Page 108 of The Mortal Trials

Hazi takes a deep breath. “It might work.”

He climbs in search of the best branches. Those that are strong and long enough to put distance between us and the boar. He finds one he thinks will do, breaks it off, and hands it down to me.

The obsidian easily slices off the smaller branches. I unwrap the binding on my blade from Mamá’s shirt and use it to tie the shard to the end of the stick. I push the obsidian tip against the trunk to see if it’ll hold. It seems secure.

“Hello?” someone shouts through cupped hands.

I look down to see Elias standing in the center of the clearing where I’d entered the trial. “Elias, climb the nearest tree!” I yell. “Now!”

He scurries to the trunk closest to him and scales it, working his way onto a lower branch. “What exactly am I avoiding?”

“A huge boar,” I answer. “And anyone it’s infected.”

“Infected?” He curses.

Too close for comfort, a guttural male cry mixes with feral squeals before everything goes silent. Elias curses again.

“Watch for mortals wandering the woods, especially if they’re foaming at the mouth,” Hazi yells.

“Look for the foam. Got it.” Elias nods his head. “Is everyone here?”

Hazi shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Koda!” the Greek shouts, standing up on his branch and aiming his voice in different directions. “Koda Zivai!”

From the forest, we hear a few mortals call for Koda.

Word trickles back to us; it doesn’t appear that Koda is here yet. Thank the gods.

“We’re making spears,” Hazi tells Elias. He cuts the small branches off his own stick and with his knife, splits the purple fabric that drapes across his chest into strips. He hands some to me. “Bind yours again. Make sure it’ll stay put when you stab. We don’t need it falling off or getting stuck in its hide. We want it to bleed out.”

I tightly wrap the obsidian blade and knot the fabric extra tight, then look over at Elias’s tree. He’s gone. “Elias?”

A moment later, he climbs back down onto a lower branch with his own long stick, breaking the small branches off. “I don’t have anything to sharpen mine with.”

Hazi searches the forest floor all around us. “When someone else screams, I’ll run to Elias’s tree and help him. Keep watch for me.”

I nod.

A few moments later, we hear shouting in the distance. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hazi leaps to the ground.

Hazi’s a fast runner, I learn. And nimble. He deftly runs up the side of the tree trunk to get to Elias and sharpens Elias’s makeshift spear into a deadly point.

“We should make a few more of them,” Elias tells Hazi. The two find more branches that will work, and Hazi quickly shapes their points.

Veronia, in lavender leathers, suddenly appears in the clearing behind me, in the direction Hazi said the infected man had walked. The monstrous boar trots through the wood behind her, disturbing the fog between two trees.

“Veronia, run to me!” I yell.

My tree is closer to her than any other; still, she balks when she realizes who yelled.

“Go, Veronia! There’s a boar! Don’t let it touch you!” Hazi shouts and points at the creature that’s now barreling toward her, snuffling and shrieking.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” She takes off running.

While she’s fast, the boar quickly gathers speed and gains ground.

“Come on!” I yell. Wrapping my thighs around my branch, I tightly grip my spear.