Immunity Fire

Chapter 5

Now that the physical torture was over, it was time for archery.

Madam Trixine looked stern, yet she had angel-like beauty. She wore a black dress with white lines around the ends of the sleeves and around her waist; the dress was long enough to cover her shoeless feet. She had long, curly, brunette hair that reached all the way down her spine. She had soft, pale-white skin; it was said to be soft on the outside but hardened on the inside.

"Good morning all," Madam Trixine greeted softly. Everyone greeted back. "Welcome to your first archery lesson. Today you are going to test your skill with the bow. You are going to train the eye, for it is where the eye that defines your shot. You are going to each get a crossbow and keep shooting again and again for the whole hour. Anyone fails to shoot the bullseye in an hour shall lose their free period after this and head straight to Monsterology with Mr. Troxley. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Madam Trixine," the first years replied.

"The crossbow is easier to use, yet more powerful than a regular bow. There is more force needed from you in a bow than there is of a crossbow for you would need to pull much harder to give the arrow the momentum to shoot straight at its target. Because the crossbow is like using a rifle, we shall start with that today and work on your eye."

Natalie seemed rather engaged in this lesson the most out of all of them. Everyone else either listened or got distracted but butterflies flying past their faces.

"It is very easy to get distracted in this class; especially when you gaze into the butterflies!"

The trainees raised their eyebrows and woke up.

"Those aren't ordinary butterflies; they are called angel-flies. Angel-flies are insects that can draw you in and distract you from anything with its beauty. It is hard to resist them. You completely forget about yourself and your surroundings. At first, they seem harmless; but sometimes, they can give you trouble; whether it means making you stupid, or extreme cases, send you into a deadly trap. Very few can resist these Angel-flies; it is more common for men to be seduced by them, but females can easily fall into the trap; but it is more common for that rare person who can resist these insects to be a female."

"Then how was it possible for us to wake up by your voice?" Natalie asked.

"The Angel-flies give you trouble. It can be death or make you do mistakes. They just gave you trouble by not listening to me and they got you into trouble with it."

"So they just distracted us to humiliate us and get you to be angry at us?" Alex asked with his arms crossed.

"If that is how you want to put it, then yes, Mr. Rothman." Trixine gave half a smile. "Now this is how you shall use a crossbow."

Madam Trixine takes a long crossbow. "In order to place your bolt into the crossbow, you step onto the stirrup; then you place the bolt into the arrow track. You take the bow and aim with your sight until you are ready to pull the trigger." She demonstrated and shot a bullseye in the target placed in the center which was further away then the others.

The crowd opened their mouths. They had thoughts like, "I am so toast," "There's no way I am gonna get some sleep after this lesson before Monsterology class."

"Now all of you pick your targets." Madam Trixine commanded.

Everyone obeyed and there was one for each trainee.

"I almost forgot to add one more thing... I have a cage of Angel-flies by my side. You have to keep shooting your targets whilst I release them. Whatever you do, don't gaze into them; if you do, you might end up shooting a living target. Don't worry the bolts aren't going to kill you. I am letting you use blunt heads so that they are sharp enough for the targets but not enough to pierce your skin. It will just be a painful wound that is going to need first aid. Remember! Don't follow the flies."

Madame Trixine released the Angel-flies and they flew like a big flock. Everyone was scared, screaming, or closing their eyes. Others tried to rush the shooting until they aren't able to hit the target. Zain felt a little tortured seeing the flies bothering the trainees. Alex tried to shoot the target but was able to shoot but not the bullseye. "Close enough," he said to himself.

Zain saw an Angel-fly pick him and closed his eyes shut, tensing his face. He tried to turn around making himself dizzy and run away from the fly that kept chasing him. He opened his eyes a little and saw no fly, but a bolt is about to hit him. He dodged it quickly and fell on the ground hard. He noticed that bolt was Lucas's; he got himself distracted by the flies. Zain thought maybe he got distracted on purpose to find an excuse to shoot an actual person.

Alex closed his eyes and tried to hit the fly with his eyes closed; of course, he kept missing and moving about until he had no idea where he was walking into. He bumped into a target. He opened it and saw that he was in front of a target where he could easily get shot. He dodged out the way before the bolt could hit him, but luckily, the bolt was a complete failure.

People were running around getting chased by the Angel-flies, hitting or bumping into each other. There was complete chaos. Madam Trixine was frozen in her stance and did nothing but watch. She rolled her eyes thinking, "I did warn them."

So far, not many people got shot, but people got some scrapes and bruises from all the falling, tripping, bumping, and some of them had bolts scrape past them until they had little cuts.

Two hours later, everyone felt tired and frightened to death. Some felt like they were losing their voices from all the screaming. Madam Trixine was facing the fact that no one was going to hit the bullseye. Very little targets were hit; they were probably more on the ground or have hit trees or have gone off course. Madame Trixine felt rather bored. It was as if she was going to give up on them. Until her attention was gained by something extraordinary...

Natalie had her eyes open the entire time. This whole time she focused on dodging from all the shooting and the madness. She dodged the three arrows with a barrel jump. The Angel-flies kept chasing her but never seemed to bother her. She saw a helpless girl who was about to get shot by Kahn. She pounced and grabbed the arrow in mid-air and rolled onto the ground. She ran and grabbed a crossbow that was dropped by a cowardly trainee and shot a bullseye. She kept shooting targets every ten seconds while just walking past the flies. She shot all the targets except the one Madam Trixine shot earlier. She aimed and hit the heart of the target, it was a sharp shot that it destroyed Madam Trixine's bolt. The Angel-flies flew away and went back into their cage. Natalie stood triumphantly.

Madam Trixine looked at her in awe. "You, Miss Linkhart, have the ability to resist temptation. You have the power to command anything that tries to tempt you. I have the same power. We, my dear, are alike. I see that you are destined for something great."

Everyone was either jealous or confused. So what, she is a natural archer, and is similar to Madam Trixine. Does that mean she's the queen or the hero they need? Natalie just felt confused. All she did was cleverly pick a time to shoot the targets while she was in stealth to avoid being hit.

Natalie wants to isolate herself from attachments and relationships, now one of her teachers is defining her destiny that she may or may not want. Natalie didn't say a word. The silence filled the air unpleasantly. Everyone was hesitant to make a move, struggling to process something they could not understand, not even Natalie.

Madam Trixine dismissed them all.