The Ranger drifted in and out of sleep, constantly fighting against it with all of his will. Sadly, at the moment, hid will was greatly depleted. He found himself unable to do anything but hang there, limp and semi conscious as the barrel of a man, the lieutenant of his militia force, hauled him around.  He drifted, unable to resist the warm, lulling call of dreams for a time, then as he heard the murmuring of conversation near him, he forced all of his effort into concentrating on that. It worked. A thrill of victory filled him, only adding to his limited strength, as he listened in.<br/><br/>It was the boy talking. The kid that had given him the herb, andâ€¦ well heâ€™d done some other things that were hard to remember, because- Oh. He was still talking. The ranger focused again, and strained to understand what being said. The words were muffled through the haze of sleep, but he managed. The water was drugged. People were hallucinating, and would become violent.  They planned to put the people to sleep in order to let them sleep off the drug.<br/><br/>It was a sound plan, but something gnawed at him, like a bug eating at the back of his brain. There was something he was forgetting, and he was sure of it. Finally, the world stopped moving. He must have been laid down again. It felt like days had passed since heâ€™d become trapped in this state, and he was tired of it. He swallowed hard, preparing himself for a massive effort, and began working to open his eyes. That wasnâ€™t as hard as the last time heâ€™d tried it, so he tried moving his head. Easy. He gathered his strength, then heaved, and managed to sit up.<br/><br/>He was sitting beside the aquifer. The boy was concentrating on something. He was sure this would be the sleeping draught. Best not disturb the boy. Feeling like he might fall over at any moment, he forced himself to his feet and took in a deep breath. Rangers were a group of highly trained individuals, meant to head the forces of towns and cities like this one. They had a wide variety of skills. Archery was only one of them. He moved silently, as all Rangers did, and began creeping around, using the familiar exercise of blending into the shadows in order to go unseen as a way to revive his mind. It worked. The drug must have begun to fade, because he felt only mildly sleepy, like one might feel on a hot afternoon after a large meal. It was easily pushed aside and ignored.<br/><br/>And then he had it. He worked through the problem, and finally came up with the detail that had been gnawing at him. He knew this was the Krevlin Army that had begun the attack. All that had been done so far utterly screamed their war cry. The gruesome assassination of the respected leader was designed to sew fear. The commander taken out of commission to shatter order and control. The drug induced madness that would, in effect, recruit the very townspeople, the victims, into the offending army. This would have been done by a small team of individuals, if his memory was correct. He glanced at the still working boy, to be sure he hadnâ€™t missed his departure. He knew the boy would be unable to see him until he made his presence known.<br/><br/>What would their next step be? This was only the setup. He knew their endgame was yet to be revealed. What was their final goal? And then he had it. The mountains beyond this particular bastion were wild, and untamed, passable at only a single point. A valley flat enough to traverse. This bastion was the only thing that stood between the neighboring country beyond the mountains, and his kingdom. If this stronghold were to be destroyed, an entire army could enter the kingdom, unknown, unquestioned, and unseen. They would move quickly, as they knew word would spread. This kingdomâ€™s army was known throughout the land to be quick to respond.<br/><br/>He could draw only one conclusion. There was an army waiting at their gate. Waiting for them to go to sleep and allow them to pass. And the boy was doing exactly that. All that now stood between his beloved kingdom, and an invading army, was the few who would be able to stay conscious.