The Bow and he Bowyer

Dannas and I left our tent and walked up the path to the medical tent to talk to Yara. I entered just before Dannas.

She turned her head, putting a rag down. "What's wrong? Please don't tell me your hands got worse. It's only been a few hours."

"No no I'm fine. My hands are still getting better."

Yara sighed. "Thank the gods. What are you here for then?"

"I have news to share."

"Oh?"

Dannas chimed in. "He's getting his first mission tomorrow morning!"

"What?! This soon?!"

"Yeah, he is!"

"That's exciting. I remember my first mission. I had to help out a bunch of poor farmers who were losing crops to man-sized locusts. It wasn't a pretty week, I'll tell you that much."

"I see."

"Yeah, my first mission was a fun one too; more fun than giant locusts. I had to deliver a message from Katsum all the way to Brandum."

"Don't tell me you had to take the Rennin Road."

"I did."

"Gods. That must've been an eventfull week."

"Oh yeah."

"I'm lost."

Dannas replied "It's a very dangerous road. Especially when you're alone. Very notorious for bandits and robbers."

"I see. Was everyone's first mission that difficult?"

Yara answered. "It certainly can be. For some people, it's easy. For some, it's harder than they planned it to be. I'm sure you'll be fine whatever it is, Ladon."

"Okay. Thank you. I'm going to go find Lili."

"See ya later."

I waved from behind as I exited her tent. Dannas followed me as I wandered through camp to find her. After half an hour, I stopped.

"She might be on a mission. Or just given a task to hunt or collect wild plants. I don't know."

"That's fine. If I see her later, I'll tell her then."

"I wonder why she likes you so much."

I furrowed my brow. "What?"

"Not a lot of people hang around her. She doesn't have many friends, and rarely seeks anyone out for anything. She has one friend I know of. He goes on missions with her frequently, mostly to support her in combat. Apparently her magic makes her vulnerable."

"I see."

"Maybe it's cause you're both halfbreeds. Maybe it's the magic. I dunno, it's just weird to see her seek anyone out as much as she has for you." Dannas smiled impishly while nudging me with his elbow. "Maybe she like likes you."

"What? No. I doubt it. What are you talking about?"

"Relax, Mr. Awkward. I'm just messing with you." The impish smile returned. "But then again."

"Bye!" I yelled as I quickly speed walked away.

Once I felt I escaped, I slowed down. I realized I was right next to Enrick's tent. I hadn't been in there yet, and curiosity took control. When I slowly entered the dimly-lit tent, I saw racks apon racks of short recurve bows, all unstrung, and just as many bows hanging above those racks. Each rack held maybe twenty bows. There was a range of intricate designs on many of them. A small percentage were more bland. I saw one bow abnormally thick compared to the others, and just a tad longer, separated from the rest. It had a very intricately carved design of textured feathers running down each limb. It looked like the left side of the tent was for unfinished bows in various stages of production, and the rest of the tent was for storage. There seemed to be some kind of standing contraption in the center of the tent. Its purpose; I couldn't guess. I saw Enrick sitting on a large cushion toward the back of the tent, brushing some kind of finish on a bow.

I put my hand on one of the bows. "They're beautiful."

Enrick didn't look up from his brushing. "Of course they are, Ladon. Some more than others." He stopped speaking for only a moment. "I assure you the basic ones are still better than any bow you'd get anywhere else."

"Why do you make so many?"

"Everytime we get back to Ith Heurithkə, the ranger's headquarters, every ranger currently there wants my bows. Only the rangers in this squad get bows for free. Not only do other rangers want my bows, but people from across the city want them aswell. Sometimes people even travel the world to get them. When we're away from headquarters like we are now, I spend most of my time making bows for our return."

"I see."

Enrick put his brush down and hung the bow. "So. What are you here for? If I recall, you're getting your first mission tomorrow morning. You're getting a temporary bow then, so I doubt you're coming for one now."

"Just curiosity," I answered while looking at the feathered bow that stood alone.

"Want to know about that one?"

"Sure."

"It's the greatest bow I ever made. A real work of art. So great, it's still waiting for it's equal."

"What do you mean?"

"I finished it six years ago. Nobody's been able to string it, let alone use it. I don't even know its draw weight due to that. It's made from the wood of an incredibly rare tree that only exists in the far, far east called the Eliarand tree. It's extremely strong and durable, and less heavy than hickory. It took me much time and effort to get my hands on enough of it to make that bow. I've been trying to find an owner who could equal its greatness since I made it. I even start a competition everytime we return to Heurithkə. Not even Soras could string it."

"Are you sure it's that great if no one can use it?"

He looked at me with scorn and death in his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"I-I'm just saying, if no one can use it, is it even that good. What if it never gets used. Would it be very useful then?"

