Chapter 9: Archery
1387 Words
Chapter 9: Archery
Third Person’s POV
At the same time of the descent of the moon god in the royal Flame hall of the Eastern Regin Kingdom.
On the far away freezing white paradise of the north, deep into the immovable walls of frozen ice lays the slumbering colossal city of the King of the northern wilderness. The towering trees clothed with the beautiful but deadly crystals of white snow spanned across the intimidating territory of the Northern King.
The full moon’s brilliance seems to solidify in a certain isolated part of the northern wilderness.
A howl resounded deep into an ice valley hidden from the eyes by the obscure white blanket that hugs all the land. Dozens of blood-hardened individuals in white armor stood still like frozen blocks of ice outside the valley, silently without even the sound of the tiniest sigh of breath.
A ten-meter big silvery white wolf filled with languid imperviousness and narrowed pale blue pupils that are swimming with cold detachment laid down at the snow-filled ground while gazing at the blooming moon with thoughts unknown.
A long sonorous deep howl sounded while the prey and predators near the valley could not help but shiver and tremble in fear from the echoing sound that penetrates their inner being ringing with feelings of full obedience and dread.
“Let us begin the competition!”
The open yard next to the Flame hall immediately erupted in raucous cheers from the hot-blooded youngsters as those of the older generation only watched with interest about the whole proceedings.
They have already experienced this ritual from the crowning of the late king and their state of mind is also in line with the majority of the inhabitants of Regin about the ridiculous notion of the trueness of magic and beings like the moon god.
Nem watched the lively young seedlings that are bound to be the future and the pillars of the kingdom for years to come thinking of the changes that they will bring, not realizing that she is basically the youngest if placed next to them.
“May her highness the Queen and the three contestants take their place to start the archery competition?”
Royal Advisor Agiel made a please gesture while respectfully bowing in Nem’s direction.
Nem smiled lightly as her left hand strokes the bow she got from the stone table. The surface is smooth like jade but there are tiny indentions that are carved and are intelligently hidden from sight even to those that stared closely to it.
She does not know the meaning of the marks but she can infer that they are words. Her eyes glazed over with a thoughtful and dazed look as the possibility that maybe these are words connected to the founding king, especially since the twelve weapons and instruments that are laid in the stone tables are from King Regin’s era.
The incredulity of it made Nem shocked silly when she first heard of it from Agiel since the weapons and instruments look like they have just been out of the hands of its maker.
Shrugging of her disordered thoughts, Nem gently walked on her spot on the farthest corner facing the last target. She was followed by Princess Seles, Captain Zen and Ambassador Cairo signaling the crowd to settle down quietly while eagerly waiting for the royal advisor to start the festivities.
Resounding drum beats followed by the sound of horse hooves stomping coming from the side of the open yard raised the excitement of the crowd. The captain of the royal guards has arrived along with nine armor-clad knights on white horses. They are the overseers that will measure the score on the targets while also being the moving targets on the second half of the competition.
“Too gaudy…”
Zen’s lazy voice drifted out of his smirking lips as he stared at the bright amber-colored armor of the knights.
Cairo indifferently raised his pair of dark pupils on Zen’s direction while his pursed lips quirked in an imperceptible way before he coldly gazed in front where the target is situated, that is basically like a small basin in size because of the one hundred meters of distance.
Princess Seles straightened her dress while calmly wearing the protective armband passed by her palace maid as she grasps the bow tightly. She wanted to use this competition as a way to trample her hateful second royal sister beneath her, to show every single person present that she deserves the crown more than that certain someone who is still wet behind her ears.
Nem raised her slender left arm that is like pure white jade before putting on her armband casually though seemingly so elegantly moving. The eyes of some young nobles glinted with infatuation while looking at her, as there might even be some who are already drooling with foolish smitten looks on their faces.
“Greetings to all the honorable guests, this lowly one is the captain of the royal guards guarding the royal Flame hall and I will be the one to facilitate this short friendly competition.”
The leading knight with an honest and sturdy figure dismounted his horse and saluted in front of everyone.
“The competition will start with three deep drum beats to serve as the countdown of a shot of arrow while there are only three arrows given for each level and the arrow with the highest score of the three will be the final score.”
The concise and simple explanation from the captain of the royal guards did not arouse any dissatisfaction from the participants or the crowd.
Three burly men wearing the palace servants’ clothing and each one are carrying a huge drum made from the processed hides of a wild beast, a beast of a different quality from a savage beast in both strength and defense. It could be gleamed that the price of a small piece of wild beast hide can feed a normal household of five for a year.
The three walked from behind the nine royal knights that have already dismounted their white horses and placed the drums by their sides solemnly.
A drum beat reverberated deeply as the four participants raised their bows and placing their arrows while holding their bowstrings in a steady manner. Eight pairs of eyes stared unblinkingly at their respective targets. The four of them stood in different shooting postures with their own unique charms that captivated the crowd in a silent stupor.
The second drum beat soon echoed.
Nem lowered her eyes before raising them up quickly. Her forest green pupils seems to constrict in that moment as her breath disappeared in her focused state as the surrounding scenery and people slowly vanished in her conscious and subconscious sight while the target at the other end grew bigger and clearer.
This is not the first time for her to hold the bow, but this mysterious feeling of being able to perform in this enlightened state only happened twice, and that is when her life was threatened in the process of hunting her prey.
The last drum beat goes off and the sound of whistling arrows gliding through the night wind is particularly obvious in the rare quiet atmosphere.
Four sounds of tearing clothes announced the first arrows shot.
Four of the royal guards mounted their horses and run through the four targets each to record the scores before taking off the embedded arrows on the red targets.
The drum beats sounded again as the four royal guards left the field.
The second and third arrow was soon shot on the targets as the four contestants and the crowds waited for the announcement of the scores. It is too far for them to know the individual scores of the four so they could only wait in spite of their curiosity.
“Let’s just hope I did not score badly.”
Nem whispered to herself as her gaze fluttered past the red target to the still shining full moon on the night sky.
She did not know if it was merely her imagination, but she felt like a pair of pupils suddenly flashed in the surface of the moon.
- Writer
