Year 25-2

I was talented enough to call myself an archer by the time Tucker and I had reached The Enchanted Forest. Even after the King’s soldiers tried to burn our new home to ashes, no one needed me to reconstruct what they lost. After a few weeks, scars of the attack were hidden. Responsibilities were few for me. There was one thing I could do for my people, for Tucker’s people.

Hunting.

I was the best hunter we had. Elves were faster, fairies were small enough to sneak up on their prey, half breeds had animal traits to give them an extra edge, but none took pleasure in killing. They were all, each one of them, capable of terrible inhumanity, but they shunned it unless a situation called for blood. I didn’t enjoy killing, but I found peace in it. I knew if no one else would, I could provide nourishment. I could find it, kill it, skin it clean, and pass it along. That was my purpose. That was my duty, and it kept me close to the ground. I needed to be needed. I wanted to know they had a use for me. So often, I was out of place.

People let go of things every day. People let go of what they love, but they let go of the useless and unnecessary first.

I didn’t have pointed ears, fur, wings, or magic. I was human. Tucker and I had liberated fae odd and unseen, but how long would they allow me to stay after my work had been done? They treated me well, better than I deserved. They told me to relax and savor the fruits of our labor, but fruits rot with time.

I was out on a hunt to clear my mind. Early morning, before Tucker awoke, I took the only other person among us willing to hurt another living soul outside of combat. Her name was Arwen. A pink elf with pointed ears, her beauty hid the life she had unfortunately suffered.

“You’re stupid,” she said.

“Thanks,” I answered sarcastically.

Her opinions were appreciated. She could be refreshing and blunt compared to her brothers if nothing else.

“No one wants you gone. None of us would be here without you,” she said while we crept through tall grass, looking out onto a moist field.

“None of you would be here without Tucker,” I said.

“The both of you saved us. Tucker has God-like power now only because you helped him keep his Vow,” she added.

We readied our bows. There was nothing in sight, but that could change in an instant. Waiting was to be expected.

“He’s all that I have; he’s all that I know now. My past is so far away. It’s so distant even in my mind. I wonder have I lost it. I don’t wish to lose Tucker as well,” I spoke in careful whispers.

“Then don’t be empty-headed,” she laughed, but it was unsettling.

The soil under our feet was damp. It had stormed for two nights prior. Quail were easy to catch after the rain. They came out to forage for bugs and worms when it was wet. When I saw them, so did Arwen. Before I could pull back my string, she let off a flurry of shots. It took precision and control to shoot a bird out of the sky, but quail preferred to run on the ground rather than take flight. Despite Arwen’s speed, she only hit a few birds. I had the accuracy to catch whatever tried to fly from our vision.

Seven birds. Not our best record, but I was distracted. It wouldn’t be enough to feed all the dozens of fae in our settlement, but there were other places to hunt for game. We gathered our things to move.

“You’re wrong, you know,” Arwen said while we walked to collect our rewards.

“About what,” I asked while we trudged through mud and water.

“He’s not all you have. No matter what anyone says, you will always be the man who saved me, and for that, you have me till my last day,” she said, handing me a lifeless bird from the mud.