Will's eyes widened. "The Temujai? How - "

"For the last time, Will, I don't know. But I do know that we all need to move now, or else we are all going to die. Now are you ready?"

Will forced back his questions, and swallowed hard. "Yes. What's the plan?"

"Well, unfortunately there aren't really many options. I was thinking something along the lines of everyone running at the same time." He squinted off towards the forest. "There are several paths through the forest that should be small enough to conceal this amount of people."

Will's eyes widened. "Really? That's your plan? Run and hope for the best?"

Halts glared at him angrily. "Oh, please, if you have any better suggestions, let me know." He glanced across the way to where Gilan was. He waved at him, making a few hand gestures. Gilan nodded, and started whispering harshly to the Rangers with him. Halt turned back to Will. "You remember the Gathering emergency protocols?"

"Yes, but - "

"We don't have time for this. The longer we wait, the more people are going to die. I don't know why these Temujai are attacking us, but the fact that they knew where our Gathering was is very disturbing to me. Will," he spoke softer now, putting a hand on Will's shoulder. "I need you to take all the Rangers to Castle Araluen. The King must be notified of this immediately. There will be a lot wounded. Get them all there as safely as possible, and work with the King. Don't come back, do you understand?"

Will gaped at him. "What, do you think I'm just going to leave you here with who knows how many bloodthirsty Temujai on your tail, completely alone? And besides, what will you be doing while I'm gone?"

"You won't be leaving me alone. I'll regroup with Crowley or Gilan, or anyone who I know I can trust to make it out. I'm going to track these blasted Temujai and find out how they found us."

"You can't do that alone, or even just with Crowley!"

"Yes, I can, and I'm going to. And you're going to get the Rangers to Duncan."

Will's hands tightened on his bow, his knuckles turning white. "But what if - "

"If nothing. You're going to need all the help you can get, that's why I'm only taking Crowley."

Will's eyes widened and he grabbed Halt's shoulder, the first hint of his fear showing on his face. "Can't someone else do it? Why can't I stay with you?"

Halt leaned in close, hissing furiously, "Because you're the only one I can trust to lead them all."

Will sat back, his mouth gaping like a fish. Me? I'm the only one he trusts? How can that be? "Halt... Are you sure?"

Halt leaned in again and whispered in a softer, more gentle voice, "I don't know anyone else who could do this, except for you. And I know you can do it, without me."

Will nodded numbly. Without Halt. "But are you really sure? Are you certain you don't want me to stay - "

"I have never been more certain about anything in my entire life." Halt held Will's eyes for a long moment, his former apprentice's eyes widening as everything registered. Halt let his head drop, sighing briefly. "Now are you ready?"

Will nodded, and when Halt glanced back up at him, there was a determination in his eyes, one Halt had seen many times before: when they were sent to kill the Kalkara, when he lead the archery force in Skandia, and when he set off into the Arridi desert to search for Tug. Now, many years later, that same fire still lit up Will's eyes as he accepted and curbed his fear into the driving force that made him such a good Ranger. He's better than I ever was, thought Halt. And that's a damn good thing, too, because otherwise I would be alone right now. Alone, and probably long dead.

"Whenever you are," Will said softly, his voice set and unwavering.

Halt flashed a smile at him and turned to give the signal, but Will out a hand on his arm. His eyes were a little sad, as if he knew what could happen to them. "I'll see you in a few days, right?"

Halt turned slightly and tried to smile. That depends on if we both manage to survive these next few minutes. And even then... Days? It could be weeks, even months. But he choked back his doubt and managed to reply, "Yes... In a few days."

Will sat back, satisfied. They both hefted their weapons under the table, squatting on their knees. Under the table next to him, Will saw Gilan and the others do the same. Suddenly, all the other Rangers under the tables moved as well, lifting knives and bows, preparing to move. The most amazing thing was that there was no sound, even though over fifty people had just prepared for battle. But the mass movement was unavoidable, and just as Halt ducked out from under the table, waving his arm, a hail of black arrows flitted from the trees all around them like a swarm of bees. Thrumm - thrumm - thrumm - thrumm... Suddenly the clearing was filled with the sound of recurve bows snapping off shots. All the Rangers who had made it out from under the tables ducked, and it was a miracle that no one was hit.

