March 12, 2012

And About Time Too...

The day of Will's wedding had arrived. Will was dressed in the ceremonial Ranger's outfit, created some years back for Halt and Lady Pauline's wedding. He wished he had a mirror to confirm that he looked exemplary, but his pay did not extend to cover such luxuries. Will then checked himself one last time, and left to the ceremony on his horse, Tug, with his dog, Ebony, following behind. After arriving in the clearing, Will flocked to his friends that arrived for his wedding. Halt, Lady Pauline, Gilian, Jenny, Malcolm and Trobar were among them. Horace was his best man, and Evanlyn was Alyss's matron of honor. Evanlyn, or more correctly, Cassandra, was expecting a child, but there was no sign of the pregnancy yet. Baron Arald, the celebrant, motioned for things to begin, and right at that moment Alyss emerged from the woods. After the vows were completed, and the kiss "sealed the deal," Halt spoke, "And about time too!" Halt turned away in a coughing fit, but really, he wanted to conceal the tears that were rushing down his face.

The Fragment

Hal, a Skandian, was controlling his home-made ship, the Heron, on the seas surrounding Hallasholm. Stig, his first-mate, asked, "How does she handle?" Hal replied, "Like a bird."

Afterword

MacFarlane gently placed the fragment on the surface of his desk. The other nine stories found in the concealed trunk had been carefully assembled, copied, and preserved. He had left this fragment till last because it was incomplete, barely one hundred words, and because it was something different. There was a legend of a young boy, half Araluen and half Skandian, who revolutionized the design of the Skandians' wolfships.  There was a brief mention of him in the chronicle of Will's journey to Nihon-Ja. This fragment has revealed a further clue to his story. If one page exists, then there must be a complete story. MacFarlane plans to try to unravel this mystery and discover the entire story about Hal and his Heron.

March 10, 2012

The Bridal Dance:

Chapter 1:
A series of accidents has ocurred at Castle Redmont, the stage of Horace and Princess Cassandra's wedding. Desmond, the Baron's head steward, believes that they are not accidents, that they are intentional. Will went to the castle to meet with Desmond about the latest accident, while Halt boards the mail cart to protect it from robberies.

Upon meeting with Desmond, Will questions him about any person working in the castle who might have a grudge against you or the castle as a whole. Desmond replied that Robard had been demoted from assistant steward to a dining hall waiter. Will requested that Robard meet with him for... a little chat. Will easily pursuaded Robard to tell the truth, whether it be by yelling at him or lying saying that two people saw him commit the crime, when they had not. After their discussion, Will proposed that they discuss matters further tomorrow, and let Robard sweat on the possible punishments overnight.

Chapter 2:

Early in the morning, a steward from the dining hall sprints from the castle to Will's cabin, and announces, "It's Robard, sir, the former trainee. He's dead!" After arriving at the scene, Will asks questions such as "Was there a note- suicides usually leave notes." and "Was the body moved from its original position?" Desmond replied 'no' to both answers. Will looked around and found two names: Serafino and Mordini, Toscan names, he thought. Will left to ask around the village, starting with his child-hood friend Jenny, a restauranteur, about any information related to their profession. She said no, but they might know at the inn where the two Toscans stayed. After discussing the Toscans with Joel, he revealed that they were wool buyers. Will then asked to see the Toscans' room, since it has not been re-lent to any other costomers. After inspecting the room, will concludes that there was a slightly sweet smell, but he could not place what it was. Then, he talked to the local wool buyer, Barrett, and he said that the Toscans did not even visit his store.

Later that evening, Will was braiding a new bowstring since the present one on his bow had frayed. While rubbing beeswax along the string, he recognized the smell as the same from the Toscan's room. Beeswax was used by archers to strengthen their bowstrings, and by crossbowmen as well. This made Will start to think. The Toscans might not even be Toscans at all, but from a neighboring city-state whose people spoke with similar accents- Genovesans. Genovesans were contract killers and murderers who worked exceptionally well with poison. What if Robard's death had not been suicide, but due to poisoning by the Genovesans? And who are they going to kill?

