Fire and Ice, Lauren Stiller [new books to read .TXT] 📗

Zoë gazed at the stars in the night sky. They shimmered beautifully, casting a silver glow on her face. The sky was starting to lighten; dawn was approaching.
Zoë shifted her legs and wrapped her arms around them. Footsteps were approaching her spot in by the creek. The cold wind wreathed around her, refreshing her and clearing her mind.
She glanced behind her. The mist shifted to reveal her brother Fenton; a stocky boy with violet eyes that matched hers.
He settled down beside her and sighed. “What’s wrong, Zoe?” He turned to face her.
Zoë narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘What’s wrong’?”
Fenton rolled his eyes. “You’ve been coming out here to the moorland early every morning. Something’s up. As your older brother, I am qualified to ask questions about your personal life.”
“I’ve just been pondering my existence. Things like, what is my destiny?” Zoë raised her eyes to the stars again.
Fenton followed her gaze to the night sky. “Why are you suddenly wondering about this?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I feel like my life is unstable.”
“So you’re wondering what to do about Regis.”
“Yup, pretty much. I guess I just don’t know what my feelings are for him yet. I know he likes me, and he’s a great guy and all, but I don’t feel comfortable around him yet.”
“You’re saying ‘yet’. Do you think you will be at some point?”
“Possibly.”
“Well, don’t worry about it, then. I’m sure everything will work out. And he’s not the only guy in Tribe, you know. Just because he likes you doesn’t mean you have to like him, too.” Fenton got to his feet and brushed off his pants. “Plus, your fourteenth birthday is only six days away. Think about that instead.”
Zoë smiled at him. “Thanks, Fenton. Sometimes you sound like you’re sixty years old instead of sixteen.” She combed her fingers through her dark blonde hair. “I guess now I owe you one.”
“Sibling debts are dumb. I think it’s cool to share my years of wisdom with you.” He grinned proudly and started back towards the camp. Fenton paused and looked back. “You coming?”
“In a bit. I want to stay here until the sun rises.”
“Alright, but you’d better hurry after that. I think you’re going with a hunting group near the south border.” Fenton turned and continued towards the trees.
Zoë sat on the bank and examined her arrows. They were perfectly sharpened, with the ability to penetrate the flesh of almost any animal.
A few fish swam lazily around the shallows of the creek. They weren’t too big, but good for aim practice, decided Zoë.
She selected an arrow from her quiver and sat up into a crouching position. She silently raised it, took aim, and chucked it at the school of fish.
The arrow stuck in the muddy sand at the bottom of the creek. Zoë tugged it free and held it up to the dim light. Two small fish were skewered on the arrow, their silvery scales sparkling in the light of the rising sun.
She carefully took them off the arrow and skinned them with her knife. Wrapping them in some reeds, she stuck them in her pack to take back to camp.
The sky had turned a soft orange. The sun was just starting to be visible above the tree line. Zoë picked up her pack and stood up, stretching her arms and shaking out her legs. She followed the winding trail through the woods back to camp.
She arrived in camp to find most of her Tribemates were already awake. A group of them were gathered around Castle, the Ice Tribe’s commissioner.
“We’ll pound them!”
“Filthy, no-good Fires!”
“They think we’re too weak to do anything!”
What is going on? Zoë thought.
Cassidy, her best friend, pushed in beside her. “We found a Fire hunter’s bow and arrows on our side of the border. There were a few footprints, but the rest were washed away by the rain yesterday evening.”
Zoë narrowed her eyes. “They’ve been scouting in our territory at night, the rotten creeps,” she muttered.
“Castle wants you to lead a “hunting group” near the border and see what you can find,” Cassidy said.
“Isn’t that a battlers’ job?”
“She thinks that it would look to aggressive to send a battlers’ patrol to the border. We don’t know how the bow got there; an animal could have carried it there. The footprints could be our own. That’s why Castle is sending hunters. It’ll look like you’re casually hunting. And to be honest, hunters are better at scouting prints than battlers.”
Zoë nodded. “True. I guess I should see Castle about the patrol then.” She stepped forward carefully, slowly easing her way into the center of the crowd.
Castle glanced up, relief flooding her face when she saw Zoë. “Thank goodness you’re here. I need you to take Easton, Pace, and Oakley and scout around the border. Try and look like you’re hunting, but if you find anything suspicious come back and report to me or Delwyn.”
Zoë nodded obediently and called out to her hunters. They gathered around her quickly, she counted heads, and they headed out of camp.

Text: Lauren Stiller
Publication Date: 10-26-2012

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