Page 19 of Spirit Trials (The Spirit Kingdoms #1)

“Do you think the coins are tiny and impossible to see?” I ask. We’ve been walking for a while, but we haven’t seen anything that looks even remotely like a gold coin.

“I have no idea,” Kinsley responds.

The back of my neck tingles with awareness, and I shove Kinsley, and we both fall to the ground.

An arrow hits the tree, right where we’d just been standing a moment ago.

I crouch on the balls of my feet with my bow in hand.

“Do you see where it came from?” I whisper to Kinsley, who’s alert beside me.

“I’ll cover you,” Harper says from somewhere close behind us. “Get behind the tree.”

After another thorough search, I jump up and run behind the tree.

Kinsley follows me. I take in Harper’s hold on her bow and relax a little; it’s obvious she knows how to use it.

I stand on the other side of the tree with an arrow nocked as well.

“See anything?” I ask quietly. We stand that way for a little while.

“Whatever it was is gone,” I finally say.

We lower our bows and start walking again but keep our eyes peeled.

“Excuse me,” a feminine voice says behind us.

I whirl around with my bow raised. A girl, who looks too young to be in these trials, stands a few yards away with her hands raised. “I’m unarmed.”

I search the woods around her, but I don’t see anything. “Why would she be unarmed?” Kinsley asks quietly.

“Go away,” Harper calls out with an arrow trained on the girl. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

“Please,” she calls out. “I was attacked, and they took my weapons. I’m defenseless now; I’m just looking for a group to join. I don’t want to be on my own.”

I let my eyes run over her; everything she says seems believable. “We should help her,” Kinsley says softly.

“It could be a trap,” I warn in a hushed voice.

“She’s one of the banished,” Harper says just as quietly.

“How can you tell?” I ask.

“I just can,” she snaps.

I make a judgment call that I hope doesn’t come back to bite me.

“Cover me, Harper,” I say as I walk towards the girl.

I keep my bow up and ready but am careful not to point it directly at her.

My eyes scan the woods in every direction.

When nobody jumps out, and no arrows embed themselves into my body, I slowly lower my bow and stop in front of her. “What’s your name?”

“Sariah.” She doesn’t look down but holds my gaze.

“Which kingdom are you from?” I ask.

“I’m one of the banished.”

I acknowledge her words. Harper was right. If she’s one of the banished and Harper and Kinsley don’t know her, then just how many banished are out there trying to survive? “What happened to your weapons?” I ask.

“I only had one knife, but a guy took it. I guess I can be grateful because at least he didn’t use it on me.”

“Okay. You can join our group.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I reach down and unstrap a knife and hand it to her. “Here.” She stares at me and then the knife but makes no move to take it. I wiggle it. “Take it.” She finally does.

“Thank you.”

I nod. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to the other two girls.”

We walk back towards Kinsley, who’s already smiling, and Harper, who hasn’t lowered her bow yet. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she shot me at least once. She seems like that kind of person. “Harper and Kinsley, this is Sariah. She’s with us now.” Kinsley nods, but Harper’s not quite so fast.

“Where are you from?” she demands.

“I’m one of the banished,” Sariah says, meeting Harper’s eyes.

“And you’re not here to kill us?” Harper asks.

“No.” Sariah doesn’t seem bothered by Harper’s brashness.

“Let’s keep moving,” I tell everybody. “I don’t like standing in one spot for too long.

” I take the lead. I don’t fail to notice that Kinsley and Sariah follow, or that Harper takes the back.

I slow down as we come to an area that’s really thick with trees and underbrush.

I stop for a moment and face the group. “If we’re going to go forward, we have to cut our way through.

It’s pretty thick. I think it’s a good idea, though, because probably not a lot of other competitors have gone through here. ”

Kinsley nods, while Harper says, “Let’s do it.”

I throw my bow over my shoulder and grab two of my knives to slash my way through. “Watch for snakes,” I throw over my shoulder as I step into the overgrowth.

“Snakes? I hate snakes!” Kinsley whispers in a hoarse voice.

“Then watch your step,” Harper snaps at her.

I start cutting down everything in our path, making it easier to get through.

The further we go, the thicker it gets. Soon, I’m sweating; but I don’t stop moving.

I don’t want to be stuck in this area for long.

I whack at the next set of vines and stop suddenly.

Kinsley runs into me but reaches out to steady me as I bend down.

“Why’d we stop?” Harper calls out.

“For this,” I say as I stand back up.

“It’s a gold ring!” Kinsley shouts.

I can’t help my grin. “It’s our first gold ring.” I study it a moment; it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It fits in the palm of my hand, which means they’re going to be a lot harder to find than we originally thought. “Who wants to hold it?”

“You keep it on you; you found it,” Kinsley says.

I look down, intent on putting the ring in the pouch that holds my throwing stars.