As soon as Halt moved, Will crawled out after him. Once he was in the open, several arrows split over his head, and he ducked and weaved, heading over toward another table. He squatted to one side and snapped off a shot into the woods where he spotted movement. A figure fell out of the tree, the grey arrow sunk deep into his chest. The man wore light leather armor over thick linen clothing, in the desert grey and brown colors of the Temujai.

All around Will was chaos. Rangers were running across the clearing, shooting from cover blindly into the trees, some arrows hitting the enemy, others not. Some had remained under the tables briefly, and now came out into the open. Temujai were pouring out of the trees into the clearing and engaging the Rangers. They fought furiously, saber-on-knife, and Will winced as he heard several cries of pain. Are those Temujai? Or Rangers? He shook his head out of the his daze as he heard a cry. A Tem'uj had come running out of the trees nearest his position and was sprinting at him, screaming something nasty at him. Will calmly slung up his bow and drew both knives, raising and crossing them just in time as the saber arched toward his head. They clashed together with a loud clang that echoed through the clearing. The Temujai whipped his sword down, nicking Will's jaw with the tip, and then back quickly, settling into a fighting stance. Will blinked as the cut on his jaw stung. This must be master swordsman, he thought as he desperately held off a few heavy and quickly blows from the saber with his short knives. He received another nick on his hairline near his ear, which was small but bled heavily, running down the side of his face. The Tem'uj smiled wickedly as he gained ground, and as he took a few menacing steps forward, his boot crushed the broken shards of Will's once beautiful mandola. Oh, no you don't. Not my mandola, you murderer. Will stepped back and sheathed his knives in one smooth movement, and the Tem'uj was so surprised that he faltered for a minute. His saber hovered unsteadily in the air for a split second. That was just enough time for Will to reach behind him, grab an arrow from his quiver, and stab the arrowhead into the shoulder of the Tem'uj, plunging it deep into the chink in his armor. The man screamed as the arrow sunk deeply into his shoulder, his saber dropping from his hand as the arrows sliced main arteries and nerves. Will stepped back, yanking the barbed head of the arrow out mercilessly as he went, and a huge spurt of blood immediately gushed from the wound. He collapsed to the ground, gasping. Will slung his bow off his shoulder, ignoring the blood that ran in rivulets down his hand and dripped off the tip of his arrow, notched that same arrow, and shot at another Tem'uj coming at him. The man never even had a chance, dropping instantly, dead before he even fell, as the razor sharp head bit through the armor as if it weren't there. Ducking under the lance of another soldier, Will swiped up a few shards of wood from the wreckage of his instrument and slipped them into his pocket.

Will fired off several arrows, killing more of the Temujai. But more just kept coming out of the trees. He glanced around. Most of the other Rangers had disappeared into the forest by now. Only a few small skirmishes remained, and most Temujai had disappeared into the brush to pursue the Rangers. Across the clearing, he could see Halt snapping off shot after shot, dropping man after man. By his side was Crowley, who was fighting the men hand-to-hand, protecting Halt. Halt's eyes glanced across the clearing and met Will's own, nodding. He mouthed, In a few days. Will nodded. Then Halt snapped off one last shot, grabbed Crowley's arm, and they ducked into the forest. A few remaining Temujai tried to follow them, but Will sent a few arrows chasing them and they all dropped to the ground like sacks of potatoes. Now the clearing was empty, the large majority of Rangers having escaped unharmed into the forest. Hopefully unharmed, although that's quite a long shot. Will's eyes flew to one far corner of the clearing, where one last small group was fighting. It was Harrison, fending off a swordsman with his knives, while Trevor huddled behind him, feebly brandishing his knives and whimpering at the men. Will started toward them. Then Harrison screamed, and Will's jog turned into a flat-out sprint. The swordsman had sunk his blade into the meaty part of his shoulder, and as he pulled it out, Harrison bent in half, dropping his knives, staggering away from the man. But this movement had saved his life, as another Tem'uj behind him loosed an arrow at him. As he ducked, the arrow flew over his head, missing Harrison, and hitting....

