Page 5 of Spirit Trials
“Yeah, well I can’t sleep over the sound of your chattering teeth.” Without another word, he rolls over and goes back to sleep. I want to argue, but I can finally feel my toes again. So, I keep my mouth shut and snuggle down into my blanket as sleep finally overtakes me.
Chapter 5
The next morning comes before I’m ready. The sun’s almost up when the leader rouses us. The guys work together to tear down our camp and load up. Somebody hands me some dried meat, but I can’t eat it. My stomach rolls at the thought of food. Before I’m ready, I find myself on a horse in front of the leader once again.
Hour after hour drags by, making for a grueling day. And when we finally stop for the night, every bone in my body aches. I’m used to riding but not for this long. I’m not sure if I can even walk. I take a moment to stretch as I stand beside the horse before I attempt to move. The guys each begin their tasks once again. I watch as Red gets ready to head into the woods. A quick glance shows the leader is nowhere in sight. “Can I go with you?” I ask quietly. He eyes me warily before nodding. I follow him silently and stay quiet while he does his thing. He’s a pretty good tracker and hunter. It doesn’t take him long to catch a few small animals again. When we’re on our way back to camp, I finally ask my questions. “What’s your name?”
He eyes me a moment before answering gruffly. “Hector.” I commit the name to memory. I’ve been studying him. He’s older than the other three, and I can’t really figure out his place in this group. Why isn’t he the leader when he’s obviously older than the leader? “How far are we traveling?” He doesn’t answer, not that I’m surprised. “Why aren’t you the leader?” I finally ask the question that’s been buzzing around my head. He turns to me, confusion in his eyes. “I mean, you’re obviously the oldest one in the group,” I offer.
“You calling me old?”
His question so takes me by surprise, it takes me a moment to answer. I shrug, and he surprises me by letting out a chuckle. I’m so surprised, in fact, that I don’t ask any of my other questions, and then we’re back at the camp and my chance is over. “Do you want me to skin one of those for you?” I offer.
His eyes slide to mine in surprise. “I got it.” I stand there a few minutes, unsure what to do. I finally drop to the ground, irritated. I don’t know what to do with myself; I’m not used to not doing anything. And as much as I don’t want to help these guys, I’m going crazy without a job to do. When they gather around the fire, I resist the urge to wander away. I’m too cold. I eat because I'm hungry and need to keep up my energy for whatever comes next, but I ignore everything they say and do. And when it’s time for bed, I climb into the bedroll they provide near the fire and will sleep to find me quickly.
Dreams or maybe nightmares plague me all night. I try to get warm but can’t. Everything hurts, and I can’t get comfortable enough to sleep. I hear voices in my dreams, voices that seem vaguely familiar. But for the life of me, I can’t place them. The voices don’t make sense; they run together in my head.
“She’s got a fever.”
“Infection.”
“Delirious.”
“She’s a fighter.”
“Shade will help.”
The voices are too confusing, and I will them to stop. Suddenly, it’s quiet. I take a deep breath and drift into a restless sleep. When I wake the next morning, I’m covered in sweat. I blink at the bright sun and close my eyes. I slowly open them again in confusion and then sit up slowly, grimacing as I do. Smiley is sitting a little distance away, sharpening his knife with a rock. “It’s afternoon,” I say in a raspy voice.
“It is,” he says without looking up.
I stare at him in confusion and look around the camp for the other guys. I don’t see them, but I see all their stuff. So, they haven’t left us.
“Why did you let me sleep?” I ask in confusion, still feeling really groggy.
He shrugs. “You needed it.”
“But...” Words fail me. I stand to my feet, closing my eyes to let a wave of dizziness pass. I put my hands on my hips to steady myself and feel something. Frowning, I look down and pull up the side of my shirt. There’s fresh dressing on my wound. I look over at Smiley. A thousand questions run through my mind, but I don’t ask a single one. I bend down carefully and roll up my bedroll.
The three other guys walk into camp. “Feeling better?” Hector asks gruffly. After a pause, I nod. He doesn’t say anything, but he seems pleased with my answer. I stare after him as he walks over to his horse. These are the strangest captors. When I turn back around, the leader stands only a few feet from me. He watches me with those intense eyes of his, and I swallow and finally break eye contact. Without a word, I mount his horse. A few minutes later, he mounts behind me, and we start traveling once again. I wonder if I should thank him for whatever they did to help my wound, but then I remember that they’re the reason I got hurt in the first place. Whether they were the ones that actually shot me and destroyed our village or not, they’re working with the ones who did. And that makes them the enemy. I don’t say anything as we travel hour after hour.
