The dark brown eyes of the doe carefully scanned the horizon of the deeply vegetated forest, keeping aware of any potential dangers the world had to offer. Its beautiful reflective irises confirmed there were indeed no threats in the immediate vicinity allowing the deer to continue grazing.

Instinctively, it raised its head again as a small sound drew its attention. The breeze whistled among the trees, and the chorus of birds echoed throughout the area, but there was nothing to suggest that there was danger.

Lowering her head again, she was eager to chew on as much of the local flora as physically possible before she would be forced to move elsewhere.

It was all to peaceful.

Briefly, she heard a swoosh before the incapacitating arrow found its target deep in the doe's skull, making her instantly fall lifeless.

From over one hundred and fifty yards away, a plump young man stood gawping, utterly amazed by the shot that hit the now lifeless deer. The skill and precision to get the clean kill in dense vegetation was nothing short of magnificent. Picking up a self-made sling already housing three dead rabbits, a fox and two pheasants he started to waddle towards the next task of the hunting trip.

He rubbed his nose, eagerly still watching dumbfounded at the target. "How do you do that? I remember going to Wyvernthorpe two winters ago, and even some of the archers there wouldn't be able to make that shot!"

His companion eventually stood slinging the longbow across her back and smiling at the achievement. "I don't know," she replied, "I can just feel the wind and how it will guide the arrow." Pushing back a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, she gracefully clambered over the bushes to confirm her kill. Intuitively, she knew that the deer was dead, but she had learnt always to check to ensure her prey would not unnecessarily suffer.

The two companions walked over towards the corpse of the deer, their styles complete opposites. The woman was full of grace and poise. Her steps were silent, her moves, precise, her demeanour, confident. Her male companion, however, thumped along with no delicacy, trampling everything in his path. The cracking of twigs under his feet became frustrating.

"Willis Billingslea, when will you ever learn to walk quietly!" she scolded him with a little chuckle. "This would have been the third deer we lost today with your stealth-like advances!"

Willis rubbed his nose again just as he reached the corpse. "I'm sorry, Loldirr, I do try. I wish I could walk like you, but my legs are simply too big."

She formed a warm, welcoming smile as he said those words. He wasn't the sharpest man in the village, but his heart was genuine and his company entertaining.

Carefully removing the arrow from the deer, Loldirr mumbled a small prayer to Austineth, the goddess of the hunt. Despite giving thanks for the clean kill, her words felt somewhat hollow.

'The gods are too busy to listen to my pointless prayers.' she thought.

The prayers, however, had become a habit. She believed no more in the Gods than in monsters, sorcery or dragons. Religion, to her, was just another form of control to maintain order in a world that often steered towards chaos.

"Are we hunting more?" Willis questioned Loldirr breaking her train of thought.

He was greeted with the kind but distant green eyes of his companion who smiled at his gentle but straightforward nature. "No Willis, we will need to get this deer back to Mr Butcher so he can prepare venison for us tonight. You like venison, don't you?"

He started bouncing and clapping his hands "I love venison." He responded with a massive grin across his face.

As Loldirr stood to clean her arrow, she intuitively smiled. With Willis picking up the beast and slinging it on his shoulders, it was time for them to make the trek back to their village Greenhaven.

After an hour-long trek, they stepped out of the beautiful Emerald forest and entered their village.

It was a peaceful little village far removed from most governing powers. It was wholly self-sufficient and also exempt from local taxes. Surrounded by dense forest and discouraged by tales of the supernatural, explorers never ventured there. As far as the world was concerned, it was an old wives tale and did not exist.

As Loldirr and Willis entered the village, they were quickly greeted by the waves and enthusiasm of the self-appointed bailiff. Spotting the deer on Willis' back, the waves became more erratic.

There was always a shudder of regret when Loldirr entered the village. It was always very peaceful, but that was where the problem lay, she yearned for an adventure.

Guilt always followed that regret. The people around her loved their lives and their homes. They put all their blood and sweat into making it what it was, but despite her several attempts to placate herself, she simply could not share in their enthusiasm.

'Come on Loldirr, time to put on a brave face.' She thought to herself.

All thoughts of self-pity left her as the two of them reached Mr Butcher. He smiled as he saw the doe being carefully placed on the table by Willis along with the other animals.

"This will make a lovely feast tonight," Mr Butcher commented as he sharpened his knife ready to skin the animals,
"which rabbit do you want Willis?"

Willis waved frantically, desperately trying to keep his back turned as the blade sliced through the skin of the deceased animal. "I think I'm going to be sick!" without hesitation, he briskly waddled away, desperately trying to keep the contents of his stomach in place.

