Chapter Three

“Ready, aim... FIRE!!!!!!!!!” Gilan called as they released the first volley of arrows. They moved closer to see where each arrow hit. There were black, green, grey and blue arrows. Will had grey, Gilan had green, Kisha had black, and Jay had blue. The grey arrow was in the center, a dead center bullseye. Hers was near the outside edge of the second ring.

“Nice one, Will,” Gilan commented. His arrow was in the third of the fourth rings, almost in the second.

“You need more practice,” Kisha told her mentor. “I think you practice too much with that hunk of metal hanging on your hip.” Gilan scowled at her playfully.

“For one, I was a bit distracted trying to call the shot,” Kisha snorted at this. “For two, I was trying to make you look better.” She rolled her eyes. “And a hunk of metal?! My sword is stronger and more beautiful than yours. You’re just jealous,” Gilan decided.

“Where’s mine?” Jay asked, glancing at the target. “Oh. There it is.” The blue fletched arrow had stuck itself in the outermost ring of the target. “Dang. I thought I saw something in the woods… I must’ve jerked up or something.”

“Sure,” Kisha teased.

“I’m serious, there’s something, or someone, there,” Jay insisted. They peered into the woods.

“Here, Ebony,” Will called. A second later, Ebony came, but from a different direction.

“Kisha will go look at it,” Gilan volunteered good-naturedly. Kisha rolled her eyes and walked off into the woods in the direction that Jay had pointed in. she walked for a little while, looking around and listening for anything out of place. She could almost feel a connection, tugging her in a certain direction. She followed it, telling herself that it was just a gut feeling.

She was about to go back when she stumbled into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, was a large, beautiful, green dragon. She involuntarily gasped when she saw it. The dragon turned its head towards her, and looked directly into her eyes, seeming to see into her soul. Then, quick as a flash, it vanished into the foliage. Kisha took a few more steps towards where the dragon had been, but she couldn’t find hide nor hair of it.

Kisha realized that she had been in the woods for a while. Strangely, she felt a strong conviction that she shouldn’t tell the others about the dragon. Quickly retracing her steps, she saw a knife in a scabbard, but it wasn’t the traditional double scabbard knife the Rangers used, it was more of a common make. However, the counterweight was a large emerald, which she could tell was real. Wrapping around the emerald was the same silver dragon that was on the pin she had found earlier. She strapped the knife on under her tunic and stepped out of the woods.

“Nothing there, probably just a deer or something that got spooked off,” Kisha announced. Everyone had released a huge sigh of relief when she had stepped out of the woods. They continued the competition, and Kisha got second. Will, as expected, got first, a dead bullseye every time. Surprisingly, Jay just barely beat Gilan for third. Kisha smirked, knowing that she would tease him for weeks.

After they had hopped on their respective horses and promised to visit again in a few days, they rode away.

“So, got beat by a month-old apprentice, huh? Maybe you should spend more time on archery and less time on your sword,” Kisha teased.

“My sword?! You spend hours on yours every day!” Gilan shot back.

“I’m an apprentice,” Kisha responded. “And I don’t have an expert to teach me about mine!!” One of the heirlooms Kisha’s family had inherited was a double katana scabbard that strapped over her shoulder. Though the swords were katanas, they were several inches longer than the ones used by the people in Nihon-Ja, whom Will, Halt, Gilan, and Horace encountered a while back.

“That’s because there is no expert on your weapon!!” Gilan told her.

“Yes, the Sorrelians Rangers are experts!”

“Correction: the Sorrelian versions of Rangers, the Vakter.”

“Still,” Kisha told him. “Maybe I can meet up with some of them, and they can train me.”

“I am doing just fine training you,” Gilan replied, hurt.

“I meant with my katanas!!” Kisha yelled, frustrated.

“Sure,” Gilan replied coldly, then trotted on ahead of her. Kisha sighed, and trotted along behind him at a distance, knowing that trying to talk to him now wouldn’t help anything. Being so caught up in her thoughts she didn’t realize when she took the wrong path and nearly stumbled into a large, green, almost invisible shape. She drew back on the reins, but the gesture was unnecessary as Cheshire stopped instinctively.

Kisha hopped off of him and moved a few steps closer. The shape was camouflaged and hard to see in the green spring forest. She drew her breath in sharply as she realized what she was looking at. The green dragon from earlier. She instinctively put her hand on the knife and amulet she had picked up earlier that day. They were glowing slightly. With a start, she realized that the reason that the symbols looked so familiar was that they were like the ones on her katanas. She pulled one out of its scabbard and compared them. They were exact replicas, the symbol on the katanas just being a little more worn from use.

I know that you’re there, came a deep musical voice. Kisha jumped and looked around. Not seeing anyone, she took a step nearer to the dragon, as if to find someone hiding behind it.

No one’s there, the voice said.

“Where are you?” Kisha asked the woods, straining her ears for an answer.

You silly girl, Kisha whirled around, looking for the voice. I’m right in front of you. The apprentice Ranger turned slowly towards the dragon, and noticed, for the first time, that the voice wasn’t coming in through her ears; it was in her head.

Hello? she thought towards the dragon.

You’re trying too hard. It’s easier if you relax. Kisha tried relaxing her shoulders, but the dragon laughed inside her head.

What’s your name? Kisha asked the dragon.

You know.

I do?

You were the one who named me, remember?  Suddenly, a flow of memories came back to Kisha, unbidden. The green dragon, a baby, just as young as she, peering through her window. When she was just toddling around, her playing with the baby dragon, almost bigger than her, then more memories, spaced farther and farther apart, until finally, it ended, when she was about 7, when she had dismissed the idea of her dragon, from everyone telling her that dragons weren’t real, and from the dragon’s infrequent visits.

Sela, Kisha thought. The dragon smiled in her head.

It’s nice to hear someone say my name. Feelings of loneliness flooded to Kisha from Sela. Kisha felt suddenly guilty, for ignoring and not remembering her dragon, her best friend, her only friend as a child.

I’m so sorry, Kisha thought.

It’s ok, Sela told her. This is what everybody goes through.

Everybody?

Haven’t you figured it out by now? You’re Vakter.

Vakter?

Yes. Now go, or Gilan will worry.

Ok, see you soon.

Yes, I will see you very soon. She turns to go, accidentally running into Cheshire in the process. Wanna tell me what that was all about?  He seemed to demand.

“Cheshire, I really don’t have time for this. Gilan will be worried. I have to get back,” she scooted around the stubborn horse and went back the way she came, and to the cabin.