Chapter 3:

The new foreign arrivals had erased the urgency in his finding of the so-called Genovesans. Maybe he had just over-reacted. The first was Erak, Oberjarl of Skandia, a long-term friend of Cassandra. Next was Selethen, Wakir of the Arridi province, Al Shabah. But, when Will ran into Desmond a day later, that urgency was restored. There was a table plan for the banquet of the wedding with the events listed in order in Robard's room. These events included Entry, Meal service and speeches, Dance, Departure. There was a small mark beside the word Dance. There was another mark right opposite the bridal table. Will went to check out the mark opposite the bridal table. There was a half-built platform with an ideal vantage point if someone wanted to harm the King. Meanwhile, Will needed to get started on his speech, as he was best man. But, the doubt of an assassination was too great to get Will's creative juices flowing, so he went to sleep, postponing his speech even one day closer to the wedding.

Chapter 4:

Two days later, the matter was driven from his mind by the arrival of Wolfwill. Wolfwill had been assigned the longest trip of all, bringing in the guest with the greatest distance to travel. Shigeru, Emperor of Nihon-Ja, had arrived for Horace's wedding. Horace, Cassandra, Will and Halt had helped restored order when an uprising occured in Shigeru's country. When Will brought up his most recent findings to Cassandra and King Duncan, they simply waved off the matter, stating that the most recent false alarm for an assassination had been but only three weeks ago, and they would never postpone the wedding.

Chapter 5:

The day of the wedding had arrived, and Will  had never gotten around to rewriting his speech. It was a beautiful sunny day for a wedding in the courtyard of Castle Redmont. Baron Arald of Redmont performed the ceremony. The King was giving his daughter away. And Shigeru had been granted the position of Patron-Sponsor of the wedding.
After the wedding had progressed and the vows taken, it was time for the banquet- and the speeches.

The first of these was the Patron-Sponsor of the wedding, Shigeru. As created by Lady Pauline during hers and Halt's wedding, the duty of Patron-Sponsor was to convey an expensive present upon the newly-weds. He granted them the castle of Hashan-Ji, with income from its surrounding farmlands and timber forests. It is also quite close to the Emperor's summer palace. Horace respectfully declined the income- but gladly kept the castle- and requested that all future income from the castle be shared among the families of those Kikori who gave their lives in the war against Arisaka, the upriser who tried to kill Shigeru. Will had still never written his speech because it burned in a fire some weeks ago, and it may have turned out to bee a good thing. After reciting an amazing speech, a swallow was released and perched on a massive support beam. His eyes registered something else, a detail that was overlooked, so he went to check it out.

Will ran to the Skandian table and grabbed Nils, extra security in case he had to fight Genovesans. They both ran up the stairs. Will realized why the mark had been placed against the word Dance. King Duncan would be most exposed as he danced with the bride, making him a perfect target. Will heard a burst of applause as Horace finished his speech. Will had only seconds until Duncan would be killed.

As Will crashed through the door, he instantly recognized the two men in their dull purple cloaks as Genovesans. He quickly drew his saxe knife and threw it at the crossbow string of the first Genovesan, severing it in half, and his throwing knife at the second, killing the man. Nils yelled "Get down," as he hurled his weapon at the Genovesan who was, until a few moments before, holding the crossbow. Will rose and sprinted back down the stairs, just making back for his wedding dance with Alyss.

Chapter 6:

A group assembled in Baron Arald's office looked up as Halt entered the room. Halt had been assigned the task of interrogating the surviving assassin. Genovesans usually did not talk or respond to death threats. But, Halt threatened to infect him with one of his own poisoned arrows, and the only man in Araluen that could produce an antidote lived eight days away. The Genovesan also revealed that the target was exposed for a much longer period during hte dance; it was Cassandra. The man who wanted her killed was Iqbal. He is Yusal's brother, and wanted revenge on Cassandra since she reduced his brother to a drooling idiot. The plan was to leave an Arridian crossbow behind, and caused tremendous distrust between both Arridi and Araluen. They were lucky that Will had been extremely alert.

March 9, 2012

Purple Prose:
Chapter 1:

Will is eating dinner at Halt and Lady Pauline's house. He tells them bothhis speech, although it is a little... shall we say poetic. After hearing the first few lines of Will's speech, Lady Pauline proposes a change: just speek from your heart, like you did at our wedding [hers and Halt's.] He replied that he would think about it- simplifying his speech so that Halt could understand the flourid language heard in his speech.

