Several days passed by with William focusing on training with his new Recall rune. He had taught it to Wallace and Jane as he felt they could also make great use of it. Jane added it to her staff, so she wouldn’t be disarmed for long, not that Medics got anything offensive. She did tell William that it would be fine if she bonked them on the head. Wallace hadn’t done anything with it yet himself, being too busy with managing things. William had shadowed him more over those days, learning how to be a good leader. Wallace was a natural in William’s mind, until Wallace explained that it was purely experience, not talent.
It was the day of William and John’s raid on the bandit storehouse and William had time to kill as the plan was one set to start in the early evening, with arrival expected at midnight. They would do it at night so that smoke didn’t alert any encampments that may be nearby. With his free time, William went to visit his parents.
His father was tending to the crops that were nearly ready to harvest as William approached.
“Hey Dad, food’s looking good,” William said, as a greeting.
“That’s the source of pride as a farmer, Son.”
“How you doing with everything else going on?”
His father paused, seeming to mentally consider the best response.
It didn’t take long as his father spoke up again, “Honestly, I’m getting by. Your mother seems to have started getting involved in things now. That’s naturally a big relief to me, but I do feel bad that it took a horrid encounter for her to come out of her mental seclusion.”
“Is...she still heavily religious?”
His father let out a hearty laugh before replying, “Well done for not saying zealous, Son.”
William rolled his eyes at that, waiting for his father to regain his composure. Once it had done so, William asked the question, “What’s she been doing since the...rescue?”
“Teaching archery to everyone who wants it, which is basically everyone with Archer as either a primary, or secondary class. Having a carpenter to make bows is so helpful to those who didn’t get one for taking it as a secondary.”
William’s eyes grew wide, and he looked around for any sign of the training place. He had been busy the past few days and never noticed such an activity.
“Where’s she doing that?”
His father pointed to the palisade and replied, “On the other side, using a barricade as the target.”
William nodded at that, mostly to himself. He knew where his next visit would take him.
“I’m glad you’re getting on okay Dad, looking forward to tasting the new batch,” William said, gesturing to the crops behind his father.
His dad smiled at that, looking over the plots around him.
“Once the bandits are dealt with, I can start on a bigger, more proper field beyond the palisade.”
William looked forward to that day. Good veg in abundance was never a bad thing. He expected that Armine could probably arrange some mercantile stuff to sell any future excess.
“I’m gonna go find Mum, and congrats on another good crop.”
His father smiled and nodded as William turned about and left to find his mother.
It didn’t take long for William to find the place in question. He heard the sounds of arrows thwacking into wood and headed in that direction, weaving through the array of barricades and spikes. William saw the group come into view as everyone was absorbed in the training. He leaned against the side of a barricade to watch for a bit, not wanting to interrupt.
His mother was stood behind a line of archers, including John, completely absorbed in the effort. It was nice to see his mother focusing on something other than religion for once, and it gave him hope for the future.
William enjoyed the show, seeing people miss as often as they hit, and seeing his mother being a decent drill instructor. He was waiting for her to make them do press ups when they missed, if he was being honest. This went on for five more minutes before someone in the line of archers turned and spotted him, jumping in surprise. The act drew all eyes to his direction.
He gave a cheeky smile and spoke up, “Don’t let me keep you from training, I just wanna speak to mum for a bit.”
“Carry on with practice everyone, and try to work on grouping your arrows if you’re one of those actually landing their shots in the target,” His mother said, stern instructor vibes aplenty.
His mother approached and stood next to William, also leaning against the barricade, the pair watching the training.
“It’s nice to see you engaging in archery, mum. Bringing back fond memories?”
“It is, actually, William. I missed it, honestly. I was always so focused on god’s word, maybe overly so. I think my path is one of training. If I can help everyone protect themselves in some way, it’s like I’m protecting them as well.”
William looked at his mother in a new light then. She was sincere in her words, and he felt that it must have been tough on her to put her faith on the back burner.
William smiled and replied, “That’s a great mindset for sure. I’m sorry...for my behavior over the years. I’m glad we’re working on getting everything sorted.”
William didn’t even react as his mother grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him as she said quietly, motherly, “I am too, my darling boy. Sorry for my near-sightedness and grateful that we can even speak still.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Can I rely on you to protect the other non-combatants as a last line of defense or anything?”
She nodded at that, but added, “Only to defend the unarmed. I don’t know if I could bring myself to kill someone, even if that someone was trying to harm innocents, and I’m scared to find out the answer.”
That did make some sense, and he was curious just how she was so good with the bow.
“What made you learn archery?”
His mother laughed at that with a warm smile as she said, “You know I’m a British ex-pat. I learned it back in Britain. I was a little girl, about eight or nine, when I first started going to archery practice, but I never showed off my achievements back then. I was the national champion for a year before I fell off the podium to better talent. Younger talent too.”
She paused then, seeming to get lost in thought briefly, before shaking off those thoughts, as she continued, “I see some talent in these people too, and this time, I’m glad for it.”
William looked on and even though he had no idea on how to use a bow, he could see that some of the trainees were better than others. He was extra pleased when he noticed that John was bunching his arrows together on the target. Mage and Archer seemed superfluous together, but maybe John could learn a spell that conjured a magic bow or something.
William noticed his mother’s gaze fall onto him and he turned to face her.
“Want to try?” His mother said, some hope in her eyes.
William was about to say no, but couldn’t bring himself to deny the hope he saw, plus this was parent and child bonding in a way. It couldn’t hurt.
