Elf Sight (5 page)

Shadow groaned when she was nudged by Carson’s boot the next morning. She peered blearily up at him. He gestured towards the left with his head and strode in that direction. Shadow forced her body to move, every bruise reminding her of the previous night. She shook out her boots, pulled them on and jammed her hat on her head. A glance at Irlan showed he was still asleep. It gave her a great deal of pleasure to nudge him not so gently.

She grinned at his growl and headed in the direction Carson had taken. It took her several minutes to find him because this time there was no clearing. He leaned against a tree with a low hanging branch that was almost horizontal. His shirt hung over the branch, close to the trunk.

Carson pushed himself away from the trunk and wrapped his hands around the horizontal branch. “Your new exercise. Chin ups.” He pulled his weight off the ground and then lowered himself again. “Twenty chin ups, twenty push ups. Every morning.”

Shadow stared at him. Maybe he did know and this was his way to punish her. He was going to kill her with an excess of exercises. She shook her head. “I can barely do twenty push ups.” She was unable to do them really well, not like Carson did.

“Then maybe you should do them morning and night. You’ll never be able to lift a sword if you don’t work at it.”

“What will it matter anyway? Even if I could lift it, I can’t use it. You might as well give me that rope.”

Carson strode towards her. “Are you giving up?” His voice was soft, his tone incredulous.

She couldn’t meet his gaze. Sighing heavily she stepped around him to make her way to the tree. She had to reach up to the branch and annoyance went through her. He could have picked a lower one. She gripped the branch like Carson had and pulled herself up. Her arms protested and she couldn’t get herself as far off the ground as Carson had. Teeth gritted, she lowered herself. One. That one made her feel like she already needed a rest, twenty was going to kill her. Carson still watched her so she pulled herself up again and felt sweat trickle down the side of her face. Two. By the fourth one, sweat ran down her back, soaking into the bindings that wrapped around her. She continued to watch Carson as she struggled on. He met her gaze, his expression neutral. On the eleventh chin up, her eyes closed as she lowered herself and she wanted to sit on the grass and cry.

Instead she continued. Her arms were on fire, her body soaked with sweat and she didn’t even want to think about still needing to do twenty push ups. She was going to kill Irlan. Slowly. She was going to take the knife from her boot and carve him into little pieces while he slept. Maybe she should tie him up first. That way he couldn’t escape. Her arms refused to do the fourteenth chin up. She stood there, holding onto the branch, arms trembling and eyes tightly closed.

“Let go.”

Shadow opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Carson who stood at her left shoulder. She continued to hold on, her fingers seemed glued to the branch. “I’m nearly finished.” She wasn’t about to prove him right and quit.

Carson uncurled her fingers. “Take a rest. Then do your push ups.” He grabbed his shirt and walked back to the camp.

Shadow dropped onto the grass. A rest! She wanted to curl up under the tree and stay there until the grass grew over her. She was never going to build up her arm strength. Maybe that was why women weren’t allowed in the army.

“Shadow.”

She scrambled to her feet to face her brother.

“You need to stop spending so much time with the Captain.”

Her hands tightened into fists. Like she had asked for this morning torture. “It’s not like I want to spend time with him. He’s teaching me to fight.”

“Because you didn’t pay attention to Morell. If you did it right, he wouldn’t have bothered. If you’d put some effort into it he-”

“I do put effort into it. I was doing mending and cooking while you got to fight with other boys and play with wooden swords. At least you have a clue what you’re meant to do. I don’t.”

“You make it sound like you did all the work and I only played. I had chores too.”

“Stop trying to ignore the point I’m making. You’ve had years of fighting and swordplay. It might only have been play, but it’s more than I had.”

“The soldiers say the Captain is observant. He’s smart. You can’t let him find out.”

“Do you think I don’t know? But what choice do I have? He gives an order, I have to follow.”

“Maybe I should tell him you’re too young to learn how to fight. Maybe-”

“Shut up, Irlan. You’re being an idiot. And if you remember, this was all your idea. I didn’t ask to learn how to fight.” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “You did.”

“I thought it might be useful.”