Trevor.

Right in the center of the chest.

Harrison collapsed to the ground, rolling, but faltered as he heard Trevor's gasp. The swordsman smiled wickedly, raising his blade for the final blow. But he never got the chance because by then Will had reached the group. A red haze blurred his vision as the anger of seeing fellow Rangers hurt overtook him. He savagely stabbed his saxe into the spine of the swordsman, and the saber fell from his hands as he lost feeling in his extremities. He collapsed to the ground, and would be dead in minutes. Will slashed the throat of the man next to him, and then fired one last arrow at the final Tem'uj. Then, as the haze faded, he whirled around, falling to the ground next to Harrison, who was clutching his shoulder, and the pale form of Trevor, the arrow sticking out of his chest. Trevor was breathing heavily, his face now a sickly white color, his eyes bugging out of his head. Harrison tried to lean in and put his hands on the wound, but he was in too much pain. Will pushed him back, and leaned in, pressing his hands down on the tattered skin around the arrow. He fought the urge to throw up as the warm, steady bubbly glug of blood oozed around his hands, drenching them, instantly traveling up his sleeves. Trevor tried to cough, but all that came out was blood, and it sprayed across the grass next to him in sickly hail of red rain that stained the individual blades of green. "Trevor, look up at me. Look up!" Will hissed, trying to stem the rush of blood.

Trevor's eyes rolled slowly away from the sky, focusing dimly on Will's face. "Ranger... Will? Is that... Really you?"

Will fought the urge to gag as the act of speaking made more blood bubble up from his chest. "Y-yes, it's me Trevor. You have to hold on, alright? Hold on, we are going to get you out of here."

Trevor smiled, but it wasn't a real smile. He was delirious, and he laughed slightly in his hallucinations, causing another spurt of blood to run over Will's hands. Will swallowed back his pork and applesauce. "Get me... Out of here? I know you can... Do it. You're... Ranger Will. You can do... Anything..." His voice trailed off as he giggled again.

Will looked over at Harrison, who was leaning over them both. "Are you strong enough to carry him?"

Harrison nodded, wincing as he tore off a bit of his shirt, and then stuffed it deep into the hole in his shoulder. He took a second, much larger wad, and stuffed around the flesh on Trevor's chest. The bleeding slowed slightly, and he nodded again. "Yes. But you'll have to lead me, and if anyone jumps out, you had better shoot them quick."

"That's the plan. On three." At Will's count, he helped Harrison lift Trevor. Once he was stable, Will smeared some of the slick blood covering his hands on Trevor's cloak, and then drew three arrows and laid them on the string. The clearing was silent now, no one seemed to be around, but Will and Harrison knew otherwise. The Temujai were probably hiding in the trees, just waiting for any stragglers like them to come stumbling right into their traps. Will started forward into the forest, Harrison staggering closely behind at an uneven, painful, but fast pace. They jogged silently through the brush, heading towards somewhere, anywhere, but the remnants of chaos behind them.

