Page 3 of Spirit Trials (The Spirit Kingdoms #1)

We begin the unpleasant task of taking stock of who and what we’ve lost. Too many .

I'm pretty sure I’m in shock as I work with the small group who’s left.

There are more of us in the woods, but the losses are devastating for a village that only boasted less than two hundred people to begin with.

I pull the cloth over my nose as I pause outside the remains of our cottage.

As soon as I step inside, my eyes start burning from the smoke.

I walk around the room, kicking away the ashy remains.

My eyes burn with more than just smoke as I turn around in a slow circle.

It's all gone. There’s nothing left except for half of our stone fireplace.

I see something in the corner and bend down.

Pushing away the ash, I pull out the gold chain.

It’s my mother’s, about the only thing she has left from our father.

He gave this to her when they got married; it was his mother’s.

With shaky hands, I clasp it around my neck.

It’s the only sure way to keep from losing it.

I sit on my haunches, giving myself these few minutes to grieve what we’ve lost. Then I push to my feet; there’s so much work to be done.

I gaze at what’s left and vow to rebuild our cottage and make it better than it was before; the same goes for our village.

We spend the next few hours taking an accounting and beginning the arduous task of cleaning up.

The villagers who fled to the woods come trickling back.

The men of the city drag the bodies of the enemy and drop them into a pile, and those who have fallen are gathered by their loved ones.

My brother and I begin the daunting task of trying to clean out our home and try to make it livable before dark falls tonight.

I’m busy trying to scrub the soot off what’s left of the walls when I hear a shouted warning.

At almost the same time, I hear the sound of hoofbeats.

Terror grips me. Our attackers have returned.

"Stay here,” I order my mom and brother before I run outside.

I lift my bow to my shoulder and face the direction the sounds are coming from.

A small cry hits my ears. I spin around and see Stormy, a young toddler, fall in the middle of the path that runs through the center of our village.

Making a split-second decision, I grab him and race behind what’s left of our cottage.

I drop to my knees and throw my hand over his mouth.

“Shh,” I whisper against his ear. My body is stiff as the riders close in.

Every muscle in my body is pulled taught.

The horses stop, and I hold my breath. There are no sounds of attack; my fellow villagers must have decided to hide and not fight back, same as I’m doing; but then, I hear one of them speak.

“Another village.”

“Only hours ago.”

I stiffen as I recognize those voices. It’s the men I ran into in the woods yesterday. And then I hear them say something that makes my blood run cold. “It’s the same arrow from yesterday.” That’s the rough voice of the red-haired brute. “The girl’s.”

I suddenly wish I didn’t mark all my arrows, so that I know they’re mine.

They’re quiet after that, and I figure they’ve moved further away.

Stormy shifts in my arms, and I move to accommodate him.

I don’t hear anything for a little bit. I wait a while longer before I decide I need to see what’s going on.

“You need to be very quiet,” I whisper in the boy’s ears, hoping he understands what I’m saying.

I creep around the cottage and peek around the corner.

What I see makes my blood run cold. They've lit the pile of our enemies’ bodies on fire.

I stare, unblinking as the fire grows and then begins to consume the dead.

I’m not sure how long I sit there watching.

I know it’s long enough for the exhausted toddler to fall asleep in my arms. Finally, the fire dies down.

The men gather around, and I feel hatred in my heart for them.

They’re obviously working with our attackers.

My legs are falling asleep, and I need to move.

I move and shift myself but freeze when the leader’s head pops up.

He turns and looks directly towards where I’m hiding.

I lean my head against the burned cottage and pray he didn’t see me.

I don’t move a muscle until I hear them discussing their plans. I can only hear a low murmur of voices, but then they say something that catches my attention. “We need to speak to the town leader.”

Nobody says anything in return, and I hold my breath, wondering if we will need to fight again. Finally, I hear Elder McCall’s strong voice. “I am one of the elders of our village.”

It only takes me a moment to decide what to do.

I won’t let him face them by himself. After looking around, I see Gretchen, a middle-aged woman from our village, hiding as well.

I put my finger to my lips and approach her, being careful to stay out of view of the enemy.

I thrust Stormy at her and then step out from my hiding place and point my arrow in the direction of the tall dark-haired guy.

It’s obvious he’s their leader, the one in charge.

He’s either really cool under pressure, or he already knew I was here because he doesn’t bat an eye.

I don’t miss the redhead pulling his bow up and aiming it at me.

“Lower your weapon,” the leader says to his man in a low voice without ever taking his eyes off me.

In the daylight, I can see him better. His eyes are dark and have an intensity about them that makes me want to back away.

He has weapons stashed all along his body, including a sword on his back.

He’s also much bigger now than he seemed last night in the woods, but I stand my ground.

Elder McCall eyes me warily but doesn’t tell me to stand down, not that I would listen.

“Two times in less than twenty-four hours you’ve pointed that weapon at me,” their leader says in a low voice. I take a step towards him, keeping the arrow pointed at his heart.

“Boss,” the redhead says, obviously not happy about the way I have my weapon trained on his leader.

He’s nervous . Good. The leader watches me with those intense eyes, missing nothing.

“ Leave now, or I’ll shoot,” I tell him.

I’m proud of the fact that my voice sounds calm, belying my nerves.

“I won’t ask ag--” I don’t get to finish what I was going to say before the leader overtakes me in a move so fast, I don’t even see it coming.

One moment, I’m in charge, holding the bow; the next, he has me disarmed with my arms pulled behind me.

I fight against him, but with my arms restrained, it’s no use.

I try to head butt him, but he moves his head and easily evades my hit.

“Easy, Hellcat,” he says against my ear. I try to rip myself out of his hold, but I can’t move an inch because he’s too strong. He looks away from me, back to Elder McCall, like holding me captive is nothing at all. I fight against him, but he doesn’t budge.

“We’ll be taking the girl with us,” he says in a voice full of authority. I go still at his words, and I can’t help the rush of panic that hits me at his words. Elder McCall flicks his gaze at me for a moment, and his body stiffens. I know he’s itching to reach for the blade he keeps at his waist.

The man holding me must see it too, because he continues in a low tone.

“Don’t do anything stupid. See that man behind me?

He’ll shoot your eyes out before you’ve even reached for that blade.

” Elder McCall’s eyes flick over my shoulder and then back to me.

I know he’s calculating the man’s words, wondering how true they are.

The blond-haired man standing near us suddenly whirls and throws a blade before I can blink an eye. I watch in horror as Bleke, my friend, drops to his knees. The blond turns to the man holding me captive. “He was getting ready to throw a knife.”

I yank my head, so I can see if Bleke is okay.

He has blood pouring from the knife protruding from his shoulder.

I watch as the blond man walks over to him and puts his hand on the blade.

“Stop!” I call out. Smiley ignores me and puts his hand on the knife in my friend’s shoulder, and I fight against the hold on me.

“Stop!” I shout again. Smiley takes the knife from Bleke’s shoulder and wipes it on his pants.

I stare in horror at the blood, but I steel myself.

I’m not going with them; I can’t. Those men with the masks could come back; others could come.

I can’t leave my mom and brother defenseless.

They don’t even have a roof over their heads or food to eat.

I glare up at the man holding me captive. “Stop hurting other people. If you want me to come with you, you’ll have to kill me. I’m not coming with you,” I grind out.

“Farrah!” Elder McCall hisses.

“Does she have kin?” the man holding me asks.

Elder McCall pauses a moment, and I widen my eyes at him, pleading with him not to give them up.

But when he nods, my heart drops. “Get them,” the leader orders.

He flicks his head, and Smiley and the other shorter, dark-haired guy go with Elder McCall.