Page 43 of Spirit Trials

“Should we follow them?” I ask. I suddenly remember the words of the gryphon. “Oh no.”

Kinsley whirls around. “What?”

“We need to run,” I say, already moving.

“What? Why?” Kinsley asks, even as she follows me.

“The gryphon. Right before he sent us out, he told us to show back up when it’s time, or we’d be eliminated. I bet the horns are the call to bring us back.”

“Why didn’t they just say that?” Harper growls out from behind me.

“It’s another stupid test. Everything is,” I say as I jump over a log and barely keep my legs beneath me when the jar of landing bumps my wrist.

“How long do you think we have?” Kinsley asks.

I don’t answer because I have absolutely no idea. I don’t know how far away we are. “All I know is that the other competitors and spirit animals were running this way. That’s all I have to go on.” I hear a sound, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I reach out and shove Kinsley away fromme and drop to my knees. An arrow imbeds itself in the trunk right next to us. “Run!” I shout. “Spread out, and don’t run in a straight line.” I find it difficult to run with my arm strapped to my stomach, and I reach out and yank hard on the fabric, ripping it off and letting it drop. The pain is instant and intense, but it barely registers with the adrenaline coursing through my body.

“Wolf!” Harper shouts. I turn immediately and get out of the path of the wolf racing towards us. We never stop running; we just redirect. None of us say a word as we run. We couldn’t if we tried to; we’re literally running for our lives.

Kinsley cries out, and I spin around. She has a hand over her arm. I run toward her and put my good arm through her good arm. “Keep going.”

We run and run and run. I thought I’d prepared enough with all the running I did in the afternoons, but that was nothing compared to this. I have no idea how long we run for. At some point, it becomes more of a slow jog; but we keep moving. What we didn’t take into account was the competitors that wanted to take out those of us still coming behind them.

Chapter 24

We run right into the trap. One second, we’re running, the next, all three of us are down. I try to take a breath and take in what just happened as waves of agony crash through me. From my position on the ground, I see the thin rope strung between the trees. “Get up!” I shout, rolling as I do. “Now! It’s a trap!” Before the words are even out of my mouth, the arrows begin. One lands right next to where I was a second ago. “Get behind a tree!” I shout. Something grazes my cheek, leaving behind a painful streak; but I ignore it. I glance over to make sure Harper and Kinsley are both okay. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see they’re both behind trees. I try to catch my breath, but it’s getting harder and harder.

“Farrah, are you okay?” Kinsley calls out in a panic.

“Yeah,” I wheeze out. “I’m good. You?”

“I’m good,” she responds.

“Harper?” I ask.

“I’m fine, but those idiots won’t be when I’m done with them.”

“What’s the plan here?” Kinsley calls out. For now, the arrows have stopped; but I’m under no allusion that our attackers are actually gone.

“They have to get back in time too,” I call out. “So eventually, they’re going to stop shooting at us and go forward and finish.”

“We just have to wait them out,” Harper throws out.

“Yeah.” I peek around the tree and am rewarded with an arrow hitting the tree seconds later. I scan the area around us, trying to take in every detail. “As long as they stay in front ofus, we’ll be okay. I don’t think we’re too far from the edge of the woods.”

“How do you know?” Kinsley calls out.

“Because of the trees,” I say in response.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” she asks.

“They’re not as thick and dense right here. It means we’re close to the edge of the woods,” I explain.

“How long do you think we have?” Harper asks.

“I don’t know.” I look up at the sky. “All I know is when they stop shooting, we have to run hard and fast because we’re probably out of time.”

“Oh goody. More running,” Harper says dryly. It’s quiet for a minute, and I try not to think about my pain. I’m still scanning the woods, looking for more threats. I hear a sound and whirl around and see a spirit wolf running towards us.