by Aaron Hicks
“So you’re at fault for leaving me,” Laurilli said, “but I’m at fault for getting caught.”
“I would say that in both those cases there is no blame to claim. I did what I thought was best to complete the mission and to keep you safe. In the tree you did your best to harm your attackers. The fact that six grown men could subdue you isn’t your fault. It just means you need more training.”
Laurilli groaned and said, “Not more training! I hate training! I can’t even beat mom yet!”
Uktesh had been shocked the first time that Heathyr had come out to spar with Laurilli. Uktesh had expected Laurilli to do well, maybe not win, but at least score a few hits. Heathyr used a one handed style that was in a side stance. She even had her own weapon a falchion. The falchion used quick attacks that wouldn’t cause much damage in a fight, but would start to wear down an opponent. It could also be used to attack vital parts like the eyes, throat, or heart. “Well that’s true, but just wait! With more training, you will be able to beat your mom. Then you can start sparring against me.”
“Yay.” She said with no delight.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be training too. I don’t expect you to become an expert, but I do want you to be able to start attacking in imperfect by the time we finish.”
“Boy, I just thought of something. You should travel with us when we go to the harvest festival in Baenok, the capitol of Sinai. If half of what those would be thieves said was true, you’ll be able to place easily.” Said the tallest one in the group. He was a shaved bald, six feet, eight inches tall, muscular man.
“Place? Place what?” Uktesh asked confused.
“Don’t you know boy, there’s a tournament! Best of the best come from all over Sinai. Those that win, challenge the other four, well I guess it’ll only be three this year, champions from the other countries. This year the final championship will take place here in Sinai, in Baenok, one month after our tournament!”
Uktesh felt the familiar fear creep into him just from the thought of a fight against people again. Then he realized that he’d just fought off twelve armed men, and killed four of them. If he fought one on one with wooden weapons, his fear shouldn’t be a problem. It’d be like he was back in Beletar with a spar, and hopefully Baenok wouldn’t be on fire when the tournament took place. The man continued, “They have swords, mixed weaponry, which can be any weapon, archery –”
“Archery?” Uktesh asked excitedly.
“Yeah, but don’t you want to compete in the swords competition?”
“Not really. I’m much better with my bow, though I never seem to have time to string it in a real fight.”
The man laughed, “You defeat twelve armed men and a pack of wolf spiders, and then boast that you’re better at archery, maybe you just don’t want to be hit by a wooden sword.”
Uktesh laughed easily, “Well that is certainly true, but I really am better at archery.”
“Prove it,” he said it with a smile, but Uktesh could tell that he was excited to see if Uktesh would be able to back up the boast. All the people who rode with the companions perked up too. Uktesh was tempted to accept the challenge, but he didn’t want to waste the time to set up a challenge so he said,
“I’m tired. I just ran for hours. I fought bandits and Afflicted beasts, and I’m recovering from being paralyzed too. I’m sure I’ve raised your hopes too high, to be able to meet them in my condition.”
The men nodded and Uktesh could practically feel Laurilli as she nodded behind him. “That is true. So we will lower our expectations of you.”
Suddenly, and definitely irrationally Uktesh felt the need to prove himself. So he said, “Fine!” He stopped his horse and jumped down off it, only to have his legs buckle. I may have gotten in over my head, but it’s too late now. Uktesh straightened up after he pretended to check the laces of his boots. He pulled the bow out from where it had been carefully packed, pulled a fresh string from his pack, and selected two arrows. While he had done this, the men had begun to wager.
Uktesh carefully set the string in its groove on the bottom and used his leg to help bend back the bow to string the other end. “Well,” he called out, “have you decided my target yet? I figure it’s only fair, since you’re the ones betting, but I want in on this bet. I will, of course, take the bet that I will hit the target, and match anyone’s bet up to seven and a half golds.”
“Fifteen golds,” Laurilli said.
“Are you sure?” asked Uktesh.
“I’ve never been more sure,” she answered.
