Into the Heart of a Killer: Memoirs of an Assassin

Chapter Ten

And excel I did. Archery was my one—albeit unexpected—talent.

I raised my bow to aim it at the targets Ceseth had set up. There were three of them in total, in varying heights. One was about my size, and the other two increased by three or four inches. Ceseth stood behind one sometimes, fully outfitted to protect him, and moved the dummy around so I could practice on a moving target. Archery, it turned out, was one of my greatest skills, and Ceseth wasn't ashamed of showing his pride in me for it. He frequently praised me when I did an exceptional job—but he praised me for nothing less. He pushed me harder because of my skills, but I didn't mind it. I passed each test he gave me with flying colors.

It had taken me a year to finally master swords and daggers, and even then, he'd given up on trying to teach me how to properly utilize a shield. I was proficient in the language of daggers, and he seemed content with that – it was really the best he was going to get, given the fact I severely lacked talent in that area, for whatever reason. But now, his attitude had changed completely. I continued to grow in these skills and at times forgot why he was teaching them to me. I found a peace in archery that I couldn't really find elsewhere. Even speaking with Tane didn't give me the kind of peace holding the bow gave me. It was...indescribable. Tane was my rock, my humanity. But archery was my soul, the blood coursing through my veins.

I brought the bow and arrow up to my face and lined up my sights. It was almost simply for protocol. In the last three months, I'd managed to be able to shoot without lining up my sights first, but Ceseth said it was good practice to do it anyways. Around him, at least, I did as I was told. When I showed off to Tane, which I occasionally liked to do, I liked to wow him with the fact I only had to keep my eye on my target, not necessarily line up my sights. Tane, however, didn't really get how archery worked, so half of the time I thought he was just impressed that I knew what the thing was called.

"Are you going to shoot or stand there like a vegetable?" Ceseth roared. Unexpectedly, he started charging for me. My heart skipped a beat and I loosed the arrow, too soon. Despite this, it flew forward and landed in the dummy's shoulder, right where there artery would be. A deadly blow. Ceseth had taught me anatomy before he had taught me how to work with weapons. As we had gotten closer to working with handheld weapons, he had started teaching me other parts of the body – such as the locations of large arteries and the best places to stab or slash or loose arrows at.

Ceseth stopped moving as the force of the arrow thudding into the dummy pushed him back. He laughed a gritty, guttural laugh that wasn't one of joy. I found him laughing like that sometimes and it unsettled me. It was the kind of laugh someone made after... well, killing someone. In the case of the dummy, I supposed the laugh was appropriate.

"Good work!" he called, peering his head over the dummy's other shoulder. "I think that's enough for the day."

I nodded as he put the dummy on the ground. He was using the tallest one, as it was the only one left for the day. The other two were covered in arrows from head to toe, each one either landing on a major artery or in some other fatal location. I'd managed to hit one straight through the "eye," and I had been rather proud of that shot. Ceseth had drawn the arteries and softest tissues on each of the dummies with paint, so it was easy to see where to aim. When he wanted to challenge me, he'd turn the dummies around so I could only see the backside, which was completely unmarked. It was harder, not only because it was unmarked, but because everything was backwards—including the sides I was supposed to shoot at. It was a good training tactic, and I enjoyed the challenge, despite myself.

I let the tension out of the bow and put the arrow I had instinctively grabbed and knocked into place back into the quiver. Ceseth began to go to each of the dummies and pick the arrows out until he returned to me with a few dozen arrows in both of his hands. I took the quiver off my shoulder and offered it to him. He nodded his thanks and placed the arrows into the quiver.