For the rest of the morning, Khollo alternated between shooting arrows and practicing drawing the bowstring back. By the end of the morning, Khollo’s arms were rubbery and unresponsive, and he had not even been able to budge the string on his last attempt. Janis was little help on the specifics as an instructor. Instead, he stood by offering encouragement or watching impassively.
I need someone who actually knows the first thing about bows, Khollo thought repeatedly.
On the bright side of things, Khollo found he had an excellent eye for lining up his shots and an instinctive feel for wind corrections and how far a shot would drop over a distance. At Janis’ suggestion, Khollo had begun moving left and right, forwards and back between shots, mixing up angles and distances. Khollo still hit near the center of the hay bale nearly every time.
“You’ve made a good start,” Janis observed as they trooped up the steps to the keep for lunch. “But you must realize that this is very short range, what you’re doing right now.”
“Have to walk before I can run,” Khollo said with a shrug. “Besides, vertaga are big targets.”
Janis shook his head. “If a vertag gets within ten meters of you, it will take more than one arrow to save your life. Unless you manage to shoot it in the eye or neck, slow it down some.”
“What about the leg?”
“Won’t work the way it does on a human. They’re too strong,” Janis explained. “And when a vertaga has its fighting blood up, it doesn’t seem to feel pain. Only hatred and a burning desire to kill and rip and tear.”
Khollo felt his mouth go dry. “Good to know,” he muttered. “And you want to send scouts out to observe these beasts?”
“Their movements, mostly,” Janis replied as they moved into the kitchens. “We need to know where their war bands are, where they’re headed, where they’ve been. See if there’s a pattern, figure out what their objectives are.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It is,” Janis agreed, motioning to one of the kitchen staff to serve them. “Especially considering that we don’t know what motivates them or who commands them. Their tactics and strategy in the last war displayed a cunning intelligence the beasts really don’t seem capable of.”
“That’s where I come in, then,” Khollo realized. “You need someone to figure out their tactics and how to counter them.”
“Yes,” Janis replied as two platters of food were deposited in front of them. “That means you’ll mostly be stationed here at the fortress, but we’ll still train you as a scout in case you need to look into something.” He paused. “I know this job will be difficult, but your work plotting their possible hiding places was first rate. In fact, I’m tempted to send men to the other places you thought likely to see if there are signs of vertaga activity there.”
Khollo was struck suddenly by how much things had changed overnight. Yesterday, the impending war had been a secret, unconfirmed. Now, battle was imminent and the enemy was being discussed in the open.
“Is there any chance the band that attacked those traders was the same one you and Ondus stumbled on?” Khollo wondered as he assembled a sandwich from roast beef and thick sliced bread.
Janis shrugged, and took an enormous bite of his own sandwich. “ ‘oo knowf?” he grunted, then swallowed. “The band that attacked the traders was estimated to be slightly larger than the one we faced. Unless they are quarreling amongst themselves and killing each other off, which I think is too much to hope for, this is a different band.”
“Then how many other bands could there be?” Khollo wondered.
“We’d be fools to think there’s only one,” Janis murmured. “It’s that question which has me most worried. How many are there? The Fells can hide most anything, Khollo. They could easily hide an army.”
They finished the meal in uneasy silence. Kitchen staff bustled back and forth, busy but apparently unconcerned. Maybe they hadn’t heard the news yet. They would soon though. Khollo thought back to Tarrik’s reaction and grimaced. If the mere mention of vertaga is enough to terrify men like the master smith, what chance do we really have?
Khollo polished off his sandwich and leaned back. “Will the bow be my only weapon?” he asked.
“What?” Janis said distractedly. He was eyeing a tray of pastries set near a window ledge to cool.
“Do I get other weapons?”
Janis shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about it. Why?”
“I think I’d like to have something more than a bow if the vertaga ever get to close range.”
Janis snorted. “As I’ve said before, if you let the vertaga get to close range you’ll be dead.”
“A last defense would still be nice.”
“I’ll think on it,” Janis promised. “You have your sword of course. I hear you have a special affinity for spears as well.”
Khollo winced. “Not exactly,” he muttered.
Janis stood. “Why don’t you take the afternoon off, get some rest? You’ve been up since the middle of the night. Ondus and I need to break the news to everyone.”
“Shouldn’t I be there as a trainee leader?” Khollo asked, glancing up at his master.
Janis hesitated. “Probably,” he admitted. “But that can wait. Get some rest. You’ve earned it.”
Khollo climbed the stairs to his new quarters slowly, realizing how tired he really was the further he climbed. He’d only had four hours of sleep in the last two days after all.
Maybe I will rest, just for a little while, Khollo decided, removing his boots and laying down on his bed. Only for a bit though. Get some more practice in with the bow before dinner
