Heir of the Dragon

A Tale of More Woe (pt. 1)

A low hanging branch caught my knotted hair and I let out a yelp. Aywa stopped walking and grinned back at me, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. I rolled my eyes at her and laughed as I untangled myself from the tree.  

"Just because you haven't got enough hair for the tree to grab!" I said, playfully bumping into her as I caught up. 

" I've plenty of hair!" She said running both hands through her short brown hair, making it stick up in odd directions. I shook my head at her in mock disapproval and she rolled her eyes. "You're jealous,"  

" Only of that amazing bow," I said gesturing to the weapon she had slung around her. 

" You like it, do you?" She said with a smile as she took it off her shoulder. " I made it a few rains ago. It has served me well. Can you shoot?"  

"Yes, but I'm terribly out of practice" I said, admiring the intricate copper and silver designs that danced up it's grip. 

"Here, try it," She said offering me the bow and pulling an arrow from her quiver. I took the bow delicately and smiled to myself. I may have been out of practice, but for me, shooting a bow came as naturally as walking. I scanned the trees for a target as I nocked the arrow and rested the tip above my thumb. Almost immediately my eyes caught the motion of a small grey hare darting out from behind a raised tree root. I stopped and pulled the arrow taught as I brought it up to my jaw. Holding my breath, I aimed steadily at the grey splotch of fur, naturally compensating for distance and the slight breeze that blew diagonally. With a satisfactory flick, the arrow flew from the bow and sunk squarely into my target. Biting my lip in happy contentment, I glanced at Aywa and caught the surprise that flitted though her features. 

" That was almost sixty cubits away, Ellany," She said looking off at the rabbit I'd hit and rubbing one of her pointed ears. I shrugged, smiling as I started after my kill.  

" Hit it though!" I chirped back at her, "Feel like rabbit soup tonight?" As I reached to retrieve the felled rabbit, I caught the distant sound of running water. I felt Aywa came up behind me and I turned to her. 

" Are we coming to a river soon?"  

Her gracefully arched eyebrows sunk down over her eyes. 

" Yes, we should be crossing Iysenlor sometime today....How did you know?" her expression puzzled me, but I answered her honestly. 

" I heard water," I said, and watched as she paused to listen. After a moment she shook her head. 

" You have excellent hearing," she remarked, " I suppose I should have known," She added in a mutter. Before I could inquire as to why, she began to walk off, so I pulled the arrow from the hare's fur, shoved the limp little creature into one of my leather packs, (I would skin it over the fire tonight) and trotted after her. I wasn't quite ready to give up the bow yet, and practiced my aim on little saplings that grew here and there amid the older trees as we walked. Their small trunks made them harder to hit and I didn't want to dull the elven arrow with the other tree's thick bark.

We walked in near silence as the sun crept down the sky. It was mid evening before the sound of rushing water grew loud enough to drown out the thwip of my bowstring. It wasn't long before I could see the glint of the river through the green and browns of the forest. 

" Iysenlor, you called it?" I asked her as I yanked the arrow from the trunk of a little moss-infested tree. 

"Yes, It's waters feed the Sweetwater river; the river that gives life to Leyth V--," beneath the sound of her voice, I heard something splashing in the water a few lengths away.