"Alright, mister. Keep talking like that and I swear you will never use one of my bows."

"I didn't mean to offend. I was just . . . being practical. I apologize."

Enrick's expression changed to a somewhat competitive smile, almost like a plan was being commenced, and it was succceding. "How about this: I'll forgive you, but only if you take up the challenge of the competition. If you can string this bow, right here, right now, you can have it. If you fail, you don't get to have it."

I could tell I was being manipulated, but for some reason, I wanted to know if I could string it. "I'll take the challenge."

Enrick smiled. "Good."

He rushed behind the racks of bows on the right side of the tent. He seemed to go missing for a minute. When he reemerged, he came back with a string that looked a little thicker than the others. It definitely looked suitable for the bow.

"Hah! Found it! I made it quite some time ago for this bow. Took me a while to figure out. Most strings just snapped."

He picked up the feathered bow and handed both to me.

"Do you know how to string a bow?"

I attached the string to one end, then placed the bow in between my legs. The strung limb was in front of my right shin, and the bow continued behind my left with the string in front of it all.

"I made myself a bow once." I started bending it slowly.

"Oh really?"

Grunting through strained breath, I answered, "Y-yeah. It was a terrible bow. Lost it to the shadow wolves."

"I see. So that's where your experience comes from."

I grunted harder as I continued using my backside to bend it further. "Yup."

Slowly, I kept bending and bending the bow. It was very difficult to do since I've never had my strength tested like this, except for when I built the cabin. It was so tough, I felt like something, either the wood or I, would break. Eventually, I got the end of the string close to the end of the limb. Enricks eyes opened wide and hair stood on end through the corner of my strained eyes. The pain from the pressure of the bow on my extremely tensed body was immense. Eventually, centimeter by centimeter, I got the string closer and closer. With one final grunting yell, I managed to complete the final stretch. My body untensed like a cut rope. The bow was strung. I stepped out from the bow and handed it to a now statued Enrick. I started walking in circles holding my butt that now hurt like hel.

"Fuck, that was hard."

Enrick didn't say anything—Didn't even move.

After the pain relaxed a bit, I walked up to him. "Are you alright?"

His shocked impression slowly turned into a mania-like smile. "I . . . was . . . right! I knew it! I found its equal!"

I took a step back.

He stepped almost faster than me to grab my hand. "You did it! You actually did it! I need to test its draw weight."

He quickly turned and walked to the contraption in the center of the tent. Up high, it had two thick horizontal rectangular wooden blocks, one raised higher than the other. The bottom one was small, and had rounded edges, probably for the bow. He placed the bow on the bottom one with the strung portion hanging below. He turned a wheel on the side, and the top block lowered until it was firmly pressed against the bow. He went behind some of the racks again.

Enrick grunted while speaking. "Could use a little help here."

I rushed behind the racks to see neat stacks of round metallic weights, each having a hole with an untied thin rope running through. I carried a bunch of fifty-pound-labeled weights to the bow as Enrick dragged a bunch over.

"Alright. Just lift one weight up at a time, tie it over the string, and gently lower it onto the string. Keep doing that until the bow is at full draw."

I did just so with a fifty pound weight. Then another, and another, and another.

"By the gods, that's close to my record!"

I picked another fifty pound weight and put it on. The bow was still not at full draw. I put three more on over a short time.

"I think we're done with the fifties now. It's almost at full draw."

I put on two ten pounds. The limbs weren't quite bent all the way to where they needed to be, so I put on one five pound weight to give the last bend.

"That'll do it." He took a step back to admire his bow. "Wow… four-hundred and twenty-five. I almost can't believe it! Let me write this down real quick." He rushed to the back where a journal layed on a small table. "You can take the weights off and put them away while I do this."

I did just so, taking each weight off one by one and putting them behind the racks in his organized piles.

He closed his book with a loud thwack. "Alright. Let me loosen the blocks real quick." He turned the wheel counterclockwise until there was some space between the bow and block, then picked up the bow and went somewhere in the back of the tent. He returned with a quiver with the same feathery design pressed and colored on its leather rim, and gestured them both to me with a big smile. "Here, it's yours now. It'll get easier to draw the more you use it. After a couple days, unstring it, and only ever string it when you need to use it, or else it'll most likely lose its strength a bit. Take good care of it. If it needs heavy maintenance, bring it to me. Make good use of it, and I doubt I need to say this . . ." His face turned stone cold. "Don't break it." His face quickly went back to excitement.

"Okay. Thank you. I'll use it well."

I walked out of the tent holding my new bow. I saw Dannas down the path to the right just by the mess tent. He noticed me. I noticed the sun was now beginning its journey into the evening. Before I could react to Dannas's wave, Enrick walked past me from behind.