“See those two trees,” the man pointed and Uktesh followed his finger to see two trees in the distance. Those are further than master level distance! Uktesh closed his jaw as the man continued, “Above halfway up the trunk is a knot, and you have to hit it with both arrows. I will be a good sport and bet you all fifteen golds that you can’t do it.”
“What are my odds?”
“Fifty, fifty.”
“Seriously!” Uktesh could’ve kicked himself. He’d been suckered into this bet, and now he was going to lose most of the money they’d just earned. The knot is slightly lower than halfway. I may have a chance to hit it, if I miss the branches, but I’ll have to come at the target from a high angle. Uktesh knew he couldn’t have any distractions during these two shots. So he took off his shirt and tossed it over the pommel on the saddle, looked again at his two arrows, and selected one of them. The other he put back, and selected a new arrow that seemed straighter to him. He drew the arrow to his cheek, aimed up to an angle he knew could hit the knot, and heard some of the men laugh.
He lowered his bow and glared at them, “Please I need silence to concentrate.” They smiled and nodded for him to continue. Uktesh again took his stance. Only this time when he pulled back the string, he released, and in a blink the second arrow followed the first. Uktesh could tell that the first arrow was perfect, and the second would be nearly perfect. If neither hit a branch, he knew that he would win this bet. A few seconds later, with two muffled thuds, Uktesh could see that he’d won. He smiled, did a quick fist pump, and turned to the other six, who all stared and the tree with their mouths open.
Uktesh calmly walked over to the poleaxed men and casually said, “I believe I won.”
“No, you actually lost.” Tylor said breathlessly as he still continued to stare at the tree.
“What! Those are both clearly in the knot halfway up the trunk!”
“But it’s the wrong tree.” Tylor said still clearly shaken.
Uktesh turned and looked at the tree. Then he saw two trees by the side of the road that were only one hundred yards from where they stood. “You bet me fifteen golds I couldn’t hit that! Are you rich? Did you think I was boasting that much?”
“I thought one hundred yards with a target that small, was a challenge. But I guess you weren’t boasting, I’ll pay the money gladly! You should get your arrows we’ll need to head out soon. Boy, my name’s Larut and we need to talk about how you did that. Can I learn it too?” The giant man seemed suddenly afraid of the barely five feet tall Uktesh.
As Uktesh walked off, he heard the men as they erupted in awe and began to talk to themselves, “I can’t believe he was able to shoot so far, much less with any accuracy.”
“Yeah, no wonder he glared at us. He probably thought we were goading him into a bet he couldn’t win.”
“But then he did!”
“Yeah. Man, I’m glad he didn’t get angry enough to hurt us over that misunderstanding.”
Laurilli chimed in, “Uktesh wouldn’t get that mad!”
“Child, calm and reasonable people don’t charge in against six armed men, and surely can’t kill three people without pause, unless he enjoys hurting people. But your man clearly doesn’t enjoy that. No, he saw what they were doing to you, and what they were planning to do, and probably saw red.”
“But they were hurting me! He wouldn’t attack someone over tricking him.”
“Well, so far that�
�s true. But as a man, he can only take so much before he can’t take anymore. And when that happens, with his skill, I wouldn’t wish to be on the receiving end of that.”
Uktesh continued to jog toward the tree and either they paused the conversation or he just couldn’t hear it anymore. Once he was sure he was out of range to hear anything, he began to jog towards the arrows. He retrieved his arrows and started yet another jog back, When he was near the men, he heard them say, “That sure is a funny way of running.”
Laurilli spoke up and said, “That’s the best way to run. It’s probably how he outran the horses. He runs with the shortened step so he doesn’t break his momentum.”
“You seem to know a lot about him.” Tylor said and Uktesh could see the smirk. Uktesh wanted to hear more of the conversation so he slowed down to a walk.
“Well that’s because he lives with me and my mom. Plus he’s been training me, and when we train we talk a lot.” Uktesh saw her blush prettily, which caused him to smile, and she continued to try and describe her first relationship with a boy, “We’re dating! No! I mean, we’re not doing anything like that, we’re not doing anything! He’s like a brother to me.”
