by Harper Wylde
“Nix! I’ve got you, baby. You’re alright. I’ve got you.” Ryder repeated over and over again as he pulled my hair back and let me vomit up the contents of the vial. I hoped whatever it was hadn’t had time to work. I needed to be alert and ready to fight. I had to make sure my guys were ok. I needed them. I wasn’t about to lose them. I could feel him attempt to push his energy into me, sparkling waves licking at my skin and over my wounds, but everything seemed to be whirling.
Hiro dropped to his knees behind me and rubbed my shoulder before Ryder rolled me onto my back again. Hiro gripped my hand, always touching me, as his thumb traced over my skin. I stared up at the midnight blue sky, the stars twinkling overhead. It seemed like a peaceful night, but I knew better. Scary shit went bump in the night, and my own personal monster was here, ready to end me yet again. I had never actually gotten away, he’d been here all along. The shadow in the darkness, the cold in the air, the prickle at the back of my neck, the nightmare voices screaming in my mind—I should have known I’d never be able to escape them, they were too much a part of me, as bred into me as the need for air.
I gasped for that air, trying to get my heartbeat under control as the cuts burned deep into my bones. My Phoenix felt like she was weakening with me, her hissing nearly a keening cry at this point as she writhed under my skin. It was disconcerting to feel her in agony with me, to have her pain echoing in my head, enhancing my own.
“Ryder.” I gripped his hand. “Burns.” It was all I could manage to get past my suddenly dry lips and abused throat. The burn was now spreading, trickling through my chest slowly as it set me ablaze. I was aware of growling in the distance, the sounds of a fight carrying to me through the clearing. Hiro stroked my hair and I tried to listen to the two of them talking over me. My guys were here. They had my back. I wasn’t alone. I wouldn’t die alone this time. And I was certain that was what was happening to me now. My ears started ringing and the trees and sky above me started swirling together. It was the last thing I remembered seeing before my vision gave out, my back bowing against the hard ground as a cry of agony left my lips. While I was worried about the guys, afraid Michael may hurt them, all I could focus on was how it felt to die. This time, though, I was ready to welcome death, just like death always welcomed me, because I knew I would be returning to the five men who captured me—mind, heart, and soul.
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The God Trials
Harper Wylde
Chapter One
Holy mother of the Gods, I had been chosen. Holding the cream piece of parchment paper, I re-read the words written in dark gold ink that shimmered across the page. The ink itself was magical, looking like melted gold elegantly flowing across the paper and I couldn’t help but to run my fingertips across the inscription. No matter how long I stared at the page the words stayed the same. My hands shook slightly and a small, breathy gasp made it past my lips before I quickly cleared my throat and tried to gain back my composure. I gently laid the letter down atop my dresser; it was by far the fanciest thing I had ever seen. Mother would be so proud. I was going to be so homesick.
Logically, I knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime. My family would be well provided for in my absence, I would be one less mouth to feed, and it would bring honor to our house which could only help my four younger sisters secure their own futures someday. Serving a god or a goddess was a revered position. Even knowing all of that, I couldn’t stop my heart from waging war with my head. I was, without a doubt, going to miss my four rambunctious sisters and my eccentric mother. I would miss my father, but I had already been missing him for years. He had passed into the afterlife, and I liked to think he was always watching over us; our guardian from beyond. I hoped he was in the realm of the Gods, at peace and at rest. I hoped he was pleased with my new path in life, and the fact that I was giving all I had to care for and protect the very people he and I loved the most in the world.
Looking upwards with a bemused smile, I raised the parchment towards the ceiling and said “Did you have anything to do with this?”
While I knew I would miss my family, my home, and the life I had now, I also couldn’t help the excitement I felt. This one little piece of paper held the power to change my world, and starting tomorrow, it would. Looking around my room I started to gather the things I would need to bring with me on my journey. There was no time like the present, and the letter had been clear that I was to leave in the morning.
Grabbing my leather rucksack, I packed away the essentials and went through my wardrobe. I placed several practical frocks and a few nicer dresses next to my bag before turning back to my closet. Pulling my boots out from the darkened corner, I then walked to my dresser and dug out my favorite pairs of pants and shirts, making sure to place them all at the very bottom of my bag. Mother would surely have a conniption if she saw me bringing them along. I, on the other hand, wasn’t about to leave home without them. She abhorred my habit of dressing in pants and shirts whenever I could get away with it. Personally, I found it so much more freeing than the skirts I was relegated to wear on the daily. Was it such an oddity to enjoy simple freedoms such as the ability to ride astride a horse or the ease of movement one had without tangling in skirts? Father had been the one to introduce me to them, after all, when he started my training. He taught me to hunt, trap, track, fish, and fight. Without those lessons, I wasn’t sure we would have survived the early days following his death. I missed the days of learning from him. Secretly, I knew he had always wished he’d had a boy but was instead blessed with five daughters, not that he was even the slightest bit resentful. He had loved us dearly and we had loved him back.
