Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Four

-WARNING, mild foul language-

We catch up to the girl quickly and I pull Lasreal to a stop. We stand stilly behind the thick brush and trees before the clearing to avoid being seen.

She is surrounded by several men, and they all seem to be listening to her carefully. One of them, a tall fellow with piercing blue eyes looks up as if sensing me, but I am hidden well from his view by the brush.

They are too far away for me to hear, but the man looks away, says something, and the others nod before splitting apart. He must be the leader.

I notice that they all have weapons on their person, each with a sword or dagger at their belt. The girl has a bow stropped to her steed's saddle, I notice as they all mount to leave.

I wait a minute until they are out of my view before following them. They may be heading to a city, but something about the way they all look, wild and rugged, tells me otherwise.

I have no were else to go with nothing else to do, and I have a tail somewhere, possibly not far behind me, so I must keep moving. I don't think about what will happen if I am caught following them, but I imagine that I am well enough equipped to handle the situation if it occurs. My advantage of being the Rider of a Vann Hest and my bowman ship skills, should keep me safe, and a quick get away if it doesn't.

After a while of riding, the sun starts to sink, throwing vivid reds and oranges into the sky. I start to think about stopping for the night, but my thoughts don't get much farther than a small fire for roasting something, because an object hits me with enough force to knock me from Lasreal's back. I don't even have time to cry out as I land, hard enough to rattle my teeth, on the pine needles and ferns, and my hand goes instinctively to a throbbing pain in my shoulder. My fingers close around an arrow, and I grimace at the pain. Well this could stand to be a problem.

Lasreal rears up and spooks, but I manage to work my mind into his and coax him to stay through his panicked state of mind. I cannot risk him running off to be found by someone else.

There is a flash of red as something lands near me, missing their mark to hit me as I roll away and climb to my feet as quickly as the arrow will allow me.

I hardly have time to draw my sword before the fire haired broad is upon me, her bow string taut and armed, ready to release an arrow straight into my heart.

I sigh and drop my weapon at my feet.

"Who are you?" The girl demands, keeping her bow trained on me. "You've been following us." I note the slight, rough accent in her voice.

I come up with a quick lie. "I'm just lost, I was on my way to Nordic..." I tell her, feigning innocence. Nordic is the main village, we're the castle is... Where I happen to be running from. "My brother is there and he-"

"I don't give a damn about your brother!" She says, eying me up. "Your far out of your way, ain't ya squirt?" She narrows her eyes after a moment of looking me up and down. She must have ruled me out as a threat, because I notice she had loosened her string the slightest bit. "Big horse for a small boy."

"It was a gift." I say back simply, working hard to keep my voice deep through the pain. I tighten my fingers around the arrow in my skin and pull lightly to test it, immediately cursing. It comes out sounding terribly womanly, and I am to slow to cover my mistake.

The girl lowers her weapon all together, and she looks like she wants to laugh. "You're not a boy." She says, apparently finding this funny. "Your a woman. No older than me at that! So tell me, what are ya really doing out here, following me around like a hungry mutt?"