Page 13 of Spirit Rites
I stare at him in shock. “Why didn’t you say, ‘Don’t touch me!?’ I would have gotten that.”
He gives a small shake of his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”
I rub my hand across my forehead.I can’t even right now. “I literally just survived the Spirit Trials. How can this be my reality?”
“I know it’s not ideal.”
“Not ideal?” I shriek, nearly in hysterics. “We have nothing. No food, no water, no extra clothes, no weapons...and we have to survive here in...in...where even are we? Was it like this when you were here?”
“No, every time it’s different.”
I can’t keep my panic at bay. I fan my face. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
He turns back to me. “It’s the heat and extreme humidity. It’s an exaggeration of the heat and humidity of our kingdom.” Now that he says that, I can’t seem to stop sweating. I wipe my face; it’s already soaked. At this rate, we’re simply going to melt. Kaldar reaches back and grips the back of his black shirt and pulls it up and over his face in a flash. I’m left staring because...well, because it’s Kaldar. I already knew the guy was incredibly good-looking. Did he have to take it to the next level? I swallow at all that tan skin and muscles on display. I swallow and force my gaze away. Right in time too because he turns back to me. “I guess you don’t have any clothes you can take off to help you cool down.”
I stare at him as my mind is incapable of processing what is happening right now. I’m usually a nice person. I leave the snark to Harper and the aggression to Farrah, but something about all this is making me lose my cool. “No, Kaldar. I don’t have any clothes I can take off. I also have no water, no weapons, and no food. But I already mentioned that. This is—” The ground beneath us rumbles, and I stop midsentence. “What is that?”
He moves back a few steps, so that he’s standing closer to me. He has a sword in hand, and I’m thankful he keeps a weapon on him. I scowl at the thought of what Rysden would say to me right now. He's always adamant about keeping a weapon on us at all times. Farrah would have a knife on her; she always does. Kaldar pulls a knife from a sheath somewhere on him and hands it to me. “Take this.” His voice is low and urgent. The ground rumbles again.
“What is that?” I ask again.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s big.”
I stare at the back of his head, wishing I was Harper right now to give some kind of snarky comeback because really? “No kidding,” I mutter under my breath. The ground rumbles again, and I tighten my grip on my knife. The bushes around us startshaking, and I spin around, trying to find the threat. Suddenly, the ground a few feet away splits open. I stifle the scream threatening to burst from my throat. I have less than a second to decide what to do. Before I can make a decision, strong arms wrap around me and I’m pulled off my feet. I’m in the air for a precious second or two, and then I’m on solid ground again. I whirl around to look and see that the ground where I was just standing is gone. There’s a huge divide between us and the other section of land now. As if it’s sentient, the land opening turns and starts towards us.
Kaldar shoves me forward. “Run!” I don’t stop to think; I just run. The ground continues to vibrate and shake, and I don’t have to look back to know the ground is being cleaved in half behind us. I’m not exactly sure what the plan is, but for now, it’s run and don’t fall in the giant ravine. I’m in the best shape of my life with having just come through the trials and all the training Rysden made us do, but the panic building in my chest and the cloying humidity make it feel impossible to breathe. I feel like I'm trying to breathe underwater. I suck in a deep breath and choke on it. “Faster,” Kal shouts from behind me. I trip over something and nearly go sprawling, but Kaldar grabs my arm and tugs me up. “We can’t outrun it!” he shouts from behind me. “We have to clear it. Maybe the change in direction will slow it down. Go right!” I redirect and run towards the right. “When I say, turn and we’ll jump over it.”
“What? That's a crazy idea!” I shout as we run.
“We have to try! Get ready. Wait just a second for it to pass us and then jump. The divide gets bigger the longer it stays open.”
This is a terrible idea.
“Ready? One, two, three. Go!”
I turn directly towards the oncoming divide and wait just a split second for it to pass me before I jump over it. Kal is just a second or two behind me, but it’s already wider for him to crossthan it was for me. “Run!” Kaldar shouts, pushing me forward. “Cover as much ground as we can before it turns.” We run fast, but it’s not long before it’s right behind us again. “We can’t keep outrunning it,” he shouts, stating the obvious. “We have to find a way to stop it.”
Chapter 6
I have no idea how we’re going to stop this thing. But as we continue to run, I know we’re going to have to do something. Kaldar might be in amazing shape, but I can only run for so long. Already, I feel my pace slowing. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep going. I’m not exhausted yet, but I don’t want to get to that point. My mind races. No matter which way we go, it follows us, no matter how many times we cross it or double back. We run past a huge tree, and an idea takes shape in my mind. “We should double back and climb that huge tree,” I yell to Kal over the rumbling of the ground.
“It will just divide the tree in half,” he yells back. “And then we’ll fall in.”
“Not necessarily. If the tree is strong enough, it will stay together, even if the ground disappears beneath it. When the ground disappears, the two sides should push against each other to keep the tree standing. If we stay far enough up the tree, we should be safe. We can at least catch our breath and make a plan.” He’s quiet behind me as we run, and I wonder if he’s considering it.
“Okay. I’ll follow you back to the tree.”
My gut tightens. In theory it’s a good plan, but anything could happen. But just running forever isn’t an option, so we have to try something. “Ready? Go.” I spin around and race the other direction, back to the huge tree.
“I hope you’re a fast climber,” he says from right behind me.
I didn’t use to be, but we spent enough time in the trees for trial two that I’ll be okay. The hardest part will be getting up onto that first branch. Hopefully, it’s low enough for me to reach. Myheart thuds in my chest as the tree comes into view.Shoot.It’s a high first branch. Good thing Kaldar’s tall. “I’m going to need a boost,” I call over my shoulder to him. “It’s too tall for me.”
We’re almost to the tree, and I know we don’t have any margin for error. It’s going to be close. My heart thunders in my chest. Kal grabs me on either side of my waist and all but throws me up at the branch. I reach out and latch on and hoist myself up. Without wasting any time, I climb to the second branch, so he has room to climb up. “Are you up?” I call out, even as I climb faster.
“Yes. Go!" I focus on getting as high as I can before the divide hits us. I feel it coming. The entire tree starts to shake. “Hold on!” Kal shouts right as the tree begins to vibrate beneath us. I wrap myself around the tree branch and regret every part of this decision. I hadn’t factored into the equation how difficult it would be to hang on to a tree that’s moving. I wrap my arms tighter around the branch I’m lying on. The tree shakes harder now, like it’s trying to dispel us. To my horror, I feel my body start to slide sideways. The shaking is going to loose me from the tree. I try to get a better grip, but it’s not working. I tighten my legs around the branch and will myself to hang on just a little bit longer. I hear a loud crack, and my panic grows.
“Hold on!” Kal shouts from somewhere below me.
