Page 131 of Into the Isle

I pulled the bow off my shoulder. If it wasn’t obvious by now, perhaps they’d never understand. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it fill a condom up.

With the students gazing wide-eyed at me, I pulled back on the bowstring, keeping it taut. I lined up the arrow, which was incredibly unbalanced and wobbly with the condom tied at the front just before the arrowhead.

Shit. I didn’t think of the weight. Or practice this shot. It wasn’t like I’d had much time to prepare and practice. I had pulled this idea out of my ass a few scant hours ago.

Gauging my shot, I tilted my bow. The distance was merely twenty feet, if that. The target was wispy, nonsolid—not something I could smack into.

Stilling my heart, I aimed and closed one eye. I was good with a bow. I was good with all weapons, because those had become my specialty throughout my training when my inherent magic decided to play hide-and-seek.

Despite the wobbliness of the arrow, my shot was true. I gave it all the oomph I could, even with such a short distance, because I knew the balloon would weigh the front down. As I released the taut bowstring from my fingers, it snapped forward and the arrow launched, arcing up toward the rafters of the longhouse.

The arrow whistled and went through the fire. The thud of the arrow striking the wall behind the lifted torch sent dirt and woodchips pluming.

“Ha!” Astrid cried out as the arrow disappeared into the flames about a foot above it.

The arrow stayed in the wall . . . sizzling filled the air.

And the condom popped, releasing its . . . load. A mini-waterfall of water splashed down from the popped condom and showered the fire, dousing it immediately.

A moment of silence as my heart rampaged in my chest.

“Holy shit!” one of the students cried.

“It worked!”

I lifted my shoulders, even more shocked than the students that my idea had worked. Proudly, beaming like a child, I looked over to Hersir Selken.

Astrid cried out, “That’s not fair! She didn’t use runeshaping!”

I caught Selken smirking. Chuckling to herself. She looked from the doused torch to my face. “Not fair, Astrid? No. It’s ingenious, is what it is. Ingenuity outweighs skill any given day. I’ll allow it.”

She gave me a tiny nod, trying to hide her smile. “Congratulations, Miss Linmyrr. You passed.”

Chapter 38

Ravinica

I RODE THE HIGH ALL day. I was ecstatic from my success. Passing the Runeshaping Basics midterm bought me more time at Vikingrune.

I was just glad my plan had worked, for one, and that Hersir Selken had seemed amused enough to let it ride. Obviously, Astrid didn’t like it, but I didn’t give a shit what she thought these days. She had become a nonentity to me ever since I punched her in the face my first day of class and sent her to the infirmary. Her words had no affect on me.

Word started to spread of my deeds. By next morning at the mess hall, I heard people whispering.

One girl from a table behind me, not doing a good job of keeping her voice down: “Yeah, that’s her. The bog-blood who used a bloated condom to pass Basics.”

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