Heth
“Again” Ralphon shouted . The knives landed everywhere except the target. Just two knives landed on the tree but missed. The target was a circle carved on a tree just outside the woods.
“YES” shouted Adin raising his hands in the air.
“Mine’s closer to the mark than yours” laughed Mell.
“Wipe that grin of your face” Ralphon walked towards the group of children who were backing away in case he hit them .
“All of you have failed , miserably, “he shouted “In a fight your enemy will not be standing still, waiting for you to strike . You do not have time to aim, you will not get a second chance like you do here .”
“Mell won’t admit that I’m better than her ” cried Adin
“Well thats because you aren’t” said Ralphon with both hands on his waist .
“See , even the chief knows I’m the best” Mell smirked.
“I never said so” .
“But mine was the closest to the target ” .
“That doesn’t make you the best, ” said Ralphon “You will never be the best at something, there will always be someone better than you”. He unsheathed his dagger and turned around quickly and threw it . It landed right in the centre of the of the target.
“But my knife was close enough ” Mell complained.
“Close enough does not do it in battle young lady” . He walked back to the tree and pulled his dagger out and sheathed it.”Now everyone, go back home. We’ll train again tomorrow ” Everyone collected their knives and rushed back home.’Your knife should be an extension of your arm the chief would always say.
Heth noticed that all the knives had gone except for two.
“Both of you need to go home” .
“I’m not going back till I’ve perfected my aim” Mell shouted .
“Neither am I”shouted Adin.
Both of them ran towards the tree . Mell was the first one to get to the tree. Both knives were at about the same height . Mell ran to the tree she grabbed both the knives wedged into the tree. She threw one of them into the woods several paces away. As soon as she turned around Adin jumped on her and knocked her to the ground .
Ralphon walked towards Heth . Heth handed him his robe .
“I’m going back, “he said ,he looked like another person entirely when he put the robe on.It was made of sheepskin and was black as the night sky. It’s sleeves went all the way upto his wrists . It had an open torso and it fell all the way to his ankles.”I have some meetings to attend”.
“Do you want me to go with you ?” he asked.
“No, keep an eye on them. They’ll kill each other if no one’s watching. “. Saying that he turned and walked back to the village .
Heth watched the two of them fight . Mell was on the ground facing Adin on top of her . Adin punched her on the lip and she slapped him. Now they were pulling each other’s hair waiting to see who would cry first. This wasn’t the first time they were fighting and Heth was sure it wasn’t going to be the last.
The other girls from the village would have given up by now but not Mell. Her spirit was unlike any of the girls Heth had ever seen and Adin just didn’t know when to give up.
It reminded him of the fights he use to have with…
No,he mustn’t think about him .
His hand went to his sheath and he rubbed the pommel of his knife.
He’s dead and he’s not coming back.