Clbaez

The Cyclopes

I had been training for two years now, and I was getting pretty good. I had gotten at least three times better since the last time anything exciting had happened, which was when the bandits had attacked. It had been pretty boring, the same routine with absolutely no intervention for a year and three months, and counting. I finished my morning chores and then got my bow and strung it. After two years it was one smooth motion, but I remember when it would take up to a couple minutes. I put my quiver on my back, all 24 arrows inside. I strapped my enchanted silver dagger instead of a regular saxe knife onto my belt, as well as my throwing knives. I put on my cloak that I had gotten two years ago to the day, and headed outside. As I was walking I adjusted the ring my sister had given me two years ago, which had a big gem on it. The gem was orange, and had a mystical feel to it, which I couldn't place. I had come to like the ring I had gotten for my birthday all that time ago, which was why I still had it. Since then I had found another ring, which was gold, and had seven gems all around it. There was a ruby, a topaz, an emerald, a sapphire, an amethyst, a diamond, and some black gem, but it was still slightly see through. It had a dark feel to it, and the rest had a more light essence to them. I glanced down at it and wondered about it. I got to the short distance archery range, and began to shoot. At close range I could pull off a shot about every second with mostly right in the center and some right next to it. My schedule was from 8:00-10:00 was short and fast shooting. 10:00-noon was medium range fast shooting. After that was a short meal, and then 12:30-2:30 was long range medium speed shooting. 2:30-4:30 was dagger training, 4:30-6:30 was throwing knives, 6:30-9:30 was tracking and camouflage training. After that we ate and then slept. I pulled out an arrow, nocked it, aimed and shot, all in the space of a second. It wasnt quite one smooth motion, but it was getting there. It hit right on the edge of the bull's eye, and I headed over to collect my 24 arrows that were spread out over four targets, six on each target. I put them back in my quiver and stood in front of the first target again to shoot. I shot six arrows and moved on to the next target. After about an hour of shooting a message arrow hit the target I was about to shoot. I looked over to see Korz acting as if nothing had happened. I read the message, obviously from Korz, which read: "I know I didn't do this last year, but this year I'll let you off easy for your birthday. Each if your training sections will be an hour shorter. Enjoy it while it lasts." I smiled and looked over at Korz, who gave away nothing in his expression. I collected all my arrows and moved on to the mid range section. I shot as fast as I could while still hitting right in the center or the ring next to it, which was about twice as long as short range, so two seconds. One of my arrows hit the edge of the ring next to the center and I realized I was speeding up and slowed back down to about two seconds a shot. I went to pick up my arrows when I noticed they were shaking slightly. It was barely noticeable, but it was a ranger's job to notice the small things sometimes. I noticed it would happen periodically, every couple seconds it would shake more and then begin to slow down. Korz noticed I had stopped shooting and decided to find out why. "Why'd you stop shooting?" He asked, and I pointed to the arrows that were shaking more than they had been before. "Strange, isn't it," I said, and he nodded. They were shaking almost three times as much as they had been before now, and the steady rhythm of them shaking was very noticeable now. I looked around to try and figure out what was causing it, but discovered nothing. The arrows were shaking even more now each time, and I started to feel it in the ground. "Are those........footsteps?" I asked. "What would have footsteps that loud? But still," Korz replied. One of the arrows fell out of the target and the spa e between each of the shakes was cut in half. Arrows started falling out of the targets all over and we could feel the ground shaking much better now. I pick up my arrows and put then in my quiver. I jumped at what sounded like a tree was falling, and I nocked an arrow. I looked into the forest I time to see a tree fall, then another, and another! I nocked an arrow, and waited for whatever was knocking those trees over. I noticed that Korz was already gone, probably blending in and waiting. I did the same by a tree next to the archery range, and as soon as I did I could see part of the creature doing it. The part I could