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Bend the bow. Keep your hands steady. Eye closed—deep breath. Focus. Aim. Shot.
As Lavellan’s arrow flew between trees, his prey barely had time to react. Within seconds, it fell on the ground, deadly wounded. Lavellan climbed down from his tree and carefully approached his prey. He knelt before it with his dagger as he recited a prayer, thanking the beast before he ended its pain.
“You’re too sensitive, lethallin,” a hoarse voice said behind him.
Lavellan jumped as he turned around. Yevetz. It was his friend’s brother. A tall elf a few years older than him. Lavellan watched him grab the game and put it on his shoulder, next to the others.
“Or maybe you’re being insensitive,” he mumbled, getting up. “We’re good now. Can we head back?”
The older Dalish laughed as he took the lead. Maybe he was right. Or maybe not. If only he were a mage, like the rest of the family, he would not be here.
Trying to put away these thoughts, Lavellan began to observe his friend’s brother. His dark skin glowing in the light. Sweat trailing down his neck. And the way his arm held their game effortlessly. Feeling warm, Lavellan bit his lip and looked away.
“Don’t you think it’s beautiful?” He asked, almost to himself.
Lavellan stopped walking as he looked up in the trees, watching the birds come and go, singing, chatting. The woods thrummed with life. That was what he loved the most.
With a smile, Lavellan turned back his gaze on his friend’s brother. Surprisingly, Yevetz's gaze was fixated on him.
“It is,” he merely said as he turned to walk again. “But beauty doesn’t feed stomachs.”
“Right,” Lavellan sighed. “You’re the pragmatic one.”
“Should’ve asked my sibling to come with you if you wanted poetry,” the older teen said.
“As if you were my first choice,” Lavellan mumbled.
His friend broke their leg a few weeks ago and was not allowed to hunt for at least two months. The other hunters? Lavellan did not even want to think of them.
“Get used to it,” his friend’s brother said. “Unfortunately, we stuck together until that fool gets better.”
Get used to it.
This would not be the last thing he would have to learn.