Will's eyes flicked back and forth as they moved through the trees, step after step. They ran through the terrifying silence for a good fifteen minutes, with no disturbances. But Will could barely hear anything except the sound of his own blood pumping through his ears - thuh thump, thuh thump, thuh thump. It's a miracle the Temujai haven't heard it yet, thought Will as his heart beat jumped to a faster tempo. Thuh thump thuh thump thuh thump thuh thump. He glanced out into the trees. Someone's out there... Waiting for us. Will started to feel lightheaded. They must be close. Then his vision went blurry as his pulse reached a gallop. Thuhthumpthuhthumpthuhthumpthuhthump - Then suddenly something twitched in the trees, and later Will could have sworn it was the curve of a bow. Something brushed past his face with a distinct whizz sound and thunked into the tree behind him. He blinked as a small trickle of blood ran near his eye. An arrow. Charged with adrenaline, he raised his bow and snapped off the shot, and a dark figure fell out of the tree, hitting the packed ground with a dull thud. Will crouched as he waited for someone else to pop out, his heart still pounding. He waited for someone else to jump out of the darkness, their saber dripping with blood, ready to slaughter them. Thuhthumpthuhthumpthuhthumpthuhthump - But no one did. After a few seconds of silence again, he rose again and signaled to Harrison, who had also crouched. He now stood shakily and started jogging again. They moved in complete silence again for another quarter hour, and Will felt his heartbeat slow down to a normal pace. Now the trees were becoming less dense. The moon was visible above them, shining eerie white light on them, casting shadows where there shouldn't be any, and creating movement when everything was still. When another fifteen minutes passed of nothing, Will dared to whisper into the darkness, "I think we're clear of the immediate perimeter. How's Trevor?"

"Not good. He's only barely conscious." Harrison puffed as he jogged after Will. "How much longer until we reach the meeting place?"

"Not long now. The trees are thinning," Will whispered as he glanced up at the moon. It had risen higher into the sky, it's light now getting brighter and less eerie. He saw a cover of thick trees off to his right, and he jogged toward them. He stopped as he came up to them and slung his bow onto his shoulder, puffing as he caught his breath. Harrison staggered over to him, and struggled to lower Trevor to the ground, and Will reached up to help him. Trevor sprawled on the roots of one of the trees, his chest rising and falling heavily. So he's still alive, thought Will.

Harrison collapsed next to Will, hissing in pain. Will leaned over to check his shoulder. It was still bleeding a little, but the cloth in the wound had stopped a lot of the bleeding. "You're going to be alright. You managed to stop the bleeding soon enough." Will started to tear a long strip of cloth from his shirt, but Harrison handed him his own strip, and Will expertly bound it tightly around his shoulder.

"Thanks, Will," he murmured softly, and Will nodded in return, not really listening. He had now turned his attention to Trevor. In the light of the moon, his face had taken on a gray pallor, and his whole body trembled. His eyes were half closed as he convulsed and spasmed, blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth. "My god," he heard Harrison gasp as he leaned over Trevor.

Will put his hands back around the arrow, a fresh wave of warm liquid squeezing out of the soaked rag that was stuffed in the wound. Trevor's eyes opened slightly, but he wasn't laughing anymore. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? He choked back the throat-closing fear. "Trevor, hold on. You have to hold on. We're almost there. You have to fight."

Trevor blinked once, his movements sluggish, words slurred. "I've been fighting for... A long time."

Will fought the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I know, but you can't give up. Not now, not when we're so close to safety - "

Trevor's trembling hand reached over and squeezed Harrison's tightly. No words were exchanged, but they both gave each other long meaningful looks. Then Trevor turned back to Will. "Ranger Will... I want you to know... Something." His voice was getting softer and weaker with every word.

Will leaned in to hear him. "What is it?"

Trevor's eyes rolled in their sockets, but he kept talking. "The reason why... I wanted to be a Ranger... Was you." Will sucked in another breath and blinked to hold back his tears. "You saved so many people... So many lives. I wanted to do that... Too."

Harrison stayed hunched over Trevor, but he was shaking now, and Will saw tears dripping off the end of the older Ranger's nose. He also bent over and put his hands on top of Will's, doubling the pressure on Trevor's chest. "Come on, Trevor, don't talk like that. You're going to be fine - "

"I know you can save... the others. You have to keep... Fighting, Ranger. Keep fighting. Don't lose... Hope." Suddenly Trevor emitted a gurgling gasp, and he choked out, "I - I can't - breathe - "

Will turned his head to one side and Trevor choked out more blood onto the grass. The light was almost gone from his eyes. "Hold on, Trevor, hold on - "

"I can't - I can't - " Trevor muttered. His hands trembled as the reached up and feebly wrapped his fingers around Will's and Harrison's hands. His eyes moved back and forth between their faces, not even focusing anymore. His head started to fall to one side, and Will put on bloody hand on his cheek, forcing him to look up into their eyes.