“Thought? Really, Irlan? You actually tried to think for a change. I’d go back to your normal habit of jumping in without thinking. I believe it works better for you.” She spun on her heel and strode further into the woods.

“Shadow! You’ll get lost.”

Ignoring him she kept walking. As if that’d be worse than things were now. She was tired, sore and worst of all scared. She was sick of being scared. First of her Pa, now of getting caught. Maybe they should go home. She recalled Carson’s voice asking, ‘Are you giving up?’ She didn’t want to, but maybe she wasn’t suited to this. Maybe all she was good for was serving drinks to farmers and drunks. An image of herself pouring ale, grey haired and stooped, came to mind. No! That wasn’t going to happen.

Her feet slowed and she stared at the grassed area in front of her. Twenty push ups Carson had said. She could do this. She wasn’t going back to that life. If this was what it took to make her own life, then she’d get through it. Somehow. Her arms trembled as she did her first push up. Maybe she needed to do them each night too.

The next four days fell into a pattern. Shadow was woken in the predawn light by Carson and she headed off to do her exercises. After breakfast, they rode all day, making camp late in the afternoon. Once Carson had finished showing her how bad her ability to stay on her feet was, she disappeared to do her exercises again. She still couldn’t do more than fifteen chin ups, but she was determined to eventually reach twenty. The fifth day Carson changed the routine.

“This is Iain. He’ll teach you how to use a crossbow. Once he’s done, come and find me and I’ll continue to show you how to use a knife.” Carson strode off.

Shadow stared at Iain, a man who looked close to fifty, grey in his beard and dark hair. Her eyes dropped to the crossbow he held out to her. She reluctantly took it and followed him as he led the way across the encampment carrying another crossbow. Iain pointed to a hessian bag that had been stuffed with grasses, which hung out the top. He handed her a bolt.

“Watch and then it’s your turn, kid.”

Shadow bit the words back that wanted to spill out. Why did they all have to keep calling her kid? What was wrong with her name? Instead she focused on Iain’s hands as he loaded the weapon and fired. The bolt pierced the daub of mud on the front of the bag. When Shadow aimed for the same spot, her bolt went nowhere near the target. She felt like throwing the crossbow on the ground and finding Carson so she could tell him what he could do with his latest plan.

“Ya need to hold it steady. Try again.” Iain held out another bolt.

Shadow tried. She really did. The bolt made a thunk as it hit the tree far to the left of the target. Without a word, she took the next bolt Iain held out. She didn’t know how long Iain kept her practicing, but eventually she reached for a bolt and there was none held out for her.

“Collect ya ammunition kid. Put it near my bedroll when you’re done. Keep the crossbow.” Iain strode towards the campsite.

Shadow glared at his retreating back. How was she meant to find them all? And what about the ones in the trees? Was she expected to pull them out too? She soon found it wasn’t possible to pull most of them from the trees and some of them were broken. She left the bolts beside Iain’s bedroll and the crossbow by hers, where she found a quiver of bolts, then went to find Carson. She wasn’t looking forward to her next lesson. And she still had her exercises to get through. Maybe it was too much. Her steps slowed and she brought to mind the picture that kept her going. An image of herself old and decrepit and still serving at the tavern. That was not an option. This was the path she needed to take to stop that from happening.

It took Shadow two weeks before she hit the daub of mud on the hessian bag. Her mouth dropped open and she stared in disbelief. She looked over to share her excitement with Iain only to see he held out another bolt for her. This one caught the edge of the sack and she frowned in concentration. She could do this. It had not been a fluke. She took the next bolt and focused. She grinned when she hit the mud. Iain had his usual sober expression as he handed her another bolt. Shadow didn’t care. She had done it. Not once, but twice. And she managed to hit the bullseye another six times before Iain told her to collect the bolts.

Her step was light when she approached Carson who sat with the General by the fire. “I’m finished.”

Carson nodded and turned back to the General. “I’ll send twice as many out for game tomorrow. The closer we get to the pass, the scarcer it’s become. We do need fresh meat.”

“I don’t like the men going off alone in this area.”

“They can go in groups of three, but starving ourselves won’t help either. There could even be snow up ahead and then it’ll be harder to find game.”

The General nodded. “Send them early then. Before we break camp. I want them to stay together while we’re travelling.”