Me Butcher turned to Loldirr. "You do realise that deer are protected by the empire. You would be executed for poaching if you were spotted."

Loldirr just scoffed. "No one dares go into the Emerald Forest. Speaking of which, any news from the outside?"

Mr Butcher's son would regularly travel to the nearest town to bring back supplies and news of the Isovine Empire, the largest of all the human sovereignties. "Well, my boy arrived back last night, late. I have a feeling he stopped off at that brothel on White Road. Gods forsaken place!"

'Too much information,' Loldirr thought to herself.

"The war between Isovine and Ruvia has escalated," Mr Butcher continued, "as a result taxes have increased and there's general discontent in the nearby towns. I'm so glad that we live so removed from society! Soldiers from Ravenscourt are more frequent, probably to reduce the discontent, and gather taxes. It doesn't sound like Ravenscourt, or the current Lord Darke is looked upon with favour by the locals. What else? Ummm, oh yes, The bailiff of the town might be seeing a new mistress, though no one has worked out who it is yet." He continued for some while about other pointless snippets. Loldirr, despite continuing to look interested in the conversation, eventually regretted asking the question.

After some time Mr Butcher completed skinning the animals and provided Loldirr with the pelts for her to trade with. "There you go, my dear, good to talk once more."

She found that comment amusing considering she had spent most of the time listening and not much else. It didn't bother her, though; she found listening to the town folk somewhat amusing. Their sometimes skewed and simplistic way of looking at life made her wish she could revel in the same thoughts. Loldirr envied them and their contentment, but at the same time, she pitied their lack of ambition.

As part of her hunting routine, Loldirr would visit Willis' family to provide them with Willis' share of the hunt. She always had mixed feelings about visiting their hut. The joy that Willis gave her as they interacted was unsurpassed by anything else in the village, but his father was something else entirely different.

An uncomfortable feeling washed over her when the large frame of the senior Billingslea bear-hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Once or twice, he had tried to make unappealing advances towards her. It was after the second advance that Loldirr had stern words with him. Since then, while still not respecting her personal space, there were no lingering hands deemed inappropriate for a married man.

Like clockwork, Willis greeted her with untold enthusiasm. "Hi, Loldirr."

She smiled pushing a strand of her fiery hair from her face before grabbing one of the rabbit pelts from her pack strapped to her side, eagerly trying to give him the fur before his father decided to interact with her. Just like every other time, an interaction was unavoidable.

"Willis told me you shot a deer, clean shot through the head." Smiled senior Billingslea as his wife came out similarly greeting Loldirr.

"I did manage to get a deer today," She responded quietly, slightly intimidated by his large frame and over-friendly personality.

"You must be the goddess Austineth in all her beauty," He responded with a flirty smile.

Loldirr sighed and scowled. It irritated her that his wife never saw what he was doing.

She handed him the rabbit pelt but noticed that he was looking beyond her. "Lord Edric, so great to see you."

Loldirr dared not moved in the hope that her guardian Edric Hunter hadn't noticed her, but she knew it was in vain. She wasn't hiding from some quarry; she was avoiding the strict disciplinarian that had trained her for the last sixteen winters of her life.

Despite the need to perform her hunting duties, she was supposed to be having lessons on running a household. When that household consists of just Loldirr and Edric, the lessons felt rather unnecessary and exceedingly fruitless. A few more hours hunting in the morning would surely be far more interesting than pretending to organise fake servants or the delicacies of financial stability.

"Mr Billingslea, it is a pleasant day for your acquaintance," Edric replied with little to no conviction. It was evident that his comment was meant only as a courtesy.

The tone of his voice, despite being calm, had the underlying tones of frustration and disappointment. This was not Loldirr's first time of skipping lessons, and once again, their prickly relationship was about to be tested.

With only a few hours of light left in the day, Loldirr had hoped to avoid Edric and this awkward interaction, instead, planning to finish her bartering before returning to the forest to hone her archery skills.

"It is a fantastic day, my Lord, and your daughter has come bearing gifts once more," Senior Billingslea replied in his typical jovial way. "How may I be of assistance?"

"It is Loldirr that I have come here to see as I'm wondering why she failed to turn up for her studies today?" Edric responded briskly and direct.

"Shit!" Loldirr sighed under her breath. As she looked upon the frown that seemed to drip in disappointment, her heart sank knowing that any chance of practising archery had died with that comment.

For now, she would have to endure the disapproval and complaints of a man determined to remove any sense of joy from her life. For now, it would be the archery of words as two determined individuals prepared for another heated and frustrating argument.