Page 14 of Spirit Trials
I see movement out of the corner of my eye and turn to see Hector and Jamik join us. Jamik leans against the wall casually. “Wanted to see what we were missing.”
“Oh, you’re not missing much. Just that if I don’t produce a spirit animal, I’m going to die. So yeah. Great conversation.” Jamik has the decency to grimace. “Exactly.” I cross my arms across my chest. “It’s been nice knowing you guys.”
“You don’t get killed if you don’t produce a spirit animal,” Rysden says in a low voice. “Besides, you’re going to win.”
I shake my head.This guy. “It’s impossible without a spirit animal,” I protest. “Lox just showed me how much stronger you are with a spirit animal. I don’t have one.”
“Not impossible,” Rysden says without looking away from me. “It will be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done. But itispossible to win without a spirit wolf. “
“How do you know?” I cut off his tirade.
He doesn’t look away from me. “Because I did it.”
The room goes unnaturally still. “I’m confused. You don’t have a spirit wolf?”
“No.”
“You won the spirit trials without a spirit wolf? When?” I demand.
“Four years ago, and you will too.”
I scoff. “I don’t know if you know physics and all that, but I haven’t got any of all that going on that you have,” I say motioning up and down his body. Lox belts out a laugh that I ignore. I put my hands on my hips. “And just why would I do this? You took me away from my home, from my family. I have nothing. Why would I even bother to do this?”
Rysden steps close, and I fight the urge to back up. “The winner gets 500 velders.”
I freeze. “What?”
His dark gaze meets mine. “You heard me.”
“But that’s...that’s...”
“Enough to set your family up for life?”
I stare at him as I try to process what he’s saying. That much money would change everything for my family. I could actually buy medicine for my mom. We could move to a city where life is a little easier. I take a breath. “Okay. What do I do to win?”
Lox pulls a chair around and straddles it. “Every year, we host the Spirit Trials in our kingdom, since it’s the largest of the three kingdoms.”
Dread fills my stomach. “There’s more than just the Wolf Kingdom?” He nods. “I’m going to guess that those kingdoms are some kind of wild animal too, aren’t they?”
His nod confirms it. “The other two kingdoms are the Jaguar Kingdom and the Dragon Kingdom.” I swear I can feel the blood drain from my face at his words. “All three kingdoms send their competitors to the Wolf Kingdom every year for the Spirit Trials. The Spirit Trials are a series of three trials designed to make a spirit animal come forth.”
“So, I’ll be competing against other nineteen-year-olds that can produce a spirit wolf, jaguar, or even a freaking dragon?” Lox nods and continues. “Yeah, but the dragons never make a showing.”
How is this my life?I take a steadying breath, trying to keep my cool. “Okay, so there’s three kingdoms.”
“You know enough for now,” Rysden says from behind me. “It’s training time.” There’s a part of me that wants to defy him; the other part of me, the one that likes living, reminds me that I need all the help I can get if I’m going to survive these stupid trials. The other guys disappear as we get to work. I don’t say a word the entire time Rysden trains me, mostly because I can’t. I’ve never been pushed like this before. I’ve always been somewhat fit because of hunting and daily life in my village, but it’s nothing like the gamut Rysden runs me through from weapons training, to conditioning, to hand-to-hand combat...which I’m terrible at, by the way. The hours drag by. When I can’t move another muscle, he finally dismisses me. I drag my weary body over to the stairs. “Farrah,” he calls out. I turn back. He’s not even sweating; I hate him.
“What?” I snap.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days again. The guys will take over your training. Learn from them and work hard. Train after breakfast and each night after dinner and then run in theafternoons. The guys will know the schedule; I'm just letting you know.”
I stare at him for a moment before turning and walking away without a word. All I know is that I want a hot bath and sleep. The next morning, it’s Lox that knocks on my door. “Let me guess,” I say upon opening my door. “You’re my torturer today.”
Lox grins. “Torturer? Nah. We’re going to have fun.”
About halfway through our training time, I turn to him. “I get now why you’re still single.”
“You do?” he asks with a smirk. “Enlighten me.”