Carson rose to his feet with a nod and turned to Shadow. “Come.”

She obediently followed and wished she could tell him a please wouldn’t go astray. Or even a few extra words. Her annoyance was soon forgotten as she worked on her stance and Carson surprised her with a longer knife that was to hang in a sheath on her belt. He showed her how to hold and wield the new knife then left her to do practice drills.

Once she’d finished, she did her twenty push ups and then searched for a likely branch to do her chin ups. By nineteen, her arms trembled and twenty seemed impossible. She pictured the bolts that had hit the bullseye and forced herself on. Twenty. Her feet touched the ground and with arms stretched out, head flung back, she spun in circles, a grin on her face. Twenty. She’d finally done twenty chin ups. Laughter rose up and filled the clearing and the sound seemed foreign to her ears. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d heard her own laugh. A twig cracked and she stopped abruptly, her hand falling to the hilt of her dagger as she faced the noise.

Carson stepped away from a tree. “How old are you, kid?”

Her heart raced as Carson crossed the clearing, her mouth going dry, all laughter forgotten.

Carson took her chin and tilted her head up to catch the moonlight, a frown on his face. “Well?”

Shadow pulled away. “I can do twenty chin ups.” She stared at him defiantly, daring him to ask the question again.

“And hit a bullseye too I hear.”

She started to relax. “Yep.”

“Get some sleep, kid. You need to aim for twenty five.”

Shadow watched his retreating back. She was torn between throwing a rock at him or following.

Determined to meet Carson’s next challenge, Shadow managed twenty five chin ups just under a fortnight later. Her excitement was overshadowed by learning they were nearly at the pass and would likely reach it today. She guessed that meant they were getting closer to their destination. And the end of the journey. Shadow felt a strange lack of enthusiasm at that thought. She glanced around at the soldiers who broke camp in a well organised fashion. Her eyes rested on Morell who nodded at something Irlan said. The General and Captain were in a quiet discussion together, well out of earshot of everyone else. Iain saddled his horse and hung his crossbow on his saddle. The cook packed his items into the baskets on the back of a horse he led. These were the baskets that also held the General’s tent.

A deep voice interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, kid. If you’ve got nothing better to do than stand around, come help me with this.”

Shadow looked over to Wardell to find out that ‘this’ was the General’s tent. She guessed that would teach her to stand around doing nothing when everyone else was busy. She bit back the scathing reply she was tempted to make and helped with the tent. In no time they were all mounted and back on the road.

Over the past couple of weeks the road had continued upwards so they now travelled in forested mountains. The air had a crisp clear feel to it and the dirt road was overgrown since people rarely travelled this far. It was also narrower in the mountains and the trees thicker, some ending right at the road edge, causing them to ride mostly single file.

Shadow was nearly at the back of the line, only the cook and two soldiers behind her. In front was Irlan. Her breath frosted the early morning air in front of her and her horse snorted. She stared at the rump of Irlan’s horse and wished she could be at the head of the column for a change. You couldn’t see much from way back here, but being the one of least importance she doubted she’d ever be at the front. No, she’d always be stuck watching horse rumps and sitting in dust.

“Come up to the front, lad,” Farnell called back. When Shadow started to follow her brother forward, Farnell yelled. “Stay at the back, kid. There’s no room here for you.”

Shadow and Irlan shared a look. Irlan glanced towards the front and then back at her. She looked worriedly at him. As she had already known, they weren’t going to let her up the front. She was too insignificant.

“Come on, lad. Hurry up. We don’t want to miss the pass,” Farnell called back.

Having no choice, Irlan rode forward and was told to keep a sharp eye out. Shadow did the same, but it was difficult from the back of the column. She had to find a way to move towards the front of the procession. Maybe not right at the front, but somewhere a lot closer. How were they meant to maintain the illusion it was Irlan with elf sight if she couldn’t warn him when something was hidden?

Spying Iain ahead of her, she nudged her horse forward. When the soldier in front of her protested, she indicated she needed to speak to Iain. One by one, she slowly passed the other soldiers.

“Can a crossbow be used from horseback while it’s moving?” Shadow softly asked the man.

