Page 32 of Warrior of the Wild
Peruxolo doesn’t look up.
And bless the goddess, he keeps walking.
When he’s finally out of sight, my breath comes out in a whoosh.
I can’t make rash decisions. I promised Irrenia I would try to come back home. Launching myself at Peruxolo without a plan is no way to achieve that goal.
AndI don’t deserve to die. Surely the goddess knows. Surely she knows the trial wasn’t my fault.
Either way, I will do this the right way. Slowly, deliberately. When I have a plan, I will face the god.
When I’m certain he’s long gone, I climb down from the tree. I walk on my toes as I head back for the road at a snail’s pace, but I don’t dare make a sound.
When I finally do reach the road, I run.
CHAPTER
7
Itire long before I make it back to my little fort, my pace slowed to a crawl.
I’m brought up short when I find someone inspecting where I slept last night.
Soren.
“Very impressive,” he says, indicating my fort.
“How did you find me?” I didn’t exactly go a great distance from their tree house, but the wild is thick and good for hiding things.
“Took me all day. I figured you couldn’t have gone far with how exhausted you must have been. Got lucky with this place.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask, somewhat irritated. Why did he seek me out? I’ll have to move now. Find a new spot to build another fort to remain hidden.
“I brought you something.” He nods toward a bucket I hadn’t noticed before. I peer inside to find bright yellow berries piled to the rim.
“What are they?”
“We call them ‘yellow berries.’”
“How original.”
“They’re very sweet. Iric and I lived off these until we were able to trap meat. Try one.” He pulls a berry from the top and offers it to me.
I narrow my eyes at it. It’s so bright. Surely it’s poisonous if these are only found in the wild.
Soren shrugs and pops the berry into his mouth, chews, and swallows. When he doesn’t start retching, I dare to try one for myself. I don’t put the whole thing in my mouth, but rather take a small bite. It sends juice dribbling down my chin.
But the fruit is tasty. Sweet, with just enough of a kick to it to make it exciting. I put the rest of the berry in my mouth before wiping my chin off on the back of my hand.
“It’s a small way to show my gratitude for what you’ve done for me, but I assumed since you’re new to the wild, you won’t know which plants are edible yet.”
I grab a handful of berries and walk with them over to the tree opposite the clearing, the one whose branches I chopped to make my fort.
“How did you know these wouldn’t kill you when you first tried them?” I ask.
“Well, I didn’t,” he says.
I peer over my shoulder. “You didn’t,” I repeat, confused.