The next few days drag by. Each day, I’m more sore than I was the day before. But at least my fever hasn’t come back, and my side seems to be healing. I wonder if we’re ever going to reach our destination. In the beginning, I asked repeatedly where we were going, but nobody ever answered and eventually I gave up asking. At this point, I’m pretty sure we’re just goingto be nomads for the rest of our lives. I’m so confused. I may not be the best tracker, but I swear at times we’re simply going in circles. I wonder if we’re lost. But the one time I asked the leader if we were lost, he gave me such a dark look I didn’t ask again.
We’re riding in the middle of the day when suddenly, the forest all around us goes quiet. A chill rakes up my spine, and I stiffen. Before I can ask what’s going on, I hear that sound...the one that accompanies my nightmares. Every bone in my body locks up in terror as the terrible screeching sounds again. I open my mouth to shout a warning to the men, but before I can, something swoops over us, blocking out the sun. I jerk my gaze upward and nearly fall off the horse. A screaming sound fills my ears as I take in the creature flying above us. It’s something straight out of every child’s nightmares. It has a huge snout and a tongue that flicks out and is split, like a snake’s. Horns jut out the back of its head, and it has the body of a dragon but the tail of a serpent. The forked tail rattles, adding to its horror.
The screaming abruptly cuts off, and with it so does my oxygen. “Stop screaming!” a voice whispers harshly in my ear. “You’re leading it right to us.”
I open my mouth to say something...anything, but I can’t. Terror keeps my mouth locked up. I stare at the beast as it swoops down once again and then flies upward and wonder how soon it will kill us. Belatedly, I realize we’ve stopped moving. Only when I’m dragged from the horse do I snap back to reality. A hand is slapped over my mouth once again as the leader pulls me a distance away. “They’re blind; they rely solely on sound to catch their prey. So, whatever you do, be very, very quiet,” the leader whispers against my ear. I don’t say anything; I’m incapable because of my stark terror. He removes his hand slowly.
“We’re going to die,” I barely whisper the words.
The leader steps close and shakes me hard. “We’re not going to die. Stay right here and don’t make a sound.” His words are barely audible even right next to my ear. He strides away, pulling several knives from the sheaths on his pants. He uses hand motions, and they all move into position. It’s obvious they’ve done this before.
I grind my teeth so hard, I’m afraid they’ll break as I watch the men gear up to fight against this awful thing. Hector stands off a little ways, bow pointed to the sky. The dark-haired younger guy has several knives out and ready, and Smiley seems to have just as many. The leader now has a curved, wicked-looking long sword in his hand. They all eye the sky. A shudder runs through me when I hear that screeching sound followed by the rattling again, and it takes everything in me not to make a sound, especially when it suddenly swoops down again, this time, not far from my head.
The leader gives a signal, and Hector shoots at the creature. He gets him right in the eye, an amazing shot. The creature lets out a terrible bellow, and hisses and spits fire. I stumble back in shock and watch as everything in the fire’s path is consumed instantly. I can feel the heat from here. The leader slashes at its foot as it goes flying past, and the creature bellows in pain but keeps going. Hector shoots arrow after arrow. Some hit the creature; some don’t. The creature keeps bellowing fire, and soon we’re surrounded by flames. I run towards the men, afraid I’ll be cut off from them by the flames. I race towards them and leap across the line of fire, clearing it right before it grows nearly twice in size. I make it to the other side but not without alerting the creature to my location. It swivels and dive bombs toward me at the same time it opens its mouth and spits out fire. I don’t think. I jump and roll to the side. The flames rush past me. I’m on my feet and running again as quietly as possible. I have to beat the fire and get ahead of it, or it will cut me off from the guysagain. I run as fast as I can and leap. The fire races past me, but I’m on the other side with the guys now. I whirl around, trying to find the creature so I know where it’s at. Somebody shouts a warning, and instinctively, I duck. Hector warned me in the nick of time. I’m able to roll free of the flames, but he’s not so lucky. His shout gave the creature his location. I stare in horror as the creature gets its claws into him. I scream and run towards him. The leader is somehow already there, slicing at the creature. Smiley comes in from the other side and gets it in its side. The creature bellows in pain. I’m scared he’s going to blow fire right into Hector, but it only screeches again. By some miracle, the creature drops Hector. I turn to Hector and swallow hard when I see the blood pooling across his chest. I race towards him, feeling guilt flood me. If he hadn’t called out to warn me, this wouldn’t have happened. I drop to my knees beside him as I put pressure on his shirt to stop the bleeding. “Stay with me,” I whisper to him. His pain-filled eyes meet mine, and then they suddenly dart behind me and widen. I know without looking that the creature is headed my way. Without thinking, I grab his bow from beside him and nock an arrow and turn around in one fluid movement. I don’t even get a chance to stand. The creature is nearly upon us. It opens its mouth to incinerate both Hector and me. I don’t think; I just shoot. Right into its open, cavernous mouth; and then I close my eyes and wait for death.
Chapter 6
