Where Lost Things Dwell: Night Creatures Book Two

Chapter Eleven - A More Elegant Weapon for a More Civilised Age

"Right, who can give me some safety considerations for operating a crossbow?" Dunstan asked, and Kalyna tried to ignore the way several other recruits looked at her as though she'd need to show off for him.

"I answered questions at the pistol range, I can share the spotlight," she grumbled, prompting a number of her peers to titter.

Dunstan kept his expression stern as he prompted, "Anyone?"

Ulehild Nihtgar, a equally stern-faced dark elf from Svartalfheimr, raised her hand slightly, offering, "Keep fingers and thumbs below the flight deck, out the way of the string release path, and away from the cables in front of the fore grip. Misplacing your hand on the weapon can lead to the amputation of parts of your fingers and thumbs. Keep your fore grip hand securely on the grip. Don't carry a cocked bow by its barrel, or hand it to another person like that, because even though the safety might be on, if the string does release for any reason, you could lose a finger or take off someone else's fingers."

"Good. That's a key safety point. If any of you lose your fingers, you'll automatically fail basic and you'll be ineligible to retrain. You'll also give me a lot of paperwork and make a bloody mess of the range, so don't do that," Dunstan advised, his tone serious despite the fact Kalyna could feel that the last part, at least, was teasing. "Other considerations?"

"The safety should only be released when you have decided to pull the trigger. It's not good practise to stand around with the safety off as it increases the likelihood of a misfire," Mee Ainsel stated, tipping his head as he spoke. He was shorter even than Brandr, and had swarthy-complexioned. His skin almost seemed leathery, even though he didn't look much older than Kalyna. Though that could mean anything as she had no idea how long hobs lived.

"Another good point," Dunstan agreed with a nod. "I don't expect anyone to push the safety button until they are ready to fire. It takes a second to push it. If that second is the difference between an enemy reaching you or not then you shouldn't be relying on a ranged weapon anyway; your enemy is already too close and you should be drawing a close combat weapon. However, keeping the safety on might be the difference between your allies coming home safely or you accidentally shooting them. We don't want any friendly fire casualties, understood?"

"Yes, Staff Sergeant," they all chimed together.

"Next?" Eorl prompted.

"Wear safety glasses while assembling, cocking, or firing your bow," Paul Carey, a human assigned to the Big Guns answered, "If the arms, cables, or string breaks, debris can take an eye out. Same if a bolt breaks. On that note, we should inspect bolts before use and bin any that have cracks or damage, even hairline cracks or damage to the nocks or vanes, because that can cause breakages or misfires. We should also check strings and cables for wear and tear, and the limbs for any warping or cracks. Any damaged weapon should be sent to a manufacturer for repair or it should be replaced entirely.

"In most cases, its also advisable only to use manufacturer approved bolts as using incorrect bolts can produce a dry fire that causes a bows limbs to break, however, we use a lot of custom bolts here because different species are more susceptible to different materials. In which case, we should only use bolts supplied to us through official channels. We have specialists trained to make our customised bolts, to ensure they can be fired safely."

Dunstan nodded again. "You will all be issued with safety glasses here, which we'll collect back in at the end, but you do all have safety glasses in your personal equipment too. If you are required to use a crossbow during the course of a mission, you need to use those glasses. No one wants to lose an eye and not everyone can regenerate a lost one. What else?"

The others shifted uncomfortably, starting to run out of steam with their suggestions. Many glanced to their friends but the silence dragged on until Kalyna rolled her eyes and announced, "Don't walk around with a loaded crossbow. It's unlikely that we'll ever be in a situation where we need to secure a building with a crossbow in hand. It's just not practical because they are too slow to reload. More likely we'll use crossbows over a distance, from guard positions around defensible camps, or from hidden vantage points if we're sneaking up in an enemy position. In a survival situation, we might also use crossbows to hunt for food, but in any of those cases we should be stationary while loading and firing, not walking with a loaded crossbow that increases the likelihood of a friendly fire incident, or of self-injury in cases of slips or trips.