Page 16 of Spirit Rites
“Like the Spirit Rites?” I guess.
“Exactly like that. The Spirit Rites have been a part of our kingdom forever.” We come to a small clearing, and Kaldar cocks his head and falls silent. “There’s water this way.”
“Will we be able to drink it?” I ask as I follow him.
“We’ll figure it out.”
A little while later we do come upon a small creek of sorts. Not too long after that, Kaldar has a fire going and an elaborate system set up to boil the water and collect it using large leaves we found along the way. “I’m going to admit that I’m skeptical about this actually working.”
He smiles at me across the fire. “It will work. This is how I survived the first Spirit Rites I was in.”
“All right.” I look over at the water. “I’m going to try to catch something that we can eat.”
He gives me a surprised look. “Okay.”
I don’t bother telling him that Hector made sure each of us girls could catch something, skin it, and cook it on our own so we could survive. All I have is the knife Kaldar gave me. I approach the water, studying it a moment. I’m actually looking forward to wading in and cooling off some. The heat is stifling, and the water looks deeper than I originally thought.
“I don’t see anything dangerous.”
Kaldar’s voice comes from right behind me, making me jump at least a foot in the air. I whirl around with a hand on my chest. “You scared me.”
His eyebrows rise. “Sorry. I thought you heard me coming.”
“No, because you move like the animal you’re bonded to.”
His lips tug into a small smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Did you come to make sure I get the job done?”
“Nope. Just wanted to make sure it was safe before you went in.”
“Oh. Well, thanks.” I wade into the water with my knife in hand.
“Here.”
I look back and take in the long, wicked-looking knife. “It’s longer.”
I take it from him. “Thanks.”
He nods and then turns back. “I’m going to see what I can procure for shelter.”
I watch his retreating back. “You trust me to find food for us?”
“Yep.” He doesn’t even look back at me.
A sense of pride fills me, and I smile to myself as I wade into the water. The water is cool and refreshing. I sigh and just enjoy it a moment before I get to work. I peer into the water and study what’s swimming around. There are two types I recognize and know are safe to eat. I follow them a moment, hovering just above the water. Then I spear one. “Gotcha.” I pull it out, and it wiggles on the knife. Since I don’t know when we will get to eat again, I transfer the fish to my other knife and go after another one. This catch takes me a little longer; this one does not want to be caught. I follow it downstream and am just about to spear it when something grabs onto my leg. I’m pulled under immediately. I don’t even get to take a breath before I’m submerged. I flail my arms, trying to grab anything that will stop me. But we’re moving too fast, and I can’t get my foot free. Thankfully, I still have my knife. I slash at the thing that has me,even as my air starts to run out. I slash more violently. I must connect, because my foot is released. I jerk away and rush for the surface. Thankfully, it’s not too deep. I come up out of the water and suck in a greedy breath. I swim quickly away from the creature. It takes me longer than I thought it would; we must have really gone fast to cover that much ground. Finally, I get back to shallow water. I stand up and walk over to the edge and try to wring out my clothes the best I can. It's pretty much a waste of time. When I dressed this morning, if I had known getting sucked into this place was on the agenda, I would have probably chosen something different to wear. At the same time, it could be worse. At least I’m wearing the same pants I wore during the trials. They’re black and flexible but also durable. I don’t know exactly what material they are, but Farrah made sure Harper and I each had a pair. I'm just wearing a plain gray tunic top on top. And thankfully, I was wearing my black boots, or this could be a really different story. Right now, it all just feels really heavy. I start to make my way back to where Kaldar was going to set up camp and make it about halfway there when I remember the fish. I turn back around and make my way back to the water. By some miracle, the knife is still there with the skewered fish. I stare at the water, wondering if I dare step in again. I use Kaldar’s long knife and wait until one of the bigger ones gets close to the edge before I skewer it.
When I finally start back towards our campsite, the sun is starting to set. My ankle is starting to throb, but I do my best to ignore it. I’m scared to even look at it. When our campsite comes into view, I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. He’s managed to make a shelter using tree branches and some large leaves, leaves that are longer than my arm. When I get close, he turns to me. “I was starting to get worried.” He takes in my appearance. “Did you decide to go for a swim?”
“No, some creature decided to take me for a swim.” I try to keep my voice light, but I’m tired. I don’t think I succeed.
“Are you hurt?” he asks.
“It got my ankle and dragged me for a good bit.”
His eyes narrow as he looks down. “Let me see.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
