Riders of Tethra Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Hunter was off to archery while Sayer was attending lore class. It seemed that Hunter had an uncanny ability with the bow. He easily caught up with boys from Squeek within a few days and soon was outperforming most of them. This morning, someone must have waded through the fen to set up targets on the mushy ground at varying distances. About half of the Squeeks were in the intermediate level class to which Hunter had been elevated.
There were twelve boys in this morning's class, six from Squeek including Talen and six from lodge fifteen. Hunter noticed that most of the Lodge fifteen boys were considerably bigger than the Squeeks and of course, at thirteen, he was amongst the smallest. He also noticed that older boys took delight in out-performing the Squeeks. It seemed obvious to him that the difference in size and strength of the ages accounted for most of the discrepancy, none-the-less, for whatever reason, he felt comfortable with his bow of banawood that the master had selected for him. It was light, about as tall as he was and required less than the normal seventy pound pull strength the seventeens used. Yet, perhaps because of the flexibility of the wood, it competed well with the larger bows of the older boys.
"Good morning Riders," Master Narwild spoke demanding attention. "This will be your first varied distance test. You will be assessed by the accuracy of your lodge as a total and as individuals. One of you from each lodge will be this challenge's champion. The targets are at twenty-yard separations out to one hundred twenty yards. Each of you will get three arrows for each distance. At least one arrow must hit the target for the boy to advance to the next distance. Five points will be awarded for hitting the green, ten for the tan and twenty-five for the red. The champion with the highest number of points will be allowed to claim an extra half-day in Lorenwood with a friend of his choice. No boy from either of your lodges has ever hit the final two targets at approximately one hundred and one hundred twenty yards. Only one Squeek has hit the sixty-yard target."
Hunter looked at the targets placed on a diagonal from the closest target on the left to the most distant far out on the right. Each target was completely exposed so the task was simple accuracy, not trying to miss one thing while hitting another. He understood that at the advanced level, there were many distractions and challenges he could not yet imagine.
The targets were all six feet in diameter with a green, tan and red area from least accurate to most accurate. All an archer needed to do to advance was hit the target but after that, points were awarded for which section was hit. If an archer hit with more than one of his three allotted arrows, only the most accurate was scored.
The contest began. Every boy hit the closest target with all three arrows as was expected. The majority of the arrows fell within the tan and red areas on the twenty-yard round. Strangely, Hunter was the least accurate with all of his arrows landing in the green. At forty yards, all of lodge fifteen remained in competition while two of the Squeeks washed out. Again, Hunter's arrows were uncharacteristically in the green but all three hit the target.
Sixty yards - only one Squeek had ever even hit it. Hunter was nervous and preoccupied. Talen was among the three remaining Squeeks -- Hunter was technically a Squeek even though he was in Lodge One with Sayer. Hunter could not help jumping into Talen's mind for a few seconds. Talen was being trained in blocking so he wondered if the handsome boy had noticed his intrusion. Riding was new, exciting and addicting for Hunter. Finally, he felt like he had acquired a skill to align himself with the other boys of this world. He watched, mesmerized, as Talen's lithe young body took bow in hand, drew back the string and launched his first arrow at the sixty-yard target. It missed the right edge by only three inches. Hunter stepped up and fired his first arrow. It missed by more than three feet. He could see the signs of dismay on Talen's and the other two Squeek's faces. They all missed their first and second shots. The Lodge fifteen boys had two boys already successful in moving on to the next target. The remaining boys only had one arrow each remaining to be shot at the sixty-yard target. Master Norwild called Hunter over to him before the final shot at that range.
"What's the matter Hunter?" he asked.
"I don't know," Hunter replied pretty sure he did know. He was too busy admiring and riding Talen; too busy wallowing in his newest skill which was not archery.
"Hunter," the master said, "This is not a game. It has to be taken seriously. I already know you are the best of the Squeeks. Do you know who the Squeek was that hit that target?"
"No."
"It was Bandor," the master responded. "From what I know, you are better than Bandor. Think of the target as someone who is about to draw an arrow to kill Sayer or Talen. Would you miss?"