It goes still around me, and I jerk my head up just as a group of three guys emerges from behind several trees.

In an instant, my bow is in my hands with an arrow nocked.

“Ooo, if it’s not the kingslayer,” one of the guys says.

“You know, you all need to think of a more creative name for her; she didn’t even touch the king. She knocked a cup out of his hand,” Harper says in a bored voice.

“Nobody asked you, Banished Girl,” another guy says. Then he turns to me. “I’ll take the gold ring now.”

“I don’t think so,” I tell him, still aiming my bow that direction. They start towards us, and we sort of fan out. Harper stands on my left; and Kinsley takes my right, leaving Sariah to stand on Kinsley’s right.

“Ooo, so you’re a tough guy, huh?” the taller and bulkier of the three guys says.

I lift my bow higher. “No, I just don’t have any patience for bullies.”

I keep my bow trained on the biggest guy in the group, so I miss when one of the other guys grabs Sariah, holding a knife to her throat. “Give me the coin.”

I swallow hard and eye Sariah, still aiming my bow at the guy’s chest. I could shoot an arrow, but he could slit her throat before it hits him. “Let her go,” I demand.

“Then give us the coin.”

“Fine.” I throw the coin to him. Time seems to slow down, and I watch in horror as the guy slides the knife across her throat.

Sariah’s shocked eyes meet mine for a moment before she crumbles to the ground.

I stare in horror as a high-pitched ringing starts in my ears.

I see the biggest guy’s lips moving, but I can’t hear his words over the ringing in my ears.

I keep my bow up and ready, not trusting that they’ll actually leave.

I watch them until they are completely out of sight before I turn and drop on my knees next to Sariah.

Kinsley’s already there, holding her hand.

I realize that the screaming is coming from her.

“Stop,” I say almost harshly.

Her scream abruptly cuts off, and the echo reverberates around the forest. I stare at Sariah.

“She’s gone,” Harper says from above us.

I reach for her wrist anyway, but Harper was right.

She’s gone . I stare down at her lifeless body, now covered in blood and know that I won’t be sleeping tonight or possibly ever again.

I barely turn in time to throw up all over the ground.

It takes me a minute to realize Kinsley’s doing the same thing.

Only she’s sobbing as she does. I gather myself and turn around and put a hand on her shoulder.

“We need to go,” Harper says in almost a cold voice that I envy.

I wish I could be coldly detached right now.

I manage to stand to my feet and help Kinsley up as well.

I take one last glance at Sariah’s broken body and somehow manage first one step and then another.

There’s an ache in my chest, but I make myself push forward.

It's quiet as we walk. There’s a rough sort of bond between the three of us now as we’ve just personally experienced the brutality of these spirit trials. “Why would someone kill just for a coin?” I ask when I can finally form words.

Harper glances over at me. “Which kingdom are you from?”

I don’t say anything for a moment, unsure what to say. I decide to just put it all out there. “I’m not from any of the three kingdoms.” They both stop and look at me.

“What do you mean?” Kinsley asks.

I take a breath. “I’m from a small village over a week’s ride from here. I’d never heard of any of your kingdoms until I came here. It’s a long story, but I’m here and have to compete in these trials if I want to ever see my mom and brother again.” I need to win. I keep those words to myself.

“If you didn’t grow up in any of the kingdoms, then you don’t fully understand the spirit trials,” Harper says in a hollow voice.

“Or understand what a big deal they are for the three kingdoms.” I think she’s done, but she continues.

“Winning is everything. People will literally kill to win, as you’ve seen. ”

“The money?” I ask.

“Well, there is that. The money’s enough to change a family’s future; but that’s not all.”

“What then?” I ask exasperated.

“It’s the only sure way not to be banished,” Kinsley says quietly. I’m pretty sure she’s still in shock; we all are.

Harper nods. “There is no guarantee your spirit animal will show. Winning is the only sure thing that will keep you from being banished. As we get closer to the end, those who haven’t had a spirit animal show will become even more ruthless.”

“Is it so awful to be banished?” I ask.

Harper’s voice is stone cold when she responds. “Don’t speak to something you know nothing about.”

“Then help me understand. I mean, I get living in a protected city. It’s hard out there, but our village life wasn’t awful. It’s not a death sentence by any means.”

“Yes, because you’re able to go out and make a living, provide for yourselves.

You’re part of the human world. We’re not.

We may not have spirit animals, but we’re not of the human world.

We’re flawed. By the king’s orders, we can’t leave designated areas for the banished, or we will be hunted down and killed.

We can’t expose any of the kingdoms to the humans.

They would hunt us just to study our people and their spirit animals.

Of course, that’s if you live that long.

” I look over at her. “Oh, you didn’t know that the king’s men use the banished for hunting practice? Well, now you do.”

I stare at her back as she strides away, feeling sick to my stomach.