The Exiles (Book 1 of the Exiles Series)

Twelve

Nic came to my house the next morning.

"There was a Crawly incident," Nicole explained as she bustled through the door. "A band of them invaded a camp. I had to go and help." Nicole and I had defeated a whole band of Crawlies by ourselves, but I said nothing. There was no reason that those islanders couldn't have defeated the Crawlies by themselves, but do you think I said that? I didn't mutter a single word.

"What should we do today?" Nic asked. I shrugged. "I think the house is pretty much finished," I told her. I was proud of the place. Nicole and I had built the little dugout all by ourselves. I had a feeling I'd never completed such a project.

With nothing to do, Nic and I conversed for a few minutes, and then Nicole bade me goodbye and left again. Once I was alone, I ate a quick breakfast and then went outside. It was cooler than it had been the last few days. For once, it was actually pleasant outside. I sat down against the stone wall outside my house on the dirt, legs crossed. I watched as a few people hunted nearby, bows slung over their backs. A group of girls walked by, talking animatedly about the recent Crawly appearance. But I was alone.

A hard gust of wind suddenly blew. I listened to the rustling of the leaves on the green, healthy trees, and watched the clouds race through the sky. But I heard another sound. It was the rustling of paper against something. This was a new sound. Fascinated, I hopped up from my place and looked around. It didn't take me long to find the source of the sound. A piece of tree bark was stuck to a nearby rock. I approached the rock and plucked the thick, pulpy paper from the rock. A message was scribbled in messy handwriting on it:

Talia-

Meet me by the lakeshore. I have something important to show you.

Magnus

That was all the note read. I stuck it back on to the rock, and, just as the note told me to, I ventured off in the direction of the giant lake. It was more like a sea, really. It was much, much bigger than I thought a lake should be and located towards the desert (strange, I know.). Its beach was the very one I had awoken on, and where Nicole and I had swam, so I knew the way quite well. However, instead of going through the desert and risking getting attacked by another spider, I took a detour through a dry grassland, the same detour Nic and I had taken. To my satisfaction, I reached the lake in nearly half the time that I remembered.

Magnus was already waiting for me on the sand. The clear blue sea and the sky met behind him in a blend of light blue the same color as Magnus's eyes. Once he saw me approach, Magnus looked up and started up the beach to meet me.

"Well, I'm here," I told him, once he was within earshot. "What is it that you want to show me?" Magnus grinned. "I'm glad you got my note," he told me. "Isn't it beautiful out here?" Magnus looked out at the water longingly. It seemed to go on for miles and miles, eventually disappearing in a haze.

"Very," I agreed, following his gaze. A calm breeze blew from the water and tangled my hair.

"The city is beyond this water," Magnus said. His gaze never shifted from the water. "How far?" I asked. His brow wrinkled in thought. "Not far. Maybe...huh, let's see...twenty, thirty miles?" he stumbled. "I guess I'm not certain." Thirty miles wasn't that far by boat. It would probably only take a few minutes to travel from the island to the city.

"Have you tried to build a boat?" I asked suddenly. Magnus shook his head. "I haven't. A group of kids did--once. They washed up on the shore a week later." It took me a second to realize what Magnus meant.

"Did you try again?" I asked. Magnus rolled his eyes. "What do you think?" he replied. His tone was snotty, almost comical. I bit back a smile.

"It never hurts to try again," I reminded him. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, so obvious that I wondered how I hadn't thought of it before.

"Hey, why don't we build a boat together?" I suggested. Magnus bit his lip.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he told me. "I don't want either of us to get hurt. And do you know how to build a boat?" Reluctantly, I shook my head.

"It doesn't hurt to try," I urged again. "Oh, come on, Magnus, pretty please?" I stepped closer, continuing to beg until I was nearly on my knees. He laughed and jokingly covered his ears.

"I'll do anything, just stop!" he teased. He ran backward on the sand. I darted after him, laughing giddily. Eventually, he tripped and fell on a rock buried in the sand. I laughed uncontrollably as he staggered up and dusted off the sand from his shorts. After this childish burst of energy, we walked side by side back to the shoreline and simultaneously sat down on the damp ground. I didn't even care that my bottom was soaked. My body was glowing with warmth.

"All right, all right, we'll do it," Magnus reluctantly agreed. I pumped a fist into the air. Out of nowhere, a wave of emotions hit me. The triumphant grin vanished from my face.

"Are you okay?" Magnus asked, noticing my sudden change in demeanor. I shook my head no, suddenly filled with panic. "What's wrong?"

"Magnus, what if we don't make it back?" I told him, the words bursting forth. He didn't seem fazed--he almost looked relieved.

"Talia, the government doesn't want anomalies like us going back to the City," he told me. "We're not supposed to get back. But if we do, they'll see just how powerful kids like us are." I nodded slowly. "We'll take a stand," he told me. "We'll do something that no one has ever done before. We'll be leaders, and right everything that is wrong with that city."

My heart beat hard and fast, hardening into resolve. The uniqueness of it all enticed me. If Magnus and I survived on these rough waters, we would be the stuff of legend. A fleeting daydream of a school history textbook with a picture of Magnus and I on the cover flashed across my vision. We'll right everything that is wrong. Little did I know how stupid a path I was chasing.