[ 𝙞 ] 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

Chapter Eight

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focus

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"If you all expect to survive your first mission, you'll have to try a lot harder." The officer barked at Grian as she renocked her bow.

The entire group of soldiers from the south had been labeled the Fourth Quadrant and were now required to practice their precision and shooting. There were a few officers assigned to check each soldier's form as they shot, but so far the pointers haven't been helpful.

Grian rolled her eyes and refocused on the target, which had been placed a long distance from the shooting line. This entire training measure was by far her least favorite out of all of them, for many reasons.

First, Ronin was far better at it than she was, which frustrated her beyond words. Second, she wasn't experienced in shooting at all, especially at such long distances. And third, it only reminded her of that dark day when Heirsa was taken from their family.

"Come on, keep your eyes on it!" The officer yelled as he passed her again.

"Allow me." Khana suddenly appeared after the officer had moved on to the soldier to Grian's left.

He put a hand to her elbow and pushed it down slightly, then moved around her to reposition her head against the bowstring she'd already pulled back.

"Now focus on the target and release." He instructed.

Grian did as he said, and managed to get the arrow to hit the target, which she hadn't been able to do thus far.

"Thanks for the tips." She said. "But it would be really helpful if I could get a bullseye so I could quite this ridiculous target practice."

"Wish I could help you, but you've got to do that on your own," Khana replied. "You won't always have someone to do your aiming for you."

Grian sighed, but she knew he was right. "I've never been good at archery," she told him.

"Not everyone has the keen eye of an archer." He said. "But then some people who are partially blind who shoot perfectly..." He trailed off with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What? I don't believe that." Grian scoffed..

Khana held out his hand for the bow. She handed it to him and he nocked it. Keeping both eyes open, he took aim and shot a perfect bullseye.

"I'm supposed to believe that you're partially blind?"

Khana nodded. "Injured in battle last year. I've never seen out of my right eye since then."

"Well you sure have a way of making me feel pathetic," Grian told him. "But I suppose I can keep trying."

Khana gave her a half-hearted salute and walked back to his own shooting line.