The journey towards the capital

Elora's point of view:

Days passed and I walked north towards the capital of the kingdom of Aran.

The capital was very far from the south side, where I lived, it took about five days to get there by horse and about seven days by carriage.

Well, I was on foot, so it would probably take me almost two or three weeks to get to the capital.

I made my journey through the forests, I didn't dare walk along the main road, especially after being hunted by strangers dressed in black, there was something about them that made me uneasy and alerted my survival instincts. The journey through the forest may give me natural protection from pursuers, but it also has its dangers.

I needed to find a way to protect myself, but I had no weapons at my disposal.

With my survival instincts at work, I did my best to create a bow and some arrows with what I had at my disposal. I walked cautiously through the forest and after a meticulous search I found a stone sharp enough to serve as a substitute for a knife, after seeing if it would be useful for me, I looked for a tree whose branches were somewhat flexible but strong enough for the body from the arch, after searching for about half an hour, I finally found a tree that fit my patterns, I climbed up and with the sharpened stone I found it and started the manual work of plucking and polishing the branch a bit. leaving it more uniform and less rough to the touch.

A few more hours passed and I finally finished the body of the bow, in my hair there was a thin elastic cord that held my hair in a ponytail, the cord was strong and elastic enough that I could shoot the arrows, I took the cord of my hair and tied it to the body of the arch, my grandmother always taught me to use utensils that would serve to make a arch, if the need arose to make one, I think she was preparing me for the current situation.

After closer scrutiny I was satisfied with my final work, of course you can't say it's a work of art, but it was enough to be used, I'd say it was even a little graceful despite my lack of practice on those . For hours I thanked my grandmother for teaching me how to build a bow, even though I hadn't mastered the skill.

Now only the arrows left, at least five, I went back to observing the surroundings and finally found a tree with stiff branches, perfect for building them. I cut some branches, polished them and sharpened the ends, there were some decorative feathers in the form of a string tied to the side of the gray linen dress I wore around my waist, I took them off and put them on the opposite ends of the ones that were sharpened. After making the arrows, I went back to walking through the forest, all this work cost me half a day, it was time to go back to walking and get something to eat.

I walked a few more hours before I spotted a bird, moved silently and took my bow from my back, as well as the arrows that were in a braided vine bag I made to make it easier to transport arrows and food.

I crawled through the bushes and watched the bird drinking water from a river, after walking further north the weather started to warm up, it wasn't as cold as in the south where I was from.

I slowly readied my bow and arrow and took careful aim, all my movements were smooth and fast, no movement unnecessary, in less than three seconds I had prepared and released the arrow.

The arrow flew softly towards the bird and impaled it right in the heart, I came out from behind the bushes and caught my prey that was already dead on the ground, taking advantage of the river, I cleaned the newly acquired food and nearby, in a dry region, I did a fire and roasted the bird to feed me.

The sun was already setting and I had to find a place to spend the night, I went to the river to take a few sips of water to avoid dehydration and walked back to the forest, after choosing a tree tall enough I went up and prepared me to spend the night there.

The moon was my only companion on that dark night, as well as my only refuge, while looking at the moon I fell asleep among the branches, resting to return to the journey the next day.