Heyo everybody! I'm back and sorry on being a little late but I have like four after school activities on weekdays so yeah. Also, I wanted to give you guys a longer chapter to make up for last time! Btw I'm not really sure I like the name of this story so comment if you think I should change it and also give your own suggestions. Also, special thanks to SilverOakleaf for being the first reviewer!! As a "reward" I'll deticate this chapter to you!! Anyways, enough of my rambling. Now, ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok actually here is an excerpt from chapter 4 that I forgot to upload to the page before I published😁and its necessary that you read it to understand the plot. The following is the original.
"I've been apprenticed to Halt for about seven months and I'm still not used to being up really early every morning." Then he conceded, "Well, I'm used to it enough that Halt doesn't dump water on me, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." My smile widened and I replied,...
Now here is the revised part.
"I've been apprenticed to Halt for a little over a year and I'm still not used to being up really early every morning." Then he conceded, "Well, I'm used to it enough that Halt doesn't dump water on me, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Subconsciously alarm bells were ringing, but I couldn't tell why so I ignored the notion for the moment. Then, my smile widened and I replied,...
Did you catch the difference? Yes? No? Maybe so? Anyways, now you can read the rest of the story :)
We had been traveling for 3 days without any leads and we were within 2 kilometers of the Celtic border. I was wondering what would happen next and where the Kalkara were when I heard a cry of surprise from Will, and immediately I snapped out of my daydreaming and looked up. A figure had risen from behind a larger than average bush and was waving their hands to grab our attention. The person looked oddly familiar and I wondered from where. Then it hit me, but I couldn't be completely sure.

"I wonder who he is." Gilan said. I already had a sneaking suspicion, but I kept my mouth shut for now. I looked over at Sophie and nodded surreptitiously; I knew she was thinking the same thing. This was Cassandra. Or Evanlyn, as she was sure to tell us her name was.

We sped up the horses and I heard her call out, with relief evident in her voice, as we got closer,

"Thank goodness, Rangers!" I heard Will gasp in front of me as he realized the stranger was a girl when he heard her voice. I glanced at Sophie and saw her brow in a furrow. She noticed me watching and mouthed "What is she doing here." I just shrugged my shoulders in response. We'd find out sooner or later, but I myself was rather hoping it wouldn't be the latter.

We reined to a stop when we arrived next to her and I finally got a good look at her. She had golden blond hair, hacked short to look like a boy's and was dressed in clothes that were ripped and smeared with dirt, and more ominously blood. She also had bright, intelligent green eyes and an air of authority masked with expert acting skills. I only knew it was there because I had known to look for it, and I'm sure Sophie had seen it too. Now, as I turned my attention back to what Evanlyn was saying, I noticed her swaying slightly where she stood. I made a move to dismount and help her, but Halt got there first.

"You must be tired," Halt said sympathetically to Evanlyn, as he helped her sit down on a rock. Then to the rest of us he called over his shoulder,

"We'll stop here for tonight. We only have a couple hours of daylight left anyway." Will, Gilan, Sophie, and I took that as our cue to start our usual jobs around the camp: Gilan looking for firewood and Will helping until they got enough. Then Will would start the fire while Gilan got dinner ready. Meanwhile, Sophie and I set up the tents while Halt helped Evanlyn lie down and gave her his cloak to sleep in while dinner was being made by Gilan.

After dinner we all looked at Evanlyn expectantly, awaiting answers. Halt intervened before any of us could ask the obvious questions,

"She needs her sleep for now. She's hasn't gotten proper sleep in days so she'll explain tomorrow." We all nodded simultaneously, understanding the need for Evanlyn to have a clear head when she told us her tale. Gilan then spoke up,

"I'll take first watch Halt." He had noticed that his former mentor, however he tried to hide it, was frazzled, for lack of a better word. It wasn't easily seen, but Gilan had known Halt for a long time and had learned to read his emotions. He needed time to rest and come up with a new course of action now that they had someone else to look out for when hunting the Kalkara. He saw Halt draw breath to object, but Gilan fixed him with a look that said "I'll take care of it." Halt nodded gratefully, but recovered his dignity by announcing in a gruff voice,

"Fine, but I'll take second, Will you'll take third, and Abbey you'll take fourth." I nodded. Sophie had taken fourth watch last night and Halt had explained that four watches was enough, so we'd switch every night. In unspoken agreement, everyone got up and headed towards the tents. I hesitated a second, then glanced at Evanlyn again, before following everyone's lead and heading to bed.

