The Battle For Skandia: Book Four (Ranger's Apprentice 4)

CAPTURED!As she pushed her way through the snow-laden bushes, becoming wetter andwetter in the process, she felt a surge of pleasure. The first snare in the lineheld the body of a small ground-foraging bird. Evanlyn smiled grimly as shethought how once she might have objected to the cruelty of the bird’s death.Now, all she felt was a sense of satisfaction as she realized that they wouldeat well today.Amazing how an empty belly could change your perspective, she thought,removing the noose from the bird’s neck and stuffing the small carcass in hermakeshift game bag. She reset the snare, sprinkling a few seeds of corn onthe ground beyond it, then rose to her feet, frowning in annoyance as sherealized that the melting snow had left two wet patches on her knees as she’dcrouched.Evanlyn sensed, rather than heard, the movement in the trees behind herand began to turn.Before she could move, she felt an iron grip around her throat, and as shegasped in fright, a fur-gloved hand, smelling vilely of smoke, clapped overher mouth and nose, cutting off her cry for help.

Don’t miss any of the adventures ofRANGER’SAPPRENTICETHE RUINS OF GORLANTHE BURNING BRIDGETHE ICEBOUND LANDTHE BATTLE FOR SKANDIATHE SORCERER OF THE NORTH

PUFFIN BOOKSPublished by the Penguin GroupPenguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM4P 2Y3(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, EnglandPenguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin BooksLtd)Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110017, IndiaPenguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South AfricaRegistered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, EnglandCopyright John Flanagan, 2006All rights reservedTHE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE PHILOMEL BOOKSEDITION AS FOLLOWS:Flanagan, John (John Anthony).The battle for Skandia / John Flanagan.—1st American ed.p. cm.—(Ranger’s apprentice ; bk. 4)Summary: After Ranger’s apprentice Will battles Temujai warriors to rescue Evanlyn,Will’s kingdomof Araluen joins forces with rival kingdom Skandia to defeat a common enemy.ISBN: 9781101019870The publisher does not have any control over and does not assumeany responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.penguin.comVersion 3

To Leonie, for always believing.

Table of ContentsTitle PageCopyright PageDedicationChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27

Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Chapter 34Chapter 35Chapter 36Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapter 39Chapter 40

1IT WAS A CONSTANT TAPPING SOUND THAT ROUSED WILL FROMhis deep, untroubled sleep. He had no clear idea at what point he first becameaware of it. It seemed to slide unobtrusively into his sleeping mind,magnified and amplified inside his subconscious, until it crossed over into theconscious world and he realized he was awake, and wondering what it mightbe.Tap-tap-tap-tap . . . It was still there, but not as loud now that he wasawake and aware of other sounds in the small cabin.From the corner, behind a small curtain of sacking that gave her amodicum of privacy, he could hear Evanlyn’s even breathing. Obviously, thetapping hadn’t woken her. There was a muted crackle from the heaped coalsin the fireplace at the end of the room and, as he became more fully awake,he heard them settle with a slight rustling sound.Tap-tap-tap . . .It seemed to come from nearby. He stretched and yawned, sitting up on therough couch he’d fashioned from wood and canvas. He shook his head toclear it and, for a moment, the sound was obscured. Then it was back oncemore and he realized it was coming from outside the window. The oiled clothpanes were translucent—they would admit the gray light of the pre-dawn, buthe couldn’t see anything more than a blur through them. Will knelt on thecouch and unlatched the frame, pushing it up and craning his head throughthe opening to study the small porch of the cabin.A gust of chill entered the room and he heard Evanlyn stir as it eddiedaround, causing the sacking curtain to billow inward and the embers in thefireplace to glow more fiercely, until a small tongue of yellow flame wasreleased from them.Somewhere in the trees, a bird was greeting the first light of a new day,and the tapping sound was obscured once more.Then he had it. It was water, dripping from the end of a long icicle thatdepended from the porch roof and falling onto an upturned bucket that hadbeen left on the edge of the porch.

