Freedom

Chapter One

"Come on, Corvi, get up," a feminine voice called out.

Corvon lay on his back, his eyes locked on what remained of the leaves blowing in the crisp Lastlight wind. He heard the crunch of leaves as Vanya, his best friend, approached him. She stood above him, extending a hand to him. As she leaned forward to help him up, one of her mud-brown locks slipped from the ponytail she once had it contained in.

"I don't want to do this anymore," Corvon groaned as Vanya yanked him to his feet.

"Come on, just a few more rounds," Vanya begged.

"What is with the intensity today?" Corvon asked.

Vanya unraveled the cloth she held up her hair with and began wrestling with her long, luscious locks. "I heard the Dragon Army was in a town near here. What if they choose to show their "authority" here next,"

Corvon quickly put his hand over her mouth and looked around. "Don't talk about the dragons," He felt Vanya's mouth open and was too slow to react as he felt the sharp, piercing pain of Vanya's sharp teeth digging into his flesh. "Ouch!"

"Keep your hand off of my mouth then Corvi,"

Vanya sighed and looked to the sky. "As for the dragons, if they have an issue with me or anything I have to say, they can come and fight me right now," She yanked her dull sword out of the ground and pointed it at the air with a smile. She flipped her sword in the air, catching the hilt easily before pointing the blade at Corvon. "Pick up your sword, Corvi. Let's go another round,"

"This is not even a fair fight," Corvon said as he reluctantly picked up his dull shortsword.

"You have been getting better Corvi,"

"Do not spit lies my way,"

As Vanya went to respond, she quickly stopped and turned to the sound of a rustling bush. Her shoulders slowly dropped as she sniffed the air, and a smile came across her face. "Gam, is that you?" she called out.

"Your nose is as strong as ever," A voice responded. A young man stepped from behind the bushes. He smiled as he unslung a bow from around his slender body. "How's the sparring going?"

"Terrible," Corvon mumbled.

Vanya threw her elbow into Corvon's shoulder. "It is going great. Corvi's form is getting better every day," she explained.

"How many rounds have you two gotten in today?" The young man asked as he walked to a group of trees.

"16," Corvon replied.

"How many has Vanya won?"

"16," Vanya said happily.

"You will get her one day," The young man said with a chuckle.

"Do not attempt to fill me with false hope, Gam. We both know Vanya is too strong," Corvon grumbled.

"Maybe we should give archery training another try," Gam suggested.

"After the last arrow went into my leg, I swore I would never touch a bow again," Corvon explained.

Gam set up five targets in the trees and started counting his paces as he walked back. "You lose," He said. He lifted his long jet-black hair up and tied it in a ponytail. His single, long, pointy ear became visible, with his hair now up. With his hair down, Gam could pass as a human, but with his hair up, his actual race became apparent. Half-elf. A mix between a human and an elf, a mix frowned upon by both species. A fact Gam tried to keep hidden from most. At this point, however, he trusted Vanya and Gam and saw them as part of his family. As Vanya and Corvon saw it, no matter what Gam was, it did not change the most important thing about him. Gam took a deep breath as he knocked an arrow, and the sun began to beam down on him. A magic circle formed before his arrow. "Duplicatus," Gam mumbled. As he fired the arrow, it split into four separate arrows. Each arrow pierced the bullseye of each target as Gam groaned.