Bird in a Cage

As my hand wrapped around the bow, I was snapped back to reality. I readied my bow by pulling the bowstring back a few times, feeling the weight throughout my muscles.

"Time to make some magic happen," I muttered to myself. With a fierce determination, I nocked the first arrow and pulled back in one swift movement.

I took a slow, steady breath, letting the air fill my lungs to the maximum, attempting to relax my mind and body. As my exhale crescendoed, I let the arrow loose with a loud crack of the bowstring. The arrow flew far, farther than many thought an arrow could go. In the distance, I heard a loud THWACK. I rushed down range excitedly to see the result of my constant training. I had put all of the stress and anxiety of the previous night into this shot and truly wanted to know if I had made good progress. I couldn't find the projectile as I approached the target, slightly bruising my ego.

But to my astonishment, I looked farther down the range at the joke targets placed about a hundred metres behind the row of three-hundred-metre targets. There it was, the arrow I had shot before.

Darius walked behind me, rubbing the back of his neck, saying, "Better luck next time, bud. As I said, Ellisar the Great is the only person who made that shot."

I then pointed at the 400-metre targets, smiled and said, "Guess I'm better than he is now.'

I looked at his shock-filled expression and let loose a slight chuckle. "Holy shit!" He yelled. "You really fucking did it."

"Not only did he make the fucking shot, he even took out a bird!" A bystander mentioned as he made his way over to us. Of course, the bird is what I was aiming for, but I'm not willing to disclose my secrets to them now.

Thus, I played stupid, convincing them it was some miracle when, in all actuality, with my bow and spells, I could kill a man from three kilometres away. I've completed many assignments and garnered the nickname 'Raven's Eye'. As I gathered my prey and arrow, I left for the kitchen. I walked the cavern halls to the butchery, and Vetrix set her sights on me. I tried to hide my face to no avail. She rushed over to me with a worried look on her face. She stole several glances at my face before she stopped me from walking completely, standing in front of me.

She placed a hand on my chest, "The Overseer knows…" she trailed off and looked away. She quickly looked back at me, "But I didn't tell him!" Suddenly, she backed away and began yelling at me, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH THAT FUCKING GANG!" She then ran away, disappearing into the growing gaggle of people forming. Several people were carrying batons as they moved towards me through the crowd. I sunk into my fighting stance with my bow ready in hand. I had already drawn an arrow as one of them moved, but someone walloped me from behind, and I passed out. As I came to consciousness, I could feel the warmth of my bed under my body.

A throbbing pain rang like a bell in my skull as I groggily opened my eyes and reached for the back of my head. The memories of my actions in the Practice Yard came flooding back like a river flowing through a dam. The last thing I could recall from the previous night was being knocked out by a cheap shot from behind. I stood, recognising my room in the dormitory hall. As I reached to open the door, Vetrix walked in and stood before me.

"You've been placed on house arrest, Farrin."

She spoke with a soft pity behind her words. "They've given me the task of watching over you and keeping you confined," she sat at the desk in my room, "You are to stay in the Owl's Den until further notice from the Overseer."

"What about missions, and why was I attacked?"

She sat up and made eye contact, staring straight into my soul. '"They were there to take you in peacefully. We anticipated you would put up a fight, so… we took necessary precautions."

"Yeah, well, your solution gave me a killer headache." I rubbed the back of my head and sat in my cot.

"So I'm just stuck here without any missions?"

"Seems like it."

"Great, did the overseer find out about my brother?"

"No, he only knows that you killed three of the Black Hand."

"They attacked me first, though. I was only defending myself."

"Yes, while I might understand that, I don't think the Overseer will see things quite eye to eye."

I began pacing around the room in thought. As I walked, Vetrix blocked my way, keeping me still with her palm on my chest. "Pacing around won't do you any good. Why don't you come train with me in the Yard?" She let her hand fall to her side as she grabbed the back of her neck. "At least you'll be able to blow some steam while training."

I shrugged and laid in my cot once more, "I'm not really up for it now; I'll definitely find you if I feel like kicking your ass later." I put on a fake smile as she exited my room. As my door closed behind her, I sat up in my cot, scanning my surroundings. I could conclude this was the same dingy closet that I was left with before. Tired and still feeling the pain of that knockout blow I took to my head, I resigned myself to sleep. The dormitory assigned to me was housed in the red-light portion of the Cross District of Maplepoint, the capital city. Tucked behind plenty of taverns and whorehouses one could not find it even if they knew what they were looking for.

The entrance was as plain as all the other buildings of the slum. The trick was a secret entrance created by the rarely-used power called magic. It stands that magic fell out of widespread use on the continent of Aplil as the humans had conquered most of the elven population in the Hundred-Year War. My father used to tell us magic was the lifeblood of elves before the war; when humans came, they banned its use in the general public to prevent revolts from the subjugated elves.

These laws, however, never applied to the human nobles who cultivated their power and passed down their secrets to their offspring. I understand that on other continents, such as Themospherea, magic was commonly used and not held hostage by nobles. When I was younger, I dreamed of travelling to these distant lands and experiencing the other races and their magic. Being cramped and stuck in this birdcage only made me relive these fantasies in my head. I drifted off with thoughts of my initial arrival into the brotherhood.