Authors note: hello, so I have not yet died, I have been very busy, I had school exams, homework, assignments, then I had a youth camp, then it was Christmas then I had a national Girls Brigade camp (Girls Brigade it a bit like a christian version of Girl Guides), then I went camping with my family, so this has taken a long time I am really sorry and I hope that you can forgive me for taking so long.

Thank you to AgileWolf and the other guest that reviewed since the last chapter.

Again I ask you to please review, and if it helps yo could you try to do this thing I mentioned called two stars and a wish, so each star is something that you liked or something that you thought that I did well, then the wish is something or an area that you thought I could improve on. If you can only think of one star please review and let me know what it is, same goes with the wish. Dose that help anyone, please let me know by reviewing wether or not you like the idea, so please review, I love all reviews, they really help me to write. thank you. the more reviews I get the faster the next chapter will come out. thanks for the support ~Ranger River

Death of a Hero

Chapter 4 - Part 2

He remembered

"wow, you remembered something. That would have been super challenging." Called Gil making Will laugh and inedibly they both earned a glair from Halt which they ignored and Will continued reading.

that the men he had been sent to lead were a mixed group from Seacliff, Aspienne and Culway. The soldiers around him when he forced his way through to the front rank had worn the crest of a black badger on their tunics. He had seen the same crest on Daniel's. He had no idea what group marched under that banner,

"why not?" Will wanted to know, so Halt replied saying "I had only been in Araluan for a year or two at that point"

Will shrugged and continued to read.

so he headed for the command tent, and the King's Battlemaster.

When he reached the command centre, he found the Battlemaster gone. Of course, he was leading the pursuit that was hounding Morgarath and the Wargals back to the south-east corner of the Kingdom.

"That sounds very much like something Dad would have been doing." Stated Gilan

"Well yes that is a great characteristics and one of the reasons why I chose him to be my new Battlemaster." Replied Duncan.

But his secretary was still there, making notes as to casualties, replacements and promotions. He glanced up as Halt entered, and smiled warmly. The entire army had heard of Halt's feats during the battle.

"Of course they did, just because I didn't want to be well known and just blend into the background I ended up doing something that was heard by the entire army." Halt complained

"Seriously Halt just get used to it." Answered the rest of the Rangers present, all receiving an annoyed look from Horace who decided not to say anything, so Will continued reading.

'Good morning, Ranger,' he said. Then he noticed the bloodstained bandage and saw how Halt swayed as he entered the tent, reaching out to steady himself against the table top where the secretary sat.

'Are you all right?' he said anxiously.

"Of course I am all right, I just got a little banged up is all." Halt competed, his words dripping with sarcasm so Will hurdle read on.

He rose and hurried to find a bench for Halt. The Ranger dropped onto it gratefully. He blinked several times. His vision was still blurry. He hoped that was only temporary. He couldn't imagine shooting with such poor vision.

"No fighting in any form with blurry vision is not fun at all." Commented Horace, remembering when he had to fight with very blurry vision in Hibernia against one of Tension's giants. Again Duncan made a mental note to find out what other dangerous things and situations his son-in-law had been in as he was beginning to think that there was no end to the list. After a short silence Will continued.

'Just a headache,' he said. 'I need some information. I took command of troops on the right wing in the final stages of the battle –'

'Indeed you did!' the secretary said warmly. 'The whole army has heard about it.'

"Great just what I wanted" Mumbled Halt sarcastically to which Will raised his eyebrows.

'There was a soldier. A sergeant named Daniel. He actually led the charge when I was knocked down. Did anyone mention his full name, or would anyone have a record of where he lived?'

But the clerk was shaking his head. 'I don't keep the full roster.

"Of course not that would be to simple" mumbled Halt so that only his wife could hear.

Each individual force looks after that for their own men. What unit did he belong to?'

'I'm not sure. They wore a black badger as their crest.'

The clerk's eyes narrowed in concentration for a few seconds, then his expression cleared.

"Clerks have a habit of almost forgetting important information like that." Complained all the Rangers together. Horace muttered something that made Cassandra giggle as she jested for Will to continue.

'A black badger? That'd be Captain Stanton's company, from Aspienne Fief. They're camped over to the north, on a small hill. Stanton was badly wounded before you rallied his men. He's been invalided back to Castle Aspienne. But his sergeant major should be able to help you.'

"At least he remembered, unlike some people" Halt muttered looking pointedly at his two former appreciates.

