This chapter has been edited due to content. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.
JASH
The arrow flew through the air and I followed it closely. I watched each tiny movement it made to determine if the dryskin showed promise or not. As it sunk into the target I moved quickly. My claw touched the target and looked even more intensely at where Tim had fired it this time.
There was a small circle carved into the tree for the dryskin to aim for. His arrow had not hit its mark. It rested a few inches from the circle.
“That bad, huh?” Tim asked.
It was not a perfect shot but it showed how far he had come in just a week. There had been no battles to test his skills which gave him more time to improve them. In the thick of his first battle he might panic and accidently kill one of my men. Especially if he didn’t have enough practice with a crossbow.
I could have answered him as I walked back to his side. But I felt it better to see how the former Sheriff dealt with uncertainty. It had been clear in Bright Falls, the short time it had been ours to know him, that he was far removed from the neediness of a hatchling. But I needed to make certain that this situation hadn’t changed his character.
When I stood by him I motioned with my hands and Tim changed his pose. He had followed my silent commands without question nor shame at his failure. He might do well in this war.
“Again.” I said and Tim fired his arrow.
We both watched as his arrow finally hit its mark for the first time this afternoon. I gave him a curt nod.
“Do you think I could down a Thalmor?” Tim asked.
“Battle is different from anything you have yet experienced.” I replied after a minute. “It is a level of chaos you aren’t ever prepared for. The horrors you must have experienced in the Dark Place are nothing compared to what awaits you on the battlefield. The skills you have gained with the crossbow show promise in allowing you to survive or, at least, not kill your fellow soldiers. Why this doubt, Tim?”
Tim looked down at his crossbow as if he were seeing it for the first time.
“None of this feels real, Jash.” Tim said. “This crossbow is completely different than a gun. It’s like I’m a little kid playing with a toy.”
We looked at each other and laughed. I tried to trace where my amusement came from but I couldn’t. It felt more like a defense against the dread that had been slowly creeping into my mind the last few days.
Was it the same for Tim?
“Is there going to be a battle?” Tim asked.
“Are you so eager to draw blood for the first time?” I replied and tilted my head in confusion.
“You’ve been more tense for the last few days.”
It could have been ours to dismiss Tim’s concerns. I was a mere acquaintance to him and he was now one of my men. Due to his lack of experience in the art of war, he didn’t hold a special place in the Reforged.
But he was quickly turning into a friend and a leader did not have many of those.
“Ah-Malz, a Saxhleel commander in the Imperial army, is late in giving his correspondence.” I answered in what appeared to dryskins as a voice devoid of emotion.
If Tim had known me for longer he could’ve heard the clear sounds and signs of movement that indicated my deep worry. He had picked up on how tense I had been for the last few days but the depth of those emotions were not yet known to him.
“You think that he’s late because something happened.” Tim said. “You think the Thalmor killed him?”
“That could be the case.” I said. “Or it could be he was delayed. Maybe the weather halted progress. Tamriel is not like Earth where your Dwemer contraptions can battle the elements. Here we need to respect nature in order to survive.”
“But if it was just the weather why are you nervous?”
“I have never known Ah-Malz to ever be late. He is too proud. The one time we fought side by side, he risked going over dangerous terrain to arrive before the battle.”
Tim notched his next arrow. It was as if he wasn’t worried at all with the way he was taking aim at the target. I was able to push the worry from my mind as I focused on the arrow flying towards the target.
No comments:
Post a Comment