Abominable Bowman

By Fatimah Akanbi

Victoria perched gracelessly atop a white hill overlooking the woody border of the Avalonian capital. In a sentinel drill, a student of the royal defence academy ought to be standing like a sentinel, but the climb uphill had left her too worn out to even try. She drew her knees close to her chest and took deep breaths. Unwilling to lose all dignity at her post, she made sure to steady her bow in front of her and keep her eyes on the valley below. And should the supervisor come around, it wouldn't take her long to shuffle into a proper position.

When an arrow whizzed past her shoulder, she bristled and loaded her bow on reflex. The arrow, landing on a warped tree trunk rooted in the white rock she sat on, appeared to have come from a close range, at her altitude. She looked over to the second hill across from hers, and her colleague lifted his hand in a small wave.

Victoria eased the grip on her bow and turned back to the arrow in the tree. There was a piece of white cloth fluttering at its tail. She gave the other archer, Elian, a questioning glance to which he replied with a sort of beseeching nod.

Self-consciously, feet tingling inside her boots, she untied the cloth and opened it up. Written in what smelled like tree sap was a single line that said, ‘How are you doing over there?’ She was surprised. Only pleasantly, of course. It was just that they had been stationed together a lot of times before, and he never talked. Not until now.

Victoria passed her thumb over the cloth. The fabric’s feel suggested it might have come from the tunic of the academy uniform. Had Elian ripped that out of his own sleeve? She blinked, making the decision not to prod any further. She twisted sideways, broke a small branch off the tree she sat by and wrote a reply.

‘Good, but I wouldn't be able to respond if you had shot my writing hand, though.’

She tied the message to her arrow and sent it. Second thoughts flooded her mind as she released the bow string. She hoped Elian wouldn't think the joke was too expensive. When she saw a smile on his distant face upon reading it, she felt relieved.

Elian wrote again, this time, aiming at a farther tree. ‘Sorry,’ he said. Then, in a new paragraph, ‘The New Moon costume party is at the end of the week, you know. Time flew by fast. I didn't even realise it’s so near already. Would you like to go to the New Moon with me?’

Victoria’s breath hitched, and an awkward smile spread across her face. Lifting her eyes, she found Elian staring down at the valley, one hand on his bow, the other twitching expectantly. When he looked up, she looked away, hoping he hadn't caught her watching him. She broke another branch and settled herself to write.

‘Yes, I'll be glad to.’

As her reply arrived, she saw Elian’s teeth out once again, in a big grin that made him look rather childish. He raised his bow and shot one more message over. In it, he wrote, ‘I’ll see you there’ in capitals, accompanied by the drawing of a little crescent moon.

💕💕💕💕

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Fatimah Akanbi writes fiction and poetry. She has been writing since she was five, and is currently pursuing a degree in Information Technology at the University of Ilorin. Her works have appeared on Sudden Flash, Star*Line and elsewhere. She is @legendary.scribe on Instagram.