“Ouch, that hurts.” Uktesh said as he walked up and startled Laurilli, “But you know what she just said right?” He turned his face away from Laurilli so that she couldn’t see him wink at the guys, “She just admitted she loves me.” Uktesh nodded sagely and the rest of the men clued quickly into the joke and nodded with him.
“What? That –” she cut off with a stutter.
He unstrung his bow, placed everything where he’d taken it from, jumped up into the saddle, and held his arm out to Laurilli. She reached up to him and smiled. Then she jumped on the saddle behind him. “You’re just lucky I’m nice or you’d be getting some bruised ribs on the ride back.”
Uktesh smiled and waited for everyone to mount their horses. Then they walked their horses back towards Manori. The conversation was light on the trip back. Everyone enjoyed the ride, and if not for the deadly reason they’d rode out originally, the whole day would’ve been enjoyable. Uktesh realized that, in one day they’d made over thirty golds. It was a sum that previously he’d only dared to dream about having. Once they sold the horses and weapons they didn’t need, they would probably have another thirty golds, with luck maybe more. They now had four horses, eight swords, several knives, a brace of eight throwing knives, and one war hammer. With the war going on, Uktesh knew that weaponry of any type was sold for a greatly increased price.
When they reach Manori, Uktesh and Laurilli said their goodbye’s to Tylor and his friends and started to head back towards their house. Along the way, they stopped at the only inn in town to stable their horses for the week for two copper coins a piece, with an extra four coppers to ensure that they were fed, watered, and brushed down.
They gathered all the weaponry and started their long walk the rest of the way to their house. The light had started to fade, as they made it back to the house. Heathyr had waited for them in the doorway. She broke into a smile that lit up her beautiful face and ran towards Uktesh and Laurilli, while Laurilli dropped the weapons she held and ran to her mother. They came together in a rush and soon both fell to their knees and cried in relief. Slightly self-conscious, Uktesh started to pick up the weapons that Laurilli had dropped, while he made sure not to drop his own. “Uktesh.” He turned to see that Laurilli and Heathyr had opened a space in the hug for him. He smiled, put down the weapons, and joined in their happiness. Once they were finished, Heathyr said, “You guys must have one amazing story to tell, judging by the state of your clothes and the weapons you brought back.”
Laurilli looked at Uktesh and he knew that it must look like they wanted to hide some, if not all of the information from Heathyr. He nodded and said, “A tale of corrupt politicians, bandits, Afflicted beasts, a damsel in distress, and unlikely heroes.”
“All that in one day!”
“It was a very busy day.”
“Well come inside. The food’s ready.”
Uktesh and Laurilli picked up the weapons once again and brought them inside. Then they cleaned the mud and dirt from the trip off their arms, hands, and faces before sitting down to eat. Even weeks later they still had saber rabbit meat to put in their soup, so it added enough substance to make it a full meal. When they were done, Laurilli and Uktesh started to clean the dishes and dry them. Heathyr went into her room and came out with her knitting kit, sat down in the chair next to one of the candle holders, now that the sun was completely down, and started to knit. Once they were finished with the dishes, Uktesh went into his loft and brought out his sharpening stone that he had found by a river during the last week. He went into the pantry and grabbed some oil and a rag. He brought that, plus all the weapons, into the living room, where Laurilli had just finished up the story about the boacat. He sat next to her on the couch and started to sharpen the swords, while Laurilli continued to explain the story.
When he finished the first sword and it held a nice edge, he handed it to Laurilli and explained how to oil the blade so that it shined, but would not cause the blade to rust. He had finished the third dagger and all the swords, when Laurilli said, “and then we stabled the horses and came here.”
Heathyr sat in her chair clearly stunned, the only sound was the soft whisk. As Uktesh sharpened the dagger in his hands. “So you took a job to earn four golds and some change, and ended up earning more money than your father and I had ever earned in a single year?”