“Ya really going to have to learn to speak up, kid,” Iain complained.

Shadow moved up beside him and repeated her question. There was barely room for them to ride side by side.

“Of course they can. I know men who can hit the eye of a fly while galloping,” Iain boasted.

The soldier in front of them laughed, turning to face them. “Sure you do.”

Shadow moved closer to the soldier in front. “Have you seen someone shoot a crossbow from a moving horse?”

“We all have. It’s not as accurate as a man on his own two feet though.”

“Of course it is. Ya only say that because ya can’t shoot as well on a horse. Not everyone’s as hopeless as you,” Iain said.

Shadow looked ahead and wondered how to move up the line. She nearly gasped at what she saw. Men, holding bows with arrows trained on them, sat in trees along the path. Magic hid. She was torn. If she rode forward to warn her brother, she’d be amongst the archers and she’d have no way to explain how she and not her brother knew, but their lives were at risk. How could she not warn everyone? Fear pooled in the pit of her stomach and she looked frantically around.

Seeing Carson only a couple of horses ahead, she made a decision. She pushed forward and ignored the complaints.

Carson turned to see what was happening. “Didn’t the General say you were to stay towards the back, kid?”

Shadow nodded as she came alongside Carson. She leaned as close as she dared. “There are archers, magic hid, in the trees. Nine horses ahead.”

“Then why hasn’t your brother sounded the alarm? You can survive without him for a few hours. I’ve seen you do so. Go on. Get to the back of the line.” Carson faced forward again.

Shadow kept glancing at the archers as they rode closer to them. “Please Captain-”

“Fall into place, kid,” Carson said firmly, not even glancing at her.

Anger rushed through Shadow. She was sick of being called kid, sick of staying quiet and having to blend into the background. She wanted to kick her brother up the rear for the stupid disguise he’d given her and she was terrified of what the archers in the trees would do. She had another tough decision to make and her stomach did somersaults as she steeled herself.

“Move back, kid,” Carson said, this time more harshly.

Shadow nodded once and reined in her horse until Iain came alongside her. She asked him, probably the loudest she had spoken since starting the journey, “Can you shoot from horseback?”

The soldier in front of them laughed. “What a joke. Even I can shoot a crossbow better from horseback than he can. He needs his feet planted firmly on the ground for a perfect shot.”

Shadow unhooked her crossbow from her saddle and readied it. “It doesn’t need to be perfect. I just want to see it done. The tree, near the fifth horse ahead of us, shoot the knot in the wood near that straight branch that angles towards the road.” She handed the crossbow to the soldier in front.

“I can make that shot too.” Iain readied his own crossbow.

Both men fired at once and the archer in the tree was struck, becoming visible. He screamed. The bow and arrow fell from his fingers towards the ground only moments before he did. Sound erupted all around them. Arrows flew from the trees. Horses and soldiers went down. Carson wheeled his horse and raced back to Shadow.

“Where are they?” He demanded harshly.

“Every second tree on the left.” She swayed on top of her horse. She’d never seen someone die before. She hadn’t expected it to be like that.

Carson turned his horse again and shouted as he moved forward, “Every second tree on the left!” He repeated the cry as he moved along the line.

Shadow sat in the middle of the road on her horse, dazed.

“Kid! Kid! Snap out of it.” Iain grabbed her by the arm.

Shadow blinked and looked over at him.

“Where are they, kid? Tell me so I can get ’em,” Iain demanded.

Shadow nodded and looked ahead, trying to make sense of the nightmare scene around her. She described the position of the next archer. He quickly fell from the tree and Shadow had to cover her mouth at the way he landed. Bile tasted in the back of her throat and a horse in front of her reared as an arrow pierced it. The soldier fought to stay on.

“Kid! Come on. Keep up. We’re fighting for our lives here. Don’t go loosing ya mind on us. And if it’s ya stomach ya planning on loosing, turn away from me. Where’s the next one?”

Shadow tried to focus. The smell of blood and the sound of horses in pain filled the air. She quickly described the location of the next archer but looked away at the last minute so she didn’t see the bolt find its mark.

“Don’t go getting squeamish on us,” Iain complained. “Come on, tell us the next one. It’s them or us.”

