The Forest Gods' Reign [Published]

Chapter 17: A Good-bye Party?

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I walked with Alec, following the lanky Knowing leader Jason towards the training area at the other end of the large encampment. I paused, tightened my side ponytail, and cast Alec a curious glance. "So, who were those guys who attacked you earlier?" I asked him, wanting to find out more about the crazy people who he used to live with.

Alec sighed, staring at the long, green grass as we walked slowly along. "Enemies," he answered vaguely, chewing his lip and guiltily avoiding my gaze. "I seem to have made a lot of those." He sighed again and lazily kicked a tiny rock, sending it flying forward.

I snapped in front of his face to get him to look at me with his deep, blue eyes. "Winston Churchill once said that having enemies is good. It means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." Alec looked up at me with a new respect, wonderment in his eyes. I shrugged and explained, "It's one of my favorite quotes."

"It's the best I've heard. Although I don't have any other friends who are insufferable know-it-alls with smart quotes for every occasion," Alec agreed with a smirk, turning to look out at the hazy horizon, but his attention returned when we reached the training area.

"Hey! If I'm so insufferable, why do you hang out with me?" I protested, sticking my tongue out at him. "And you don't even have any other friends besides the gods!"

"Ouch. That hurt," Alec said somberly, but then he brightened up and added with a wink, "but it's so true." 

I just rolled my eyes in response and looked forward at the training area. In front of us was a large sword fighting arena with marble stands built into the hillside, like the ancient Greek theaters. On one side of the arena was an archery range, and on the other was a large, barn-like shed, which I assumed was the armory, but I didn't get the chance to ask because Jason clapped loudly and began to shout to his people.

"All right, everybody put on your armor and grab your weapons. Then we'll have all of the sword fighters split into groups. Archers, just go to the archery range and start shooting," he ordered in his most commanding voice, and his people immediately responded.

In a huge wave, they surged towards the old, brown shed, confirming my suspicions that it was, indeed, the armory. When most of the people had pushed their way back out, they began to split into groups. In order to give the many sword fighters a chance to regroup, Alec and I made our way over to the few archers, who were already in line shooting at colorful targets set up about seventy feet away.

There were only about ten archers, though, much less than I would have liked. But then again, one can't have everything he or she wants in life, otherwise there would be no point in doing anything. So I didn't complain, and instead I sat on a wooden bench facing the archery range as the archers - eight men, one younger boy, and a girl - picked up arrows one by one and sent them flying through the air towards the circular targets.

Nervously, every single one of them would turn around after they shot, as if looking for a sign of my approval. I could tell that my presence distracted them, because almost every one of them actually hit the target only one out of five times. I sighed, and Alec dropped his shoulders in defeat and scratched his head, obviously noticing the same thing I had. I knew if they had kept shooting that badly, our side of the war would have been in serious trouble.

I grunted and got up off the bench, thinking that these people needed a serious pep talk, so I clapped my hands together to get their attention. "Okay," I said with a long sigh as they dropped their weapons in frustration. "I can tell that you are nervous with me here, but I also know that you can shoot a lot straighter than you are right now. And I'm sorry to say that this isn't going to cut it." I paused and watched the archers as they shifted and squirmed under my powerful gaze. "So, either pull yourselves together, or you die. Your choice."