Tap-tap-tap . . . tap-tap-tap.Will frowned to himself. There was something significant in this, he knew,but his mind, still fuddled with sleep, couldn’t quite grasp what it was. Hestood, still stretching, and shivered slightly as he left the last warmth of hisblanket and made his way to the door.Hoping not to wake Evanlyn, he eased the latch upward and slowly openedthe door, holding it up so that the sagging leather hinges wouldn’t allow thebottom edge to scrape the floor of the cabin.Closing the door behind him, he stepped out onto the rough boards of theporch, feeling them strike icy cold against his bare feet. He moved to the spotwhere the water dripped endlessly onto the bucket, realizing as he went thatother icicles hanging from the roof were also dripping water. He hadn’t seenthis before. He was sure they usually didn’t do this.He glanced out at the trees, where the first rays of the sun were beginningto filter through.In the forest, there was a slithering thump as a load of snow finally slidclear of the pine branches that had supported it for months and fell in a heapto the ground below.And it was then that Will realized the significance of the endless tap-taptap that had woken him.Behind him, he heard the door creak and he turned to see Evanlyn, her hairwildly tousled, her blanket wrapped tight around her against the cold.“What is it?” she asked him. “Is something wrong?”He hesitated a second, glancing at the growing puddle of water beside thebucket.“It’s the thaw,” he said finally.After their meager breakfast, Will and Evanlyn sat in the early morning sunas it streamed across the porch. Neither of them had wanted to discuss thesignificance of Will’s earlier discovery, although they had since found moresigns of the thaw.Small patches of soaked brown grass were showing through the snowcover on the ground surrounding the cabin, and the sound of wet snow slidingfrom the trees to hit the ground was becoming increasingly common.The snow was still thick on the ground and in the trees, of course. But the

signs were there that the thaw had begun and that, inexorably, it wouldcontinue.“I suppose we’ll have to think about moving on,” Will said, finally voicingthe thought that had been in both their minds.“You’re not strong enough yet,” Evanlyn told him. It had been barely threeweeks since he had thrown off the mind-numbing effects of the warmweedgiven to him as a yard slave in Ragnak’s Lodge. Will had been weakened byinadequate food and clothing and a regimen of punishing physical workbefore they had made their escape. Since then, their meager diet in the cabinhad been enough to sustain life, but not to restore his strength or endurance.They had lived on the cornmeal and flour that had been stored in the cabin,along with a small stock of vegetables and the stringy meat from whatevergame Evanlyn and he had been able to snare.There was little enough of that in winter, and what game they had managedto catch had been in poor condition itself, providing little in the way ofnourishment.Will shrugged. “I’ll manage,” he said simply. “I’ll have to.”And that, of course, was the heart of the problem. They both knew thatonce the snow in the high passes had melted, hunters would again begin tovisit the high country where they found themselves. Already, Evanlyn hadseen one such—the mysterious rider in the forest on the day when Will’ssenses had returned to him. Fortunately, since that day, there had been nofurther sign of him. But it was a warning. Others would come, and beforethey did, Will and Evanlyn would have to be long gone, heading down the farside of the mountain passes and across the border into Teutlandt.Evanlyn shook her head doubtfully. For a moment, she said nothing. Thenshe realized that Will was right. Once the thaw was well and truly under way,they would have to leave whether she felt he was strong enough to travel ornot.“Anyway,” she said at last, “we have a few weeks yet. The thaw’s only juststarted, and who knows? We may even get another cold snap.”It was possible, she thought. Perhaps not probable, but at least it waspossible. Will nodded agreement.“There’s always that,” he said.The silence fell over them once more like a blanket. Abruptly, Evanlynstood, dusting off her breeches. “I’ll go and check the snares,” she said, and

when Will began to rise to accompany her, she stopped him.“You stay here,” she said gently. “From now on, you’re going to have toconserve your strength as much as possible.”Will hesitated, then nodded. He recognized that she was right.She collected the hessian sack they used as a game bag and slung it overher shoulder. Then, with a small smile in his direction, the girl headed offinto the trees.Feeling useless and dispirited, Will slowly began to gather up the woodenplatters they had used for their meal. All he was good for, he thought bitterly,was washing up.The snare line had moved farther and farther from the cabin over the pastthree weeks. As small animals, rabbits, squirrels and the occasional snowhare had fallen prey to the snares that Will had built, the other animals in thatarea had become wary. As a consequence, they had been compelled to movethe snares into new locations every few days—each one a little farther awayfrom the cabin than the one before.Evanlyn estimated that she had a good forty minutes’ walking on thenarrow uphill track before she would reach the first snare. Of course, if she’dbeen able to move straight to it, the walk would have been considerablyshorter. But the track wound and wandered through the trees, more thandoubling the distance she had to cover.The signs of the thaw were all around her, now that she was aware of it.The snow no longer squeaked dryly underfoot as she walked. It was heavier,wetter and her steps sank deeply into it. The leather of her boots was alreadysoaked from contact with the melting snow. The last time she had walked thisway, she reflected, the snow had simply coated her boots as a fine, drypowder.She also began to notice more activity among the wildlife in the area. Birdsflitted through the trees in greater numbers than she’d previously seen, andshe startled a rabbit on the track, sending it scurrying back into the protectionof a snow-covered thicket of blackberries.At least, she thought, all this extra activity might increase the chances offinding some worthwhile game in the snares.Evanlyn saw the discreet sign that Will had cut into the bark of a pine andturned off the track to find the spot where she and Will had laid the first ofthe snares. She recalled how gratefully she had greeted his recovery from the