Yiler's Story: Chapter 4

By Yiler Huang

Damon stood in front of the looming gates to the central city Silverreach. Two knights stood on both sides of the gate, wearing gleaming armor and holding shining spears in their hands. Damon expected to go through some kind of check-up before he walked into the gates, but the knights did not stop him from entering the city. Instead, they nodded solemnly and continued looking forward like statues. As Damon entered the city, he was immediately shocked by the fascinating view in front of him. Though he couldn’t stop his urge to explore the city, he reminded himself of his goal: to get arrows from the legendary arrow maker.

Damon waved at a food stand owner politely and spoke. “Hi, I happened to be looking for someone, do you know where is the arrow maker Archershade Arrowworks Ashborne?”

“His workshop is a few streets from here, enter that alleyway and…” The stand owner patiently explained how to get to the arrow maker’s workshop. Damon thanked him and continued to head towards the workshop. He found the workshop exactly where the stand owner described. It had a signboard with a bow and an arrow drawn on it, and three of the letter “A” engraved on the wooden surface. He pushed the doors open and walked in. The store was quiet and it seemed like there was no one in it. Several arrows and bows were hung on the walls as decorations. At the end of the room, there was a darkish door with detailed patterns resembling an archer carved on it.

An aging man holding a cane walked out from a room at the very end of the building and slowly staggered to the front of the store.

“Ah, young lad. Are you here to buy some arrows?” The arrow maker spoke, he was not as serious as Damon thought he would be.

“Yes,” Damon replied as he pulled out coins from his pocket which the archer gave him the previous day.

The old arrow maker looked at Damon and frowned. “Sorry kid. I'm not making any arrows for customers recently.”

“Why is that?” Damon asked, looking confused.

The old man pulled a chair and sat down as he let out a long sigh. “Two months ago, I went to see a doctor for my back problem. I thought it was just because I got old, but the doctor told me something unbelievable,” He sighed again. “He said a curse caused my back pain, and he also said that this curse would make every arrow I make miss when they are fired.”

“A curse?”

“Yes, a curse. The guy's the most famous and successful doctor in the whole city, he can’t be lying.”

Damon scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

“He did tell me something else, though,” The arrow maker snorted and said. “He told me that to cure this curse, I need to drink wine brewed with the teeth of a python. Young man, if you can get me this wine, I will be able to make arrows for you.”

Not again. Damon thought.

“Why can't you get it yourself?” Damon asked.

“Ah, you see. The doctor also told me I can't go out for 2 months, or else terrible things will happen,” The arrow maker sighed and said.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely, he's the most famous doctor in the city, no, in the whole world. That's what he said. Kid, if you want me to make arrows for you, you can come back in two months. The doctor said I'll be fine after 2 months.”

“2 months…” Damon mumbled to himself. “No, that's too long. There's no way I can wait for 2 months. Are you sure that the doctor is not lying to you? It seems like what he said doesn't make much sense to me.”

“Kid, I'm no doctor. But I can tell if someone's lying or not. He's the best doctor in the whole world, what he said must be true. If you want me to make arrows for you, you need to go get a bottle of snake wine for me.”

Damon thought for a bit and spoke. “Fine… where can I find this snake wine?”

“Thank you, young man. There should be one a few hundred meters to the north. You can get there by walking in under 10 minutes.” The arrow maker replied.