The Ruins of Gorlan

Chapter 1-The Awaiting

Jun 3, 642

All the castle wards except Will have no doubts about the Choosing. Desperate to be accepted into battle school aginst all the odds and follow in his fathers footsteps Will is struck by nerves. Unable to endure his rivals taunts he he contemplates alone in the night.

Chapter 3- The Diplomat, Scribe & Chef

Jun 3, 642

Alyss, George and Jenny are chosen by various craftmasters.

Chapter 4- The Unchosen One

Jun 3, 642

Will is devastated when he cannot follow in his unknown father's footsteps and become a knight. Rejected by all the craftmasters and resigned to a life in the fields, Will has given up hope when a mysterious note from Halt, a member of the secretive Ranger Corps, makes Baron Arald think on his case overnight.

Chapter 2- The Bandy Legged Secretary

Jun 3, 642

The castle wards are summonded to the Baron's study by Martin, Baron Arald's rooster of a secretary. In the imposing room the first of them, Horace, is accepted into his craft by the assembled Craftmasters.

Chapter 5- The Climb, Capture & Punishment

Jun 4, 642

Will makes the decision to take a look at the paper and so after midnight, he dodges the guards, climbs the ccentral tower and enters the Baron's study only to be caught by Halt! Expecting to be punished Will is shocked when he is assigned as Halt's apprentice. Then the horrible thought occours to him: what if he's been punished after all.

Chapter 6- The Socerer's Tricks Unveiled- A Little Bit

Jun 4, 642

Baron Arald is slightly annoyed that the small boy doesn't get his jokes but reassures Will that Halt is not a black magician and that he is simply good at unseen movement but is relunctant to reveal what the Ranger Corps do.

Chapter 8- The Principles of Life: Cooking & Talking

Jun 4, 642

A crash course in cooking, a quick history lesson, a couple of explanations and a question answered rounds up the first day of Will's apprenticeship to the mysterious Halt.

Chapter 7- Am I An Apprentice or Servant?

Jun 4, 642

Will is introduced to the live of a Ranger or more correctly the life of a Ranger apprentice which is to do the housework, keep your ears open and hopefully learn a little. Will gets set into the housekeeping with only a brief interuption for a report that one of the kingdom's foremost battle commanders has been killed by a 'bear'.

Will's Life as Apprentice to Halt

Period: Jun 4, 642 to Jan 26, 643

Chapter 9- An Introduction to Battleschool

Jun 9, 642

Life in the Battleschool is not what Horace expected. Unwilling to speak up about the three older boys tormenting him for fear that the proceedings are traditional. He still excells at the physical side of the hard life but bullyed by the second years his classwork is falling behind.

Chapter 10- Thou Art a Hasty One Apprentice

Jul 13, 642

Will gets his first lesson in the weapons of a Ranger but he will learn that sometimes its better to take a look around first.

Chapter 11- The Natural Swordsman

Aug 25, 642

Natural swordsman are the elite. The Baron and Sir Rodney are expert swordsman but naturals take that skill to a higher level, the sword becomes an extension of not just the body but the personality as well. Sir Rodney, the Battlemaster discovers one during a first year standard drill practise: Horace.

Chapter 12- Old Bob, Man or Horse?

Aug 25, 642

Will's training having progressed to a high enough level, Halt takes him to see Old Bob who trains the Ranger horses and has been training Will's. Will has trouble catching Tug, his new horse, until thoughts of Old Bob give him an idea.

Chapter 13- Natural or Baby?

Aug 25, 642

Whilst Sir Rodney and Karel are discussing Horace, his natural abilities and his future, he is feeling anything but special. Alda, Jerome and Bryan have confronted him again with a punishment for the garbled rretelling of events on the parade ground.

Chapter 14- Riding Wind & Discussing Horses and Names

Sep 12, 642

Will discovers that Ranger horses are just that bit harder to ride, you have to know the secret; you talk to them. Huh, maybe Rangers are a bit odd after all. Once Will is taught that however his first ride with Tug becomes something he won't forget.

Chapter 15- Square Posts, Round Hoops & Discussing History

Oct 11, 642

Harvest Day has arrived and with it a holiday, travelling fairs and an invitation from Jenny for a meeting with his former ward mates. Arriving early he has a quick chat with Baron Arald about his training and Halt's past.

Chapter 16- Symphony of Pies & Grandma's Riding Lessons

Oct 11, 642

Deciding not to wait for Horace the former ward mates set a few aside for him and start. horace has not been enjoying his time in the Battleschool and when he sees his former friends pigging out on the pies, supposedly eaten all of them already, he reacts with anger and sarcasam. Insults are traded back and forth and the rising tension results in a fight between Will and Horace which is interrupted by Sir Rodney.

Chapter 17- Rabbit or Rabbits?

Dec 23, 642

Halt is testing Will on his tracking skills, with particular reference to the amount of rabbits that have passed that way and what state of mind they were in. They come across the tracks of a wild boar and while Halt is inspecting thwm, Will is startled by a movement in the bushes.

