The Burning Bridge

For a long time after she’d dropped below the horizon, the sodden figure sat there, his horse chest-deep in the rolling waves, staring after the ship.

And his lips still moved, in a silent promise only he could hear

Halt was so near and yet now so impossibly out of reach. His eyes stung with tears and, faintly, he heard Halt’s voice.

“Will! Stay alive! Don’t give up! I’ll find you wherever they take you!”

Choking on tears, the boy raised his arm in farewell to his friend and mentor.

“Halt!” he croaked, but he knew the Ranger would never hear him. He heard the voice again, carrying over the sounds of wind and sea.

“I’ll find you, Will!”

Get down, you fools! That’s a Ranger!”