The Exiles (Book 1 of the Exiles Series)

Twenty-One

Magnus shoved me aside and turned to face my team. There were standing so still they looked like statues. No one dared to breathe.

I scrambled to my feet. My bow was laying beside me in a mangled heap. It was absolutely, hopelessly broken. I had no weapons. What was a girl to do?

Suddenly, a plan hatched in my head. Maybe I wouldn't have to fight. My team was too frightened to move a muscle. We desperately needed help, and the only way to get it was to blow the whistle. But Sammy had the whistle, and she had no idea what was going on beneath her. I needed to tell her what was going on so that she could summon Nicole and her team. If I didn't go right this second, my team would be toast.

"Team," I shouted, new courage filling my body with the arrival of a plan. "You know what to do: attack!" This seemed to wake everyone up. With loaded bows, the initiates were completely ready. They began to attack relentlessly, shooting with supreme accuracy at Magnus's army. Magnus's soldiers ducked beside the bed and didn't reappear for quite some time.

"You idiots!" Magnus bellowed, the only one actually fighting. He tossed my shattered bow aside and picked up his own. It was much bigger than everyone else's bows on my team, which made it much harder and more time consuming to shoot. The members of my team had lots of time to duck before the arrows zinged past their heads.

While Magnus was distracted, I hit the deck and somersaulted towards my team. They were so focused that they hardly noticed my presence.

Suddenly Magnus's army reappeared from their hiding place, with bows and knives drawn. Dozens and dozens of arrows flew past our heads, but miraculously no one was hit. I stood up beside my team and gestured to Magnus and his army. "C'mon!" I shouted, though the sound of arrows being released was so loud I doubted anyone could hear me.

Just then our first injury occurred. A girl was shooting when all of a sudden an arrow flew through the air and found a place in her body. She fell to the ground. One person dropped their bow and ran to her side. Luckily, she had only been shot in the leg. She looked more dazed than hurt. The guy who shot the arrow barely noticed what had happened. The girl plucked the arrow from her skin and loaded it into her bow. Though her leg was cut and bleeding, she stood up on her own and continued fighting.

I took this as my cue to get going. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, I crept behind my team's legs and hurried for the door. Several people on my team gave me looks of disbelief, but I kept going anyways. I felt as if I was deserting them, but I realized that it was for a good cause. They needed help and I was going to give it to them. If I didn't leave right now they were almost certain to lose.

"She's getting away!" someone from the opposing army shouted. I just glimpsed the look of shock registering on Magnus's face before I found the door. "Get her!" I heard Magnus yell. I thrust open the door and hurried into the hallway. I could hear feet approaching. I had only a few seconds to do this. I couldn't afford to get caught.

I sprinted down the hallway and tripped to the ladder. The trapdoor was open above me. Thank you, I silently told my teammates. Thank you for being careless, just this once.

I climbed briskly up the ladder and glanced behind me. I was being followed by not one, not two, but three followers. They looked fierce with their bows and black-rimmed eyes in the dark.

I hurried up the last rungs of the ladder and dove on to the ground above me. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness after being in the light for awhile, but I could see Sammy's shadow in the trees. I didn't say a word, just scrambled to my feet and trampled towards the safety of the woods. My feet crunched on branches.

"Talia, what's going on?" Sammy asked, sounding fearful. I tripped to my knees and put my hand on her mouth. "Just be quiet, please!" I pleaded. She looked too surprised to speak anyways.