Page 2 of Spirit Trials
Chapter 2
The next morning I’m up before the sun, even though I didn’t go to sleep until late. I’m always up before the sun; it’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because my favorite part of the day is sunrise, but the curse is that it means the start of a new day and all the chores that come with it. After soaking in as much warmth as I can from my blankets, I throw them off and climb out of bed. The floor on my bare feet makes me shiver, and I quickly locate my long socks and yank them up to my knees. I pull my nightgown over my head and slip into pants, a thick wool shirt, and thick-soled boots. I run a finger through my bright red tangles and braid my hair to keep it out of my way while I work. After stoking the fire and adding a few logs, I light the stove, so it will be ready for breakfast later. With a last glance at my sleeping brother and mother, I head out, closing the door softly behind me. I shiver in the darkness and head around back. I whistle softly and smile when an answering nicker sounds, and Clover comes from the woods.
“Hey, Girl,” I say softly, stroking her muzzle and feeding her a carrot. “I’ve got to get to work, but I’ll check on you later.” As if she understands my words, she lifts her muzzle and steps back. She waits a moment longer before turning and trotting away. I grab the basket from outside the small wooden enclosure and gather the eggs for this morning’s breakfast. I leave three eggs inside for later and head back out to drop off two eggs at Gretchen and Roden’s. They're getting up in age and have a hard time getting out. I head back to our house and fill my arms with the wood we have left and take it back to their house as well. I make a mental note to track down more today.
Since I don’t have to spend all day in the trees, I can do some of the other chores I’ve been missing lately. I glance toward the hills, looking for the sun. It’s dark right now, but it won’t be long before the sun will glint off the gorgeous red hills surrounding our village here in the valley. I’m on my way back to our house when I hear something—I'm not sure what, but it makes me uneasy. I take in my surroundings, while at the same time reaching for my bow. I never leave home without it. I hold it close now with an arrow already nocked and try to figure out what it is I heard.
In the stillness, I hear a sound that I immediately recognize.Clover.She sounds distressed.I’m off and running towards the woods before I even realize it. There’s a strange eeriness that chills my bones as I enter the woods. There’s something definitely off. The woods are impossibly silent, the sounds of the usual wildlife hushed and muted, as if the whole forest is holding its breath. “Clover,” I call out softly. “Here, Girl.” I keep moving deeper into the woods, even though my skin is crawling. I fight the urge to run back out, but I remind myself I’ve been in these woods hundreds if not thousands of times. My eyes strain to see into the darkness, but it’s impossibly dark in these woods until the sun rises high into the sky. “Clover,” I try again. I don’t hear anything in response, and I try to keep my panic at bay as I head deeper into the woods.She's fine. Something just spooked her.I keep moving forward, knowing I won’t be able to get back to work until I make sure she’s okay. Finally, the third time I call her name, I hear a soft nicker, and relief flows through me. A few minutes later, I finally find her. “Clover.” But when I reach for her, she rears back, surprising me. “Whoa, easy. It’s me.” She backs up nervously. “Easy, Girl. It’s okay.” She calms down enough to let me touch her, but she’s still spooked. “There’s nothing to be afraid—” I don’t finish the words as an unearthly shriek cuts off my words, chilling me to the bone. Clover rearsagain, and I stumble out of her way. I don’t know what it is that’s making that awful sound, but it’s obviously terrifying both of us. I shake my head, trying to keep my wits about me. Clover takes another few steps backwards, and I’m afraid she’s going to bolt. “Come on, Girl. Let’s go home.” She snorts and shakes her head, and then I smell it.Smoke.I whirl around but can’t see anything through the dense woods all around me. I grab Clover’s mane and hoist myself up, not giving her a chance to skitter away. “Let’s go!” I dig my heels into her sides, knowing she can see well in the dark, and she’ll get us back home. We race through the woods. Before we reach the edge of the wood, I can see the orange. “No!” I urge Clover to run faster, and we race from the woods toward our village that is now completely engulfed in flames. Terror strikes me; every house is on fire. Clover senses my fear and races faster towards the flames even as the noise from our village reaches my ears. A cacophony of terror and pain and screams all clash together. I jump from her back and race to the front of our home, my heart thundering in my chest. I tear off a strip from my shirt and hold it over my nose before I kick the door in. Smoke clouds my vision for a moment, and my eyes burn. I step forward anyway and run into them. My brother is doing his best to hold my mom up. “Go!” I shout to him before taking my mom’s weight and dragging her towards the door. We burst through the door, and I take in a deep breath and immediately start coughing. There’s no fresh air to be found, not when our entire village is in flames. I drag my mom away from our burning home and towards the woods and settle her in the grass before spinning around and placing my hands on my brother’s quivering shoulders. “Are you okay?” He nods erratically. “Stay with her.” And then I’m racing back to our village. I run to Gretchen and Roden’s house first and pull the cloth up over my nose. Before I can open the door, a loud cracksounds, and the roof caves in. I stumble backwards. “No!” I try to go in, but something pulls me back.
“You can’t go in there,” somebody shouts at me over the terrible sounds all around me.
