What Lurks Behind The Trees

Unexpected heroes

Gregor's boots tapped softly on the delicate snow as he ran, making it crunch under his weight. He held his bow in his right hand and ducked behind a snow-covered bush. He quietly took out an arrow, he bought the bow up and readied the arrow, the leather of his gloves scrunched against the wooden bow. His pupils darted to the moving thing in the white snow, he steadied his arm and waited until he could get the best shot. Before he could shoot, an arrow zoomed passed his face, shooting the boar in its head making it tip to the side and fall to its death.

Gregor snapped his head back and glared at Rowan who was swinging an arrow in his hand proudly.

"That was my target," Gregor huffed and stood up, wiping the snow off his breeches.

"You'll never get it," Rowan grinned playfully, "You're left hand was shaking, you would've only scared it away," Rowan walked closer to Gregor "I'll teach you my ways,"

Gregor scoffed, "I was taught by the greatest archer of all time, and you want to come here and teach me?"

"Greg, I can see your left hand shaking from a mile away, you might have been good before, but your left hand is probably triggered by all the transformation now, you need to learn to keep it steady," and in the blink of an eye, Rowan aimed his arrow and shot a rabbit.

Gregor stared at him in shock, it was true, Rowan's skills were unbeatable, but Gregor's pride would not allow him to admit, so he proposed a foolish idea.

"How about a race?" Gregor said.

Rowan tilted his head in confusion.

"Who can hunt the most amount in a period of time?" Gregor continued, his eyes twinkling in determination.

"Boars get higher points," Rowan said.

"Rabbits count as one point and Boars as two,"

"Deal," Rowan stuck his hand out, Gregor shook it once and smiled playfully.

"The race finishes at noon,"

They both nodded, and with that, they both ran off to different areas of the woods.

Gregor ran through the snowy trees, rushing over the fallen branches and around thick shrubs. He continued to run until he saw something moving in the distance. He ducked down quickly and took out an arrow, he aimed and let go of the bowstring, missing the rabbit by a hair. The rabbit quickly hopped away. His eyes widened, he looked at his left hand and frowned. It was shaking, his fingers were trembling. Rowan was right.

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Celia ran behind the tree, hiding from Laina. She giggled as Laina approached her tree but her laugh turned to screams when someone grabbed her from behind. A hand clamped her mouth shut, preventing the screams from reaching the rest of her family.

"Shh, if you make any more noise I'll kill you," the voice behind her spoke, deep and rough.

Laina looked around in confusion and Celia's eyes widened when she saw a man approaching Laina from behind. Her muffled screams got louder and the man at her neck pressed a blade to her throat, pulling at her hair and threatening her.

The other man grabbed Laina and did the same thing. Celia and Laina thrashed against the strong holds of these strange men. Celia lifted her foot and stepped on the man's foot, making him let go of her for a split second, this was enough for her to scream for help before being cut off.

Unexpectedly, Celia felt a splat of blood on the back of her neck and ears. She gasped and turned around when the man at her throat fell to his death with a split neck. Her eyes moved up and met with the eyes of another man, his eyes were fierce and cold, he was wearing a cloak that cast a shadow over his face. She backed up against the tree. He put his hand over her mouth and put a finger over his mouth to tell her to stay quiet. He jerked his head in her sister's direction and saw another cloaked man digging his blade into the man that was holding Laina.