“And the one after that,” another soldier with a crossbow said as he joined them. “But stick behind us. If they start ventilating you with their arrows we won’t know where to find them.”

Shadow quickly moved behind the men and started describing the positions of the archers. More soldiers joined them and Shadow was kept busy telling them where to shoot. Soon she had no time to focus on anything other than describing the position of the enemy. Her mind seemed to shut down, focusing on the job. Everything else seemed part of someone else’s reality. The archers, realising they were being seen, began to retreat. Some of the soldiers started to give chase but Carson sounded a trumpet to bring them back.

Carson rode towards Shadow, his face harsh. Shadow blinked rapidly, as if coming out of a long sleep. She looked around for Irlan and hoped her brother could help her out of her new predicament. Especially since he was the cause of it.

“You want to explain what that was all about?” Carson dismounted. When Shadow didn’t answer and the soldiers stood around waiting to see what would happen, Carson snapped, “See to your animals.” He handed the reins of his horse to one of the soldiers. “You and you stand guard. Check the wounded. Clean up this carnage.” He turned back to Shadow. “Well?”

Shadow shook her head.

“You don’t want to explain or you don’t know. Which is it?”

“Have you seen my brother?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with the question. Dismount while I’m talking to you.”

Shadow shakily slid off her horse, “Please, my brother-”

Relenting, Carson interrupted, “He’s with the General and some of the other soldiers. They gave chase.” He beckoned a soldier over to take Shadow’s horse.

“No! Call them back.” Shadow let go of the reins and forced herself not to step forward and grab Carson’s shirt to shake him. Panic hummed through her.

“They’ll be fine. Your brother can watch out for archers,” Carson said. “Now why didn’t you tell us you had elf sight?”

Shadow closed her eyes for a second. She knew her brother was going to kill her, but she couldn’t let him chase after invisible dangers. There’d been at least thirty archers who’d retreated.

“Kid, closing your eyes won’t make me go away,” Carson warned.

Shadow took a step closer. “He doesn’t have elf sight.”

“What?” Carson roared. “What were you two thinking?” He quickly picked up the horn hanging at his side and blew it three times to recall the General and the men with him. “Anything else you want to tell me while you’re at it.”

Shadow’s eyes widened but she shook her head.

“Why don’t I believe you? You, your brother, the General and I will be having a very detailed conversation when we set up camp tonight. I don’t tolerate being lied to. I thought better of you than that, kid.”

“Sorry.” Shadow dropped her head so her hat shaded her face. Anger started to burn in her. She wanted to yell at him that none of this had been her idea. She reminded herself she had to fade into the background. She’d already drawn more than enough attention to herself for one day.

“Not good enough. You’ve put everyone in danger with this deception,” Carson said harshly. “If you’d been at the front instead of your brother we wouldn’t have been caught unprepared.” Carson turned to the soldier who came over to him. “What?”

“We lost four men and three horses,” the soldier said. The soldier named the men they’d lost. One of them was Morell.

“See they’re buried.” As soon as the man retreated, Carson turned to stare at Shadow. “Because of you and your brother four men lost their lives.”

Shadow swallowed hard, unable to think of anything to say. Her anger instantly evaporated, replaced by guilt. She’d only known one of the men who’d died, but she still felt terrible. She hadn’t thought their lie would end in deaths. A hidden pass. That was all they’d thought they’d needed to find. Hidden armies was something else altogether and the General hadn’t warned them of that danger. Maybe her Pa had been right not to trust him.

“Well? Haven’t you anything to say,” Carson demanded.

Shadow shook her head. She had to force herself not to give into the tears that started to burn the back of her throat and make her eyes feel heavy. She couldn’t believe how quickly everything had changed. She knew the journey was dangerous. All travel was dangerous with bandits found all over the country, but this was worse than bandits. Men were dead because she and her brother had tried to play at being soldiers. This morning she’d been excited by her progress. Now she felt like a kid playing make believe. She wasn’t a soldier. She had no clue how to be one.

“You’d better have something to say for yourself when your brother gets back. I won’t accept this silence then.” Carson turned and rapidly strode to the camp the soldiers were setting up.