by Aaron Thomas
“Thank you. He was right. I don’t even have a bow with me. I’ve been traveling light since my time with the Elders.” Kilen turned the bow over in his hands, “I’m sorry, it must be tiring trying to keep all these men awake. May I energize you?”
She stood and curtsied, “I do believe that is the first time in a long time someone has asked me that. Yes, the Elders chose their weapon bearer well.” She smiled and left him alone.
He was still unsure if she wanted the energy. Kilen also wondered why it was this time the Elders had chosen well. He was only trying to be polite and do the right thing.
Despite the lack of noise, the camp was full at work. He stopped by one of the camp fires where soldiers were cooking a deer on a spit. It took two men to turn it but they had an extra nearby to step in if necessary. He watched the men work and energized a couple. They thanked him with a plate of food which he gladly ate.
The constant twang of the bow’s release on their makeshift archery range seemed to call to Kilen and his new bow. He walked over and John was there, barking out orders. He noticed that no one on the range wore the black hat like most of Bowie’s men did. The lack of the hat drew his attention to their clothing. Each lacked any sort of soldiers attire. Most were wearing the clothing of a normal worker or farmer.
John saw Kilen standing next to the range leaning on his new bow. He sauntered over to where Kilen was standing. “Bowie thinks pretty highly of you. He thinks you’ll be able to stop this battle.”
Kilen only knew John from the bar in Deuterium, and that interaction wasn’t positive. He was surprised Bowie had let the man retain some sort of position. “I will do what I can. Are these men soldiers?”
“Not yet. These are the fletchers, cooks, and workers that we picked up on the way. One word from Bowie and they all signed on to join in the fight. It’s my duty to train them in case they are needed.”
Kilen turned to watch the men making progress under Andrew and Tyler’s instruction. They walked amongst the men and helped lift their elbows. The men needed help with their standing positions. Like most, these men were probably taught how to use a bow incorrectly by their fathers.
“I see you have a new bow. Care to give it a go?” John asked.
“I have no string, arrows, or quiver.”
John smiled, “Looks like you have come to the right place. We have some extra right over here.”
A newly tanned quiver filled to the brim with arrows rested against one of the wagons. He held out its stiff unworked leather belt waiting for Kilen to take it. Kilen reluctantly strapped it on, not out of its quality but because he did not want to take away from the men who might need it to fight for their lives.
“No one else needs this?”
John laughed, “No, we can make more. Bowie has a knack for finding supplies, we made this on the road. Tanned and stretched the leather on the side of the wagon as we traveled. We have enough arrows for the entire army.”
John handed Kilen a string, and with his magically increased strength Kilen bent the bow back so he could string it. He was sure the string would snap and cause him to get cut or lose an eye.
John spoke confidently, “It will hold. My bow is a bit thicker than yours. She makes them specifically for each of us.”
Kilen nodded and stretched the string to its full length.
Releasing the tension, he nodded his head confirming that the string did hold. One of the target lines was cleared for Kilen to take a couple shots at. Small targets made from cross cuts of trees hung on ropes at the end of the range. The fletchers stopped releasing arrows to watch the weapon bearer in action. Kilen wished they wouldn’t watch and thought that they should have had a decent enough show with his elementals walking around him. They waited for him, so he knocked an arrow and pulled the string back.
He released his first arrow and watched as it made a thwack as it sunk itself deep into a tree twenty five paces behind his missed target. He looked around but none of the men laughed, so he let out a half a grin in embarrassment. He knocked a second arrow and pulled it back trying to remember to breathe as Bowie had always told him. The second arrow landed on the bottom half of the target, or at least what he thought was the bottom. The target split in two from the speed the behind the arrow. One half fell to the ground as the other still spun.
The men clapped and Kilen gave them a nod and a genuine smile. The third arrow also hit its target and still held its place but stuck out the back. The only part still protruding from the wood circle was the feathers and a finger length of the arrow. He turned to John who stood behind him with massive arms crossed in front of him.
“I better stop while you still have targets down range for your men,” Kilen said unstringin his bow.
John gave a nod from behind him. the form of a crystallized winged man stepped out from between tents John was standing in front of. Kilen only saw a flick of a hand that told him to follow.
Joahna said nothing until they were out of camp. “This woman, Auburn, has some real talent as a warrior. I‘ve never seen anyone fight quite like her.”
“Really?” Kilen couldn’t believe it. He anxiously followed through the trees until he started to hear limbs breaking and crashing.
He rounded a trunk and saw Max’s elemental form throwing stones into the trees and a figure jumping from branch to branch. The jumping was followed by an arrow whistling through the air only to shatter on impact with Max’s stone body. Max stopped and waited for Auburn to stop as well. Auburn took two more leaps and three more arrows before she saw Kilen and Joahna standing a few paces away.
She stood confidently on the tree branch towards the top. The branch itself seemed to straighten and hold her higher. Kilen used the earth magic and watched as Auburn pushed the plant to grow to her wishes. A small bundle of new branches came stretching out of a knot in the tree. She grabbed the now arm length branches and snapped them off. The new branches immediately went to the quiver on her back. Kilen was astonished that she had already learned to grow arrows with needle like fletchings as well as fight amongst the trees.
