The Secret Refuge (Book 5)

Cover of The Secret Refuge

## Description

**Only the best have access to the Elite Specializations of the Rangers. Will the Snow Panthers make it?**

The war goes on in Norghana. The East supports the new King, while the West supports Arnold Olafstone, the legitimate heir to the crown. In the North the Wild of the Ice claim their lands. In the midst of the war, Lasgol and his teammates have graduated as Rangers.

They must decide whether to take the Specialization Test. If they do, and pass it, they will have access to training as Specialist Rangers and be able to opt for one of the elite specializations. For this they will need to go to a hidden, secret place: The Shelter. It is rumored to be somewhere special, secret and arcane.

Will Lasgol take the Specialization Test? Will he pass it? Will his friends? Who will make it and who will not? What new adventures are waiting for them at the Shelter?

## Plot

Lasgol returns to Skad to visit his home again. He is stopped by two soldiers outside the village, but they let him through because he can name the Chief and his assistant. Camu has started to ask the names of Lasgol's friends. Ulf takes Lasgol along to fight some bandits, led by a man named Gunarson, who have taken over an old guard tower to the south of Skad. Lasgol knocks out the bandits using Elemental Arrows and arrows with sleeping potions on the heads and they bring the bandits in for trial.

Then Lasgol starts the trip back to the Camp. At the meeting point, he sees Egil being chased by six Rogdonian assassins. Lasgol manages to shoot all of the assassins, and the leader tells them that he was hired by the Brotherhood of the Blue Snake to kill Egil. When they arrive at the Camp, Val tells Lasgol that she is planning on trying to graduate in the School of Nature, and that she had a talk with Astrid, who told her to leave Lasgol alone. Lasgol tells her that he is with Astrid now. In the Ranger barracks, Isgord confronts Lasgol and Egil and tells them to admit that they are traitors. They refuse, and Isgord and most of the new Rangers try to fight them, but Oden stops them. He takes Lasgol and Egil to see Dolbarar, who asks them if they want to continue being Rangers; they both say yes, and promise that they will try to avoid any more confrontations.

Then comes the selection for the specialties. The candidates for the specialties are chosen by the four Master Rangers. In Nature, Eyra chooses Sugesen and Gonars. In Archery, Ivana chooses Isgord, Ingrid, and Nilsa. In Wildlife, Esben chooses Luca, Leana, Gerd, and Lasgol. In Expertise, Haakon chooses Azer, Astrid, and Viggo. Isgord, Ingrid, Gonars, Sugesen, Viggo, Astrid, Luca, and Lasgol pass their tests. Afterwards Gerd tells the Snow Panthers that his fears of various things are caused by an incident in his childhood when he and his cousin Alfred went into a cave, and Alfred was eaten by a bear, while Gerd ran away to get help.

The next day Oden, Dolbarar and the Rangers at the Camp hold a parade in honor of the graduates, who then receive their orders. Ingrid, Lasgol and Viggo are ordered to go to the Refuge for specialization training. Egil is ordered to work in the library at the Camp. Nilsa is sent to the capitol to serve Gondabar. Gerd is sent to the Zangrian border. Egil arranges to use Milton (the Snow Panthers' trained owl) to send messages between them. Oldreksen, a veteran Ranger, is assigned to lead the candidates for specialization training to the Refuge.

When they get near the Refuge, they meet Loke South Wind, a Masig Ranger who is assigned to take Specialist candidates to the Refuge. Isgord makes some racist comments about him. Loke leads them to the Frozen Peak, a mountain that is supposedly haunted by a ferocious Creature of the Ice; at the foot of the mountain they have to dismount and tether their horses; Lasgol leaves Camu to make his own way up. They reach a large cavern with a massive block of ice, which has a dragon-like creature trapped inside. Then they arrive at the Refuge, which is a large valley on the other side of the Frozen Peak, and meet Sigrid, the Mother Specialist in command there.