Chapter 2:

After an unsuccessful day hunting for Jenny's restaurant, Will decided to give his speech another go by reading it to both his dog, Ebony, and his horse, Tug. They responded like all pets do when they are bored- they went to sleep.

Chapter 3:

Will was in the middle of rating Redmont's Battlescholl in the annual report to the King when Halt walked in to his cabing. Halt went on, saying that we [Halt and Will] have a mission: track down and defeat the Moondarkers. The Moondarkers are ship wrekers who lay false beacon fires to make the ship's captain think that he has reached port. Will brought his speech with him on his journey so that he could work on it in the evening. On the ride,  Halt and will made a plan of action. They would scout around and look for signs that the Moondarkers are getting ready for an assault. The Moondarkers would need to build a beacon fire to grasp the attention of ships passing by. This fire would need to be prepared days  in advance, so there would be a good chance that would be located outside in the open.

Chapter 4:

The pair of rangers first went to see the actual beacon in the town of Hambley. But, the tall headland behind it hides the beacon from the view of any ship coming down the coast from the north. Beyond that headland  hill is a beach. Halt thinks that is where the Moondarkers will build the false beacon. During the first war agains Morgarath, the army was too preoccupied with winning the war that they did not focus on capturing criminals. After Morgarath was defeated, Halt and Crowley drove them out of Araulen. But they are back again. It took Halt less than two hours to find the Moondarkers' campsite. There were a sixteen people that Halt could see, all of them men, working tirelessly to pitch their tents before the evening meal. A delicious aroma of meat roasting over a fire filled Halt's nostrils. He thought that he had done enough recon for tonight, and headed back to Will.

Chapter 5:

Halt decided that he might need to get some help from the local villagers. Since Will will be attending to the beacon fire, Halt will single handedly take on the sixteen Moondarkers. Will will throw a packet filled with colored dye into the fire, producing a change in color of the flames, either a deep red or yellow. The ship captain will see the flames change color, realize that this is not the real beacon, and head back out too sea. The next day, the Moondarkers went to work building the false beacon. A messenger arrived saying that he spotted a ship a geat distance away. There was shouting as the already-cut firewood was stacked into the beacon, ready to be lit at a moment's notice.

Chapter 6:

Will could see a ship in the distance. Halt reasoned that since the wind was blowing against the ship, it would take approximately two hours for the ship to get level to the false beacon. Then he left to go rouse the Watch from the village to combat the Moondarkers. He left it late so that, unlikely as it may sound, the villagers would have no time to warn the Moondarkers of the Rangers' presence in the area. Will then started to move into position. Some time later, Will was about a hundred meters away from the beacon. He looked seaward and was startled about how quickly the ship had traveled. Will proceeded towards the false beacon, only to be confronted by the words, "What the blazes are you up to," and the wind of a battleax as it whipped past his face, missing him by mere centimeters.

Chapter 7:

Instinctively, Will's saxe knife leaped from his scabbard into his hand, startled by the sudden appearance of the large man wielding the battleax. Will drew a striker out of his satchel; Gilian had advised him to jump off a cliff if you ever have to face a battleax with just two knives. te threw The striker, knocking the man out. Will had only seconds to act, as the ship was coming close to beaching. He threw his satchel containg the pouch of dye into the fire, and a blinding pillar of vivid purple flame shot seven meters into the air. The ship at sea turned back to safe waters, recognizing the beacon on the beach as a fake. Will dashed over to Halt and the Watch, aware of fierce fighting going on around the beach.

When they rode home a few days later, Will was in a gloomy mood. First, his bow was ruined in the fight with the ax-man. Also, when he threw his satchel into the fire, his speech was in that satchel, Will's only copy of the speech. He had made notes about the speech... but they were also in the satchel. And Will could not even remember a single word of the speech. Halt prompted Will, by asking who the speech was written for, and then went on to ask other questions. The answers to Halt's questions became the foundation for Will's speech, words from the bottom of his heart. The fact that Will's speech was in the satchel did clarify one detail. It was why the flames turned purple- it was not hte dye, it was Will's speech.

