MJ sat down on the ground and Alina kneeled down beside him to see what he was doing. He unlaced his right boot and slipped it off his foot before reaching down inside and pulling out a throwing knife.

"I thought they checked your boots when they took our weapons?" Lydia said.

"Well, I wanted them to think they got all my weapons. This is a knife for this exact purpose. I have a hidden sheath in the bottom of my boot that I can slip my knife into, and it can't be found unless I show them where it is. Gilan came up with it a few years back, so we'd never be unarmed, even when captured." He slipped his boot back on and laced it back up before standing and walking over to the side of the cage farthest from the gate. The wood was freshly cut, so it was still to limber to be broken by shoving a shoulder up against it or kicking it. The Arridans must have thought of this when they took captives. But it would be easily cut, especially with his finely crafted knife. The wood was soft, so it wasn't hard. He cut it down the sides and on the top and the bottom until it simply pushed out. MJ went first and then Alina, the other four Skandians followed and Lydia came out last. MJ then placed the section of wood he cut out back, so it didn't look like they tampered with the cage.

  "And this is why Skandia has needed Rangers for the past century." Lydia muttered. MJ smiled and kissed his aunt on the cheek.

"Yes, pretty much."

"Now if only we could find our other weapons. I don't want to waltz around an enemy camp armed only with a single throwing knife." She said.

"Hey! This knife has done wonders! And if you don't appreciate it you can wait in the cage while I go find your daughter." MJ slipping his knife into his sheath on his belt. The Arridans didn't see the need to take it, so he was able to keep his double scabbard. She glared at him and glanced over at the drunk Arridans who were having a party around the fire over their captures that day.

"I think I found our weapons." Lydia said dully. MJ followed her gaze and saw two intoxicated Arridans jokingly swinging Lydia's atlatl around and one of them was struggling to pull back MJ's long bow under it's intense weight while the other laughed at him.

"Ugh, that's just sick. Those are refine weapons that would scare even the Oberjarl if confronted, and they're playing with them like they're toys." MJ scoffed. Lydia laid a calming hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get them back." She said. MJ nodded and they all darted into the forest.

***

Boyd and Stig were the ones who spotted the small party of Arridans approaching, thinking that they had the element of surprise. But Boyd slipped away and woke the camp quietly, so the odds had switched, and now the refugee camp had the element of surprise. Willy and Tristan joined the others as they spread out in front of the cabin, where they had hid all the women, children and wounded. Abby and Emmy were the only two women who refused to let the men fight the battle. They both stood closest to the cabin, which was the compromise the Oberjarl came up with since they wanted to fight, but he wanted them to have a quick escape. Willy and Tristan joined the Herons and the Hounds in the front lines. All fires were doused and the camp was silent as they waited earnestly for the on coming raid.

   There were only ten Arridans in the party. They were all dead within a matter of thirty seconds. Willy didn't have to do anything, because Hal took out his anger of them kidnapping Evangeline out on them. His uncle killed three Arridans, the Oberjarl killed five, and Thorn killed the other two. There was really no need for them all to gather, but it was good practice for a big party.

"Alright boys, back to your stations." The Oberjarl said to the Hounds and Tristan. "You two help be dispose of these bodies." He said pointing to Thorn and Hal. Tristan and Willy laughed as their uncle Hal scrunched up his nose in disgust as he approached the bodies. The two boys made their way back to their assigned spot.

"So what happened to your crew?" Willy asked him once they were back.

"Oh, well after you left to free the ranger, the opposite crew quit, because they said it wasn't true competion without the Hounds. Once they were gone, there was no true use to it all, so my crew quit and I went home. Got a job working for Uncle Hal at the shipyard so I can support myself and not cause stress to my parents." He explained.

"Wow, I didn't want to quit brotherband, but Lynn is like our sister. We couldn't leave her to the scum that were keeping her." He said. Tristan nodded.

"The same scum that have our cousin captured." Tristan mumbled. Willy nodded realizing the truth in the statement.

"Yes. The same."

***

   "How does that blasted Ranger pull back this thing?" The man holding MJ's bow said.

"He practices, you idiot." The other giggled, taking another swig of ale. MJ and Lydia had left Alina and the other four Skandians back in a clearing, far from the Arridan camp and told them to head up to the old hunting cabin. The two of them were now crouched behind a tent, watching as the men played with their weapons. MJ knelt down and picked up a decent sized stone from the ground and gave it to Lydia. She swung her arm back like she was using her atlatl, and launched the stone at one of the men's head, at the base where his hair line was. His eyes rolled back and he fell face forward, dropping MJ's bow.

"To much ale." One of the other men said. The two of them lifted the fallen man up and walked away, leaving their weapons on the ground. MJ slipped there and back with their weapons in hand. He cursed quietly as he brushed the dirt off of his bow. He had only thrown his bow in the dirt once, and that was back when he first started his apprenticeship, and he was fighting a bully from the village who had no respect to the corps. Since then, MJ swore never to set his beautiful bow in the dirt unless it was an emergency.

"Come on." Lydia said tugging on his cloak. Alina was slightly disappointed that she had to give it back to him, but he convinced her that he needed it to free the others.

MJ and Lydia ghosted through the shadows of the camp to reach the other side, where another wooden cage held six other Skandian captives. MJ bent down and quickly picked the lock of the gate, something he had picked up from his brother after all those years. Before they had left MJ had borrowed his brothers lock picking kit, just encase they ran into a problem like the one they were ccurrently in. The Skandians shrank back, thinking that they were Arridans. Once MJ had gotten the gate open, he stepped inside and glanced around at the faces, landing on the one little face he had been longing to see.

"Come on, Evangeline, we're going home." MJ said holding out his hand to his cousin.

***

She's alive! I wouldn't have killed her off, that just would have been cruel! I hope you liked this chapter, because I had fun writing it. I wasn't planning on having Willy and Tristan become friends, it just kinda happened while I was typing. Oh well, it's good, right? Anyway, please comment and vote! love you all!

~Avis