"No, Trevor, don't you give up now - "

But his eyes locked on Will's and suddenly the fog cleared. The spark was back. His hands fell limp, sliding down to the ground again. Trevor breathed, "Don't lose hope."

His hands went slack, and his glassy pupils were filled with the white light of the moon directly above, a shining white orb on his dead eyes.

And he moved no more.

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

Will sat in silence next to Trevor for several seconds after, waiting. Waiting for him to open his eyes again. But he didn't. After a few moments, Harrison bent down and buried his face in his apprentice's cloak, making no sound. Will wrenched his eyes away from Trevor's body and forced himself to his knees, and then to his feet. He took a few staggering steps, his head spinning, and then he grabbed a tree, bent over, and threw up. After he had finished, he turned back toward Harrison again, wiping his mouth, stumbled over, and took hold of the older Ranger's arm. "Harrison... We have to keep moving."

The older Ranger nodded, then pulled himself to his feet. His eyes were sad. "We can't just leave him here."

Will nodded. "Of course not. Do you want me to carry him?"

"No, no, I will." He bent down and lifted Trevor's body, then started jogging off across the hill.

Will shook himself out of his stupor and started jogging after the stumbling form of Harrison. They ran for a long time, it could have been hours, it could have been minutes, Will didn't remember. His exhaustion and sadness settled him into a daze as his feet rose and fell with a steady thud thud thud. His jog at some point turned into a heavy limp as his adrenaline wore off and his knee started hurting again. But he knew he couldn't stop, and eventually the pain faded. Sometime later, when the moon had long past reached the top of the sky, they crested a hill, the trees having thinned to almost nothing, and spotted the tiny village in the distance. It was tiny, and missing any map of Araluen. It had no residents, and it was so deep into the forest that almost no one knew it even existed, and those who saw it assumed it was a ghost town. But all Rangers knew better. It was an emergency shelter set up by the Ranger Corps for any sort of situation that threatened them as a whole... Just like what had happened that night. All the Rangers who had run off into the trees should have started running towards this spot. Will had stayed a long time at the clearing to fight off the last of the Temujai, so he should be the last one arriving with Harrison, so long as nothing had gone wrong. As they drew closer to the small, low, and nearly invisible cluster of buildings, there were no lights on. But Will knew that they would be there still. They stumbled past the buildings heading for the smallest one in the back. It was small enough it could be a shed. But when Will opened the door, past the shelves of old, cobweb-smothered trowels and jugs, was a clear spot on the floor, where the dust had been cleared away by Ranger boots. Will reached down and pulled on the small handle, lifting the platform of wood to reveal a set of roughly hewn stairs that lead down into the dark. Will held it open as Harrison carried Trevor down into the darkness without hesitation. Will scanned the small shack one last time, making sure all the doors had been shut again to remove all evidence of their presence, and then crawled into the darkness of the staircase.

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

Well. Let me just say that was one of the most intense things I've ever written. It was also the most fun. And maybe one of the saddest. That's a pretty good combination for both reading and writing, is it not?

Also, I know this probably doesn't make much of a difference to anyone except for me, but I want to dedicate this chapter to the victims of yesterday's horrors. There were six terrorist attacks in Paris, bombings in Beirut and Baghdad, and earthquakes in Japan and Mexico. I want to send out love and support for anyone in or involved with these areas. It's scary, and it's sad. Like Trevor said... Don't loose hope. Keep fighting.

On a lighter note, please tell me what you thought of this chapter, what you thought about Trevor's death, or Halt's solo mission with Crowley. Please vote and comment! Thanks so very much for reading and being patient with me while I edit these newer sections. If you saw any typos while reading, please point them out so I can fix them. See you soon. ;)

Image: traditional Temujai saber