Page 13 of Shadow Bonds

“Nope.” I shake my head and lean back against the tree, closing my eyes.

I hear a sigh and peek an eye open as he makes his way over to the others. A second later, they start making their way through their self-made obstacle course of horrors.

I watch for a little longer as they move through it, feeling a little jealous that they make their way through every obstacle with ease while I seem to struggle with a much smaller version.

At least a hour passes as I zone out and try to rest my aching muscles. Droplets of rain start falling, slow and steady at first. I get to my feet, hoping they’ll take the rain as a hint that it’s time to go back. But glancing over, I spot three of them gathered around one of the larger pits.

I move over to find them all looking down at Dimples. “What happened?”

“I fell.” Dimples gives me a deadpan look before sighing. “The wet mud is slippery. I can’t get back up,” he says with a huff as if annoyed by that little fact.

I hide my smile. I guess karma is real after all.

“There’s no rope.” Indigo Eyes walks up beside me just as the heavens open and the rain starts pouring down.

Hazel Eyes moves to the other side of me, his gaze flicking to mine. “I’ll hold onto your legs, and you can grab hold of him, and we’ll pull him up.”

“Pass. Pick one of the others instead.” I point to Indigo Eyes and his cold glare while stepping back as I start to worry they might throw me down there if I don’t agree.

“You’re the smallest and weigh basically nothing. The others are too damn heavy.” Hazel Eyes looks at me like I’m stupid for even asking.

“Fine,” I grit out before moving to the edge of the pit and bending down. I feel him move behind me and grab my ankles before he slowly pushes me down until I’m close enough to grab Dimple’s hands.

Dimples wraps his hands around my wrists and gives me a look that makes me pause. It’s there and gone before I know it.

“I’ve got him,” I shout up. But instead of pulling me back up, Dimples’ grip tightens as he yanks me down into the pit.

Luckily a pile of sloppy mud eases my fall, but I’m completely covered and soaked to the bone in thick, wet sludge.

I get to my feet, ready to run through him, when he chuckles and climbs up the pit wall like it’s nothing to him.

The four of them look down at me, all wearing savage smirks.

“Get me out of here now,” I growl.

Dimples, now known as Bastard #1, winks at me. “You skipped our training session. This is your punishment. Get yourself out.”

All as one, they turn without a backward glance and leave me here.

The weather decides to let me know it can always get worse, and the rain beats harder, drenching me in seconds and making the pit of mud more sloppy and dense.

I move over to the nearest wall and try to find a grip, but my hands slide straight through it. I move to the one across from it, hoping there might be harder mud behind it, but it’s just like the first one.

My feet start sticking to the pit floor, making it harder to move from one spot to the next, but I keep moving, trying each part of the pit walls for any type of traction. But there’s none.

My feet start to sink the longer I stay still, so I keep moving from one side to the next.

Rage keeps me going as I tell myself if I get out of this, I’m going to fucking kill them.

A small yip distracts me from my murderous thoughts, and I glance up to find a small familiar white and black animal.

A Vim. A small harmless creature that looks like a mix between an artic fox and cat. And by the looks of it, this one is just a youngling.

They range in different colors, but this one is adorable with a soft white fur covering every part of it except its eyes and paws that are black.

It purrs down at me before climbing down and jumping into my arms, making me chuckle. Vims have always been drawn to me for some reason even though I don’t have any power they can syphon from me.

It lets out a louder yip, and a couple of minutes later, four more Vims appear. They all climb down the pit and rub up against my legs and climb my arms, purring.

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