The Hunt for the Title

Prologue

         As I watch the beast devour my right foot, I could feel my bones snapping in half like a pair of small twigs.

“Crack,” my ankle cracks in half as I try to crawl my way to freedom but to no avail. It seemed so effortlessly for the animal to grab a hold of me and shake me to death like a rag doll.

“Anywhere but here,” I thought to myself as the tears started streaming down my face. “I wish to not have my life end here.”

Before I could reach for my wooden bow that was fingertips away from my body, a piercing sound rang through the woods. I was loosing a great amount of blood and when I stared down at my nonexistent foot, I blacked in and out of consciousness. I managed to catch a glimpse of the fight before letting go for good.

A few feet to where my severed foot laid, came a sound of whimpering and howling. All I could make out in the darkness was a tall shadow stabbing the monster repeatedly until it laid quiet in the tall grass. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and drifted off into complete darkness.

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Chapter One

         ”You need to push yourself if you want to win against your brothers.”

I watched with pain in my chest at my father coaxing me to continue my training. I spring up to my feet and launch a surprise kick to his frontal lobe. My father is too quick and grabs me by the ankle and tosses me aside in one swift motion.

“Again,” my father exclaimed!
In one angry huff, I turn to get my bow that was fastened on my back. I draw my bow back and aim an arrow straight towards my father. I’m the only one in my whole village that is skilled with a bow and arrow. I can set up and shoot in the same time a man can blink his eyes.

This time was no different, by the time it took my father to prepare himself, the arrow shot straight past his left ear. My father looked behind him to where the arrow landed and it hit dead center in the sacred willow tree that shaded our river bank.

“Willow,” my father yelled out. “Why on earth would you shoot an arrow in our sacred tree?”

Yes, I am named after that sacred willow. My bow was made from one of the branches from the same willow tree, so I know how sacred it is.

“Sorry father, I was trying to aim at you not the willow,” I said with a smile on my face.

My father knows that I never miss with my bow, “my daughter, I’m very proud at how far your training has come.”

I bow to show my gratitude towards his praises.

“I believe you need some work on your hand to hand combat. Akanau will train you to become a better fighter.”

My father adored Akanau and Rinaud, his two prized male sons that were older than I was.