Walking over to my bed, I knelt down and pulled back the threadbare rug that covered the floor. Hooking my finger into the knot of wood in the floorboard that made a small hole, I pulled the board free and reached in to grab my short sword, bow and arrows. I would have to find a clever way to hide them on my travels. Lastly, after setting everything back in place, I pulled the framed picture off of my bedside table, lightly running my fingers over the glass. It was the only family picture we had, and it was my greatest treasure. I knew I would cling to this image when I needed it most.
Hearing the raucous sound of laughter suddenly fill the house, I picked up the parchment paper and headed for the stairs. My family always could make an entrance and today was no exception. Laughs and squeals echoed off of the rugged walls as my sisters teased each other. Our house was small and comfortable but it was the other five people in it that made it feel like home to me. I couldn’t keep the smile that formed on my lips as I stood at the bottom of the wooden staircase and watched the commotion.
My sister Marion was beaming and dancing around the kitchen with a starry eyed look on her face while the remainder of my sisters, Liesel, Emery, and Eliza, teased her mercilessly about her newest crush. It made my heart happy to see their well-mannered bickering. My sisters and I were close, more friends now than simply sisters.
She spun around my mother who was busy putting the newly acquired supplies and food away. Inspecting what she brought home, I could only assume it had been a successful day at the market. We had a small stand on market days in the local village that we stocked full of homemade wares. On better days, like today, the money we made would help us purchase what we needed for the week. From the looks of the what they had brought home, they wouldn’t have to worry between now and when the first stipend
arrived.
As she twirled around, swishing her skirts as she went, Marion spotted me on the landing and waved at me to come join in their fun. My heart clenched thinking about the fact that I wouldn’t be here tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year and how much I would miss from their lives. I knew when I left, I wouldn’t see home again for a very long time.
Deciding to savor every second I had left, I hid the parchment behind my back and chimed into their bickering.
“The boys in this town better watch out. Heartbreakers, the lot of you.” I teased.
“Oh please.” Marion rolled her eyes with a grin on her face. “You’re the eldest and the prettiest of all of us. Any of the men in our village would gladly sweep you off your feet if you let them get within a foot of you. So who’s the heartbreaker really?” There was humor in her voice as she bantered with me.
“You’re all equally beautiful. I’d like to think you get a little of that from me.” My mother said proudly. “The rest of it is entirely your father, god rest his soul.”
We all looked similar with our brown hair and grey eyes and while we were all around the same height, not too short and not too tall, our figures differed slightly. I liked to think of myself as athletic, but most people who looked at me would probably underestimate my strength. Years of hard work and continuing to hone the skills my father had given me had made me strong, but I had never lost my womanly softness. I had curves that tapered into my waist before flaring back out at my hips. My hair was long and hung down my back in waves that I often kept braided or in an updo to keep it tamed.
Rolling my eyes in jest I responded back to Marion. “You know as well as I do that they haven’t approached me romantically because I have too many bad habits.” I put the last part in quotation marks, signalling with one hand, keeping the letter hidden with the other. I wasn’t ready to damper our good mood. “I fear that most men are intimidated by a woman who can provide for her family in equal measure.” I finished. While everything I had spoken was true, I couldn't ignore the fact that half the problem was that no one had inspired romantic feelings in me yet. At twenty two, I was beginning to worry that I would never find anyone who made me weak in the knees and caused my heart to speed up. I’d started to think that maybe those feelings simply didn’t exist, but then my mind would quickly remind me that my mother was as honest as the day was long and she swore my father took her breath away. Maybe I was broken. Maybe none of this even mattered now. I didn’t know in what capacity I would be serving the Gods, only that I would most likely be serving them for the rest of my life.
The only boy who had ever shown any interest in me was my best friend Liam. We often hunted and fished together and with all the time we had spent side by side, I guess it was normal for one of us to develop feelings for the other. The unfortunate part was that I couldn’t reciprocate them back, although I had tried. Liam was an honorable man and would make someone a wonderful husband. I wondered if I could push his attentions towards one of my sisters. Liesel or Eliza maybe? Matchmaking for them would be so much easier than it was for me. I was too much of a free spirit for most men. I knew I had many of the attributes men looked for in a woman. I could knit, sew clothing, cook, clean, keep house, and I had helped to raise my sisters, but I would never give up my boyish ways. Hunting, fishing, working with leathers and furs, and providing for my family were deeply ingrained in me, thanks to my father. My mother liked to tease me that it would take a special kind of man to take me on.
I tried to tune back into my sisters’ lively conversation but as I looked up, my eyes met my mothers’. Tears were swimming in her eyes as she took me in with a small, watery smile. I looked down at my hand that clasped the letter before meeting her eyes again, mine now wet with my own emotion. She’d noticed the parchment and knew what it was. Rushing to me she pulled me into a tight embrace as she tried to keep herself together. We were wrapped around each other, holding on for dear life as I cried silent tears into her shoulder. The mood in the house sobered as my sisters realized they were missing something important.