"Well, Halt, some of us do remember, we just need reminding and sometimes some extra time." Replied Gilan and Will.

'Thanks for your help.' Halt left the tent. He paused for a moment, looking to the north. On a low hill several hundred metres away, he could see a group of tents clustered around a banner. It was too far to make out the device on the flag but he could see that it was black in colour.

"Wow, I thought that you could see every detail of everything no matter how far away it was, but apparently not." Interrupted Gilan earning a glare from Halt.

He headed towards the tents.

As was the custom, the banner marked the position of the commanding officer's tent. As Halt drew closer, he could see that he had been right.

"Of course I was." Halt stated plainly. Will and Gilan both raised an eyebrow.

The device on the flag was a black badger.

"Don't we know that already it does need to be repeated does it? Questioned Gilan.

He paused at the open entrance. The command tent was larger than the simple four-man units that surrounded it. The commander and his staff worked here, so it was used as a company office. At the rear, a separate section was screened off, forming the captain's living quarters. Now, of course, that would be vacant. But a burly figure

"Burly, why burly?" Asked Horace.

"Just because." Answered all the Rangers making Horace's eyebrow raise.

was sitting at a table in the front section, frowning over sheets of paper. He was an older man, somewhat grizzled and with an unmistakable look of experience and authority – undoubtedly the sergeant major the clerk had mentioned. He looked up as Halt stepped into the tent, taking in the Ranger cloak and the bandage round his head.

'You look as if you've been in the wars,'

"What haven't you?" Halt wondered

he said, grinning. Halt allowed himself a faint smile.

'Just one. Same one you've been in. I'm trying to find a home address for one of your men. A sergeant by the name of Daniel.'

The grin faded and the sergeant major shook his head sadly. 'Daniel? He was a good man. We lost him in the final battle, I'm afraid.'

"I think I know that as he died to save me, he's not exactly someone that I am going to forget anytime soon." Interrupted Halt.

"We know Halt." Replied the other Rangers together.

'I know. He saved my life just before he died.'

The older man regarded Halt with increased interest. 'Oh,' he said, 'you're that Ranger, are you?' He rose from behind the table and offered his hand. 'It's an honour to meet you. My name's Griff.'

"Yes I am that Ranger, I just don't really want anyone else, well anyone at all, to know that particular fact." Replied Halt annoyed and Pauline had to settle him down.

Halt shifted uncomfortably. He disliked being the centre of attention. It wasn't his way. He preferred to move unobtrusively through life, going unnoticed wherever possible. But he shook the man's hand.

'I'm called Halt,' he said.

Griff waved him to a seat and sat down himself once more. He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

'Not sure I can tell you too much.

"Of course not. That would have been to easy." Murmured Halt.

Everything was pretty rushed when we mobilised the army and Daniel was new to the fief. He and his wife had moved from Norgate not long before the war began.' He indicated the piles of paper and scrolls on the table that was serving as a desk. 'We didn't get time to put down all the men's details before we had to march out. I'm trying to catch up on it now.'

"At least he's trying." Interjected Gilan to which Will ignored.

'Can you tell me anything about him?' Halt asked.

'He had a farm, I believe, somewhere in the south-east part of Aspienne. But where it might be I have no idea.

'Did he have any friends in the company who might know?'

The sergeant major was shaking his head before Halt even finished the question.

'He may have. Although as a sergeant he would have kept himself a little separate from the other men.

"Of course again it would have been too easy with out that." Murmured Halt

You could ask around. He had command of the sixth squad. You'll find them one row over and halfway down.'

'I'm obliged,'

"Of course you were" muttered Gilan quietly so only the Rangers and Jenny heard

Halt said. He rose to his feet, wincing once more as the pain lanced through his forehead. He put a hand on the table to steady himself and Griff looked at him with some concern.

'Should you be up and around? You don't look so good.'

Halt shook his head – and immediately wished he hadn't. 'I'll be fine,' he said. 'Just a bit of a knock. I'm better off in the fresh air than in a stuffy healer's tent.'

"Why do I only ever have that problem with Rangers, people in this room or Gilan's dad getting up and moving around when they are injured and not meant to." Complained King Duncan "Honestly it is so annoying."

"Well that's what we're here for" answered Halt and Crowley

"We seek to serve and annoy you in all ways possible," Continue Will and Gilan

"Life would be too boring without us." Finish all the Rangers together making Horace to mutter some not very nice words about the Rangers to his wife which made her chuckle.