Chapter 18- Personalities & Salt Peter

Dec 23, 642

Halt stops Will when he is moments away from shooting an arrow at the bushes where Salt Peter, a farmer who has been trailing the wild boar, was hiding. After sending Salt Peter back to Redmont, Halt and Will continue into the forest to find the den of the wild boar.

Chapter 19- Dat Porker

Dec 24, 642

Halt and Will having tracked the boar to its den, the hunters set out with Horace standing between Baron Arald and Sir Rodney. The dogs drive a wild boar out of the thicket and onto the razor sharp spear of a hunter.Gazing at the huge corpse, Will is in no hurry to see another one.

Chapter 20- Cunning Brutes & Lifelong Friends

Dec 24, 642

The circle of hunters has broken as they congratulate the killer when a second boar charges out of the bush, straight at Horace and Will. Turning to face the wild boar, Horace slips on the icy ground and is at the mercy of the porker until Wills jumps off Tug and fires an arrow at the beast, drawing its attention. While failing to hit the crucial spot Will has saved Horace but no must fear for his own life.

Chapter 21- The Beating

Jan 2, 643

Will is troubled by the stories going around about the boar hunt but resigns himself to accepting them. While Sir Rodney is puzzling over Horace's disappointing classwork, the three second years are on the prowl again

Chapter 22- The Showdown

Jan 2, 643

Will is practising in the meadow behind the cottage when the battleschool apprentices catch up with him and begin to teach him a lesson, a timely intervention by Horace saves him from the beating and Halt soon makes the fight fairer.

Chapter 23- Old Apprentices

Jan 11, 643

Horace's life in the Battleschool improves once the bullies are expelled but he doesn't get the chance to thank Will as the Ranger and his apprentice have already left for the Gathering, the Ranger's annual get together. Along the way, Halt and Will devise a plan to trick the Rangers who he knows will be trying to catch him out, one in particular, Halt's old apprentice.

Chapter 24- The Gathering & Kalkara

Jan 12, 643

When Halt, Will and Gilan, Halt's old apprentice, ride into the Gatheing together, they notice the rising tension in the air. A group of Wargals have broken out of Three Step Pass but the Ranger Commandant fears they were only a disstraction for a pair of far more dangerous beasts, the Kalkara.

Chapter 25- A Solitary Plain & Lots of Wind

Jan 12, 643

Halt, Will and Gilan set out to hunt the dreaded Kalkara, moving into the Solitary Plain, prehaps the most unnerving place in the Kingdom, unease sets in.

Chapter 26- Stone Flutes, Plainsmen & Howls at Night

Jan 13, 643

The three hunters move past the unnerving Stone Flutes and are startled by a plainsmen rising suddenly out of the grass. Later that night, howls rise above the wind, carrying a warning into the landscape. The Kalkara are hunting.

Chapter 28- Fear & Imagination

Jan 14, 643

Will, riding through the night, begins to wonder, against all reason, if the Kalkara have turned towards him and are at this moment watching him from the bushes. Noises and movements have him seeing Kalkara in every shadow. In this battle between reason and imagination and fear, the latter wins.

Chapter 27- Kalkara Trails & Riding For Help

Jan 14, 643

In the morning the three companians find the trails left by the Kalkara as they hed east-north-east. After riding along the trail for a while, Halt makes the decision to send Will for help, riding Tug and Blaze, Gilan's horse. Will will ride to Redmont and then lead a party of mounted knights to the Ruins of Gorlan, Morgarath's former fief, ready to intercept the Kalkara.

Chapter 29- Less Than An Hour

Jan 15, 643

Will leads Baron Arald and Sir Rodney to the Ruins of Gorlan , where they confront the first of the Kalkara, but there is no sign of Halt.

Chaptder 30- The Final Battle

Jan 15, 643

Halt, hearing his rescurers outside, moves from his hiding place in the ruins, distracts the final Kalkara and jumps off the tumbled walls of the fallen castle. But the last Kalkara is not dead and even with Halt's knife in its left eye, the powerful mesmerising stare can still take effect. Leaving the Baron wounded the Kalkara paralyses Sir Rodney and is preparing to strike the final blow. Will, their only hope, is forty metres away.

Chapter 31- Ye Old Friends

Jan 25, 643

The Kalkara defeated, Will is celebrating with some of his old wardmates. Unused to being a celebrity, Will is embarrassed by the attention, but there are perks; "No charge for this table tonight. We're privileged to have you in our establishment, Ranger.'

Chapter 32- Old Dreams or New Life?

Jan 26, 643

Will is summoned to appear before the Baron's court and is given a reward; a chance to renew his old dream, become a knight and follow in his father's footsteps. Yet, Will is still drawn to the forests and his life as a Ranger.

Epilogue- Fathers & Oakleaves

Jan 26, 643

After Will makes the decision to stay as a Ranger, Halt presents him with a bronze oakleaf, the symbol of a Ranger Apprentice. Halt also reveals his knowledge of Will's father and while the reality is not what Will imagined, the note that was left with him as a baby is still true. Daniel, Will's father, died a hero.