“What’s happening?” Liesel whispered.
With surprising swiftness, Marion reached around me and gently took the letter from my grasp.
“By the Gods.” I heard her curse as she looked back to me shaking her head back and forth. “No.”
Liesel, Emery, and Eliza looked over her shoulder at the golden parchment, letting out gasps and expletives of their own.
“This can’t be real. You’re leaving?” Emery asked.
“Yes. The letter says to leave on the morrow. I leave at dawn.” Pulling away slightly from Mama, I looked at her and realized I needed to pull myself together now and reassure all of them that I was ok, that my being chosen was for the best. “I’m fine. I promise. It’s just that I am going to miss you all dearly.”
“Start from the beginning, Ailey.” My mother spoke. “They couldn’t have chosen you without your permission. How did they have your name?”
I knew she would ask me this, but I wasn’t sure how to explain. Taking a deep breath, I worked to arrange my thoughts as I started speaking. “Last week I was finishing my shift at our local temple. I was almost done scrubbing the floors clean when this overwhelming urge came over me to place my name into the sacred flame.” At the front of the temple, there was a flame that burned in a bowl, just behind the altar. The flame never died and no one knew how it even burned. It was rumored that if you wrote out a request and burned it in the flame, it would go directly to the Gods and Goddesses. It was a means of communication with the deities. Equally, if you placed your name in the flame, you gave yourself over for consideration to be chosen to serve the Gods and Goddesses. It was a high honor to be called to serve. I had never believed that I would be chosen, not even when I sent in my name. Surely, hundreds of names had been sent to the deities. Now, I couldn’t help but believe that there must have been a higher calling, a purpose to it all. How else could I explain the feeling I’d had and my having been chosen so soon after sending in my name? It was no coincidence.
“Mother of the Gods.” I heard my mother exclaim. She never swore. I looked at her with a questioning gaze.
“The feeling. Tell me about when you placed your name into the flame.” She demanded.
Closing my eyes, I tried to comply. I remembered the hard marble under my knees as I finished scrubbing. I had wiped a hand across my brow, spreading suds and dirt across my forehead as I went. I remember wishing for a bath after a day of working on the floor. My working dress was wet and clinging around my knees from crawling across the temple as I worked. I remember feeling like someone was whispering in my ear, but, having turned around in a circle, I knew logically that I was alone. The idea to enter my name just came to me, but the urge to obey and comply was strong. I remember walking to the altar, bowing my head in reverence, and then writing my name across the parchment. Ailey Levens. Without another thought, I held it over the flame and burned the paper, leaving only ash behind. It was like the spell was broken and I shrugged it off, not fully believing in the rumors about the flame. I had always felt it was more symbolic than an actual way to communicate with the Gods. I relayed everything to my family, leaving nothing out.
“Goddess of all.” She exclaimed “You’ve been called by one of the deities themselves.”
My eyes widened as goosebumps made their way up my arms. I had assumed as much, but hearing it said out loud was surreal and powerful. Why me out of everyone else in the world? What was I chosen for? I had no idea what my future held, and that thought alone was daunting. I also couldn’t help but wonder which God or Goddess had called me to serve. I knew I would find out soon.
“They would have needed you to enter your name, Ailey. Without your consent, they wouldn’t be able to call you to serve them. The deities may rule over our world, but they aren’t tyrants. They wouldn’t force anyone into service when there are so many willing to go of their own accord. The feeling you had? It w
as a true calling. The moment you entered your name, you gave them permission to summon you.” Mama explained.
“I figured as much when the letter arrived.” I soothed my mother and sisters. “It’s alright. I promise that I will be fine. I’m looking forward to the adventure.” Looking in my mother’s eyes I continued “You’ll be provided for now, Mama. You don’t need to worry anymore. Money and food will be plentiful.” Looking to the girls to make my point I said “Opportunities will come to you. Don’t waste them. Make sure to take care of each other and look after our mother. I will miss all of you more than you could possibly know.” I finished and was soon enveloped in a strong group hug.
The rest of the evening passed much too quickly and before I knew it, I was climbing the stairs and settling into my childhood bedroom for what could be the last time. I had spent the evening filing away even the smallest detail about my mother and each of my sisters to cherish when I was missing them. As I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling above, I couldn’t soothe my rapidly beating heart. Somehow I knew that the moment I stepped foot out of this house tomorrow morning, nothing would ever be the same again.
About Harper Wylde
Harper Wylde is an emerging author who lives in the countryside of Pennsylvania. As a wife and a mother of two young children, she spends her days chasing after little people and making crazy notes about story ideas all over her home. As a serial entrepreneur, Harper also dabbles in photography and graphic design…but has found that her favorite occupation is the one she’s doing now—writing fantasy and paranormal romance. She loves coffee, cooking, chocolate covered pretzels, and characters with hidden strength and endearing flaws! To connect with Harper, follow the link below to Facebook where you can join her author group and stay up to date on sneak previews, teasers, and new releases!