Without moving his elemental lips, Joahna spoke at a whisper, “She learns very fast. If she continues to learn at this pace, she will be a very dangerous person.”
Auburn jumped from the tree and turned end over end in the air to land on her feet quietly on the forest floor. Kilen checked the tightness of the belt and walked between the trees. He crossed the bow string across his chest and jumped high into the trees. Before he knew it Auburn landed in a tree close by and comfortably squatted on the limb. Kilen took a moment to think what he wanted to do next. She had been practicing with Max, which she thought was Kilen. He was actually there now and probably needed to increase the training, only he didn’t know how. He drew his sword and jumped from the tree to close the distance between on Auburn. She let out a squeal and jumped to a higher branch and started looking for another escape.
“You have been dodging rocks but a man with a sword makes you squeal?”Kilen asked.
“I didn’t know you were going to come after me!” She snapped as Kilen joined her on the branch. She tried to shake the branch by jumping on it but it was steady.
He assumed he had Max to thank for that. He walked closer trying to mind his step as the farther up they went, the thinner the branches became. As Kilen got closer to Auburn she frantically searched for another branch and dropped to one farther down the tree. She had no sword or dagger, only a bow to defend herself. She knocked an arrow and aimed it at Kilen, far above her in the tree.
He moved down the branch looking for another escape and leapt into the air, hoping to find one on the way down. A rock burst into fragments as it struck the tree next to Auburn. The shards peppered her, causing her to let go of the string and knocked arrow. The wood tip collided with Kilen’s armor and did no harm. The tree’s limbs did worse than the arrow. On the way to the ground Kilen was greeted with numerous branches, causing scrapes and cuts to any exposed flesh. He lan
ded with a thud even after being slowed by the thickly needled tree.
When he regained his breath Auburn found her way down with a much more graceful path.
Her face was red with anger and with blood. “You are a cheater.”
Max stepped forward and spoke in a voice much like Kilen’s, “Do you think that the enemy will come at you from only one direction at a time? I teach you to protect yourself so you can protect Bowie. Look for enemies coming from all directions.”
She looked at the stone man and back at Kilen who stood by silently. Auburn reached up and took a stone from her face. The crevice left behind soon filled with blood that ran down her cheek. She had several speckles of rock still in her skin until Joahna stepped in front of her.
Without asking, he placed a clear hand upon her cheek and Kilen watched as pieces of rock removed themselves from her skin and left it whole. Her angry face flushed red, almost matching the blood now drying on her skin. She offered no thanks for the training or healing, instead she stomped through the trees back to camp.
Max and Joahna turned away from the camp and went deeper into the trees.
When they found a spot in a small copse of trees Max spoke in a whisper, “The girl has some skill with a bow. She lacks the aggressiveness needed to fight close up. She retreated into the trees every time I got close.”
Kilen just smiled, “I only wanted you to help her train, Max. You didn’t have to turn her into a warrior. If anything, we were able to show her a way to stay alive.”
“Agreed. We can only prepare them so much. These men have already been trained and we can’t be held accountable for their survival in battle, Max.” Joahna said.
Joahna healed the minor, but numerous cuts on Kilen’s exposed skin. Max healed his stamina and they traipsed off to find Bowie and Jace.
Kilen could see the yellow colors swirling violently in the air before he could see Bowie. The closer they came, the more violent the winds. He wondered how much learning Bowie truly was getting. He knew Jace liked to teach by giving trials to the student. He remembered his first lesson was to find Jace in the Earth Realm’s capital. He had no direction or tactics training by Jace. He had only one task: find his teacher in a sea of people.
He found Bowie in a larger open area with small bushes. The ground was littered with leaves, sticks, and other debris that Kilen thought was probably a result of the training. Bowie stood with his legs spread wide and his hands balled into fists at his side. His eyes were closed but as Kilen neared, Bowie’s head turned a little to the side. His signature black hat flapped in the wind with it’s string tied around his neck. He strained in the effort he was putting for fighting his invisible trainer. His long red braid even had trouble resting in the torrent of wind surrounding him. Kilen noticed that Bowie’s shirt was soaked with sweat from the mental effort he was exerting.
The wind slowed and finally Bowie’s jaw became unclenched. He opened his eyes and pulled his feet together. “I am ready for more when you are. It will not be as strong as before but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”
“We can give it another round if you want. Let me get you back up to strength,” Kilen said holding his arms out for his elemental friends to take over.
Kilen waited as Max and Joahna passed him and placed a hand on opposite sides of Bowie’s shoulders.
Bowie visibly shuddered, “You are a lot quicker at that than I, remember.” He flexed his hands and lifted his legs stretching them. “I am ready when you are.”
Kilen moved to about twenty paces in front of Bowie and watched using his wind vision. Kilen still was not very powerful with wind and hadn’t been able to do much other than create a light breeze. He would need to take part in the training Jace offered to match his friend’s skill. Bowie closed his eyes and the wind started to rush by Kilen, at first seeming to come from all directions then from directly in front.
