The old man sitting across from us raised an eyebrow, straightening his back in his seat before leaning forward and folding his hands. “An efficient one you say… And, you wish to help make this bow?”
‘Wait… what?’ I looked over at my brother, feeling like I was missing something important.
With a slow glance at me, his eyes suddenly turned serious before looking back at the old man. “Yes.”
The man's smile grew until he let out a hearty laugh. Finally, he turned his neck to the door. “HEY EITRI, YOU OWE ME FIVE SILVERS!” He yelled, Airsidh’s head hanging even lower than before.
‘Definitely missed something…’
Overjoyed the man stood up, grabbing my hands in his own. “Pleased to meet you lassy, let's hurry up and get this started for you. This way to the bowman's workshop.”
Before I knew it I was being dragged away, but I didn't mind that much. For once, it felt like I was being dragged into something good. Something that made people smile, that made them happy. It occurred to me I had never actually seen the bowman's workshop, so I couldn’t help but get a little bit giddy along with him.
Two doors down we made a right and a massive workshop sprawled out before us. As large as the space was it was a bit cramped from all the materials and projects, but that was what made it feel real to me.
The scent of sawdust filled the air as a blast of heat rushed past me. It was a lot to take in. I didn’t know what half of what I was looking at even was.
“Right then. Were going to make you a bow you can use for the rest of your life. It will be able to skin a cat, gut a hog, and shoot a dragon from the sky.”
His words instantly pulled my attention back towards him. “We are… talking about a bow, right?”
My brother placed a hand on my shoulder as he inched past me to join the man. “This will be her first one, let's keep it simple. Something sturdy and flexible, but invincible. Something you could use to knock out an orc.”
‘That doesn’t sound like a bow either…’
“U-uhm… Guys?”
He looked up. “What is it? Oh right, you're supposed to be the one to design it. What did you have in mind?”
“Uh… Well… The kind that shoots arrows would be nice I guess…”
They looked at each other and started laughing as if I was the crazy one. “Of course of course.”
Airsidh took a closer look, analyzing me and making me feel a bit embarrassed. “Hm… For details we need things like draw weight and material, what kind of arrows you want to shoot etcetera.”.
‘I mean, does any of that matter though?’ I thought about it quickly. “What would really be nice would be a bow with an adjustable draw weight, or maybe one with multiple limbs so I can switch the draw weight by switching hands. That way even when I run out of… When I get tired… I’ll still be able to shoot it.”
He raised a hand to his chin.
“Yeah… I figured that was a bit of a long shot.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The old man laughed at my phrasing. “I like this girl!” With a large swipe of his hand, he cleared everything off of a large table, shoving it onto the floor before rolling out a blank piece of paper, and handing Airsidh a sketching pencil.
They seemed really into it, but if I was being honest, what I really wanted was a gun. Too bad I had no idea how those actually worked, besides the basic, boom makes things fly concept.
“Oh, and the string needs to be one that won't hurt my fingers too bad, my skin isn’t that rough and my fingers are pretty small, so all the tension is more concentrated.”
“Yeah yeah I know let me work,” Airsidh said, shooing me away with his hand before getting a swift punch to the side that made him nearly fall to the ground.
Considering Lu couldn’t even phase him… It was a bit scary. “Let me see them.” He said with his gruff voice
“See them?” I repeated, not understanding at first.
“Your hands, let me see them.”
I walked closer, laying them on the table palms up. “Oh, and I want to be able to shoot the bow right and left-handed if that's ok too. I don't really know anything about how they're made, so I’m sorry if I’m asking for too much.”
Without looking he placed a finger on my lips so I would stop talking as he stared intently at my hands. After a moment he gently ran his fingers across mine, admittedly making me feel more than a bit awkward…
He pulled away looking up at my eyes. “Your hands are perfect.” He stepped back raising his arms as if he was holding a bow. “As you pull a bowstring back, the string will want to snap forward, this is obviously why the arow flies from the bow. But this also creates a pinching of the fingers. That's why longer bows are usually favored, and why elves developed their unique style.”
I raised my hands, looking at them myself. ‘Does all that really even matter though?’
“There are other reasons of course, but the smaller the hands or the longer the bow, the less this affects the release, which then translates to how consistent your aim is. Small hands can be quite beneficial. Although, since I’m making your bow it wouldn’t matter either way.”
‘Did he really just say all that to brag about himself?’
He cleared his throat. “Right, well, either way. Your hands aren’t a problem. They are a bit soft, you had that right, but that should be fine too. See how this feels.”
He grabbed a long partially carved bow frame from a stack and handed it to me. As I took it in my hands it felt like it was made for me, my hand fighting perfectly into the smooth grooves of the handle.
“That's called Sika wood, feels nice, doesn’t it? People with rough hands can’t appreciate it because of their thick callouses. It almost feels like it’s meshed with you’re skin and become a part of you right?”
He took it back. “Feel this too.”
A long string dangled it in front of me. “We call this Rivertwine. A special silk made from soft strands that line the insides of young trees that grow underwater. As the tree ages, it expells the strands and hardens, leaving them with us to make this.”
I almost laughed, not sure what reaction I was supposed to have as I was once again suddenly reminded that I wasn’t in a medieval world, but a fantasy one. The silk string felt like I was touching solid air.
He grabbed the other end and pulled on it. “Even when holding tension it feels soft, but it transfers force the same as any other string.”
‘That's amazing.’
I was still a little awestruck, so he continued. “So… What do you think, you want to use these materials for the base?”
“Uh… Yeah… That should be fine… But, is there any way this can be done by tomorrow morning?”
They both froze, slowly looking at me and then at each other.
‘Fairy dust… I should have expected that. It probably takes days, if not weeks to make something like this.’
There gazes both fixed back on me, as if they ddin’t know what to say.
‘Of course… They would need to carve and treat the wood… And make the string to length… I’d rather not rely on a heavy war bow… Luggin extra weight like that around would defeat the purpose of wearing lighter armor… So then I’ll just have to rely on a sowrd.”
I was trying to think through the problem, but I could feel my posture starting to slump. ‘A greatsword in small tunlles? What if I can’t get Lu’s old armor either, or even a knife like I wanted…’
Aisidh nodded to the old man, who scratched his head with a deep groan. “Just make sure you treat it with care…” He said, his displeasure bleeding through a bit, a little unsure why he was agreeing to such a deadline.
I felt chills run down my arms again as my breath caught in my lungs with excitement. “R-really!”
The old man let out a sigh. “Yeah yeah… You better appreciate this though… I haven’t pulled an all-nighter in decades.”
I almost started to cry. I was still worried about going into a dungeon, and if my preparations started to fall apart too I really didn’t know what I was going to do. “Thank you so much for this.”
He suddenly let out another more awkward groan, unsure of how to respond “Hey HEY. There's no need for that.”
My lips slightly parted as I tilted my head, staring back in confusion. “What do you mean?” ‘It's not like I actually…’ I wiped my eyes, feeling my hands get wet. ‘Oh… Right… I can’t seem to even tell when I’m crying anymore…’
I wiped my eyes clean and did my best to smile, trying to hide how embarrassed I was. “Thank you again. Uhm… I’ll let you guys get to work.” Turning around, I left as fast as I could, trying to get some fresh air.
“You better make this the best darn bow you've ever made.” The old man whisper to my brother as I left. Well, maybe those weren’t his exact words, but you get the idea.