

Will's dead.

He has children...

And he's dead.

"How did he die?"

Alyss's face was now pinched in anguish. "Halt... You were there! Don't make me relive something you had to see first hand!" She suddenly erupted in anger, flinging her hands into the air. "He died saving your life! He died for you and for the Ranger Corps and for Araluen. You carried his body back, you buried him..." She swiped a hand across her cheeks. "I swore to myself I wouldn't cry anymore. I need to go."

"No... Alyss..."

"Goodbye, Halt." She stepped back into her room, turning her face away, but not soon enough. Halt could just glimpse her tears, wet and round on her cheeks in the dim light, her clumped lashes, her pursed lips, and her broken eyes.

The door shut. The flowers on the table were dead, the water in the vase dried up and the petals brown and crispy as they fell to the table top. The room disappeared. The house disappeared. And Halt was left all alone in the middle of the forest with Alyss's tears running down his own face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey! Up! Up with you! You've got a visitor!"

Halt held back a moan as he cracked his eyes open. He had stopped dreaming some time ago, but the sadness of it all was still so fresh, so raw, he could barely breathe.

He felt hands grab his arms and haul him up, and he groaned with pain. He felt them drag him across the ground, until they propped him up against a tree. He leaned back against it gratefully. Then he forced himself to open his eyes. It was now late, the sun had fully set, and it was completely dark. The only thing lighting up the area was a large fire, which Halt sat just a few feet from.

Movement in the darkness beyond startled him. From just beyond the trees, four figures emerged. One walked out in front, and the other three walked in a tight line behind him. He realized the man in the middle was being dragged along - he was their prisoner, that was for sure - but he couldn't make out who it was in the darkness. But as they drew nearer to the fire, Halt's heart skipped a beat - no, two - as he realized who it was. He would recognize that face anywhere.

It was Will.

**********************

Hello, hello. It's been a while hasn't it?

Many apologies are owed, but the most important one is for you. I am sorry it took me so long to get this part up, I really, truly am. I just... School. That's the only reason. School this year is hard, and I am trying to get used to it. So I am grateful to you all for being infinitely patient with me.

So what did you think? That was the last dream sequence I'll be writing for this book, probably. If I think of anymore, I might include them, but I figure it's better to go out with a bang. Get ready for the climax next section, should be a good one. Got lots of lovely things planned. Don't hate me too much for the cliff hanger... Please...

That was a pretty emotional thing to write, to be honest with you. I hope you feel as sad as I do right now, cause if you don't, then I just wasted all that emotion for nothing and I didn't do my job well enough. You all know the drill: any typos you spot or any strange sentences or plot holes, please leave me a comment and let me know. If you like, please vote and comment. I will get back to you ASAP. Also, if you have any burning questions or suggestions for the names of Will and Alyss's dream children, please let me know! I don't think I'll ever name them in my book, just for the sake of continued ambiguity, but I'd love to hear some of your ideas on it... Maybe for use in my next book...

Hope you all have a fantastic Labor Day weekend or regular weekend. I am so, so thankful that you all keep reading my stories. I'll check back in really soon. ;)