Elixir of Flesh
Page 24
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Late that afternoon, in the forests near Vallaya, while the sun was still above the horizon, Vasile and Anton trained. Vasile forced Anton to fire shot after shot from his longbow into a tree. Anton’s skill with the longbow was already quite developed, and it showed. From one hundred paces, he was able to consistently place his arrow into the center of the trunk he aimed for.
When Anton tried his hand at the crossbow, though, he was not nearly as successful, flying wide of his target with most of his shots. Anton and Vasile were constantly searching behind the tree to fetch the crossbow bolts that he’d thrown off target.
Vasile explained as they searched, “The crossbow isn’t as accurate as the longbow, but it is easier to aim and more effective. I’ve modified the bolts of the crossbow so that they induce more bleeding.”
The shaft of the crossbow was much thinner than the arrow’s. The head of the bolt consisted of two iron arrowheads, crossing perpendicularly to one another. The arrowheads were not parallel with the shaft, and in fact curved partly around the shaft, like ribbons curling around a maypole.
“The curved arrowheads do more damage to the flesh when they penetrates the skin,” Vasile explained, “The most important thing is to get vampires to bleed. Unless you can hit them in a vital organ such as the brain or heart, which can kill them immediately in one shot, it’s blood loss that will weaken and ultimately kill them. The problem with most arrows is that the shaft of it mostly plugs up the hole when it penetrates, and they don’t bleed as much. This is why I use larger arrowheads and thinner shafts.”
They practiced by throwing the knife, which Anton greatly struggled with. His knives either slapped against the tree with their handles or weren’t being thrown hard enough for the blade to penetrate. Vasile warned him, “If you use the knife, keeping your distance is important. The last thing you want to do is get any of their blood on you. Close combat with vampires is simply not feasible.”
When they went out to hunt that evening, they saw nothing. The vampires were quiet and Vasile told him, “You have to take solace in your one and only kill. Our days of vampire hunting are probably numbered.”