"What happened?" Emmy asked, her voice full of concern as MJ approached with Lynn in his arms.

"An Arridan was left behind." MJ said bitterly. He laid her down on the ground and Willy pulled out his medical kit once more. "Cut her on the back of her leg." MJ took off his cloak and balled it up, laying it on the ground and placing Lynn down on it.

"Lay her on her stomach." Willy said. MJ and Emmy together carefully rolled Lynn over so her wound was visable to them all. Willy grabbed his canteen and poured the rest of the water onto the wound to wash away some of the blood. He carefully applied the salve to the wound to numb it as he fished out a needle and thread. Emmy had to look away as he threaded the needle in and out of the young apprentices leg. Once he was finished, he bandaged it tightly to keep infection from occurring, and he stowed his medical kit back in his pack.

"Let's get her back to the camp."

***

  Bente and Quint were helping Willy's grandmother, Karina, and Abby wash dishes when they spotted the search party coming back over the hill.

"She's injured!" Someone in the camp announced. They were the first to notice Lynn in MJ's arms. Quint and Bente looked at each other and put down the dishes they were washing before running towards the front of the camp. A small crowd had gathered around the four of them, and Quint could see Lynn lying on a blanket that was laid out on the ground. Edvin, Bente's father knelt beside her.

"Get back everyone!" Thorn roared as the crowd thickened.

"The stitching will hold. Good job, Willy." He told him. "We just need to keep her indoors and watch her carefully until it's healed." MJ nodded and scooped his apprentice back into his arms. Crowds of Hallasholm survivors watched from a careful distance, that way Thorn couldn't hurt them. Edvin shut the door behind him as he followed MJ into the cabin. Willy and Emmy glanced at each other, and then walked over to where Bente and Quint stood.

"What happened?" Quint asked.

"Arridan. He was still in the ruins." Emmy said. Her voice was shaking from the shock of her friend being struck down.

"It's all our fault." Willy said looking at Quint and Emmy. "These are Jackson's troops. He was mad that we cheated him out." Realization dawned on both the first mate and Emmy.

"But that was the plan. Use me to get Lynn out." Emmy cocked her head to one side.

"And we didn't keep our end of the bargain. You for Lynn." Willy said holding his head.

"Well when you say it like that." Emmy said bitterly. Willy glared at her.

"You know that's not what I meant! But that's what Jackson would be thinking." He said.

"Kind of like when we were in Socorro, and you stabbed Rigneg after stealing that mans life fortune. You destroyed his honour." Bente added in. Willy bit his lip as Emmy glared at him.

"You stole a mans life fortune?" She asked.

"No! I took, like a forth of it! And I didn't keep it, I left it in the middle of a field. Bente was the one who burned down a ship!" He said pointing an accusing finger at Bente. Emmy continued to glare at him. She was about to speak when young boy Willy had often seen delivering The Oberjarls messages interrupted.

"Excuse me, Oberjarl Erak would like to see Willy Jesperson and Emilia Starfollower." He said before running off to his mother.

"Come on, Em." Willy said. He nodded goodbye to Bente and Quint before taking Emmy's hand and leading her over to where the Oberjarl sat, with Hal, Lydia, Thorn, Stig, Abby, Jesper, Svengal, and Sigurd.

"Sit." Erak said. They sat next to Abby, while Erak stood.

"Now, I have gather you all here because I trust you all the most. We need to do something about Hallasholm and the people. And I can't Do this alone." Erak said.

"What do you propose we do?" Hal asked. A sigh was admitted from the Oberjarl.

"We have to rebuild the town. Winter is setting in, and we can't stay here forever. Supplies are running low. The animals are getting scarce, soon we won't have any game to feed the camp." He said.

"We'll need the help of all the men." Thorn grunted. "And the women to help clear debris."

"It's not impossible. We need to show these blasted Arridans that it's harder to beat Skandians then they thought!" Erak said. The small group mumbled a cheer of agreement.

"We'll men on timber duty. We'll need a lot of wood. Meanwhile, we can send message pigeons to Queen Cassandra, explaining our situation." Willy said. Erak clapped his hands together.

"Feels like we're coming out of a depression! I love it!" He said grinning. "Come here you!" He said pulling Thorn, who happened to be the closest to him, into a big bear hug. Thorn looked slightly disgusted as the Oberjarl away from him.

"I worry about you sometimes, Chief." Thorn said. Svengal let out a bark of laughter.

"You and me both!"

***

Sorry it's been forever! Finals are over! Yay! Ok, so who has read Scorpion Mountain? I just finished it today because I didn't get it until two days ago. My mum refused to let me read it because she was saving it till Christmas, but I begged. I mean come on! It was released in November! At least it was here. It was like the best book John Flanagan's come out with! It was amazing!!!! Can't wait for the next book! Anyway, yeah. So, please comment and vote! Love you!

~Avis