From A Kingdom's Shadow

CHAPTER NINE

As dawn broke the horizon, Dreco had already begun discussing the methods that Apondra used when she and Barri went hunting, and after some time he concluded that although she had experience with a bow, her aim was not nearly where it should be if she had a good chance of surviving a real battle; Though his did not discount its usefulness entirely.

"So... what do you think would suit me better, Dreco?" Apondra asked, leaning against the wall next to her bed.

Dreco smiled at the question, a trainee who was not afraid to ask for guidance could be shaped into something magnificent. Unfortunately, her question was not one that he could simply answer from his years of experience, she needed to find the answer for herself, and Dreco knew of one way that was almost foolproof.

Elwe seemed to read his thoughts as he said with an equally eager grin, "Are you well enough for a little journey?"

Apondra's heart pounded with exhilaration while she followed Dreco across the stone bridge, the gentle notes of song birds and the calm splashing of the river could not quell the spark she felt in the air around her.

Dreco turned off the path as they came to the end of the bridge that connected the small town of Dryn to the expansive cobbled roads of Tyrenia, the capital city of Aetis, and home to Queen Anamarie Clera. Apondra quickly followed after the others who had walked almost out of sight while she stopped to admire the city from afar. She ran to catch up with the men when she realized that Dreco had his hand raised in a fist. She slowed to a halt behind Colin.

A hint of a smirk showed on Dreco's face as he turned to glance at her, "Good. Now into the trees," he ordered.

She nodded at the instruction and walked with the trio towards the woods to their west. Apondra had hunted in these woods since she was a small child, but even being confident under the forest canopy she found that as they went deeper she was unfamiliar with this section of the woods. Her heart pounded and she tried to focus on taking in as many details as she could.

The men continued on, no longer chatting between themselves, Dreco at the lead, weaving easily through the trees as if he knew them better than even she did. As they delved deeper and deeper into the wall of thinning trees and dying brush Apondra could feel a change in the air, much like when Barri had been cornered by the vampires on their last hunt. Where was it coming from? She touched Dreco's shoulder for him to stay vigilant and went to unsheathe her dagger, only to find that it was missing. She patted the pockets of her cloak. Nothing. She found a thick branch that would suffice and held it at her side while she and Dreco scanned the area, Dreco always keeping his body in line with the prince's, who he had ushered behind him.

Apondra stared at the blade Dreco held at his side, she had never seen a blade so blood-tinged before, even Barri's butchering blades were less stained. He moved carefully through the brush as the prince slipped a bow off his shoulder that had been hidden by his cloak and knocked an arrow, scanning the area as his guard was.

Apondra moved herself next to the prince and exchanged a glance with him, listening for anything in the underbrush that would give away where the threat was. There it was, a set of steps in the trees, The steps quickened to a run, to the right. She followed them.

Dreco let out a sigh and both men lowered their weapons, "Come on out!" he called, "We've got some work to do!" he busied himself with helping Elwe sling his bow back over his shoulder, sending her a glance, whether it was in disappointment she could not tell in Dreco's expression, while he did, "You should not have brought this bloody thing Elwe!" he flicked the prince's cloak, "what if you had gotten tangled up in it?"

Elwe huffed a laugh and smirked smartly, "We could have seen not only her reaction time, but how she would react to a downed ally, it would have tripped me up at some point,"