Knight and Champion by Steven J Shelley

Author:Steven J Shelley [Shelley, Steven J]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Blue Orchid Books
Published: 2017-11-19T07:00:00+00:00

The early afternoon forest had a lazy, languid quality that hinted at an intense summer to come. Base camp was unmanned - Jader and the senior rangers were presumably out on patrol. Tanis and Adalita busied themselves collecting firewood and checking the perimeter for animal tracks. All clear. Tanis enjoyed his newfound familiarity with Adalita. Their morning session appeared to have forged a bond that might just survive his troubled apprenticeship. As the pair set about the mundane tasks of keeping the camp in good order, a queer feeling gradually came over him. Something like butterflies, only more joyous than anxious. It didn’t make any sense, so he chose not to dwell on it. It was enough just to focus on the physical tasks of the day.

The other rangers were stony-faced and quiet when they returned around mid-afternoon. Jader eyed Adalita curiously.

“Back already?”

“We covered a lot of ground,” Adalita said a little defensively. She laid out the honey with a bashful smile. “Feast your eyes on that.”

Jader’s eyes glittered darkly. He didn’t even look at the honey.

“At least two hours of daylight left,” he said in a tight voice. “Orcs to the west, elves to the east. There’s seventeen of us. You want us to sit around eating honey?”

A hush descended over the group. Jader was being uncharacteristically aggressive. Adalita shrugged, showing a toughness beyond her years.

“The boy did well today,” she said. “We trained hard and now I’m ready to eat sweet.”

A couple of rangers grunted in appreciation, but Jader was unmoved.

“Tomorrow we march east to track the untrackable,” he said thoughtfully. “But you may be right, girl. Let’s have some fun first.”

Tanis had a sinking feeling that his day, which had improved out of sight, was destined to turn yet again. On cue, Jader looked straight at him. It felt personal. Like something to do with Adalita.

“I’m heading up top to meditate,” he said breezily, motioning in the general direction of the falls. “If you can get close enough to tap me on the shoulder, I’ll give you my own bow.”

Jader slipped it free to demonstrate its worth, but there was really no need. Tanis, generally immune to tools of war, had already caught himself admiring the spectacular weapon on several occasions. Upper and lower limbs spiraled into audacious, s-shaped tips. With such a severe recurve it was speculated the weapon couldn’t possibly send arrows more than a hundred feet. Thankfully, a test had never been necessary. With typically astute foresight, Jader had specifically acquired the bow for forest use. What it lacked in range it more than made up for in handling. One of the senior rangers reckoned Jader’s exotic recurve bow could loose arrows twice as quickly as the best longbow in the company. Combine that with a sublimely dexterous bowman and a truly formidable ranger was the result.

“Jerrer ash from the deep deserts to the south,” Jader said. “Nomad-crafted over a century ago. Treated with resin no one I know can identify. The sweetest wood you’ve ever seen, boy.

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