Chapter Five in the Rise of the Shar

THE RISE OF THE SHAR
CHAPTER V

Ridiah awakened feeling energetic and healthy. “Come on, get up Razalon.” She called to her brother. For the first time that Ridiah could remember, Razalon got up without making a fuss. In fact he seemed just as eager to go outside as Ridiah.
Razalon jumped out of bed and pulled on his soft leather boots. “Let’s go!” He said excitedly. “I want to show you the target I built.”
Ridiah bent her bow and tightened the string as they walked lightfootedly down the stairs.
Quietly they opened the door and snuck outside. “Follow me.” Razalon said as he broke into a quick jog. Ridiah stayed a step behind him. Razalon led the way to his target on the edge of the small grove of trees. “Is that it?” Ridiah asked, pointing to a small red bull’s-eye that was only partly showing twenty paces ahead.
“Yes.” Razalon replied, stringing his own bow. “What do you think of it?”
“I suppose it will work for starters.”

As her brother struggled with his bow, Ridiah fitted an arrow to her own.
Then taking careful aim, she fired. Razalon looked up and watched in stunned silence as his sister’s arrow smacked onto the target, inches from the center.
That was incredible!” Razalon said, “even if it was only luck.”
“Want to bet?” Ridiah asked fitting another arrow on her bow and firing it.
Once again she hit the target about an inch from her first arrow.
With a smug look she marched past Razalon who stood staring, his mouth slightly open.
“Wait up!” Razalon called after a moment had gone by. Ridiah stopped and waited for him to reach her.
“Where do we go to shoot?” She asked.
“Over by that tree.” Razalon answered pointing to a large coconut tree that stood alone, a thirty paces from the target.

Razalon had managed to string his bow and was taking aim at the target.
“Take your time, I won’t laugh if you miss.” Ridiah told him.
He shot his arrow and hit the edge of the target. “Nice shot!” Ridiah exclaimed.
“Yeah, not as good as yours though.”
“Oh that was just luck, after all it’s not hard when you help your arrow along with a little bit of magic.” She said, grinning at him.
“I should have known that you would cheat. Leave it to you to pull some cheap trick like that!”
“Oh shut up, you know very well that you did the same thing.” She snapped.
“All right I admit I cheated, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like we were having a competition or anything.”
“All right let’s have a competition, best out of ten shots.” Ridiah challenged.
“You’re on!” Razalon agreed. “No magic.”
Ridiah fired her first shot and missed the target by a foot.
Razalon’s arrow also went wide. At five they were still tied at three hits apiece, but by seven Ridiah had a one shot lead.
She went on too win the competition six to five. Clouds rolled in from the west and a crack of thunder shook the ground.

“Ridiah, I think you should come inside it looks like it is going to rain and you just got over your fever.” Their mother called. “Let’s go!” Razalon told her, shouldering his bow and breaking into a run.
“I’ll be right behind you.” Ridiah told him fitting an arrow to her bow. Carefully measuring Razalon footsteps, she fired her shot. Razalon stumbled as the arrow splattered his leather boot. “Cut that out!” He yelled back.
Ridiah ran after him into the house ringing with familiar laughter. “It’s good to hear you two being cheerful again.” Vilix said, holding the door open. “Nice shot.” She whispered to Ridiah. Vilix set some fruit and several slices of bread on the table for breakfast. Upon finishing their meal, the twins headed up to their room. Razalon was carving a piece of wood while Ridiah read a book on plants and their useful properties. They both liked plants, but in a different way. Razalon felt somehow connected to all growing things, while his sister preffered to learn their herbal qualities. It began to rain after an hour. Razalon paused in his carving to listen to the droplets dancing on the rooftop. The rain didn’t lighten up until late in the afternoon. Malek arrived soaking wet from working in the fields. Vilix would not allow Ridiah to go outside for the remainder of the day.

