Free A Sea of Shields (Book #10 in the Sorcerer's Ring) by Morgan Rice

the same time, Ario seemed so small, so young.
    Thor kept one eye on the large group of boys, who had just finished hurling another round of spears. They all came closer this time, many more hitting targets, and Thor began to feel some hope.
    “Bows and arrows!” Thor called out.
    All the boys turned and ran to the long stretch of bows and arrows lined up along the side of the grounds, and all took aim for the distant targets.
    One at a time, they fired, and Thor shook his head as too many of them missed.
    Thor looked over at Ario, still standing there.
    “I do remember,” he said. “And we do owe you our lives. Yet you are so young. And small. I fear you would get hurt, boy. I asked you to come back when you are older—and you are hardly older. I am sorry you crossed the ocean. But I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
    Ario frowned.
    “I am more capable than any of these other boys!” he yelled, determined.
    Thor smiled.
    “Are you?”
    Thor nodded to the bows.
    “Is your aim more true than the others, then?”
    Ario smiled back.
    “Give me a chance.”
    Thor sighed.
    “Okay,” he said, giving in. “One chance.”
    Ario rushed forward, grabbed a bow, set an arrow, and fired, barely pausing to take aim.
    Thor watched as the arrow sailed through the air, past the target, and realized the boy had chosen the farthest target on the field—and hit it perfectly.
    Thor looked back at the boy, mouth agape. He had never seen such a fine shot.
    “How did you do that?” Thor asked.
    The boy shrugged.
    “In the jungle, you learn to fire. It is a way of life. With these other boys, it’s training. With me, it’s survival.”
    Thor nodded back approvingly.
    “You have proved me wrong,” he said. “Join the others.”
    Ario smiled wide.
    “Thank you, sire,” he said, elated. “I shall not let you down!”
    Ario ran off and joined the others.
    “Retrieve your arrows and fire again!” Thor boomed out, and they all broke into action.
    “Thorgrin!”
    Thor turned, recognizing the voice, and was surprised to see Erec and Kendrick standing there in their armor, facing him earnestly.
    “Can you leave the Legion affairs for a few moments?” they asked. “We have business. Join us. We have an important matter to discuss with you.”
    Thor wondered what the matter could be; they had never pulled him aside before.
    Thor glanced back over his shoulder at the boys.
    “Do not worry,” Kendrick said. “You will return to them shortly.”
    Thor turned to the boys.
    “Men, keep on firing!” he boomed out. “And don’t stop until I return.”
    Thor turned and walked off with Kendrick and Erec, his heart pounding in suspense as he wondered where on earth these two men, whom he respected more than any men on earth, could be leading him.

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
     
    Thor followed Erec and Kendrick as they led him through a meandering path in the forest, wondering where they were leading him. Thor knew that Kendrick and Erec were busy with their work with the Silver, and he wondered if something had gone wrong, if they needed his help somehow.
    Kendrick, usually talkative, had hardly said a word to Thor, deepening the mystery as they all walked. He and Erec would not say where they were going, which was unlike them, too. In the time Thor had come to know them, Erec and Kendrick had taken Thor in as if he were a brother, treating him with respect. He did not understand what this was about. Was it a reprimand? Did he do something wrong while rebuilding the Legion? Had they decided to choose someone else?
    Kendrick finally cleared his throat.
    “Before you wed my sister,” Kendrick finally said, walking beside Thor, “something very important must happen. My sister has found, in you, a man worthy of her status. And now you must have a rank worthy of your own.”
    Thor looked back, puzzled, still not understanding.
    A forest clearing opened up before them, and Thor was surprised to see a dozen members of the Silver standing