'That's true.' Griff looked back at the forms and papers on his desk with a degree of disappointment, as if he'd been hoping they'd fill themselves in while he talked.

'Well . . . sorry I can't be of more help.'

Halt waved a hand in acknowledgement. 'Every little bit of information helps.'

"Yes it does, especially when you find out that it is vital to winning a war or find someone or something." Responded all the Rangers to what Halt had said all those years ago, earning a glare from Horace which triggered sniggers form all the women present. Will continued reading.

He strolled down the neat tent lines, cutting through between two tents to reach the next row across. About ten metres further down, he saw a placard mounted on top of a spear shaft with the numeral '6' on it. He looked down the next five tents and there was a similar marker, this time bearing the number '7'. Five tents, four men to each, that made twenty men in the squad.

"Although they would not have all survived." Interrupted Horace, Will ignored him, reading on.

Assuming they had all survived, which he knew they hadn't. Three soldiers were lounging in the sun outside the first tent. They looked up as his shadow fell across them. There was a hint of suspicion in their eyes but, since Crowley and he had reformed the Ranger Corps, Halt was becoming used to that. Officers and sergeant majors might value the skills Rangers brought to the army,

"But even then they ignore our advice when they think it's appropriate." Complained the Rangers president in unison

"That appears to be something that goes both ways." the replied Duncan ignoring Horace's complaint and remembering some of the times that the Rangers had ignored him or other barons he was shore that he didn't know all of those times.

but the rank and file soldiers tended to be ill at ease around the grey and green clad figures. He knew there were wild rumours circulating that Rangers practised sorcery.

'Good morning,' he said evenly. The men nodded, craning their necks to look up at him. They were seated on low stools. One was patching a ripped jerkin, a second was whittling a stick with a knife and the third was chewing slowly on a piece of dried beef.

"At least they were doing something constructive and not spending their time annoying me or other people in charge of the army, unlike you Rangers." Duncan stated dryly

"As we said earlier we live to serve and annoy you in all ways possible." Answered the Rangers together.

From where Halt stood, it looked as if the beef was winning the struggle. Halt indicated a spare stool, a few feet away.

'Mind if I join you for a few minutes?' he asked.

The man patching his jerkin nodded.

'Why not?' he said, his tone neither welcoming nor dismissive.

His companion with the beef jerky was staring at Halt, a frown of recognition on his face.

'I know you . . .'

"Took him long enough." Halt grumbled

Then as Pauline reasoned with Halt, calming him down saying that "not everyone has an amazing recondition and remembrance of everything and everyone around them".

he said thoughtfully, trying to place the memory. Then it came to him. 'You were at the battle!' he said. 'We were being driven back and suddenly you were there, shoving forward and slashing away at the Wargals and yelling at us to follow you. You did an outstanding job. Outstanding!' He turned to the others. 'Did you see him?

"I'm sure that they have already heard." Halt muttered to Will earning a slap from Alyss and his wife. Will smiled as he continued to read.

First of all, he dropped at least a dozen of them with his bow, then he darted in among them, slashing and stabbing. And look at him! He's barely bigger than a boy.'

Halt raised an eyebrow at that. He wasn't the largest of men, but he knew the soldier was stretching it a little. However, he could see that no insult was intended so he let the comment pass.

"What you let a comment like that pass?" Will exclaimed then continued reading, not giving Halt a chance to reply.

'Your sergeant gave me a hand,' he said and the man nodded vigorously.

'He did! He took them on when you went down. Must have killed a dozen of them too!'

Halt smiled quietly at that. The man was inclined to exaggerate.

"I'm not sure that I am really surprised that stories about Rangers often get exaggerated now as you guys seem to allow people to exaggerate them heck you guys kinda encourage people to exaggerate any and all stories about you." Complained an annoyed King Duncan.

"Of course we do how else are expecting to keep exactly what we are doing a secret at all times?" Questioned all of the Rangers at the same time. Only to receive another complaint from Horace "will you stop saying things at the same time please."

To which he got the reply of "NO, why would we want to?" from all the Rangers at the replied in unison. Horace rolled his eyes as Will continue reading.

'He did a great job,' he agreed.

The jerky chewer turned to his friends. 'Did you see the sarge?'

Both of them shook their heads.

'We were further over, on the right,' the jerkin patcher replied. 'All we saw was that the line was about to break and run, then it started to move forward again. Then the Wargals were running instead.'

"I still think that he would have made a fantastic Knight." Arald interrupted

"He was someone that I would've been proud of."

