Page 55 of Spirit Trials
“Wh-what?” I ask through chattering teeth.
“Don’t go to sleep,” he orders.
“As if I-I c-could,” I manage.
“Ry,” Lox says, coming over to stand next to him.
“She’s fine,” Rysden says.
“Yeah, but for how long?” Lox asks in a low voice.
“She has to do this,” Rysden growls at him. “Or she’s no competitor.” His words poke at me, and I open my eyes to glare at him. He’s staring at me. “You gonna give up?” There’s an arrogant smirk on his lips, and it grinds on me.
I glare at him. “No.”
“You sure about that?” He asks. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out in pain. I’m so cold; I just want out. “This is nothing for what’s coming, Farrah.” His words are as cold as the ice I’m sitting in. “If you can’t make it through this, you may as well give up now.”
“I’m n-not g-giving up,” I manage through chattering teeth. I close my eyes and try to focus on anything but my present circumstances.
“Don’t go to sleep!” he snaps.
“I’m n-not.” I focus on just taking one steadying breath after another.One more minute—that’s all I have to endure.I tell myself that over and over again, hoping at some point, my body will believe it.
“Okay. You’re done.” My eyes fly open. Dark eyes meet my own. “Get out.” Lox moves over to help me, but Rysden stops him. “Don’t help her.”
I grind my teeth together and work on getting out; it takes an embarrassingly long time. My body is beyond numb. “Now run to the trees and climb one.”
I stare at Rysden. “Are you s-serious right n-now?”
“Deadly.” His eyes bore into mine, and I see the challenge there. I keep my frustrated scream inside and turn and start making my way over to the trees. It’s painfully slow. “A child can run faster than you are right now,” he calls out from behind me. I ignore him and focus on moving. When I get to the base of the tree, I stare up at it. It looks more formidable in my weakened state than any other tree I’ve ever tried to climb. “What are you waiting for?” Rysden calls out. “Climb.”
And so, I do. I push the pain down, and I focus on just getting up into the tree. The first branch is the hardest. It takes me longer than normal to get up to the first branch, but then I’m moving. My fingers are frozen stiff, so it’s hard to get a good grip but I keep going forward. I’m encouraged when the movement seems to push a tiny bit of warmth back into my body, so I keep going. When I finally reach the top, I take a deep breath. “Can I come down now, or do I have to spend all night up here,Your Highness?” I can’t resist the dig.
“Come back down,” he says from far below. I make slow work of climbing down. It’s bad enough that my extremities are frozen, but now my clothes are as well. It makes moving stiff and awkward. When I make the last jump to the ground, my legs go completely out from under me. Rysden makes no move to help me up, and I finally manage to gain my feet. “Back in the ice bath.”
I stop and turn slowly to him. “What?”
“You heard me.” He starts walking towards the bath.
“I can’t,” I call out from behind him.
“You can’t, or you won’t?” he asks without slowing his stride.
I feel like crying as I make my way over to the tub I left not long ago. I stop next to it and stare at it. “Rysden, I can’t.” My words are soft, so soft in fact I don’t think he’s going to hear. But he does.
He steps close to me. “Pain is just an emotion. Don’t let it rule you. Push the fear away. You can do this, Farrah.” He lowers his head, so his eyes are level with mine. “Show me you can do this; show me who you really are.”
I bite my lip and take a deep breath. And then, before I can allow myself to think, I plunge into the bath and sink down. I cry out in pain before I can help it. “That’s it.” Rysden’s voice is really close to my ear now. “It’s just cold; you can do this.” His words are low, and I don’t really understand the intensity behind them. I make myself think about anything but the ice bath I’m sitting in. I think of my mom and brother, but that brings pain. I think instead of a warm fire. For some reason, the warm fire I think of is in Rysden’s room. I let that thought wrap around me, and it almost feels like I can feel the warmth of the fire. “Okay.” Rysden’s voice cuts through the image in my mind. “You’re done.”
“What if I don’t want to be done,” I return in a weak voice.
A quiet snort leaves his mouth, and I open my eyes. His dark eyes are inches from my own. “You did good,” he says in a low voice. And then without warning, his hands plunge into the water and grab my sides and hoist me up and out of the tub. The cold air wraps around my body, and I shiver, feeling the cold to my bones. “Let’s get you inside.” He puts a hand on my back but makes no other move to help me. As soon as we get inside the house, I’m instantly hit with warmth. I want to lie down right here, right in the entryway. Rysden must pick up on what I’m feeling because he pushes me forward. “Come on. Don't quit on me.”
I stiffen my back. “I’m not quitting.”
“Good. Then let’s get you to the fire.” I move forward, so he’s no longer touching my back. As soon as I step into the main room, the heat from the fire hits me. “Don’t get to close too quick.”
Those are Rysden’s last words before he leaves me. I don’t care; I’m just happy that I can start thawing out.
