Leaving Laurabelle Falls

Chapter 8

"We have to prepare you for war." Bethany said, standing in front of an archery range. It had been set up in the yard sometime while I slept.

"Awfully melodramatic." I said. She smiled, and reached forward to ruffle my hair. She turned back towards the range. I could see Sam and Maddie off to the side of the range, hear the clicking together of their swords as they practiced.

"The Goddess can at times fuse with you." Bethany informed me. "But not always. There will be times in our journey when you can't use your connection to her. She'll still feel you, but won't be able to help. Especially once we're in his territory."

"Okay," I said, reaching forward to delicately run my fingers along the edge of the bow. It felt familiar, somehow. Suddenly, my vision was split again.

Eight or nine. I sat down on a picnic blanket in front of a barrage of weapons. A crossbow, a knife, several kinds of swords and axes and even a magic staff.

The split vision suddenly zoomed, until all I could see was the memory.

"We have to find out which weapon is gonna be best when you come back to us." Bethany told me.

"We're gonna have to know which one you click with the best." Deacon elaborated. "When you come back for the big battle, we aren't going to have much time to train you. You won't remember most of it until after you've faced him."

I nodded my little head. I reached forward, eagerly searching the array for what most interested me. The knife had a shiny handle; some sort of precious stone, jutted into a point at the end. It looked like that side could also be used as a weapon, in a real pinch.

I hesitated. I felt a pushing, a pulling in the other direction. A feeling of complete and utter peace washed over me, like the best drug I'd ever taken. My body felt light. My hand moved on its own, over to the right side of the pile.

It closed around the bow. It was simple, but wood carved.

I felt my mouth move. I knew what I was going to say, but I didn't choose the words.

"Thought I might save you some time," A voice that was both mine and not echoed even in the field. "This is the one she'll click with."

Then, like a fog lifting, the feeling was sucked out of me and returned to the sky. The peace was no longer present, and it left me feeling...normal, mostly. But still in awe.

"Thank you." Deacon said, simply. His eyes were shining.

I was viewing the bow in a new light now. The sleek simplicity of the wood, the small notch in the middle. The soft feathers on the arrow, and how those might feel between my fingers as I released it into the wind.

"...Are you gonna teach me how to use it?" I asked, looking up with a toothy grin.

"Yes." He said, nodding. He turned to Bethany. "Well, we'd better set up the range."

I came back to reality with a soft gasp. My hand went up to my chest. My heart was racing, where I had felt calm before. The purple tint had left my vision. That was, by far, the most I had been sucked into a memory.

"Are you getting some bits back?" Bethany questioned, a soft smile gracing her face.

"If you could call that a bit, yeah." I responded, shaking my head to clear it.

Suddenly, Sam stuck their head out of the trees.

"I heard something about a bit?" They questioned. "What are we doing now?"