Breath in.
Breath out.
Hold.
The string thrummed like a plucked wire as the stock slammed into my shoulder. The bolt streaked downrange, snapping through the shaft already buried in the target. Splinters scattered like dust.
Again.
I planted the weapon's stirrup into the dirt and bent low, both hands hauling the lever connected to the string. The sinew cords resisted, the lever biting into my palms until they clicked into place. My shoulders ached with a familiar straining, but the motion was as natural as breathing.
The next bolt slid into the groove with a rasp of metal on wood. Heavy in my hands, the crossbow came up to my cheek.
Aim.
Steady breath.
Release.
Another crack of impact. The target shivered, wood fibers peeling back forming a flower around the bullseye.
Six heartbeats. That was all it took to draw, load, aim, and fire. But it was my life achievement. Years of repetition had carved the rhythm into my body, leaving my hands calloused, wrists scarred, fingertips tough as leather. Every line etched into my skin was a memory of work with the weapon.
A slow clapping broke the silence.
I turned and saw the annoyingly familiar face of Qapla. He leaned on a shield, sweat slick on his shirtless ashen, muscular frame. The others who had been trained with him lay scattered behind him, groaning or motionless; whether from exhaustion or death was anyone's guess.
"Very impressive Velyan." He said, voice rich with amusement. "If your enemy stands still long enough for you to reload, you'll be unstoppable."
This bastard.
"If they get that close in the first place." I shot back.
"I've been here for minutes," Qapla said with a smug toothy grin. "You didn't notice me at all."
"So instead of training, you lurked and watched me?"
Qapla coughed into his fist, "Yes. Admiring how you shoot… still targets"
"The next one's going through your skull."
I flicked the crossbow up to my shoulder, the trigger snapping back. The string screamed forward. Qapla jerked his shield up just as the bolt tore through it, streaking past his head to bury itself in a pillar.
He turned, mouth agape, staring at the shaft quivering inches from where his head had been moments ago.
I stooped to gather my bolts, brushed the dirt from my hands, and strode past him toward the guild house.
"You almost killed me," he barked, half outrage, half disbelief.
"You lived."
His tone shifted back to smugness, "Because you missed."
"Because I didn't want to hit you."
I rounded the corner before he could retort, his grumbling fading behind me. I was headed to clean up. At least, until I caught sight of Annalise crouched near a dark pile of blood and bone.
Beside her stood something I hadn't expected to ever see outside Caelanth. A Luparic. Towering, wolf-blooded, his white fur-stained red. His claws wielded a knife with calm precision, peeling black hide from whatever carcass lay at his feet.
I stopped three paces short of them as the smell washed over me. Iron and tallow, it reminded me too much of the wall.
Annalise glanced up, her signature grin already in place. "Afternoon, Velyan. You pick a fight with that pillar or did it start it this time?"
"Pillar started it." I set the bundle of bolts at my feet. "What is that."
"That pile used to be a doppelganger." Her voice softened, "And before that it was a kobold known as Quillan."
The Luparic looked up at our conversation. His eyes were unique, one piercing blue, one stunning brown. This was the very same Luparic that helped me find Humperdink. He was a lot calmer now. He gave me a brief nod as his knife kept moving, peeling the hide from flesh.
"Velyan," Annalise said as she stood, wiping her hands on rag that stained more red than white. "This is Adrastos. He is with Humperdink at the apothecary. He is very polite, very useful, and very sticky at the moment."
"Adrastos," I said, "I don't believe I ever had the chance before. But thank you for the help."
"It is my duty as Yaelin's servant." Adrastos spoke, "If you must thank me, thank her for giving me the power to help others."
"Uh-huh." Great. I just loved religious types. So much.
Annalise spoke. "Helena was looking for you. Said as soon as you got tired scaring lumber you should come up. Something about a book."
"Helena can wait just a moment," I said. "I'm more curious how in the hells you came across a doppelganger."
"We accepted a quest for a noble," she spoke, and her grin faded into that thin line she got when she was thinking. "On paper it was just firebugs, but when we got there one of the guards revealed the whole damn mess."
"Let me guess, the guards were getting slowly replaced my dopplegangers. You two discovered one of them and brought them here to Helena to ensure it was killed properly."
Annalise's voice died down, along with her energy. "Did Qapla already tell you? I haven't even heard of Doppelgangers before today."
"No, it was just easy to tell. I've studied quite a bit of monsters to learn their weaknesses. Doppelgangers are dangerous if undiscovered, and they are deadly fighters. However, their habits are predictable, and so are yours. I just put the two and two together."
"Damn it, I was looking forward to seeing your reaction." Annalise grumbled and she kicked a pebble away.
I looked at the clean piles of flesh slowly being professionally separated from the hide. "So, are you a priest, a healer, or a butcher?"
Adrastos stopped his work for a moment, "All of them. All are a form of mercy."
"Where are you from?"
"Born in the United Tribes in Caelanth," He said, "Under the Beast Emperor, before the war and religion drove us across the sea."
"I lost a lot of family and friends to your banners."
"My mother died to yours." He said, his tone did not change, he could have been reading a newspaper. But his eyes bore into mine. "And your Empire started it."
Annalise stepped between us with an easy laugh that was not quite as easy as it sounded. "Now that the history lesson is over, let's try introductions the civilized way."
She pointed with rag in hand. "Adrastos, this is Velyan. She keeps the children from blowing us up, ensures the guild is honest, and can kill a fly from across the yard. Velyan, Adrastos is a very soft, friendly wolf who gives away magical flowers, and is willing to climb walls of stone to sniff out a lie."
"Well met, Adrastos."
"And you," he said, before lifting the freshly cut hide like a folded flag.
"I should go see Helena, but it sounds like you have had a very entertaining morning to say the least."
"That's one way to put it." Annalise laughed, "After you are done meet me at the house, We have three spare bedrooms and I'm planning on giving one to Adrastos. The big guy slept in a broom closet last night."
I glanced over at Adrastos who was fruitlessly trying to use the remnants of the rag to destain his fur.
"Looks about right. I'll swing by, but I'm planning on finding a blacksmith and a true teacher for the kids." I thought back to this morning, "They need someone who has had training in this area. Not just a soldier."
"See you then." Annalise waved me off as I entered into the guild and headed up the stairs.