42- Shouting memories

"Go ahead, but hey, how did you know which weapons to steal from armory?"

"Laren is not the only one with skills, betrayed."

Sherek silently observes her in surprise.

"Your objective will be to hunt deer with the flail. You must approach them silently and deliver a strong blow to their skull with your weapon."

"Wouldn't it be easier with an arrow from the bow?"

"Yes, but I don't see any arrows. Do you? If you want arrows, you have to buy or make them, and I doubt someone who steals horses and doesn't carry weapons has the supplies for that... But since we don't have time to start making or stealing, you will use the flail."

"Can I see an example?"

"I already gave it to you. I hope you watched carefully what I did in there."

CortaEspinas stops the horse, hands the flail to Sherek, and makes him dismount. They both enter the forest, feeling the natural freshness and hearing the sounds of birds and insects all around. Sherek recalls the days he spent with Hazgor, feeling a certain uncertainty and fear of the forest. Now his concept has changed, he feels a certain calm and peace within these tall trees.

"Hey, if I use a distraction and the deer gets scared? I mean, deer are more sensitive to sound than humans... Hey..." Sherek turns around and sees that CortaEspinas has fallen behind, and when he looks at her, she yells at him.

"Bring four, while I set up the camp!"

"Sherek thinks: Wow, how do I kill 4 deer before it gets dark? Well, this magical practice must have served me for something, but I don't know anything about stealth... Anyway, I have to try."

Sherek starts looking for deer throughout the forest. The crunching of leaves, the birds, their songs, and the cloudy and cold atmosphere create a certain comfort for him. As he goes further north, he gets closer to the cold of the mountains. In the distance, he notices a small herd of deer. Sherek starts to approach, and at a certain point, they are only about thirty meters apart. He begins to crawl among the leaves, trying to avoid any possible noise. At about fifteen meters away, he is about to attack one of the deer when it hears a leaf and turns around. Sherek freezes and avoids being seen by the animal by throwing himself to the ground and remaining still. After a few seconds, the deer focuses again on its berries. Sherek continues to approach until he is under two deer with their backs turned. He slowly stands up and, with a quick and precise strike, kills the deer on his right by hitting it on the head. With this noise, all the deer become alarmed and start running away. Luckily, Sherek manages to grab the one on the left by the neck and, with several blows from the flail, he kills this animal, which was desperately trying to escape, right at his feet.

Sherek couldn't believe the precision with which he had hit with his flail. He was quite satisfied with his catch. He mounts the prey on his back and returns to where CortaEspinas was setting up the camp. When he arrives, he throws the two deer near the bonfire and expects Dels's congratulations. However, when she sees the prey, she only comments.

"I don't see what I asked for here, and it's getting dark. I don't think you'll be eating tonight, betrayed... Better hurry up."

Impacted and now frustrated, Sherek runs back into the forest, but this time he finds nothing. The deer he had attacked had fled, and he hadn't paid attention to the direction.

Sherek continues to venture into the forest, but he sees nothing. A few minutes pass, and then in a small clearing that can barely be noticed due to the dim light, he spots a lone deer feeding on a couple of branches and flowers in the area, which are white. At that moment, he couldn't remember if he knew anything about these flowers. Without paying much attention, he approaches, and thanks to a tree, he manages to hide from the animal. But this time, there are clusters of dried leaves around the deer that would break and alarm the deer with their sound if barely stepped on them. That's why Sherek decides to climb the tree, and without realizing it, he does it with ease. He thinks, "This strange training seems to have paid off. Maybe if I make my best effort all the time, I will be able to do things I couldn't do before."

Sherek climbs onto a branch with his flail. He plans to fall on top of the deer and kill it with a single blow upon landing. He prepares for the jump, calculating the force needed to reach his target. With great confidence, he jumps towards the deer, but his foot slips, causing him to lose strength at the moment of jumping, and he falls face-first into the white flowers just a few meters from the deer, which immediately runs away.

On the other hand, CortaEspinas Dels was already cooking the meat of the deer that Sherek had obtained and was trying to let the smoke rise only towards the sky to avoid attracting other animals with the smell. Sherek arrives, covered in mud, branches, and flowers, tired and hungry.

"From your face, I don't see that you have been successful."

Sherek remains silent as he approaches with his head down.

"Tell me, come on," Dels insists. "What happened?"

"I climbed a tree and planned to kill a deer by falling on top of it, but it didn't go very well," Sherek says, embarrassed.

"I see, and I imagine you're hungry."

"I know I can't eat, Mrs. Dels..."

"Yes, you can. Take this piece," Dels says as she takes a juicy piece of freshly cooked meat and gives it to Sherek.

"Really... can I?"

"We rebels are not like the shit in Teresville, kid. Eat a little, come on. We understand that a soldier cannot always fulfill his mission, but we still want the best effort you can give, and you are showing me that you did; this doesn't mean you have to fail all your missions now, though, or there will be problems, understood?"

"Not at all, I will always try to achieve my objectives."

"That's what I hope for. Now, eat and rest. Tomorrow we will continue advancing through the forest, and by the time your training is over, you won't be too far from the Torbelean Mountains."

The night passes, and Sherek rests, having a fairly peaceful night. When he wakes up, he sees CortaEspinas cutting some long vines from different trees.

Sherek, puzzled, asks her, "What are all these vines for, Dels?"

"In today's training, you will learn how to suffocate with these things. It's a useful way to kill and enter areas silently."

"Kill? Well, I don't think I've killed anyone before."

"Well, now you're a rebel. You'll have to kill sooner or later. Here," Dels says as she throws him a bunch of vines and signals for him to mount the horse.

"But today, do I have to kill someone?" Sherek nervously asks.

"Of course, if you want to reach the mountains, we have to pass through a dangerous area where there are many guards from the Jalagh Defense."

"Now that you mention it... I remember having trouble with them the first time I came and one of their shooting machines."