"Keep watching mate! And more carefully!!"
Heath moved slowly and discreetly from behind one tree or rock to another, observing carefully the movement of the target, an antelope which was about 12 meters ahead from his position.
Hung askew on his back was a quiver full of arrows and in-between his fists was a bow.
He clenched the bow in his fists, slid an arrow from his quiver tightly fitted to his back, and nocked the arrow against the string of the bow, pulling it slightly whilst continuing in careful motion towards the antelope.
Antelopes are quick animals, so he was being careful and his fellow colleagues who were hidden somewhere in the bushes behind him wanted this catch badly. It's the only fun thing they'd gotten to do having being stuck to a daily routine of missions as members of the Sohei of the Monkogon temple. The Sohei are the warrior monks in charge of protection of the temple. They have an attire just like the flowing robes of monks except that it features sheets of metal armour worn at the joints and chest.
They usually took on dangerous missions that involved leaving the temple to the outside world beyond the walls.
The outside world wouldn't be so dangerous but for their sworn enemies, the mages. The monks, as far as their ancestry goes have always been sworn enemies of the mages. They have been at war since as far back as their origination and none has really been able to completely prevail over the other.
Recently for the past decade they had experienced some negative peace, something that hadn't ever happened. Because of this they'd become unconsciously, a little bit relaxed outside the walls. On this occasion, the had just finished an escort of one of the ambassadors of the ruling empire from the outside world and were on their way back through the forest.
In this world, there are three kinds of civilization; the monks, the mages and the outer empire as it is called. The monks have some level of mastery over nature's energy referred to as 'chi'. They use chi to create and manipulate all sorts of elements like fire, wind, lightning and the likes. The mages, on the other hand, make use of magic and replicate similar display of power as the monks by spells and enchantments. However, the the outer empire have attained some level of intelligence and advancement in technology which they use for protection and for improvement of standard of living.
So, because of the absence of war for a long time, this squad of the Sohei of the temple happened to be taking a break after completing their mission, by hunting down an antelope in the thick forest. Unfortunately, they would soon find out how costly this little mistake would be.
The ranking system of the Monkogon army was based on three parameters; Level of skill in the use of weapons, Level of combat skill unarmed, and most importantly, level of skill in the use of chi to manipulate natural elements. Every test in the army, and the whole temple really, was fundamentally based on these three criteria.
The squad currently on mission was the 18th squad and they were a total number of 13 men. They had formed a camp nearby and we're having a lunch break when one of them spotted the antelope which led to the chase. Heath and two other Sohei; Thoma and Usher were following the animal while the others were in the carriage, on the horses and just around the little camp ground.
Shhhhh....
This was the sound of Heath infusing the arrowhead with some fire which he had created using his chi. He had clicked a lighter and manipulated the little fire to become about 10 times stronger and hotter. The arrowhead was now infused with a relatively large tongue of fire that could hardly be put out by normal wind.
Finally, after getting a good spot, he lifted up his bow, pulled a little harder on the string and took a deep breath. He let the arrow go and it went straight to the animal.
Thukkkk...
The sound of the arrow hitting a tree devastated Heath. He had missed!
He was sure he'd got it but somehow, maybe due to tiredness, his cutting edge aiming skill had failed this time! The animal impulsively jolted away from the river bank and made way straight towards the bushes and another loud sound was heard.
Suddenly the three Sohei looked forward in shock to see the animal fallen to the ground just right before it was about to escape. An arrow had been driven straight into its skull and sparks of lightning were seen at the tip of the arrowhead.
"Who the heck was that!" Usher exclaimed in surprise as he and Thoma came out of their hiding place.
"Yeah! That was damn fast, I thought we'd lost it for sure!" Heath said.
Wait! Speaking of lightning, who else could it be but...
"Surprised are we! A loud voice interjected".
The loud voice came from above so the rest of the squad members looked upwards to sight a Sohei who was standing on a tree branch many meters above the ground. He was almost at the top of the tree and at that height would hardly be discovered by anything or anyone.
"Of course it's you!" Thoma said. "Who else can't help it but prove to Heath that he's the better knight".
Heath lowered his bow and hung it behind him.
"Nice shot Evro", he said. "We would have returned to the others empty-handed, all our efforts would have been in vain".
"Oh they were in vain still!" Evro nonchalantly replied.
"Why're you congratulating this jerk Heath, you know he only did this to show you he's better than you!" Usher answered.
Evro jumped straight down from the top of the the tree branch high up and was headed towards the ground legs-first. As he was about three meters above the ground, he created a slight wind current beneath his feets which brought him down to a soft rest. Evro was one of the best users of lightning on the team and Heath's sworn rival.
He was always trying to prove a point to Heath that he should have been picked as leader of their squad. Heath however was less concerned about this. In fact he could easily give up his position as leader if the Sohei council would consent.
"It's my catch and I'm taking it back with me", Evro said as he gradually lifted up the animal and started walking towards the camp.
"Selfish jerk! You don't ever disappoint in keeping up to your reputation".
"Just when I always think you can't just get worse you dig a new low!"
They were the words of Thoma and Usher.
"Let's all calm down shall we. Evro deserves the credit, he killed the animal". Heath replied reassuringly, trying to calm his upset temmates.
"Yeah, tell them Heath. They seem to get pissed anytime I outdo you". Evro said with a mischievous grin.
They all headed towards the camp. When they reached, they celebrated the catch, skinned the animal and had it for lunch.
After they had sufficiently rested, they decided to continue their journey as it was getting dark and they began to saddle their horses. They gathered their belongings from the camp site, mounted their horses and started to head to the temple.
Under normal circumstances, they shouldn't have spent three hours at the camp ground as that was quite dangerous since they were in the forest outside the walls. But because no one really was expecting anything much to happen, they waved common reasoning aside and decided to have a once-in-a-while experience of freedom.
They packed their things lazily and in heavyness as they were all over-full from the lunch they had.
They made way on horses and with the carriage through the forest.
After riding for about 30 minutes, it had become completely dark but they could now see the walls over the horizon
Home, sweet home! One of the knights said with a yawn.
Yeah, never thought I'd be so happy to be back! I'm so full, all I wanna do is lie down on my bed right now and crash all night! Another replied.
They were just about to leave the bushes to open land when suddenly a rope caught the neck of one of the knights and dragged him off his horse. A loud scream was heard and suddenly there was silence...