“I’ll give it a go. Sure,” William replied, and he saw the smile that warmed on his mother’s face, it felt...nice. The distance between them closed in that moment, and he realized that he had missed out on years of time with his whole family. He should have managed his time better and made some for those who loved him. He could fix that now though, brick by brick.
Walking up to the line, he looked at the others who had started turning his way with looks of curiosity and one of teasing from John. William would refrain from profanity towards his friend...for now. William got to the end of the line and picked up a bow and quiver that were on the ground beside that spot. He had seen videos of people shooting bows so he knew how to knock and arrow and loose it, but he was unsure of the exact positioning and grip needed.
His mother came over and adjusted his form to be proper. Once in position, he took a breath aiming at the target. He had the bow drawn and arrow trembling to be released. He obliged the arrow, letting go of it and watched as it flew forward, sticking into the edge of the target. He had hoped to do better, considering his Dexterity.
William got marginally better over the next few minutes, but was a far cry from the actual archers.
“Looks like I’m better than you in ranged combat, man,” John said, playfulness readily apparent.
William was about to tell him something colorful, but paused as he thought on John’s words: “Ranged Combat.” he never said better with a bow.
“Keep dreaming, unless you want to prove it, man,” William returned as he schemed internally.
“Sure thing. What you suggesting?”
William looked around for a few moments before spotting a suitable target. A barricade was visible about ten meters away, covered partially by two other barricades nearer and several defensive spikes.
“I suggest whoever lands the most hits on that,” William said, pointing to the target.
“three shots each,” He added, quickly.
John took a measure of the suggestion and frowned first, ever so brief, but shifted expression after some thought and nodded. William looked back towards his mother who was amused by the exchange and saw her nod her permission.
The two took position and William gestured to the target as he said, “ladies first.”
John rolled his eyes and replied, “That’s so mature of you.”
“Never said I was mature.”
“Fine, your loss.”
John took aim and fired, the arrow zipping through the air. For a brief moment, William worried that his gambit had been a mistake, but was satisfied as the arrow clipped a protruding spike, careening off into the grass, meters away. The second shot stuck into the edge of a nearer barricade, and the third passed within less than an inch of the target. That one had worried William, but his gambit was working so far, now for the finale.
William watched John grinning, confident that they would tie, prompting a rematch. Oh how wrong he was.
William matched the grin, arousing suspicion in John’s face as William drew one of his Mythril Daggers. The frown turned to realization.
“Before you argue, your words were ‘ranged combat’. You never said bows specifically,” William said, now with a devilish grin.
John saw William take aim and replied, “It is implied, given the fact this is an archery exercise.”
William shrugged as he launched the dagger with [Dagger Toss] and a healthy coating of [Mana Investment]. He destroyed a closer barricade and bisected a wooden spike, before the dagger hit the target head on, prompting the wood to explode.
“Semantics,” William said, looking at and savoring the shocked faces briefly before going to collect his dagger.
He returned moments later to the group who had regained their motion and continued practicing. John was moping at his loss and William’s mother looked at him with some amusement, quirking an eyebrow at the fiasco.
“you definitely have your father’s wit...or pedantry I guess?” She said, walking over to William.
“Probably pedantry,” He replied as his mother reached him.
The both of them laughed at their exchange for a couple moments before his mother spoke up again, “Thanks, William, it was nice seeing you do something...less dangerous and more fun.”
“It was nice to try archery, although, I’ll stick to throwing daggers for ranged needs. Let the archers be archers and all that.”
“That’s fine, if you ever want to try, I’m always here. Always, my dear boy,” She said, pulling him into a hug.
The hug was longer than William expected, but not unwelcome. When had he stopped feeling anxious from touching others too much? He wondered on it briefly as his mother let him go and turned her attention to the other trainees.
William approached John and lightly jabbed him in the shoulder before saying, “Good game, man.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe you screwed me like that.”
“You’re too gullible. I’m good at technicalities and verbal battles.”
John scoffed, eyeing William’s mother briefly before giving a whispered reply, “You aren’t the only one, man.”
John cleared his throat loudly, waving to William’s mother, “Mary, you may be a grandmother very soon.”
“You sneaky fucker.” William thought briefly, it didn’t matter because John was now in check.
William grinned at John and spoke as loudly, “Yeah, John really likes Jane. Discuss.”
John paled in horror as William turned so only John could see his face as a wry grin plastered it ear to ear.
“GLHF” William said, quiet as a whisper before leaving to do other things, glancing back to see his frowning mother and a very sheepish looking John.
“Rest in Peperoni.” William thought as he re-entered Greenwell proper.
Later that evening, John and William left Greenwell on their mission. They both had at least reasonable Dexterity so it would be a couple hours tops until they reached their destination. Both of them were in serious mode now, no banter as their lives may depend on their task.
It didn’t take them long to arrive at their destination, looking down from the hill adjacent to the storehouse. Two guards were still present out the front of the building. They were taking amongst themselves, distracted. This was an opportunity.
“Slight plan alteration,” William whispered, before adding, “Burn that hay and awning on the side. It’s been dry the past few days so the fire will take quickly. When the guards look towards the fire, I’ll appear behind them and deal with the pair.”
John didn’t reply, but nodded in affirmation. William and John crept closer until they were thirty meters away. William nodded to John and a [Fire-bolt] flew true, hitting the target. There were only embers for a moment, until the fire took, lighting up the area. Two guards with their back turned now bore elongated shadows.
It was time for William to take action.