“Well it didn’t start out like that. But in the end, we really had no choice other than to do what we did.” Laurilli said.
“Except for the archery, that was my pride causing problems.” Uktesh added.
“So you don’t know who the three men that got away from the attack on Laurilli are?”
“No, I thought it better to check on Laurilli, than to chase after them.” Uktesh moved onto the next knife and handed Laurilli the one he’d just sharpened. The candle light flickered and made it hard for Uktesh to tell if Heathyr was upset with him for any of the events of the day.
“Well, I think I’m going to go to bed. Uktesh, thank you for keeping my daughter safe. I’m sorry about you injuring your leg again, becoming paralyzed, and,” she gestured at his bloody clothes, “the rest. Laurilli come to bed after you’ve finished polishing that blade.”
Uktesh wasn’t sure why he was confused by her lack of anger towards him, but he was, “Wait. Why aren’t you mad at me?”
“Did you force my daughter to go with you? Did you hide your plans from me? Did you keep her safe again at great risk to yourself? You did everything right, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe three more bodies to the mix would make me sleep better, but other than that, it sounds like you two had a good adventure and made some new friends.”
Uktesh stifled a yawn and said, “I guess I just didn’t expect you to be so,” he searched for an appropriate word.
“Rational.” Laurilli supplied.
“Yeah. I certainly wasn’t.”
“Maybe years and experience have taught me that one’s actions, intentions, and deeds are more important than the danger those actions and deeds place one in.” She smiled a small smile, “One day I’ll have to tell you how Thulmann and I met. It’ll make that story seem tame.”
Uktesh found that hard to believe, but nodded and said, “Goodnight Heathyr. We won’t be up much longer. We’re tired too.”
She left the room and while Uktesh continued to sharpen the knife, Laurilli finished quickly with the knife she had polished and gently laid it on the pile of completed weapons. She leaned back over and kissed his cheek and whispered, “Goodnight.” and walked out of the room with a yawn. Uktesh finished the blade that he had been half done with and placed it on the back of the couch, so no one would sit on it. He stood up, yawned, and blew out the candle before he climbed up the ladder to the loft. He took off his shirt and, almost as quickly, he fell asleep.
H
eathyr’s Story
The next morning he woke up tired and sore, and found that it was already past midday. He climbed down the ladder and expected to find Heathyr and Laurilli in the middle of a conversation or something, but instead found Heathyr in the living room. She looked up from the saber rabbit fur that she had sewed into sheaths for the swords and knives. They’d been unsure what to do with after they’d tanned it. “Wow that looks great! How long have you been up? When did you get that idea?”
“I’ve thought about it for a while for your sword, but never got around to doing it. I think that the fur on the outside of the sheath is more comfortable, and having a weapon, sheathed in one of the more deadly Afflicted animals, has to be nice for confidence.”
“That’s amazing! I can’t believe you were able to do all of these this morning! This’ll increase the price that we get from them by twice as much, maybe even three times as much. How long do you think it’ll take you to get as many as you can with the saber rabbit pelt?”
“Well, most of it is gone already on the swords, but I think I’ll be able to finish the rest that I can by tonight.”
“Wow, that’s going to be a big help when we sell them.”
“I made breakfast. But you and Laurilli slept right through it, so help yourself to the left-overs.”
Uktesh walked into the kitchen and took for himself some of the breakfast. The bread was still warm, soft, and chewy, just the way he liked it. He poured some of the milk into a mug and put slightly more than half the eggs on his plate. He must’ve been more hungry than he’d thought, because before he knew it he had used the last of the bread to soak the last of the eggs off his plate. He was tempted to take some more, but knew that as hungry as he was, Laurilli would be just as hungry after her efforts yesterday. Uktesh cleaned his dishes, sat on the couch again, and sharpened another blade. The soft scrape of his blade on the stone, must’ve been rhythmic because soon Heathyr began to hum to herself. Uktesh felt captivated by her voice. While he placed the newly sharpened blade next to himself, with the other sharpened blade waiting to be polished, he listened to Heathyr hum to herself.