Hunter just looked wide-eyed at the master, shook the hair back from his eyes, stepped to the firing line and without hesitation, loosed his arrow. In less than a second, it was embedded in the center of the red circle. A cheer of jubilation erupted from the Squeeks accompanied by hand slapping and dancing. Hunter just stood calmly next to Talen who was next to shoot.
"What did he say to you, Hunter? Talen asked nervously.
"He said that the target was an enemy who was going to kill you with his shot. No one is going to kill you if I can help it," Hunter said putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "No one!"
Talen looked at his young friend, then at the target sixty yards away. "Nor you!" he screamed, notched his arrow, pulled back on the string and sent his arrow flying straight and true landing next to Hunter's.
This time there was just an amazed silence, then congratulations for the two Squeeks who had just accomplished what only one other had ever done. Lodge fifteen now advanced two boys and amazingly, so did Squeek to the eighty-yard target.
"Well this is a remarkable day," the master said. "We have three targets left and four boys advancing. We'll reconvene tomorrow with high expectations. Our four champions should prepare themselves accordingly."
"I need to talk to you Hunter," Talen said pulling him away from the rest of the boys.
Hunter followed his friend over to a small corner of the open area from which they had been shooting. He looked at Talen seriously when they stopped.
"I didn't know you could ride," Talen said.
"What are you talking about?" Hunter faked innocence.
"Someone was riding me and it wasn't a fifteen. And it wasn't another Squeek -- it was too personal. I could feel care."
"What makes you think it was me?" Hunter asked trying to deflect the accusation.
"I knew it was you when you told me what the master had said about your shot and how you reacted. No one has ever cared like that. I could have blocked you but I didn't want to. It felt good to be close. When the target became a danger to you in my mind, I wasn't going to miss either."
Hunter sighed and smiled. He desperately wanted to hug Talen. "It happened last night. It was like a flash. I couldn't ride a thing and then, all of a sudden, I could. It was like a miracle." He didn't bother to explain what had been the catalyst for the transformation. "Sayer said we shouldn't tell anybody so please just keep it a secret Talen. I don't know why it's important to keep it hidden but I feel it is."
Talen smiled. "I'll keep your secret except I wish you'd tell Rory. He feels for you guys like I do. It's different than we feel for the others in Squeek, or any others here at Pandor. We seem to connect with you guys."
"I'll ask Sayer," Hunter replied. "I think it makes sense for Rory to know as well. We feel the connection too."
"Do you think we can hit the eighty?" Talen asked.
"I don't know, but I will be using the same focus I used on the sixty. If someone was shooting at you, I'd do everything in my power to stop him."
Both boys returned to the group prior to dismissal. Hunter couldn't resist and fired off a mental bulletin to Sayer.
#######
The lore class was less than fascinating to begin with. Sayer loved the Pandor and Farin stories but the monotonous history of minor Tethrian heroes, especially those not from Maginar were better than any sleeping potion. Thus when Hunter's announcement of his and Talen's achievement broke into his mind, he could hardly contain himself, wanting to leap up and rush over to the archery range. Then came the thought message that Talen was aware Hunter could ride because Hunter had entered his mind and Talen instantly knew who was trying to ride him. This brought a shiver to Sayer's spine and he immediately sent a thought firing back to Hunter.
"Do NOT ride anyone again!" Sayer screamed silently. "Hunter, this is serious. Do not ride anyone except me. Promise!"
"Ok, but is thought communication with you riding?" Hunter responded.
"Fuck, Hunter I don't know! I am totally confused. We need to talk in One," Sayer transmitted_. "It is really important! Ride no one."_
"I told Talen to keep it between us but he asked about sharing with Rory. I told him I thought we should too but I needed to check with you." Hunter confessed.
"We need to talk. Ask Talen to keep it to himself for the moment. Let's skip lunch and go back to One. I meet with Doyen Parfell this afternoon and I may need to ask different questions, Hunter. Be silent about your talent.
"See you in One at lunch break then," Hunter replied.
Sayer felt the emotion behind the simple thought transmission. That was unusual and he had only felt it with Hunter, never with anyone else. All other rides were one-sided, not a two-way conversation. So, during a ride, the emotions of the target could be learned but now that he thought about it, he didn't know anyone who used the riding skill to telepathically communicate. You either rode or were ridden, and when you knew you were ridden, you did not who it was invading your mind, so automatically you threw up a block. Somehow, Talen knew it was Hunter when a thought entered his conscious - no block. Now he was worried about how Talen knew that Hunter was his rider.