see were giant feet, each the size of a full grown man, with giant legs to go with them. It felt like an earthquake now, and it burst out of the forest, knocking over two trees that bordered it. I finally got a good look at it, and those giant feet and legs belonged to a huge cyclops. I froze in fear, then realized it couldn't see me, and calmed down some. "WHERE ARE YOU!" The cyclops bellowed in it's loud, deep voice. We stayed silent and stood still, knowing the cyclops wouldn't see us. "I AM OARGOEN! I HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOU CURSED RANGERS!" It yelled. I noticed for the first time that it had a club twice the size if a man, and I made a mental note to avoid it at all costs. It started looking for us, and when it turned its back I pulled back the arrow, a d aimed at its head. I kicked the tree behind me, and the cyclops turned around to face me. I let the arrow loose, aiming straight for his huge eye. "I SEE-AARRRGH!" He yelled as the arrow sank deep into his eye, disappearing inside of it, and he dropped his club. I shuddered at the thought of having something sharp puncture my eye and get stuck inside, and then came to my senses. He screamed in agony and clawed at his eye. Another arrow, presumably from Korz, struck him in the neck, and another from me punctured the underside of his right arm. They didn't sink very deep, his skin was too tough. I took out a small container of black liquid and opened it. The disgusting smell that the poison gave off was bad, but I had learned to ignore it. I dipped an arrow in the poison and looked at Korz to see him doing the same. I proceeded to dip my remaining 22 arrows in it, and by that time Oargoen had plucked out the two arrows and I saw small chunks of flesh come with them. "I MAY BE BLIND BUT I WILL STILL SLAY YOU!" He yelled, and I let a poison arrow fly. It got him right in the belly button, where I hoped the skin would be less tough, and I was right. It sank deeper than the others, and he groaned in pain, and I saw the slight discoloration from the poison. I shot him in the cheek next, and then the left bicep. I could tell he could feel the poison burning him, but I knew we needed to hit him with more. Each poison arrow had enough poison to kill a single man, but he was the size of forty. Seven of Korz's arrows had already struck him, and I shot him with my fourth in the temple. He grunted in pain but it wasn't a kill shot. He scrambled on the ground for his club as I shot him three more times. He found his club and picked it up, and in response both of us shot him in the hand. He didn't drop it but clenched his fist in pain. "FINALLY I WILL SMASH Y-" he started choking on both mine and Korz's arrows we had shot into his throat. He threw his club at Korz and he dove out of the way, but not fast enough. It clipped his foot and twisted it weird, and I knew his ankle was broken. I calculated that it would take twenty five more poison arrows to give him enough poison to kill him. I only had eighteen arrows left though, so I would have to use some of Korz's arrows. I a sable to shoot him four more times in various places by the time he stopped choking on our arrows. He started walking in my direction, and I sprinted to where Korz was. "Are you alright?" I whispered to him. "Fine, just a broken ankle," he replied. He looked in our direction and I knew he had heard us. I picked up a rock and tossed it to the right of us, which was the direction I had gone to get to Korz. He smiled and walked in that direction, probably thinking I had taken Korz with me. I snuck behind him and to his right, and shot him in the ear. He screamed and then choked. He turn toward me and started saying something, but stopped and I saw the look if agony on his face, which turned into a look of rage. I had 13 arrows left, and I calculated that I would need seven of Korz's arrows, when one if his struck Oargoen in the other ear. He let loose four more before the bewildered cyclops turned around. He let loose two more arrows then signaled that I could do the rest. The cyclops was getting close to Korz, and Korz tossed a rock a little to his left. I picked up another one and tossed it a little ways to the left of that one, even further away from Korz. Oargoen turned and tried to laugh but choked on it. I started shooting him in the back, but he kept going, determined to kill Korz. I kept shooting and he finally decided to kill me first after I had shot eleven arrows into his back, I only had two more, but that should be enough. I shot him in the eye again, and then shot my last arrow into his chest. He seemed the same as before, but I knew soon he would be dead. His movements