Thea: Lunar Descendant

Chapter 7: On Target

Later that evening on the rooftop.

“Lets have you do a few more rounds of archery practice and then we’ll end with some sparring drills.” 

Thomas strolled to the racks of bows and grabbed a satchel of arrows before tossing me a set. The sweat felt like it was pouring out of my body, but I wouldn’t give up. Thomas knows me well enough, I think he’s giving me a break by bringing up the archery. 

“Hey Thomas, why do warriors learn archery? If our strength lies with our wolves, well, your wolves why practice it so much?”

“Just because you’re great at one thing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice other talents. Mostly it’s in times of battle. You’re not always going to be in close quarters to fight your enemy. A lot of rogues use arrows as a way to hunt undetected.” He hit his bullseye as he made the last statement.

“Do you know what a Lunar is?”

“I guess Mom and Dad finally said something huh?”

“You knew?”

“I knew you liked Mani, but I had a feeling after it seemed like you could almost read his thoughts these past few months, I always felt it’s as if he was meant to be your wolf since shifting and you taking to him so quickly and vice versa.”

I pulled my next arrow back, and once it was straining against my bow I shifted my fingers. It pushed forward gracefully, but hit just off of the bullseye.

"Not bad Cel, just try to focus your breathing. 

You're holding in your breath and exhaling super quickly. Just relax a little more." I tried to do what he said. I looked over to see the moon peak out just over the trees. It's the first night of this full moon cycle. I let it calm me as I look at the moonlight on my extended arms. As I take my last breath my eyes close, as a wave of calm washes over me, starting as a tingling in my fingertips. When I open my eyes, everything becomes much clearer and within a second I launch the arrow towards my target. I hear the soft wisp of the bow until it makes contact and the thud of it hitting there. Right on the bullseye. Thomas normally would be cheering me on but unlike the other times I accomplish that, this time there's a faint white glow hovering in the air from where the arrow was. It sparkles in the light until the trail rains down like the finest snow or glitter, but disappears before it can hit the ground. I look to Thomas, whose jaw is still hanging open. "That...was...AWESOME!" Thomas laughs and wraps me up in a hug. "I wonder what else you can do. That was nuts. I've never seen an arrow move like that. Ever." 

I giggle as I feel a sense of relief. I've always felt like a freak but my brother ignores it and has always been kind to me. In the excitement we didn't pay attention to our surroundings. Thomas suddenly went rigid. I hear a low growl release from him as he straightens up and looks past me, setting me down. The same calm washed over me, but now the tingling was more intense. I squeezed my hands shut as I turned to see what put my brother on edge, as he started to walk past me towards a figure deep in the shadows. I looked down as my hands stiffened to see two daggers in them, the same glow as whatever came off my arrow. I thought my brother would have shifted but instead, the figure came into the light walking towards him. Golden eyes, a heart shaped face and her dark hair braided with gold rings weaved into it. Her skin looked smooth as silk, and how I missed her hugs.  "Mate? My mate?." Thomas smelled the air before rushing her against a wall and lifting her against it. He pressed his face into her neck. For a moment she looked frightened before caressing her hands behind his head. "Tommy." She smiled.