Boomerrow

Fred took the bow and the arrow that lay beside it. He asked Nitch what he knew about these.

"It is a boomerrow," replied Nitch. "You aim it, shoot it, and the arrow never breaks, and always returns to you."

Fred scrunched up his face, and said, "An arrow that never breaks is good, but the part about it returning to me does not sound so good."

"It lands just before your feet, provided that you have not moved," explained Nitch. "Try it out against the rock wall yonder."

Fred nocked the arrow, and tried to draw the bowstring. He grunted as the string resisted. He was an equestrian, and skilled with the sword, not a peasant or mercenary, so he was not practised with the bow. But he knew the principles behind it. After a few more tries, he managed to draw the string and release the arrow.

The arrow made a low humming sound, like "Z-Z-z-z-zh-ZHUNK!" as it hit the rock wall. Then Fred heard a "z-z-z-z-Z-ZH-zhew" sound as the arrow came back toward him and fell to the ground at his feet.

Fred said, "This will be VER-ry useful. I can see how we can beat this dragon. So how many prisoners of this cave are going to help me distract the dragon while I fire the boomerrow?"

Nitch replied,

1. "None, Fred."
2. "Just me, I am afraid."
3. "I can get five or six that I would consider reliable."

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