Sang's Dragon

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Swallowing, I said, "My name is Sang, sir." 

The elf took his time assessing me. Reading the look on his face, I knew he wasn't at all impressed—at least until his eyes found the bow hanging loosely from my hand. "That's some fine craftsmanship, girl. May I?" I nodded slowly and handed it over to him, even though the thought of someone else's hands on my weapon irked me. 

Running his hand over the slick curve, he hummed. "This doesn't look like the work of any bowyer in this area." 

I cleared my throat. "That's because it's my work, sir." 

He nodded and handed my bow back. Returning to his spot in front of the targets, he barked, "If you're late again, you'll find yourselves on latrine duty. Now for today's lesson..." 

I turned to Owen and found his gaze rested on my bow. When his eyes lifted to meet mine, the corner of his lips tipped up in a small smile of approval. Smiling back shyly, I turned my attention back to the elven professor as he explained the day's activities. First, we were to warm up with targets, each one more challenging than the next as you moved down the line. After we completed that, we would move on to the next activity, which would be participating in a competition of run archery through the forest.

"Come on, Sang!" Sean ran up and grabbed my hand before dragging me to the back of the line that gathered by the first target. I wanted to tell him that I could technically start at the furthest target and still get a bulls-eye my first shot, but I held my tongue and smiled. 

Kota and the others filed behind us while Owen came to a stop at my other side. "The bow and arrow is your preferred weapon." 

I hummed. "What gave it away?"

His lips quirked. "The moment we stepped into this range, you seemed to unwind. The other give would be that you looked as if you sucked on a lemon when Elder Wyelor held your bow." 

My cheeks heated as he mentioned my silly territoriality. "It was the first weapon I learned to use as a girl." 

His head dipped to the side. "Well, I'm very intrigued to see how you do." Without another word, he turned to speak with Kota in a low voice.

"Don't let Sir Uptight embarrass you," Sean said with a slight laugh.

"He didn't," I lied, feeling my cheeks cool down.

"Whatever you say. So tell me, how did you like your classes earlier?" 

"They were...interesting." Which was a ginormous understatement. The moment I asked a question, a majority of my classmates would snicker and make unnecessary comments about me having the mental capacity of a toddler. Their comments were easy to brush off as soon as I reminded myself that I was a bit late to the party. 

"And?" He urged. His playful gaze turned serious once he sensed my internal battle.

I looked at the ground to avoid looking at him. "I've found that I'm not very book smart compared to you guys."  

"Don't say that." He frowned. "You haven't been here long and you'll pick it up in no time. Don't forget that half of the information we have access to hasn't been released to outsiders." 

That was true, but it didn't make me feel any better. "I went from being at the top of my village in academics, to the lowest at the Academy. It's not very inspiring."