Page 33 of Spirit Trials
“I’m one of the banished.”
I acknowledge her words. Harper was right. If she’s one of the banished and Harper and Kinsley don’t know her, then just how many banished are out there trying to survive? “What happened to your weapons?” I ask.
“I only had one knife, but a guy took it. I guess I can be grateful because at least he didn’t use it on me.”
“Okay. You can join our group.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I reach down and unstrap a knife and hand it to her. “Here.” She stares at me and then the knife but makes no move to take it. I wiggle it. “Take it.” She finally does.
“Thank you.”
I nod. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to the other two girls.”
We walk back towards Kinsley, who’s already smiling, and Harper, who hasn’t lowered her bow yet. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she shot me at least once. She seems like that kind of person. “Harper and Kinsley, this is Sariah. She’s with us now.” Kinsley nods, but Harper’s not quite so fast.
“Where are you from?” she demands.
“I’m one of the banished,” Sariah says, meeting Harper’s eyes.
“And you’re not here to kill us?” Harper asks.
“No.” Sariah doesn’t seem bothered by Harper’s brashness.
“Let’s keep moving,” I tell everybody. “I don’t like standing in one spot for too long.” I take the lead. I don’t fail to notice that Kinsley and Sariah follow, or that Harper takes the back. I slow down as we come to an area that’s really thick with trees and underbrush. I stop for a moment and face the group. “If we’re going to go forward, we have to cut our way through. It’s pretty thick. I think it’s a good idea, though, because probably not a lot of other competitors have gone through here.”
Kinsley nods, while Harper says, “Let’s do it.”
I throw my bow over my shoulder and grab two of my knives to slash my way through. “Watch for snakes,” I throw over my shoulder as I step into the overgrowth.
“Snakes? I hate snakes!” Kinsley whispers in a hoarse voice.
“Then watch your step,” Harper snaps at her. I start cutting down everything in our path, making it easier to get through. The further we go, the thicker it gets. Soon, I’m sweating; but I don’t stop moving. I don’t want to be stuck in this area for long. I whack at the next set of vines and stop suddenly. Kinsley runs into me but reaches out to steady me as I bend down.
“Why’d we stop?” Harper calls out.
“For this,” I say as I stand back up.
“It’s a gold ring!” Kinsley shouts.
I can’t help my grin. “It’s our first gold ring.” I study it a moment; it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It fits in the palm of my hand, which means they’re going to be a lot harder to find than we originally thought. “Who wants to hold it?”
“You keep it on you; you found it,” Kinsley says.
I look down, intent on putting the ring in the pouch that holds my throwing stars. It goes still around me, and I jerk my head up just as a group of three guys emerges from behind several trees. In an instant, my bow is in my hands with an arrow nocked. “Ooo, if it’s not the kingslayer,” one of the guys says.
“You know, you all need to think of a more creative name for her; she didn’t even touch the king. She knocked a cup out of his hand,” Harper says in a bored voice.
“Nobody asked you, Banished Girl,” another guy says. Then he turns to me. “I’ll take the gold ring now.”
“I don’t think so,” I tell him, still aiming my bow that direction. They start towards us, and we sort of fan out. Harper stands on my left; and Kinsley takes my right, leaving Sariah to stand on Kinsley’s right.
“Ooo, so you’re a tough guy, huh?” the taller and bulkier of the three guys says.
I lift my bow higher. “No, I just don’t have any patience for bullies.”
I keep my bow trained on the biggest guy in the group, so I miss when one of the other guys grabs Sariah, holding a knife to her throat. “Give me the coin.”
