Page 65 of Spirit Trials
“I know; I am too. But it really wasn’t your fault. Can I go with you?”
“Yes!” I don’t even have to think about it. “Do you think we should find a group?”
“It looks like we’re already in a group,” she says, nodding at the few people standing close to us.
“I guess that works.”
We’re both silent after that. Terron starts walking through the groups with his gryphon at his side. Then his gryphon flashes a group at a time. One minute, there’s a group of ten people standing around the gryphon, touching him, the next they’re all gone. Seconds later, the gryphon appears by himself and heads over to the next group. It’s truly amazing to watch. It takes a little bit, but Terron and his gryphon finally approach our group.
We gather around the gryphon and reach out and touch him. “Is there room for one more?” a voice asks, and I close my eyes in relief. I don’t turn to look at Harper, afraid that if I do, she’ll go with another group. But Kinsley meets my eyes and smiles, and I smile in return. Maybe this challenge won’t be so bad after all. And then we flash. The world falls away for a moment andthen reappears. I swallow hard and work to keep my balance. A few in our group land on their knees as we recover from being flashed here. The gryphon doesn’t stick around, and we’re left alone. I take a step and feel myself tilting to the side, so I stand still. “Wow, that was a rush,” Kinsley says from right behind me. I turn around slowly, so as not to fall over. Her face is pale, but she’s smiling.
“Yeah, that was crazy; but I don’t think I like flashing.”
“Yeah, me neither. I like keeping the contents of my stomach where they belong.”
“Me too.” The smile slips from my face as Harper walks over to us, and I brace myself.
Chapter 34
I study her face a moment, wondering what I should say. I decide to keep it simple. “I’m sorry—”
“You already apologized,” Harper says, cutting me off.
I don’t know what to say after that. “I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I finally add.
Harper blows out a breath. “I know, Farrah.” She looks away for a moment before turning back to me. “I hate it, but I know you didn’t mean to. Your prince, however, that’s a different story.” I open my mouth to tell her that he’s not my prince but decide at the last moment to stay silent. She doesn’t need any more fuel for this fire. “Now what trees are we going to claim?”
And just like that, hope fills me. I know that’s the best I’m going to get from Harper. I focus my attention on the trees. The success or failure of this trial is going to be the trees we choose. “This area is really different.”
“Yeah, it’s hot,” Kinsley points out.
I notice the warmth for the first time and wipe the back of my neck. “I’m already sweating, and we haven’t even started yet.” I turn around in a slow circle, taking in the deep green of everything around us. “Everybody’s going to choose the ones closest to us,” I say after studying the area. “I think we should go further into the trees and then choose. It’s impossible to see past these trees up front.”
Kinsley looks at Harper, and I can see her nervousness. “Sounds like a plan,” Harper says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Kinsley turns to me and smiles, and I feel like I'm walking on clouds. No matter the outcome of this trial, I have my two friends back. It feels good, really good.
“The leaves are so green and thick,” Kinsley points out, and I have to agree with her.
We don’t have to wait long as we were one of the last groups brought over. Soon, the trumpets sound and we take off. I’m not really sure if we are protected during these twenty minutes or not, but I don’t aim to find out. I take the lead as we run towards the cover of the trees away from the edge of the forest. One minute, we’re running with sunlight all around us; the next, we’re plunged into near darkness. I stumble for a moment and come to a stop.
“What in the world!” Harper says. “I can’t see anything.”
I turn around in a slow circle. “Let your eyes adjust; thereislight but not much.” I look up at the trees; the sun is almost completely blocked out. I look back the way we came and then forward.
“If we go in much further, I don’t think we’ll be able to see anything at all,” Kinsley says softly.
“Yeah, but neither will our competition,” I point out.
“If they can’t find us,” Harper starts.
“They can’t bother us,” I finish. “Should we go further in?”
“Let’s go,” Harper says, leading the way.
“Just be careful, since we can’t see the ground. Be careful of snakes and other creatures,” I call out. Kinsley yelps but keeps going. I scan trees as we run, knowing we’re swiftly running out of time.
“What are we looking for in particular?” Harper calls out, quieter this time.
“I don’t know exactly, but I’ll know when I see it,” I tell her. We keep running, and I start to panic that we’re not going to find three good trees next to each other. There are trees everywhere, but ones that will work for us, not so much. And not three right next to each other.