Seven months passed, and the mild winter had gone along with the beginning of spring.
“Ridiah! Razalon! It’s time to get up.” Vilix called from the foot of the stairs. “What is it? Whatsamadder?” Ridiah asked sleepily.
“We are going to Ranor tomorrow, on our way to Crescent for a few weeks maybe more.” Vilix replied.
“What?” The twins asked in unison. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Razalon asked.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Vilix replied. “You need to get packed, we will be leaving early tomorrow morning.”
Ridiah jumped out of bed and started gathering some clothes. She had been planning to wash yesterday, but because it had been cloudy, she had decided against it in case of rain.
Razalon also needed to wash some clothes so they decided to go back to their swimming hole after breakfast. That would give the clothes enough time to dry in the warm weather.
“Mother, Razalon and I need to go to the creek to wash some clothes, is that all right with you?” Ridiah asked after wiping the last of the dishes dry and Razalon finished the table.
“Of course, but don’t be gone to long and be careful.”

Together, Ridiah and Razalon made their way down to the creek carrying their bags of clothes to wash. They had also brought their bows and quivers along, “Just in case.” Ridiah had said.
Razalon washed a green shirt while Ridiah scrubbed her blue dress.
After half an hour, Razalon finished his shirts and started on his pants. Ridiah was working on yet another another dress. Vilix had told Ridiah she would have to wear dresses the entire time while they were in Raner. To which Ridiah had groaned and complained that she felt the fever returning. It was tradition among elves for the women to wear dresses except in times of battle. Ridiah’s dresses had the pointed sleeves, a tradition among half elves. She sometimes wore Razalon’s clothes when she was working outside or swimming in the creek.

Razalon finished his laundry first and dove into the water with a splash and swam to the far side. The creek wasn’t as wide as it had seemed the year before. He guessed it would seem smaller with each year that passed.
The water was a little deeper today, from all the rain the stream had received the week before. But it was still flowing fairly slowly. He climbed onto a rock and shivered in the chilly morning air.
Ridiah paused in her scrubbing to watch a small school of fish swimming close to shore.
They scattered and darted under a nearby rock that protruded a few inches out of the water when she rinsed her dress. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat on the soft grass to relax.

Ridiah lay on her back close to the stream, listening to the water as it flowed over the rocks and the sound of birds singing in the trees. She sat up when she heard what sounded unmistakably like approaching footsteps. Hurriedly she looked around for Razalon.
He was sitting close by, watching the stream.

“Razalon, quick! Get out of sight, someone is coming!” Ridiah urged. Gathering their clothes as fast as they could, they ducked behind a thick patch of shrubbery. Listening tensely.
Both remembered the surprise attack the year before.
The undergrowth shook as branches were pushed aside. Someone stepped into the clearing, a man. The footsteps slowed then stopped near the stream.

Quietly, Razalon stole a glance around the edge of the plant and was relieved to see Malek standing near the edge of the stream.
“It’s father.”
Ridiah let out a sigh of relief and grabbed Razalon to keep him from stepping out.
“String your bow.” She whispered.
Razalon raised an eyebrow but complied.
“We’re going to hit him with some fake arrows for sneaking up on us like that.” She explained.
Together they aimed at the back of his head and waited for him to turn around.
Ridiah was getting impatient, after they had been sitting quietly for a couple minutes. Spotting a dead tree behind her, Ridiah felt on the ground around the trunk until her fingers found a small twig. Holding her breath, she snapped it with a crack! Malek whirled around to find a pair arrows flying at his face. Before he could duck, the shafts were glued to his cheek, oozing sticky slime.

Ridiah stepped out from behind the shrubbery where they had hid Razalon came into view behind her. They burst out laughing when they saw their father’s face.
With a playful yell, Malek jumped on top of them and started tickling.
Ridiah was nearly screaming with laughter when Malek stood up and said they had better be getting back. He walked over to the stream to wash his face off then led the way home. Ridiah explained that she and Razalon had just finished washing their clothes and were sitting on the bank of the creek when she had heard him. Fearing that it might be the return of the attackers she had suggested to Razalon that they hide until they knew who it was.
“Well, you did the right thing,” Malek told them, “I mean staying out of sight until you knew who it was, not shooting me.” He said with a chuckle.
They arrived home with enough time to hang up their clothes to dry and get ready for the trip.