Thorn (Werewolf) ✔

Chapter Fourteen

I munch on some apple as I follow him away from the camp. Despite what he thinks, I am learning. I can recognize the nutshells in each tree, some are even in my reach. And I've also gotten better at spotting apple trees. He describes the berries as we walk, telling me in detail of how to spot poisonous ones. Green, white and yellow berries will kill me in larger doses, the ones I picked the other day would have killed me in a small dose. He makes me repeat those colours to myself over and over.

He tells me to avoid red too until I'm better trained and to only focus on black ones. Black ones are apparently the only colour that are edible out here. I remember how delicious the berries were when he left them for me a few days ago and I've been eager to try some again.

He observes me as I find a blackberry bush and I take a handful of berries excitedly, looking back at him for confirmation.

"Good observation," he says.

I eat them as we continue. We stop abruptly beside a tree and he pushes me behind him. I don't understand what's happening until I see the cute little rabbit in the distance, nibbling on a piece of plant.

"Follow your instincts," he says, pushing the handle of the blade into my palm.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Approach it and kill it," he says.

"Okay."

My hand starts trembling as I walk around him. The rabbit has its back to me, its ears start twisting as I near it. I get around halfway before it hears me and shoots off into the plants. I lose sight of it but I break out into a run to try and catch up with it. I stop at the barrier of plants.

Thorn breaks out into laughter and I scowl at him as I turn back around.

"Did you really think it'd be that easy?" he says between his laughter. "You will never be able to match the speed of a rabbit."

"What the hell?" I groan.

"You can't approach anything without it hearing you and you certainly can't chase it. So how do you kill it?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Get a gun?"

"Meh. That's for cheats." He walks towards me and positions himself behind me, gently twisting me until I'm looking at a tree. "Target practise."

"Really?" I mutter.

"Blade throwing is made up of three things. Sight, speed and power." He holds my shoulder before trailing his hand down my arm. The contact is making me flush. I wonder if he can hear my racing heart. He doesn't comment on it, he gently moves my arm back until it's almost painful. "The power and speed comes from the shoulder but it matters little without sight. Seeing your target and understanding everything about it is crucial. Look at the tree, study it, your mind will simultaneously connect your sight with your arm."

I stare hard at the tree. It isn't that far from me, it looks easy. That's probably why he chose it.

"Keep the blade tilted back," he says. "So the edge is facing just above your shoulder." He adjusts the blade in my hand and our bare skins graze for a few seconds. "When you release, you'll want to put as much power into your shoulder as possible. There's no point in throwing it if you're just going to injury the animal and it runs off with the blade inside of it. It needs to be a quick and deadly blow." His hand falls to my other shoulder and I stare at it for a moment before turning my attention back to the tree. "The blade should follow your line of sight. Your arm should be parallel with the side of your cheek. Take a deep breath." I follow his instruction. "And release."

My shoulder is pushed forwards and the blade flies out of my hand. My hand drops downward slightly and the blade sticks into the ground just a mere few feet from where I'm standing. I fold my arms in disappointment as Thorn yanks the blade out of the ground.