“c1″> 

“c1″>"Eponin, please don’t interfere. I
don’t need a weapon for this kind of fight; none of us will
get hurt. Silea has every right to issue this challenge; it’s
a question of honour to her. Don’t
worry."

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Are you sure?"

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Yes, weapons’ master, I am sure. We can go
fishing in no more than half a candlemark."

“c1″> 

“c1″>"So be it. I will officially witness the
challenge."

“c1″> 

The
three of them went to the training grounds. At the beginning of the
long range area of the archery ground Silea stood and began to
prepare her bow while Xena continued on to the target area. She
turned around and faced the young Amazon. Her posture seemed
relaxed and she wore a bored and somewhat sleepy expression on her
face.

“c1″> 

The
young warrior took an arrow out of her quiver, drew back as far as
possible, closed her eyes for half of a heartbeat and let her arrow
fly. Eponin unintentionally held her breath but Xena still seemed
largely unconcerned. To the weapons’ master it was as if time
stood still. One moment Xena stood motionless, the next she held
the arrow in her almost fully outstretched hand. Eponin stared
unbelievingly but this only was the beginning.

“c1″> 

The
rapidly following two arrows were as easily discarded as the first
one. When the quiver was empty, Silea advanced to the markings for
short range shooting and Xena handed her the arrows. The game
started anew. The arrows now were much nearer to her face and chest
when Xena caught them but none of them got through. Silea was down
to the second to last arrow. This time her aim seemed to be
completely off, but suddenly the arrow began to righten itself and
also seemed to gather speed thus coming in from a very unusual
angle. At the same time, Xena saw the last arrow coming straight at
her. She managed to catch the first but then had to jump out of the
way and the steel tip of Silea’s last arrow embedded itself
in the bull’s eye of the hay target. Obviously, this was the
end of the challenge.

“c1″> 

“c1″>"You did good, Silea. You’ve learned a lot
since the last time. If I still had an army to lead, I would be
proud to count you among my top archers. You won the challenge fair
and square." Xena offered her arm for a warrior’s
handshake but the young woman wordlessly turned and left the
training grounds.