Chapter 1
Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!
Arrows shot out of my bow, hitting the bull’s eye on the target, about forty feet away. I smiled to myself and lowered my bow.
The sudden sound of clapping behind me startled me, making me spin around quickly with wide eyes. “Nice job. You’re pretty talented.” Said Tyler, he's like a brother to me. Instead of his normal guard outfit, he was wearing simple, tan plants and a blue, long sleeved shirt. A messenger bag hung by his hip.
“Oh, whatever.” I said, being modest. “You’ve seen me do better.” He raised an eyebrow. “I have?”
“Yes!” I smiled, “remember when we went hunting, and I shot that big elk through the bushes and hit him, right under his shoulder?”
Tyler grinned. “Couldn’t forget even if I-”
“Training session!” Walter yelled. He was about one hundred meters away and I could still hear him. And feel his cold, sharp glare. “-wanted to.” Tyler finished. I rolled my eyes. “Well lets go.” Tyler held his elbow out. I laced my arms around his, so we were locked at the elbow.
I really do like Tyler. But he thinks of me like a little sister. He’d never like me like that.
I realized I had left my arrows in the target as we were walking. I sighed inwardly, I’ll have to get them later. I was still holding my bow when we arrived at the castle gates.
“Well I see you’ll be using your bow today, Jazzy.” Walter said. Walter is the top guard around here, in Rolipan Empire. He is always wearing those helmets that only cover the top of your head, so you can never see his hair. Rumor is he doesn’t even have hair. He does have a small mustache on his top lip though. It’s a faded brown color.
I glanced down at my bow. “I suppose I am.” I said. “Oh-ho ho. Jazzy forgot who was boss around here.” He pointed at himself. “Me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s Jasmine.”
“Okay, Jasmine, you’ll be using two daggers on the dummies.” He handed me two small, silver daggers. I didn’t mind really. I’m almost as good with daggers as I am with a bow. I hung my bow up on a rack.
“Tyler, you’re going to be watching Jasmine. Try to not cut yourself again.” Walter said with a smug grin. Oh, I really hate that guy. I thought.
As Walter gave the other ‘knights/guards in-training’ their weapons and assigned training areas, Tyler and I walked to the Range.
The Range is where the straw dummies are, along with three other training areas. Their names explain themselves pretty good. There’s the Reigns which is a track for practicing shooting while/or riding horses. The third is called Spar, which is the sparring arena. They have every weapon made with wood, but you can get seriously hurt there anyway. The last is my favorite. It’s called Target. It’s an archery range.
“Ready?” Tyler asked. “I should be asking you that.” I said while giving him a silly grin. I did a spinny-thing with my daggers. Tyler rolled his eyes. “I could take you down easy if we were sparring with swords or spears.”
That was true. It’s almost like we have our own special weapon that the other one can’t use. Tyler is horrible with a bow and arrow or daggers, and I can’t use a sword or spear for the life of me.
I crouched down in front of the dummy, gripping the daggers, and slashed out. Straw flew and soon enough there was a hole in the chest of the dummy. “That’s how you do it.” I said, proud of my work.
“My turn. Watch and learn.” Tyler boasted. He tried to do something with his daggers. I’m not sure what.
One piece of straw drifted and landed on the stone floor. “I was expecting that to go better.” Tyler said, a blush of embarrassment filling his cheeks. I smiled. “At least you didn’t cut me or yourself this time.” I pointed out. He laughed. “Yep.”
After that we moved posts, going from the Range to Reigns. I really do enjoy riding. I grabbed my bow, quiver or arrows, and got on my horse, Nitro. He’s a brown Arabian. Tyler has a white mustang with tan main and tail.
We took off. I went on the left trail and Tyler went on the right. The left is for mounted archery (riding + archery) and the right is a more challenging train with lots of jumps and whatnot. It’s for riding only.
I shot every target, sending hanging ones spinning and ground ones tumbling. I let go of the reigns, guiding Nitro with my legs, pushing my right leg so he’d go to the right. I was whipping arrows out of my quiver as fast as I could. It felt so good.
Once I had finished, I whooped and threw my hands in the air. Walter of course thought this was immature. He glared at me and I glared right back.