March 8, 2012

The Inkwell and The Dagger:
Chapter 6:

After watching the portcullis of the castle for the day, the observer on the hill noticed a small covered cart drawn by a single horse, with an unmistakable cloak of a Ranger controlling it. Ten minutes later, a second cart- larger than the first- emerged from the castle and headed toward the forest. Lord Foldar had told the observes the exact plan of the two carts- the real and the decoy. Everyting was going according to plan. Foldar chose to attack the large cart. He and his men charged, only to fall by the deadly accuracy of the Ranger, Gilian, and his troop of archers. Knowing that his plan had failed, and that his nine man squad had been reduced to three, Foldar retreated. Ranger Gilian galloped in pursuit. Gilian's horse was majorly faster than Foldar's battlehorse, so he caught up to Foldar with ease. They jumped to the ground and started their duel. In reality, the money was in the decoy cart the whole time. Without telling Foldar's informer, possibly the Baron or the seneschal, Gilian transferred the money from the large wagon to the small cart. Gilian, being a master swordsman, quickly defeated Foldar, thus making Araulen a safer place.

Chapter 7:

Gilian immediately went to the Baron's office, to unravel the truth about Foldar's informant in the castle. After questioning Philip in front of the Baron, it was revealed that Philip was not the informant. After all, why bother to repay the money that borrowed from the treasury if you were planning to steal it anyway? The fact is, Baron Douglas is Foldar's informant. The Baron glanced around the room for a way to escape. He found a dagger that was lying on the desk, and dove for it. But Philip was quicker. He dove forward, scooped up the heavy inkwell, and threw its contents into the Baron's eyes. Gilian said, appropriately naming the story,"I've heard that hte pen is mightier than the sword, but I never knew the inkwell could be mightier than the dagger."

March 2, 2012

The Inkwell and The Dagger
Chapter 3:

After discussing his plans with Crowley, Gilian set off for Highcliff. Upon arrival at the gate in the castle wall, Gilian was met by a sergeant. The sergeant looked doubtfully at Gilian's weaponry, an armament containing a sword, since swords were not usually carried by Rangers, but eventually let him through. When Gilian entered the castle, he asked to see the seneschal. After talking to the seneschal for a while, Gilian asked him if he knew about Foldar. The seneschal replied that he knew Foldar and Morgarath at Castle Gorlan. Now, Gilian was intrigued as he had never met someone who knew both Foldar and Morgarath. Then, Gilian requested to see the baron, but he was out hunting, so Gilian went to his quarters to ponder the recent events and his plan for the next few days.

Chapter 4:

Gilian traveled to the local inn, as innkeepers were well-informed about the recent gossip. He asked the inkeeper, Maeve, about what she knew about the seneschal, Philip. Maeve replied that Philip was a good administrator, if he can keep away from the dice. He ran up an immense debt with the other gamblers at the Swan tavern. Although Philip does not come to Maeve's business, she has seen him a couple of times late at night, heading toward Ambrose's house. Ambrose was a man who gambled against Philip. Gilian had a lot of information to digest after this lengthy conversation, so Gilian said good-bye, and left. On the ride back to the castle, Gilian was attacked by two assassins. Gilian's horse, Blaze, "panicked" to provide as a distraction for Gilian to roll out from the horse and hide underneath his camouflaged cloak. The two assassins, thinking that they had killed Gilian, used their leader's true name when he arrived to confirm that they had killed their man. Lord Foldar knew that Gilian was here in Highcliff tracking him, and there were only two people who knew Gilian's true mission.

Chapter 5:

Gilian watched as Philip, one of the two people who knew his mission, clumsily walked past Gilian hidden in the shadows underneath his cloak. Philip was carrying a large white sack, presumably filled with money, and a lot of it. Gilian had spied on Philip earlier and watched him depart from a secret entrance to the castle, with the same sack, only it was empty. Since Philip was moving slowly, Gilian had ample time to beat Philip back to the castle and choose an unobserved spot to watch what Philip does with the money. Gilian noticed that when Philip returned from the strong room, the place where the castle's money is kept, he was not carrying the sack of money.

Gilian then proceeded to the Baron's quarters, to reveal his plan for capturing and defeating Foldar. He plans to put the money in a small cart, defended only by himself, and send it off approximately ten minutes before the usual one. But, Foldar will be watching the castle, so he will see the first cart leave. He will follow the cart and secure the money. But, Gilian proposes a double bluff. He plans to put the money in its usual convoy to trick Foldar into attacking the small one.

Then, Gilian went to the archery commander to secure six archers for his purpose of defending the convoy.