started to slow, and he looked like he was going to fall over. He stopped moving, and let out one final bellowing yell, ignoring the extreme pain, and I saw bits of flesh and blood fly out of his mouth as the arrows I'd his throat tore it up, and he fell on his face, dead. "Finally," I said to myself, and walked over to Korz. I helped him up and began helping him walk to the cabin. "His yell was loud enough to possibly draw more Cyclopes to our location. Be wary," he told me as we walked into the cabin. He sat on the couch and I walked outside to continue training. As I walked towards the long range targets I felt the same thumping except magnified, and it was ready beginning to feel like an earthquake. I blended in and realized I didn't have any more arrows with me. I scolded myself for not getting more, and braced myself for what was coming. This time ten Cyclopes came out of the forest. This is the end, I thought. "WE WILL AVENGE OUR FALLEN BROTHER!" One of them yelled. Most of them had clubs like the first, but one had a huge war hammer, and he was the one doing the talking. "COME OUT AND FIGHT US!" The one with the war hammer said. I stayed completely silent and still, not knowing what to do. They started walking around smashing things, then they froze. "Did you hear that?" One said to another. "Yes. What is it?" The other one replied. "I don't know...." The first one trailed off. I listened intently, and heard flapping. I kept listening, and it got louder and louder. That must be something huge, I thought. It got louder and louder, and then I saw it. It was huge and scaly, with huge claws and giant billowy wings. "DRAGON!" The cyclops with the war hammer yelled in terror. I gasped at seeing it, and it swooped down at the leader cyclops. The cyclops tried to run but got knocked to the ground. The dragon bit a huge chunk of flesh out of its back, taking its spine with it, killing it instantly. The other nine charged and the dragon knocked three behind it into the ground and blew fire at two in front of them and burnt them to a crisp. The two on each side were getting close so it launched into the air. For the first time I noticed a person riding the dragon, and gasped. Is that a dragon rider? I thought, and realized it was. The dragon and rider swooped down and tackled two of them, then the dragon used its claws to shred the flesh on their backs, killing them both. The rider jumped off and charged at one if the Cyclopes. The dragon used the spike on its tail to impale another one and turned to face three more, while the rider charged at one. The rider jumped seemingly higher than possible and sliced its entire right leg off. He landed perfectly, then sprinted towards the cyclops. He jumped and landed with his sword down on his chest and killed him instantly. There were three more, and the dragon was attacking all three. It killed one by tearing out its throat, then turned to the other two. It wrapped its tail around another ones neck and slammed it into the third. They tumbled to the ground, and the dragon lifted the cyclops and slammed it into the other one on the ground again and again, killing them both. The dragon and rider went to each other, and the rider climbed onto the dragon's back. I saw that they were about to leave, and saw an opportunity. Not wanting to miss a chance at meeting a dragon rider, I came into sight and started yelling and waving my arms. The dragon launched off the ground, and started to fly away. I stopped, and turned around to go back to where halt was, regretting not trying to get his attention earlier. Just then the flapping grew loud again, followed by a huge thud. I spun around to see the dragon and rider had landed again. The rider jumped off and walked to where I was, his dragon close behind. I tried to say something, but my mind was still racing at the fact that the dragon rider had come back! "I saw how you killed one on the Cyclopes," he said approvingly, and I continued to state at him in awe. I tried to thank him for saving my life as well as Korz, but I couldn't get my mouth to work. "Thanks for saving us," I finally said, still halfway in shock. "My name is Varamisk, by the way," he said. "Mine is Clbaez," I replied. "I have a feeling we'll meet again, Clbaez." He suddenly mounted his dragon and was gone as fast as he had come. "Woah."

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Finally the next chapter is complete! The reason it took so long is because I lost the paper that has all of the information u need to write the story, which is basically the outline of Clbaez's life. I found it though, and completed this chapter. That's all that needs to be said. Clbaez out.