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I looked around our little campsite and once again saw nothing out of place. I then resumed my constant vigilance of the surrounding plains, taking Halt's brief lessons on being on watch seriously. As I shifted a little to find a more comfortable position I heard a noise behind me, coming from the camp, and instantly froze. I turned with extreme care, careful not to make any unnecessary movements, and sighed in relief when I saw the shadowy figure.

"Thank Gorlog it's only you." I whispered to her across the intervening space. She rushed across the rest of the open ground and sat down next to me on the flat, large rock I was using as my vantage point. She looked at me, puzzled,

"Who else would I be?" Sophie questioned. I looked her straight in the eyes and replied with sarcasm lacing my voice,

"Well, ever since you told me about the Kalkara I've been kind of worried that they might try to surprise us and kill us. Assuming their target is still Halt. Because I mean, it would only be my fault that we all end up dead if I wasn't paying attention to say, strange noises like twigs snapping." I looked at her pointedly, and she just shrugged.

"Fair enough." Was all she said. I continued to scan the countryside for a few more minutes before asking a question.

"So, why are you out here in the first place? You have watch tomorrow night not tonight." She looked at me with a "no duh" expression on her face and I raised my hands palms out in a gesture of peace,

"Hey, you could have forgotten" I said even though I knew no such thing had happened. She snorted in response,

"Yeah right." I just shrugged, knowing this was going nowhere.

"So are you going to tell me why you're out here or not."

"Well, I just couldn't sleep." She said as if this was explanation enough. I waved my hand in a gesture to continue and she started again,

"And, so I thought you could use some company. Besides, it's not like I'll get in the way of being on watch. In fact I could actually help you." Sophie said, with triumph in her voice as she stated the last part, glad that she had come up with a reasonable excuse.

"Whatever." I said, anxious for this night to be over. Not from boredom, but from curiosity over the fact that Evanlyn was here. As I had the thought I realized that Sophie and I could talk about the fact in private.

"Hey Sophie." I started, getting her attention. She looked at me questioningly and I continued, "Do you have any ideas about why Evanlyn is here right now." Her face scrunched up in concentration and she remained quiet for a few moments. Suddenly she spoke,

"Well," she hesitated and began again, "What if this isn't the first book?" As she said this my mind rushed back to a conversation Will and I had had a couple days previously,

"I've been apprenticed to Halt for a little over a year and I'm still not used to being up really early every morning." Then he conceded, "Well, I'm used to it enough that Halt doesn't dump water on me, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I remember a conversation Will and I had a couple days ago when we first got to the Solitary Plains. He mentioned being apprenticed to Halt for a little over a year." I looked at Sophie and her worried face confirmed my suspicions.

"That fits the time frame for when Will, Gilan, and Horace left for Celtica." She said. I thought it over. If we're in the second book then why are there Kalkara? How are we supposed to defeat two of them let alone three? Also the bridge is being built right now. We might not get there in time to burn it. But we're hunting the Kalkara and we can't just leave the mission. And what about Horace? He plays a major role in the battle against Morgarath obviously, so we might need him. He only challenges Morgarath because he's overcome with rage at Morgarath talking about torturing Will. And if he doesn't see Will get captured then he might not feel as strongly. He might never challenge Morgarath, and then all of Araluen could fall!

I realized that while I had sat there thinking Sophie had been watching me with an expectant expression on her face.

"So what do you think?" Sophie asked, and so I voiced my thoughts to her. She thought it over after I had finished my rant and insisted upon one thing,

"We can't be sure this is the second book though." She said, "So we'll need to ask Halt tomorrow about the first Kalkara attacks."

"Unless they never happened." I pointed out. She nodded her head in agreement,

"Unless they never happened," She repeated, "Then we'll have to figure out another way to make sure we really are in book two."

So, that was a longer chapter than usual! Yeah! Once again, sorry it took so long to update but I was really busy between school and activities and science fair aka the devil himself. So hope you all enjoyed and I'm going to aim for another chappie maybe Sunday? We have a three day weekend so maybe Monday and then a slightly longer chapter to compensate? Anyways, see you guys all later!! BYE!!!!!