The wind was strong enough to let Kilen know he would not stand a chance in facing Bowie directly with wind. Roots stretched out of the ground entangling Kilen’s boots. He knew he would be harder to lift now and could freely concentrate on his wind magic. He began to push the wind away from his body. He heard a grunt from Bowie and the wind shifted and changed directions, pushing Kilen forward from behind. He was not expecting a change so quickly and it bent him over at the waist. The yellow magic vision let him see Bowie’s next attack, but there was little he could do to stop it. Bowie pushed upward on Kilen’s bent torso, yanking his body free of his earthen bonds. The roots snapped back into the earth as Kilen’s body rolled off the current of the wind a few feet off the ground. Flailing his arms, Kilen was able to land on his hands and knees. Another attack of wind from the back pushed him forward and he skid to a halt on his armored chest.
Kilen was about done being easy on his friend. He wanted to see what Bowie was capable of. Kilen slammed open palms on the ground to launch himself back to his feet. When he reached his full height, his feet found no ground to stand on and he was slammed to the earth again. He felt like he had been in this situation before and tried to remember what he had done to stop Alexander from making him feel like a unstrung kite.
Kilen began gathering water to himself, but instead of freezing his feet to the ground he started with a circle of ice around him. He remembered the stone dome that Brandon had formed when he was fighting Chit for his final test in Deuterium. The ice formed a circular ridge around him on the ground. It grew little by little and Kilen clawed for fingerholds in the ground to stay in the growing domes center. Slowly the ice ring climbed and arched its way above his head.
He heard Bowie’s voice yelling from outside, “No you don’t!” As soon as the words left his mouth the wind changed and came barreling down inside the hand-sized hole in the top of the dome. Kilen felt the pressure inside increasing and watched as the sides shattered and flew in every direction. He was impressed with Bowie, but the match was not over yet.
Again, Bowie started pushing Kilen down, then changed the wind to lifting him up to throw Kilen into the air again. Kilen clung to the ground just as he had clung to the rock wall when trying to enter the Elder Wizard’s town. Kilen watched as the winds began to change and a dome was formed of the wind magic around Kilen. The yellow wind magic vision was as thick as the ice in the small dome. Kilen stood while he had the chance watching Bowie’s attacks glance off the arched sides.
Kilen then knew that Jace must have been helping him. Kilen decided that he needed to go on the offensive. Slowly, small tendrils of roots reached out of the ground and started to spiral up Bowie’s legs. He glanced down a couple times but decided to keep pushing at Jace’s dome. Kilen grew another set of roots to either side of Bowie, they reached straight out of the ground until they latched on to Bowie’s wrists. Once Kilen had his friend in the roots grasp, he yanked him to the ground.
All the wind stopped and Kilen ran forward, pulling his sword out of his sheath. He put the blades tip to the back of Bowie’s neck, “Do you yield?”
From the ground, the roots constricted on Bowie’s struggling limbs. He finally let them rest where they were, “If I do, will you show me how you made that dome?”
With a wave of his hand the roots loosened their grip and sunk back into the soft earth. Bowie got up and rubbed his wrists.
“I am sure I can,” Kilen said smiling.
Although Kilen had been victorious, he knew that it was only because of his elemental friend’s abilities. Even his mischievous friend had found a way to learn magic better than him. Kilen had always been the smart one, the most talented and skilled in the ways of thinking in Humbridge. In the world outside of his home, he was a mere beginner.
Jace’s voice on the wind caught Kilen’s attention by surprise, “The dome was formed by holding the air still. It takes a great effort to manipulate elements that another wielder already has use of. If I can control a small bit of air, I can hold it still to form a wall. The dome wall can be pierced by other elements but the wind can
not pass. It is the same with fire, earth, and water.”
Bowie scratched his head, “Wow, that’s creepy. Like a bloody shadow man speaking.”
Kilen smiled, although he knew how real the threat of shadow men or the Dark Army was. He put his arm around his friend and they walked back to camp, covered in dirt and bruises. It was moments like this that Kilen knew he would be in short supply of. He cherished one of the last few moments he knew he would be able to spend with his friend.
Bowie’s walk slowed, “There’s someone coming this way.”
Kilen reached out with water vision and saw a man shorter than them wearing a hat and carrying a unknocked bow.
“I see him,” Kilen said in response.
One of Bowie’s men rounded a tree and seemed surprised to find them.
“Andrew, what do you need?” Bowie asked.
“Sargeant, the king has arrived.” The boy looked flushed but was not winded. Kilen figured he was probably nervous.
“We’re on our way back,” Bowie replied.
Andrew ran ahead of them.
Kilen cleared his throat, “I guess our time together was a bit short lived.”
Bowie nodded in agreement and put his hat on his head. Together they strode through the woods back towards camp and the awaiting king.
The camp was a frenzy of activity. The Black Hats were being ordered by a number of knights around the camp. A few tents were being erected and food was being snatched from Bowie’s camp fires. Horses were still trailing in, causing a stir of dust.
