[Eldrew Whiteone]

“See how easy that was,” Owaten stated to the young cether, “pay attention, and I will demonstrate again.” The Rangermistress repeated the steps going over each one slowly. “Now that the arrow is nocked, we shall continue with how to draw the bowstring." She gave Eldrew once over and commented. “Good I see you have yourself a wrist guard, and you have properly secured it.” She nodded her head in approval.


The elf went into a detailed explanation of the benefit of wearing one. The main purpose of the guard was to protect the forearm of the bow hand from getting cut by the fletch of the arrows. “As the arrow is pushed forward at a high rate of speed, it is highly probable that the fletch will slide long the inside forearm, therefore cutting, or rather burning along its path.” She removed her guard to so Eldrew exactly what she meant. The scar was old and it had the appearance of pain when it had happened. She fastened it back into position.


“Alright Mr. Whiteone, please retrieve an arrow.” In front of the halfling was an arrow holder stuck into the ground. At first glance, there seemed to be about two dozen arrows in the holder. With a second, he realized there were more, much more. Eldrew ran through the steps of his stance, which was an open one, and then he nocked the arrow and held it in place with the index finger of his bow hand.


“Now I will show you how to place you finger around the string to prepare to fire.” The halfling paid close attention, never taking his eyes or his ears off what he elf was explaining. She placed her index finger above the arrow nock and the second and third fingers below the nock. Curling her fingers around the bowstring, she aligned the first joint of all three fingers with the bowstring. Owaten showed the young one how to keep a space clear between the index and second fingers and the arrow nock, so the fingers do not touch the nock. “If you don’t do this you will end up pinching the arrow.” She moved her finger together to show what the pinch would look like. “Remember to keep the back of the hand as flat as possible and tuck the thumb into the palm so it can be placed against your neck at full draw.” She drew the string to show how the thumb rested against her neck. “I want you to slightly pull on the bowstring to set the fingers in position. This will get you ready for the draw phase.” Eldrew complied with her command.