Ready, Aim, Fire by Tehta

Ready, Aim, Fire!

1.

“You know, Egalmoth, I still find it a little… unsporting.” Glorfindel paused at the entrance of the archery range. “Fighting at a distance, I mean. I would much rather be in the thick of it, eye-to-eye with my foes.”

“Unsporting? Archery is not a sport,” replied Egalmoth as he steered Glorfindel towards the shooting line. “It is a combat style, a highly strategic one. The distance can provide an undeniable advantage.”

“I suppose.”

“Besides…” Egalmoth set down his floor quiver and slid his bow off his back. “At the risk of sounding faint-hearted, I must confess that I enjoy keeping my blood inside my body, rather than all over my clothes and equipment, as can happen during, how did you describe it? Eye-to-eye combat. Blood-red is such a trying colour. It clashes with almost everything.”

“A valid point. I do hate being a bloody mess, myself.” Glorfindel lifted his own bow somewhat doubtfully. “But I would like to point out that, given enough fighting skill, one can often avoid all injury, and save one’s outfit.”

“Save it from being stained by one’s own fluids, perhaps. Egalmoth picked up and nocked an arrow. “But orcish fluids are even worse, I find.”

2.

“No argument there. However, since we are already talking about… fashion, and appearance, what about the inevitable asymmetry?”

Seven elaborately-embroidered Orc-shaped targets drew the eye, gold thread glistening in the sunlight. Egalmoth chose the furthest. “What asymmetry?”

“Muscular asymmetry, of course. The motions required by archery are so obviously asymmetric; surely too much of it can result in a somewhat… lopsided appearance.”

Now, this was a new one. “Do I look lopsided to you?” Egalmoth asked, turning so as to allow Glorfindel a full view of his back. Which was broad, well-shaped, and perfectly symmetric. “Anyway, the act of pulling back the bow-string engages most of the larger muscles, on both sides.” As a further demonstration, he drew his bow. “The arms apply little power, so their somewhat asymmetric position does not matter. And any resulting difference in their muscular development is less than what you might see in a swordsman with a preferred weapon-arm.”

“That is exactly why I train with both my arms. And why I practice writing with both hands, too.”

He was joking. Surely he was joking? In any case, Egalmoth decided not to encourage this nonsense as he took aim at the chosen Orc-target’s eye.

3.

“What about,” said Glorfindel, “the fact that the bow is a primarily Sindarin weapon?” 

“Oromë’s buttocks!” the point of Egalmoth’s arrow wavered. “Please never say that in Aredhel’s hearing! It is not even true: everyone hunts.”

“We were not talking about hunting, but about bow-combat. And surely it is the Teleri who perfected that style.”

“Oh, please.” Egalmoth’s arms, toned as they were, were starting to strain. He adjusted his aim. “Watch this.”

He fired, and followed the arrow as it flew true, past the targets, past the end of the range, and straight into the small round object he had aimed for.

“See that? The distance I can cover? That’s only possible with a solid Noldorin weapon.” He patted his bow. “My own, perfected design, of course. Could any of the Teleri match my shot?”

“Probably not,” said Glorfidel, peering into the distance. “But then, most Teleri do not, as a rule, shoot beehives.”

Egalmoth followed his gaze. His target was now surrounded by green-cloaked Elves who were gesticulating wildly… and pointing in his direction. 

“Should we,” he said, “beat a strategic retreat?”

“No, Egalmoth. This is surely one of the situations where we must face our opponents eye-to-eye.”

Chapter End Notes

-- In The Fall of Gondolin, we are told that Egalmoth preferred the bow, and that “he shot therewith further than any among that host.” I am imagining this was caused by a combination of (only slightly asymmetric) muscular development, and, yes, Noldorin technology.
-- I am sorry for making Egalmoth slightly too-proud of his Noldorin heritage and given to wanton destruction (but then, see: Noldorin heritage) and for making Glorfindel such a shirker.