(I'm sorry, but this tittle sounds like a joke XD)

The sun was low in the early morning sky as the members of the Assembly were gathered on the docks of the Slipsunder River. A small breeze rustled the leaves in the nearby trees were some of the horses grazed in the shade. Powerful battle horses, Arridian stallions and the barrel-chested horses of the Rangers all grazed amongst themselves as their riders gathered at the dock.

Hal was in the center of the group, comparing his ship, the Heron to that of the Oberjarls, Wolfwind. The rest of his crew was standing beside him in case they could put in any detail he had overlooked, as usual. "The standard wolf ship is about thirty meters long rigged with a standard square sail and roughly 8 or so oars. Heron while half the size and the number of oars, her sail is my own design, mimicking that of a sea bird." He paused a bit to catch his breath. "I know that may sound a bit irrelevant to the situation-" "You said it not me." Hal merely ignored Thorn and continued on.

"-but when comparing the two ships to a Nightriders, I was able to learn more from a distance than actually having to get up close and personal with one." He gestured to the Heron and continued on. "The Heron is able to sail into the wind, unlike a standard wolfship. Nightrider ships have a small square sail, lessening the risk of being de-masted when tacking into the wind. Lucky for us, that means that even with a strong wind in the ships sail, she still wouldn't match for speed against the Heron or another ship for that matter. Stig grunted, "Their oars are a different matter though."

Hal nodded at his first mate. "Stig's right. They have a total of 20 oars, adding a huge boost to their speed. Combine that with their small sail and size, you get a dangerous ship with the capability of doing quick manoeuvres and being able to sneak up on a ship that isn't expecting any danger." "But you think there is more to their ships than that?" Hal looked at the speaker, the Clonmel ruler, King Sean. Hal nodded.

"Think about it. They are smart, fast and nearly impossible to be seen unless they want to be seen. They are masters at going where they want without being stopped and can disappear into thin air. Don't you think it's a little odd that while they can do all that, they can't master a ship?" There was silence among the group until Gundar, one of the skirl's shook his head. "Not really. Way I see it, they just don't know their way around the sea." A mutter of agreement went through the crowd, more prominent among the Skandian's present.

Hal relented to the statement, but only by a little. "It's possible, but it's never hurt anyone to assess all possible theories." Gundar merely grunted but muttered sown thing along the lines off 'they just can't sail like a Skandian."

"Hal, I've been told by one of my Rangers about a device that you mounted to your ship. Apparently it can do considerable damage," Duncan spoke, a bit more concerned with moving the conversation along. Hal cast an inquiring glance at Ingvar, who in turn have a slight nod. "Ingvar can answer that question your majesty." The tall giant stepped up on the rail and hauled himself over effortlessly, landing lightly on the deck. Years with Hal's invention of spectacles has left Ingvar confident at moving and not worrying at stumbling over everything.

"We call it the Mangler. It's like a giant cross-bow," Ingvar spoke as he removed the canvas sheet that covered the giant weapon. When revealed, there were many whistles of astonishment and mutters of 'that could do some serious damage.'

After a brief demonstration of how the Mangler operated, ending in a few smashed bolts against some boulders across the river and agreements that it was a good thing the crew of the Heron was on their side, the meeting broke up. Most of the Skandians, in a show of their independence of horses, had begun to walk down the path back to the castle. The rest of the Assembly were re-tightening girths, mounting up or waiting patiently in the saddle.

"Well that was...educational." Umar said as he swung up into the saddle of his horse, Sandstorm. "Yes, Hal raised some good points. Wouldn't be a bad idea to listen to them," Selethen pointed out. Umar shrugged, "I just don't see how the sea pertains to the land, that's all." "Everything is connected in one way or another Umar," chided his wife, Cielema. Umar internally winced at the reminder that his wife was there. Despite his pleas for her to stay with the Bedullin tribe back in the deserts of Arrida, she had insisted to come with him.

"She right, everything is connected. The problem is finding out the connection." Crowley said. Umar gave him a pained look for siding with his wife but the Ranger seemed to find something of vast interest in the woods, looking as if he was trying very hard not to smile. That urge to smile faded when his attention was caught by the warning shout of Thorn, who was a little ways down the path. "What in Gorlog's braided beard are they in such a rush for?" Looking in the direction he was pointing at, the rest saw two riders rapidly approaching on horse back.

As they came closer, Anthony was able to recognize them. "It's the guards from the throne room; Edwin and Smith." The Skandian group hurriedly stepped out of the way of the advancing guards and stared curiously after them. The two seemingly out of breath men drew their horses to a halt in front of Duncan, hastily bowing their heads in deference to their King. "Edwin, Smith, what seems to be the trouble?" One of them, probably Smith, hurriedly shook his head, "No trouble my lord! Only a message."

"A message from who?" Inquired Anthony. Edwin was the one to respond this time, "Ranger Halt and Gilan have just returned your majesty. They await you in the throne room." Edwin had actually paused a bit before delivering that last sentence. He had been having trouble thinking of a way to tell his King that Halt had demanded the Assembly back at the castle, but how could he tell King Duncan, ruler of Araluen, that one of his Rangers had demanded to see him and have the rest of the Assembly brought to him? Yes, he thought, the way he had said it was a good way to go about it.

"Halt and Gilan have showed up? Well about time!" Shouted Erak, who had walked back to see what all the commotion was about. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go see What's been keeping them so long,"

•Okay I give you permission to do what you want I seriously deserve it this time. My only defense is that finals for the second Tri was two weeks ago and last week was the beginning of the third Tri . Also next week is spring break so YES!!!!! FREEDOM!!! Next two chapters are underway and for future reference, I'm putting the Forgotten Ruins ahead of this one because Avis gets annoyed with me if I don't write 😂

~SO

Ps- This chapter was the hardest to write. It refused to be written in a good way XD