The Rivven Chronicles ( Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 4: The Wicked Wench

“…then he turned into an owl and flew away before I could get another shot in. Stop looking at me like that! I saw it happen! You saw me take a shot!” pleaded the young man as his companion burst into laughter.

            “I didn’t say that it wasn’t true,” said the soldier. “It just doesn’t add up. I mean, we didn’t find any pellets or feathers in the house.”

            The young man sighed at the mockery. He had told ten other comrades about the owl. Most had responded like this. The more serious ones had simply given him a funny look and told him that he probably shouldn’t have missed in the first place, as if they could have done better against a fast target in the middle of the night. A few of the other soldiers had seen the figure on the rooftop, but most of them had been absorbed in listening to the Knight Commander’s instructions. No one else had seen the owl, as a group of Malconstructs had charged the group after the figure jumped, and only the young man’s eyes had remained focused on the sky as the battle erupted.

            “Hael! Report to front!” came a call from Lieutenant Terym. Awoken from his musings, the young man directed his horse to the front of the procession and awaited further instructions. Terym simply stared at him for a few moments, clearly trying to decide what to say.

            “It would be prudent to cease with your story,” he finally said. “High Commander Lumin has asked that we do not speak of what happened at the Commer Estate for the time being. It will do no good to spread rumors among our own ranks.”

            Hael slumped his head. “Of course, sir. My apologies. I only want to help in answering a few of the questions.” The lieutenant raised his eyebrow expectantly. “Sir.”

            “I have a question right now,” said Captain Hollis, suddenly dropping back from his position beside the Knight Commander. “What the hell are you two talking about?”

            Terym was obviously embarrassed. “Ah, sir. It’s just an… ah… incident… that Hael—”

“How about,” interrupted Hollis, “the boy tells me himself?”

Hael was speechless for a moment, realizing that he was about to make a fool out of himself to the captain, just as he had to the lieutenant and Knight Commander during the night it occurred.

            “Well, sir,” he began, “when we first entered the courtyard, while the commander was giving her orders, I noticed a figure on the roof, watching us. I tried to be stealthy and shoot it before it saw me, but it started running, and I tried to aim.”

            “And?” asked Hollis, interested. As far as Hael knew, he had not seen the figure or the shot. But he had surely learned of the event from the other soldiers.

            Terym spoke before Hael had the chance. “He missed.” Hael looked at the ground, ashamed. “Tell the rest of the story.”

            “Whatever it was, it jumped off the roof… and… and…” Hael could not bring himself to repeat the words that had gotten him mocked so many times already.

            “Spit it out, boy,” said the captain gently. “It won’t do any good to keep things from me. We’re a unit, and I want to know what goes on.”

            “I think that it turned into an owl and flew away,” Hael said quietly. “I couldn’t ready another arrow in time, sir.”

            “I see,” Hollis said with a puzzled look on his face. After a few moments, it turned to anger. “So, why is it that I was not informed of this before now?” Terym shifted awkwardly in his saddle. “Did you know about this, lieutenant?”