Sayer locked the door behind them as they entered Lodge One. He carefully patrolled each of the rooms, studying the walls, the ceilings, the floors, even the fireplace. With all the books in the room, he could not be sure no spying devices were hidden but there wasn't time to check every volume.
"What's the matter with you Sayer?" Hunter questioned as he followed him around the lodge.
"I don't know," Sayer said in a worried tone. "Something isn't right. First, I have never heard of any riders that have ever communicated telepathically. It never occurred to me when we talked about talking out loud with one another so as not arouse suspicion. Riders can ride, they can explore their mounts, find out feelings as well as thoughts, while they are riding. But, as far as I know, no riders have been able to talk, like we do, telepathically. Then all of a sudden, the two of us can. Yesterday you couldn't do shit, today we're into something beyond what I know about riding. And what's more, Talen knew it was you riding, not just someone in the group there, he knew it was you. How the fuck did he do that?"
"He said something about knowing I `cared,'" Hunter responded.
"So not only could he tell you were riding, somehow he got your emotions to know you cared. The person being ridden isn't supposed to know who it is, let alone get feelings of the rider!" Sayer exclaimed. "Something is going on here, Hunter. And it's not normal - at least I don't think it is. And if someone can identify you, umm, maybe me, maybe anyone who rides them, they have an advantage knowing exactly who their target is - if they are against us."
"So, what do you want to do Sayer?" Hunter asked.
"I don't know. First, I want to ask questions of Doyen Parfell this afternoon. And hopefully I can ask them in a way that he assumes them to be just general questions, but I'm not sure I can do that."
"You don't trust Doyen Parfell?" Hunter asked.
"I do. But I'm not ready for him to know you can ride yet. Maybe it won't last, Hunter. Maybe you are an easy target since you haven't been able to. There are just too many damn `maybes' and questions. So, for now, let's go back to our original plan, no thought chatting unless it is an emergency. Maybe I'll get answers from the Doyen this afternoon." He slammed his hand against the wall in frustration.
Hunter looked sadly at his roommate. His eyes deep with concern and worry. Sayer slowly moved closer to Hunter, held out his arms into which Hunter gladly moved. The feeling of togetherness, of oneness of lifetimes of friendship seemed to flow between them. Sayer gently kissed Hunter on the cheek and in that moment everything was alright. It was as it should be. Silently they broke the embrace and walked toward the door for their afternoon classes and meetings. A book fell off the shelf and slapped to the floor next to them.
Both boys were startled. Hunter picked it up. It was more of a small notebook than a book, brown, leather-bound, no title, almost like the small booklets students use in classes but obviously older and worn. Hunter opened it. It was totally handwritten, and it was in no language Hunter had ever seen. Sayer grabbed the notebook and looked carefully.
"It's in Magin," Sayer exclaimed.
"What's Magin?" Hunter asked.
"It's the ancient language of Maginar. Few can read it. Perhaps Doyen Parfell could. But, shit, this didn't just fall off the shelf accidently, Hunter. It fell off because we are in here. The Lore master said that this place was here before the school. And he was looking at me when he said it. It was built by Pandor and Farin. We're only ones staying here since Pandor and Farin!"
Hunter shivered as he thought about the ghosts of the two legends occupying this lodge. "Are you going to take the book to the Doyen?" he finally asked.
Sayer paused in thought. "No. We aren't going to tell anyone about it right now."
"The how the fuck are we going to know what it says?" Hunter countered.
"I don't know, Hunter. Let's just keep our secrets for the moment, okay? Something's going on." Sayer found an extremely packed bookshelf and slipped the thin notebook between two large volumes in such a way that it virtually disappeared.
"I'm going to see Doyen Parfell now. Maybe I'll have some answers when I get back here tonight. Until then, no thought chat, no riding and ask Talen to keep your secret until tomorrow. Maybe by then we will know whether we should let anyone else into our inner circle."
"Rory should be in it too," Hunter said firmly.
"I think so too," Sayer agreed. "But can we just wait until tomorrow, please?"
They locked the door behind them as they bounced over the floating planks to their afternoon schedule.