February 29, 2012

Death of a Hero:
Chapter 8:

Halt buried the woman who saved his life behind the home, marking the grave with a stone labeled, "A Brave Mother," as he did not know her name. Instead of leaving Will with the poor townsfolk, Halt decided to take him back to Baron Arald's fief and leave Will at the orphanage. After finishing telling Will the story of how his parents died, Halt started to cry, the same way he had when leaving Will at the orphanage. Except this time, Will was a full-fledged Ranger. Halt did not tell Will that his mother had been murdered because he thought that it would be easier on Will. Also, he did not want Will to blame him for the deaths of both of his parents. Halt then proceeded to take Will to his mother's grave, ending the first portion of The Lost Stories.

The Inkwell and The Dagger

This short story describes what happened to Gilian when Halt and Horace went to Gallica to rescue Will in Book 3: The Icebound Land.


Chapter 1:

Gilian watched Halt and Horace gallop away in their horses to rescue Will. He later met up with Crowley, the Ranger Commandant, to discuss Gilian's next mission. He would track down Foldar, a cold-blooded killer. Because of this, many fake Foldars had sprung up, surviving off of the real one's notorious behavior. Crowley handed over Halt's files on the crimes, such as robberies, that might contain Foldar.

Chapter 2:

There are nine cases that have been unanswered. Of those nine, seven are relatively small crimes that the real Foldar would not have attempted. One of the crimes was committed during the night, the family did not know that a robbery had taken place, and the robbers locked the doors behind them. The real Foldar would have broken in, taken the money, and killed the family for grins and chuckles. That leaves one. A well-armed caravan was robbed by fifteen to twenty trained and armed assassins. All of the drivers were killed, and only a few passengers escaped into the woods. Since Foldar helped Morgarath attempt to overthrow the throne of a kingdom, this crime had Foldar's stamp on it.

February 28, 2012

Death of a Hero:
Chapter 7 [continued]:

After defeating Kord, Halt turned to face Jerrel. Upon fighting, Jerrel knew that he was out-matched, even with a better weapon, a sword. Suddenly Kord, with his last breath of life, grabbed Halt's leg and tripped him. Jerrel then advanced on Halt, using the advantage gained by Kord, and brought back his sword to complete the killing stroke. The sword starts its descent to Halt. Out of nowhere, Daniel's wife crashes into Jerrel, saving Halt's life. She claws at Jerrel's face, but it is not enough; for Jerrel draws a knife and stabs the wife. Halt then advances on Jerrel and kills him. On the wife's last words, "Care for him. His name is Will." Halt replies, "I promise."

February 22, 2012

Death of a Hero:

Chapter 6:

Kord and Jerrel left during the night to avoid the upcoming campaign. In fact, this "campaign" was a fake plot created by the Ranger to follow Kord and Jerrel to find Daniel's home. After following them for a while, Halt came to a clearing and smelt food cooking. Then, he heard a woman's scream.

Chapter 7:

As soon as Halt hear the scream, he dropped Abelard's reins and began to run towards the scream. Upon appearance at the farm, Halt quickly took in the details. A woman and a baby were huddled in the corner with Jerrel guarding them. Kord was searching through a chest looking for items of value. When Halt entered the farm cottage, Kord looked up at the figure, instantly recognizing it as Arratay. He pulled out his sword, prepared to fight against halt and his knives. Halt easily killed Kord, who was an inexperienced fighter.

February 13, 2012

Death of a Hero:
Chapter 5:

Jerrel was working on a pair of dice- filing off the corners to round them so they landed showing a score of six more often than luck would allow. He also had a pair of counter-weighted dice which showed the scores of one and two. At this moment, Arratay walked in. If you have read the previous books, Arratay is Halt's "code" name. Arratay means "Halt" in Gallican, his homeland. Jerrel quickly shoved the dice under a piece of cloth to hide them from prying eyes, and then moved to greet "Arratay". He immediately challenged Arratay to a game of dice. Using his altered dice, Jerrel let Arratay win the first few games, until Arratay raised the stakes. Then, Jerrel switched Arratay's dice to the losing pair. Halt lost some games, but won others. Finally, he challenged them to a full pot with all of the night's winnings. Halt switched the losing dice he had in his hand for a pair of winning dice that he had altered while off duty. After winning the money, much to Kord and Jerrel's dismay, he left and went to sleep.