“Let me go!” I scream.
I’m dragged backwards, away from the building. “Farrah!” Hands turn me around, and I stare up into the face of one of our village elders. “They’re gone.” His voice is harsh, but I see the pain in his eyes. “Focus on those who can still be saved.” He shakes me hard. “Farrah.” I nod, even as sorrow threatens to consume me. I stumble away from the home as flames lick at my face, and the heat becomes too much. I follow him to the center of town where the weak and elderly have gathered. “Everyone that is able; help the elderly get away from here.” I follow his orders and slip an arm around Mrs. Graphton and help her walk as quickly as possible towards the trees. Once she’s a safe distance away, I run back. This time, I carry Mrs. Olsett’s one-year-old twins as she helps her aging mother. Then I join the bucket brigade and try to save what’s left of our village with bucket after bucket of water. I race to the creek too many times to count, even though it’s not doing anything. We’ve lost the battle to the flames. Still, I refuse to stop. Finally, Elder Thomas tells us to stop, and I stare at what’s left of our village.
Twenty minutes.The bitter thought fills my head. That’s all it took to bring a village to its knees. I continue to stare as my thoughts swirl around in my head, threatening to consume me.If I would have been here...if I would have seen what was happening...
A heavy hand falls on my shoulder. “Thank you, Farrah.” I don’t look up at Elder Thomas because it wasn’t enough. His voice is laden with grief, and I don’t envy his position as one of the leaders of our village. “Gather around,” he says to those of us standing near him—the strongest of our community. “Weneed to take an accounting of who’s left.” He doesn’t say what we all know—there aren’t nearly enough left. There were too few escorted to the woods. “Bring them back, and then we will discuss the plan to move forward.” I swallow hard.How can we come back from this?
“What was it that did this?” somebody asks.
“It was a terrible creature,” somebody else adds.
“What if it comes back?”
“It breathes fire!”
Our leader tries to calm the rising panic. “We need to—” His words are cut short, and he falls to his knees. I stare at the arrow protruding from his chest, and it takes my mind a moment to catch up. Screams fill my ears once again, and I spin around already grabbing the bow that’s attached to my shoulder. I hear the sound of a shrill war cry that sets my teeth on edge.
“Take cover!” I shout, and then I’m running. I wave my hands as I turn the corner and race towards the woods. “Go!” I scream at those gathered near the trees. “We’re under attack! Get into the woods!” The woods will be the only salvation now for those that can’t fight. I can see as the news begins to register, and panic descends once again. I scan the group for my mother and brother and race towards them. I nearly cry in relief when I see my brother has his bow at his shoulder. I’ve never been so thankful that I’ve spent hours training him and drilling into his head to never be without his bow. I take in my mother’s weary, soot-covered face and my brother’s matching one. “Get into the woods. Hide until it’s safe.” I meet my brother’s eyes when I say it. “I will come for you as soon as I can.” My brother nods solemnly, even as he glances fearfully behind me. I shake his shoulders. “Go. Protect Mom.” I turn to my mom, who has silent tears tracking down her cheeks. “It will be okay,” I say, swallowing hard. “I will return for you both.” I hug them fiercely. “I love you. Now go. Take as many as will go with you.” Theyboth stand there, unwilling to move. “Go!” I shout at them. Only when they turn away, do I turn and race back to my village.
I’m close to what’s left of our cottage when I stumble upon something that rips my heart from my chest. “Clover,” a broken whisper escapes my lips. I drop next to my fallen horse and keep the scream building inside my chest silent and feel what’s left of my heart crack open. I see the arrow in her neck, and rage fuels me. I look up to the heavens and close my eyes, vowing to end those who took her life. “I love you,” I whisper and lean over her. A lone tear drips from my cheek to her mane, and I kiss her before standing to my feet. Resolve fills me, and I pull my bow to my shoulder as I run towards the fray where men in all black with black cloth tied around their eyes and noses are cutting down my people. I let my first arrow fly, hitting my mark and dropping one of the enemy. I don’t stop when I feel a sharp pain in my side. I don’t even glance down; I don’t have time. I race towards the center of town and join my fellow villagers who have taken a stand. There are too many of them, but I refuse to give in. Those around me fall, and I refuse to acknowledge the loss. I just keep threading arrows and shooting until finally the attack is over. I’m not sure if we killed them all, or if they left. Or if there are more somewhere nearby watching and waiting. I hold my bow up in the ready position as I circle around, watching for anything that moves.
“They’re gone...for now,” one of the men in our town says. He lowers his bow slowly. I’m not so quick to drop mine. The group around me begins to spread out, and I finally drop my bow but keep it ready to grab in a moment’s notice. I glance down at my side. Grimacing, I place a hand over the wound. Upon closer inspection, I see the arrow only grazed me. Still, it hurts fiercely. But I know I have it easy; I’m alive. I tear off another large strip from my shirt and wrap it around my waist, puttingpressure on the wound so it will stop bleeding. Then I face our village...what’s left of it.
Chapter 3
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. "Stayhere,” 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 ourattackers. 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.