That night Lasgol goes out and stays up waiting for Camu to come to a large magical sphere near their caves (where the Elder Rangers and the Specialist candidates live), but there is no sign of him. In the morning the Specialist candidates are tasked with hunting for food and medicinal plants. Later in the day they have physical training, which consists of running while carrying a partner piggyback, with Gisli's familiar Snowflake, a white tiger, ready to attack anyone who falls. This is very difficult for Lasgol, since he had practically no sleep the night before. That night Sigrid shows them a spherical chamber in the main cave called the Chamber of Runes, since Runes of Power are embedded in its walls. After a week, Ingrid and Viggo agree to take turns with Lasgol searching for Camu at night so that he can get better sleep. Then Astrid agrees to help look for him during the daily tasks.

A week later the other more experienced Specialist candidates arrive, those Rangers who are continuing specialist training or were given the right to specialist training because of high performance in missions. Molak is one of these candidates. In the initial training for Wildlife, Master Gisli takes the candidates to a cave, where he visits a large bear, and hugs it; this ability is part of the Specialty of Beast Whisperer. While Lasgol is watching the initial training for Expertise, he becomes concerned for Viggo and Astrid, thinking that this path is too dark and immoral for them. One night while Lasgol is out searching for Camu, Loke finds him and talks to him about his past; since he is a Masig, he was treated like an outcast during his time at the Camp just like Lasgol. However, Sigrid raised him as her adopted son, so things improved for him after his graduation as a Ranger. Later Astrid talks to Lasgol, kisses him and tells him she isn't angry with him anymore.

The next day they receive a letter from Egil, sent by means of Milton, the owl that the Snow Panthers trained. He tells them about his time at the Camp, and that the King has allowed anyone with skill with a bow to apply to join the Rangers as well as those with family connections. That night Lasgol talks with Astrid about his concerns for her, saying that the Expertise specialty is dangerous and that it can hurt her soul from killing people on missions. Astrid understands his concerns, but says she can handle the specialty. The next day they receive a letter from Gerd. He says everything is going well at the border, and he is having much fewer panic attacks.

Later Viggo and Lasgol spy on Ingrid and Molak while they are together, since Viggo is concerned that Molak could get the Snow Panthers in trouble if he told the Rangers about their "treacherous" activities. That night they receive a letter from Nilsa. She tells them about her time at the Norghanian court, and that Thoran is rebuilding the army. Later Lasgol is found out by Sigrid as he is searching for Camu at night. She and Gisli reveal that they have had Camu almost the entire time, and question him using an Herb of Truth potion, which forces him to tell the truth. Lasgol is forced to reveal that he got Camu from his father and that Camu was originally from the Frozen Continent; he is eventually able to use his Gift, making a new skill to remove the effects of the Herb of Truth potion from his body and keep himself from saying anything too damaging.

That night the Specialist candidates take the Test of Harmony. They take a potion called the Alignment Potion which will help them determine which specialty they are best suited to. Isgord aligns with Infallible Marksman, Molak with Forest Sniper, Bjorn with Elemental Archer, Ingrid with Archer of the Wind, Sugesen with Forest Survivor, Gonars with Forest Trapper, Frida with Healer Guard, Elina with Expert Herbalist, Luca with Man Hunter, Erika with Beast Master, Axe with Tireless Explorer, Lasgol with Beast Whisperer and Tireless Tracker, Aren with Chameleon Stalker, Jorgen with Forest Assassin, Astrid with Assassin of Nature, and Viggo with Natural Assassin. Ulgren, Lars, and Jensen fail the test.

The day after the test, Lasgol is called to talk with the four Elders and Sigrid. Sigrid says they should experiment with Lasgol, since she thinks he could have chosen any Wildlife specialty and aligned with it. Gisli agrees to instruct Lasgol in both specialties that he aligned with for now. The Elders and Sigrid want to keep Camu to study him as well, and Gisli promises he won't be harmed.