Sweey: Finally! I'm doing this! :) This is the prologue which I wrote in a poem. The rest is hopefully very similar to the way our favorite author John Flanagan writes. Of course, the next chapter involves two of our favorite Rangers. ^_^ Enjoy!

The Ranger

In a balanced stride, his leather boots landed upon the ground.
His gloved hand reached for another branch above.
With little effort he pulled himself smoothly higher into the branches and he perched himself upon one.
As he sat, with hood pulled over his face, he could hear the sound of footsteps.
Cocky footsteps.
Footsteps of a murdering traitor who was overconfident.
Confidence that would soon be shot down.
Little did the man know he was stepping right into a deadly trap.
No tracker could have warned him.
No, the footsteps of the Ranger were far too delicate and light for the naked eye to behold.
Then the traitor came into view.
Hidden within the trees, the Ranger lifted his bow.
The cold wind hissed around him and the leaves shuffled and scratched against one another.
The traitor stopped, sensing eyes upon him, his own gazed into the dark forest.
Never once did his eys look up.
That was his one, fatal mistake.
The Ranger fluidly painted an arrow upon the bowstring and let it fly.
The arrow failed not to hit its target.
When the traitor fell asleep to Death's song,
and the Ranger slipped silently out of the tree and retreaved his arrow.
Turning heel, he entered deeper into the shadow of the forest, seemingly vanishing into it.
It was as though he was apart of it.
The Ranger's services were no longer needed here.
The tyrant was gone and the murderer dead like he deserved.
The Ranger would not stay a day longer.
Nor would he wait to hear the praises of the people he'd saved.

It was time to move on to a new realm.

A realm that needed his help.

And that was his unspoken farewell.

...

The Knight

His eyes caught sight of the vultures in the distance.
That could mean only one thing: something was dead.
As he approached the foul picture, the black birds scattered to the air.
A horrid reak reached his nostrils as he studied the body.
It was Stephen the traitor all right.
The body wasn't very old, the knight could tell.
He looked to find the cause of death.
Perhaps it was just a spirit that had decided to take revenge for the dead...
That thought was driven away when he saw the bloody wound in the man's neck.
'An arrow', he thought.
He was right.
Now he knew who had helped them.
But where was the Ranger?
Nowhere, he soon discovered.
He mounted his dappled steed and rode off to the kingless castle.
As he rode he wondered why the stranger had wanted to help him...
Sooner than he thought he'd find answers.
For he did not know that a group of bandits were waiting to abush,
on the other side of the stone bridge ahead.
The hooves of the dappled gray horse clopped upon the stone.
Without warning the world of the knight faded into shadow as he slid free from the stirrups and fell to the hard ground.

...

The Bandits

Their eyes watched as the knight passed over the bridge and closer to their position.
They urged their mounts and ran out into the open to attack the unaware man.
There may be only five of them, but that was enough to take this man down.

The knight, alerted by the sudden noise drew out his sword.
But he was too late.
The bandits were already upon him hacking their way towards him.
One let the hilt of their blade fall on the back of his head.
His eyes rolled to the heavens and he fell to the ground unconcious.

The leader of the Bandits, Kaldon, looked warily out into the early light of dawn.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could an knife flew through his throat, litterally cutting off his words.
The others stood and watched as their leader fell, revealling the perilous and mysterious figure of a Ranger.

No sudden moves.

The man stood firmly, his gaze fixed upon the uncertain bandits before him.
One by one they ran towards him, and one by one they fell dead.
The hunters had become the hunted.

The Ranger looked at the unconcious knight.
He recognized him as Sir Johnic.
Quickly, the Ranger lifted the man back into his saddle and lead his gray steed into the woods.
The Ranger began to wonder to himself as to what he would do about the knight.
But that would all be done after Johnic had awoken.

With little else on his mind, the Ranger stepped back into the familiar shadows of the woods, leaving no trace of his existance of ever being at the small camp he had set up for the knight.
He had decided he'd watch Johnic until he was awake. Then he would leave as though he had never been at watch.

...

The Request

Sir Johnic woke with a start.
His eyes searched the shadows not realizing where he was.
There was no sign of anyone.
Somehow he knew he had been helped.
That someone was a Ranger.

The Ranger watched the knight with unwavering eyes.
Unmoving and unseen, he sat a few feet from Johnic's camp.
He smiled, knowing that he would never be seen.
It was time to go.

Johnic searched the trees.
He wanted to thank the Ranger.
But no sign was left of him anywhere.
"Where are you! Please I want to see you!" he cried
No answer came.
But then, a man seemingly grew from the ground before him.
Johnic jumped back, startled.

The Ranger smiled.
Typical knight...

Johnic heald out his hand, "I am Sir-"

"Johnic of the Castle in Bardhick fief... the Battlemaster."

Johnic looked in surprise at the Ranger.

The Ranger waved the matter away. "It's amasing what you learn when no one expects you're listening."

Johnic hesitated, bitting his lower lip then spoke up, "I need help."

The Ranger nodded, "I know you did, so what now?"

Johnic glanced curiously at him, "The shadow men of the west, our enemies, are gathering."

The Ranger's eyebrow rose, "Well, maybe they're having a party."

Johnic rolled his eyes, "A party? More like a murdering party! I know you're skilled in unseen movement... I need you to sneak in and figure out what they're up to. I'll come with you."

The Ranger shrugged, "I don't see why not. Let's go." Immediately he got ready.

"Wait!" Johnic called after him.

"What?" The Ranger snapped in irritation.

"What's your name and why won't you show your face?" Johnic asked.

The Ranger grinned wolfishly from beneath the shadows of his deep cowl, "The less you know, the better off you are."

Sweey: An unamed Ranger... hmm... and he seems to have no fief... well this is the poetic part and that's where the poeticness ends... :) I'll type up the next chapter here in a few. Please, read and review please! ^_^ Btw, spoiler alert! If you haven't read all the way to book 5 The Sorcerer of the North you should NOT read this! but you can... :3 If you desire to do so. It only mentions a few things that happened in the other books and a few minor ones from all of them. I'm already in love with this. The next chapter has Halt and Will in it btw. :3