"Gotta tell Senna you don't need a bow anymore."

He was going the same way I was, so I followed behind. Once I reached the captain's tent that Enrick entered, I stopped to hear what they were talking about.

I heard Soras's voice. "Really? That bow?"

"Yes. I can hardly believe it myself." Enricks voice answered.

The captain's voice then came up. "Soras, I think we're creating a force to be reckoned with. He did very well on his tests, he's already ready for his first mission, and he just got that bow. Abraxas was right in sending him."

Suddenly, from out of my attention, Dannas spoke just behind me. "What's going on? Wanna eat?"

I jolted, paused, then turned around and showed him my new bow.

"Woah! No way!"

"SHH!" I grabbed him by the arm and quickly walked to the left side of the medical tent adjacent to the captain's. "I don't want them to know I was listening in."

In a hushed voice, Dannas responded, "Oh, sorry."

We waited for a second, then walked to the mess tent.

"So you're telling me, you strung that bow?"

"Yes."

"Yera above! I couldn't even bend it a centimeter when I tried. That's amazing."

We both grabbed some bread and soup then sat down at a bench.

"So it's yours now?"

"Yes."

"Wow. You gotta test it out at the range!"

"After we eat."

"Well duh. Are you gonna name it?"

"What?"

"Every great weapon has a name. You gotta name it."

I finished my last spoonful. "I'll think about it."

Dannas finished his food. "Alright then. To the archery range!"

We walked to the training area, past the circles, and into the range. We went to the first lane, which had just three targets: one ten meters away off-center to the left, one five meters further off-center to the right, and the last one in the center, five meters further than the second one.

I nocked an arrow and drew. Immediately, I felt the pressure of this bow's draw weight. After I reached full draw, I could only hold it for about ten seconds before my fingers slipped. With a loud snap, the arrow launched from the string. You could hear the sound of the air it rapidly cut through until it hit the second ring of the target with a loud echoing thwack. Birds called and fluttered away from the area.

"Shit! That's one powerful bow!"

I looked at Dannas feeling surprised, more than anything, of the power this bow can generate. I looked back at the bow. For the first time in my life, I felt powerful. Those shadow wolves wouldn't've been a problem if I had this.

I let loose another arrow aimed at the same target, hitting the edge of the bullseye with the same echoing thwack. I drew my third arrow and aimed it at the second target. With a loud snap, the arrow soared into the target, barely missing its exact center. My hand was growing tired now. I drew another arrow, my fingers struggling to hold it. Before I could aim it properly, the arrow let itself loose, piercing the target three rings from the bullseye. I need to get used to this bow.

Dannas ran up to the first target, then tried to pull out the two arrows but was struggling. He used a foot to push off the target while pulling the two arrows at once. One arrow popped out while the other snapped, sending him onto his butt. I walked to the second target.

"Ow. Those arrows are in there pretty deep."

I pulled out the arrow with ease. "Yeah." I walked to the third target. "This bow is pretty strong."

"Can I try it?"

I pulled the last arrow out. "Sure."

I joined Dannas back at the end of the lane and handed him the bow.

"I was never very good with a bow. Let's see if I can change that."

He tried to draw the bow just to pull it no further than a barely noticable bend. He kept trying repeatedly to no avail, but eventually managed to slowly pull it a very small distance just for his finger to slip, snapping the string back as the arrow bounced off to the side.

"Yeah, I don't think I can use it."

"It has a draw weight of four-hundred-twenty-five pounds."

"Gods above! How strong are you?!"

"Strong enough, I guess."

"Well, duh."

He handed my bow back. I put it back in my quiver, along with most of the arrows I used, then walked to our tent with Dannas and placed my quiver in my basket. When I left the tent, I saw Lili walking into camp with a large basket hanging from her arm. She looked at me as she walked in my direction. Her face rested in an emotionless expression for a few seconds, then turned to a smile. When she got closer, I noticed her basket was full of various herbs and mushrooms.

She adjusted her basket. "Congratulations, Ladon."

"Thank you."

"To think your first mission would come so soon. Do you feel ready?"

"I don't know. Guess I'll know when they tell me the mission."

"Understandable." She looked at my tent before her attention returned. "Quite an impressive bow."

"Takes an effort, but I can use it."

"Indeed."

Dannas took a step back, looking very defensive. "How'd you know all that?"

She looked at him. "I know." After a short pause, she continued. "I need to bring this basket to the cooks and Yara before it gets too late. I will talk to you later, Ladon. Goodbye." She walked away.

"What in the hels?"

"What?"

"Am I the only one set off by that?"

"She's a magic user, Dannas. She sees things. I kind of got used to it already."

"Alright . . . I guess. I'm gonna go to bed before I get a headache.