Quests Volume One by Barbara G.Tarn

Author:Barbara G.Tarn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: inner hero, self-esteem, personal quest, novel, winged beings, half-blood, dwarves
Publisher: Unicorn Productions
Published: 2017-02-10T16:00:00+00:00

The Path of Air

CHAPTER ONE

Sayla tied her golden-brown hair into a knot at the nape of her neck and pulled up the long, wide sleeves of her chemise coming out of her short-sleeved rosewood-colored dress to free her arms. Keenan helped her fasten the bracer on her left forearm to protect it against injury by the string of the bow or the fletching of the arrow. The leather arm-guard had been made by Keenan himself and was decorated with colorful beads. Having a friend who was also a tanner's son had its perks.

"Thanks." She nodded to him and adjusted her long gown around her legs. She flexed her feet and legs, warming up her body, getting herself ready to shoot a few arrows into a target. She opened and closed her hands, preparing her fingers for the competition.

Keenan handed her the leather quiver decorated with colorful beads that matched the bracer, again one of his creations. Sayla counted the arrows – twelve, correct – before putting the quiver on her back with the baldric.

She took her bow and strung it. It was made of yew wood, almost as tall as her when unstrung. She braced the lower limb tip on the outside of her right foot wrapped in a soft leather boot and stepped across, allowing her left calf to brace the lower limb on the belly side of the bow. She grasped the upper limb, pushed and bent it to string the bow.

She joined the line of archers of both sexes for the annual competition of Inex, her hometown. The expanse was outside the wooden walls and the several large gates. The town was built around several springs on the coast of the northern sea, and it had lavish temples and city parks even inside the walls.

Like most northern towns where snow fell in winter, the buildings had slanted roofs and the streets were full of pigeons and crows. It was famous for its taverns and cuisine, but mostly for its archers. Only a quarter of the town population were fishermen, a quarter shopkeepers or innkeepers, and half were archers, mostly hunters in the forest that grew not far from the southern walls and gates.

The yearly competition was a happy time for the whole town. Archers came from outside to measure themselves against the locals, but they rarely won.

Despite being the youngest and quite petite compared to the others, Sayla had won three years in a row, beating her own elder brother Sanylo who had been the former champion until she'd been finally allowed to compete.

In spite of her arms being shorter than Sanylo's and her shots less powerful, she always hit the center of the target, no matter how far it was. Her keen eyesight meant she never missed. Her arrows flew straight through channels of air only she could see.

At nineteen Sayla was the best archer in town, but that hadn't made her very popular. Some actually muttered she was a witch and used magic to win, which was of course absurd.

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