Warrior of the Stars- Book one of the Jay Shang Chronicles

Chapter 14-The Path to Friendship

Chapter 14 - The Path to Friendship

"Some of you are going to die today."

The silence of the freezing boys standing in formation was broken by the sharp words spoken by one of the Kimanchean officers, Lieutenant Hikuma.

"Some of you will get injured, and the rest of you will prove you are worthy of the crest you bear upon your arm. If you cannot survive this test, then you have no reason to continue serving in the Kimanchaen Army. And if you have no reason to serve, then you might as well die because serving is your one true purpose in this world."

Jay shivered as the chilly wind bit his skin through the thin rags he wore around his hands. He was too cold to be afraid, no matter how heavily the Lieutenant word's loomed over his head.

"You novices will all be following your squad leaders up the mountain on a different path than the main camp. The path is hidden and very narrow. It was used by scouts to sneak around enemy armies in the past.

It is very dangerous, and circles the edge of the mountain instead of going up the low slope, which is what we will be doing. It is crumbling in many parts, and you will have to cross a rope bridge that we are not sure is even still hanging there. If it isn't, well, I guess you all will have to find another way across. That's all I have to say now. Regroup with your squad leaders, and I will see you all, or at least most, of you in a few days."

Lt. Hikuma turned on his heel and left, leaving the boys frozen, in both terror and cold.

Jay shuffled over with Damon towards where Lynwee and Markus were waiting with the rest of his squad. Lynwee, eager to prove himself as a squad leader, took off away from the wide, beaten path the majority of the camp would be taking to begin searching for the entrance to the secret path.

The other squads began to disappear into the fog ahead of them. Remembering his resolution to be braver, Jay trudged after them. He came across Damon, who had not moved since the lieutenant had finished his speech. He nudged his petrified comrade forward, and together, the boys drug themselves into the unknown.

***

The path was so steep and icy, that at times Jay felt as if he were almost climbing vertically instead of at a slope. At some sections the boys had to walk sideways, shuffling nervously with only a few inches of the path beneath their feet.

There had been several times Jay thought he had heard screams from somewhere further up the mountain, but their echo quickly was muffled by the wind and snow, and the suffocating silence would once more resume. When this occurred Jay would whisper a quiet prayer to whichever god would listen that the boys were ok, but in his heart, he knew that they had fallen to their deaths.

Damon was in line in front of him, and when the path was wide enough the other boy would begrudgingly walk next to Jay, their bodies pressed together to try and conserve some warmth. Neither had spoken since they began hiking up the mountain, their lips too numb to move.

Suddenly, Damon stopped. Jay stumbled into him and they both quickly grabbed at the rock face beside them to keep from falling. Lynwee, who had been up to this point refusing to show any weakness in front of his charges, had come to a halt.

Jay carefully peered around the other boys to see what the holdup was.

Before them lay a seemingly never ending fissure. The dense, snowy fog prevented Jay from seeing more than a couple of feet into it, and it took several moments of intense staring before he saw what Lynwee was timidly investigating.

Leaning precariously towards the abyss were two rotted wooden posts, and tied to them was an ancient plank bridge. Jay could only see a few of its boards, but the ones that he could were barely being held together by the frayed, weather worn rope. It swayed eerily in midair, the other end of it a terrifyingly inviting mystery. Jay's stomach clenched at the idea of crossing the deadly walkway.