February 8, 2012

Death of a Hero:
Chapter 4:

Halt awakes in the medical pavilion, wondering where he is. He soon talks to the orderly and finds out that he has been asleep for thirty-six hours. Halt suddenly remembers his promise to Daniel, the sergeant that saved his life. He has to go find out where Daniel lived to take care of Daniel's wife and new-born baby. Trying to find out where Daniel lived, he travels to the unit that Daniel was assigned. There, he speaks with the Sergeant Major and the Sgt. Major directs him to Daniel's squad. Halt was furthermore directed to Kord and Jerrel, two liars and cheats who run a dice game.

February 3, 2012

Death of a Hero:
Chapter  2:

This chapter is written through the eyes of King Duncan of Araulen, the supreme commander of the army. Battlemaster Norman is dying due to a spear attack by a wargal, one of Morgarath's troops. The King needs a leader to assume command of the overall commander of the battle. Ranger Halt steps up and takes charge just in time as the momentum was shifting to the enemy.

Chapter 3:

Halt, a master archer, shoots all of his arrows at the charging wargals. He does not miss any of his shots. After exhausting the arrows, he charges at the wargal squad, trying to shift the momentum back in their favor. A wargal charges at Halt, trying to avenge his friend's death. Right before the killing stroke, a sergeant throws his spear over Halt's shoulder, instantly killing the incoming wargal. But, another wargal replaced his recently fallen comrade and smashed Halt's head with a club. The sergeant who had saved Halt's life once before stepped in front of Halt's semi-limp body and faced yet another squad of wargals. He quickly disposed of four with his spear. His spear snapped when it hit the side of a wargal's head. Instead of running away, the spear-man picks up a sword from a fallen comrade. He finishes off another two before getting stabbed by a wargal with a dagger. Again, he does not give up. He swings his sword and continues to fight until ranks of Araulen fighters swarmed past to kill the remaining retreating wargals. Then he collapses to the ground. Halt crawls over to the sergeant and asks for his name. He replies, "Daniel. My wife and the baby, promise me..." Halt says, "I will look out for them, but you will see them soon." When the healers arrive, Halt tells them to care for Daniel. They look down at Daniel and tell Halt, "He is dead."

January 26, 2012

Summary of Previous Books:

The Lost Stories is the eleventh and last installment of the Ranger's Apprentice series. The main character of the book is Will, an orphan. He is chosen by Halt, a Ranger, to become his apprentice during the selection period for orphans at Castle Redmont in the Kingdom Araluen. Will's childhood friends: Horace, George, Alyss, and Jenny are selected for different jobs and positions around the kingdom. Horace trains as a Knight in Battleschool, while George works on writing in Scribeschool. Alyss trains as a diplomat under the influence of Lady Pauline, and Jenny creates delicious dishes under the direction of Master Chubb, Redmont's head chef. Throughout the series, Will endures many adventures, often traveling with Horace, and finally achieves the Silver Oak Leaf. The Silver Oak Leaf is a symbol of power, marking the transition from mere apprentice to a full-fledged Ranger. Alyss goes undercover to investigate mysterious events happening in the North, Horace travels to the nation of Nihon-Ja to unravel a plot to overthrow its leader, Jenny opens her own restaurant, George becomes the kingdom's best lawyer, and Will's path intertwines with that of his friends. He saves Alyss from death, helps Horace defeat Nihon-Ja's usurpers, and boosts Jenny's business by being a nation-wide her. George is swamped with paperwork due to the upcoming war. What will happen in the last book? Stay tuned to find out.

The Lost Stories is a collection of short stories cleaning up any questions and revealing the rest of the story:

Foreword:
A professor undertakes an excavation to identify an old ruined castle. He and his assistant  find an old cabin- Will's cabin. Inside, they find a hidden panel. Underneath are the Lost Stories- the rest of the tale of the Ranger's Apprentice series.

Death of a Hero:
Chapter 1:
Halt meets with Halt, his former master, and his wife, Lady Pauline. Halt reveals that there is something that he has never told Will: how his father and mother had died.

January 19, 2012

I have created this blog to record my progress on the 20% project during class. The 20% project counts toward 20% of the final grade and consists of 20% of the class time. My chosen project will be to create a book soundtrack for: "Ranger's Apprentice- The Lost Stories" by John Flanagan. In future days, I will start reading the book and record what I have read on the blog.