Replied Will

"Yes he was a man that any child would have been proud to have as a father, your mother too." Answered Halt to which Will smiled and continued reading.

But the question had been rhetorical and the beef chewer was keen to continue his story.

"Of course he was, they always are." Complained Halt.

'He did four or five of them with his spear. Then one of them chopped the head off it and he used it like a quarterstaff, spinning it round, knocking them over like ninepins. Then he grabbed a sword and killed eight or nine of them before they got him.' He looked to Halt for confirmation. 'You saw it, Ranger! How many do you reckon he killed?'

'At least eight,' Halt said. He saw no reason to contradict the man.

"Of course not that would get in the way of a good story" interrupted Crowley and Will ignored him.

The atmosphere was suddenly a lot more welcoming than it had been at first. 'I wanted some information about him,' he said. 'Any idea where he lived?'

He was disappointed to see the three faces cloud over in a now familiar expression of uncertainty.

'Sorry,' said the man who had been extolling Daniel's deeds and courage. 'He was new to the unit and the area. Got promoted quickly.'

"Not suppressing really." Gilan called out.

'That's right,' said one of the others, laying aside the patched jerkin. 'The captain liked the look of him.

"Again not surprising." Muttered Halt, making Will smile as he continued reading.

Made him a sergeant almost immediately. Apparently, he'd had some military experience in Norgate before he came to Aspienne.'

'He was promoted so quickly we didn't really have time to get to know him,' said the man who had been whittling. 'I think I heard him mention a farm somewhere . . .'

"Wow. A unhelpful much. There are farms everywhere that you go." Complained an annoyed Halt who Will ignored.

He trailed off, unsure of his facts. There was an awkward silence. Halt made a move to rise from the stool, thinking that once again his efforts to trace Daniel's family were doomed to failure. The first man who had spoken, the beef jerky chewer, seemed to come to a decision.

'You could try Kord and Jerrel,' he said. 'They might have an idea.'

"I hate those sort of people they are so annoying and often waste our time!" Will, Gilan, Halt and Crowley shouted in an angry unison each remembered their own personal problems that they had with similar people.

'If they'd tell you,' the man with the repaired jerkin put in.

Halt looked from one to the other. 'I take it you're not fond of these two?'

The three men exchanged glances. Then the one who had suggested the two names answered him.

'They're a pair of liars and cheats.

'They always are" muttered Will before continuing.

They run a dice game and they tried to make a friend of Daniel initially, playing up to him and inviting him to play. My guess is they were letting him win at dice to get in his good books. But he saw through their scheme

"Of course he did, he was very smart." Murmured Halt

before long and they found themselves doing their fair share of fatigue duties. So they dropped him.'

'What makes you think they'd know where he lived?' Halt asked, and again there was an awkward pause. Finally, the whittler spoke.

'They always wanted to know where everyone lived. Always asking you questions about where you came from, what you did back home.

"They're a little nosey don't you think." Horace interrupts to get the reply of a unanimous yes from everyone present.

Can't prove anything, but I reckon they were keeping a record, planning to go back after the war and rob people.'

'Particularly those who'd been killed in battle,' the jerkin patcher said heavily. They'd know the families would be easy prey. It's the sort of thing they'd do, all right. They probably know where to find the sergeant's farm.'

"Of course they would. Why do I find people like them so annoying." Mourned all the Rangers simultaneously.

'The trick will be getting them to tell you,' the beef jerky chewer said and the others nodded. Halt looked around the small circle of faces, seeing the distaste for the two vultures called Kord and Jerrel.

'How would I get to meet these two?' he asked.

"How do you would meet them as you should have released by now they were gamblers." Muttered Will and Gilan earning yet another glare from Horace that they just ignored and Will continued reading.

The jerkin patcher raised an eyebrow.

'Play dice with them,' he said. 'But be prepared to lose.'

"Or you could just be like them and cheat by using a rigged dice so that it will land on the number that you want." Mumbled both Will and Gilan. To which both received a death stare from Halt then a shrug and replied.

"You too really know me way too well, don't you?" Which was followed by a laugh from Will and Gilan and then together they said

"Of course we don't who could know you too well. We only know you quite well which is not the same thing, and you should have expected that we end up knowing you quite well since we did spend about five years with you as your apprentice."

Receiving a laugh form everyone around the table. Then Will added "that's the end of the chapter, Horace it's your turn to read, have fun."

"Wow, thanks!" Was the sarcastic reply that Horace gave him.