Sorcerer's Ring (Books 1 ,2, and 3). Morgan Rice

      They all began to run for it.

      Elden ran past all of them, brushing them aside roughly.

      “That flag is mine!” he yelled.

      “I saw it first!” O’Connor yelled.

      “But I will get it first, and I will be the one to bring it back!” Elden yelled.

      Thor fumed; he could barely believe Elden’s actions. He recalled what Kolk had said—that whoever got the banner would be rewarded, and realized why Elden sprinted. But that did not excuse him: they were supposed to be a team, a group—not every man for himself. Elden’s true colors were coming out—none of the others ran for it, tried to outdo the others. It made Thor hate Elden even more.

      Elden sprinted past after elbowing O’Connor, and before the others could react, he gained several feet on them and snatched the banner.

      As he did, a huge net appeared out of nowhere, rising from the ground, springing up into the air, entrapping Elden and hoisting him up high. He swung back and forth before their eyes, just feet away, like an animal caught in a trap.

      “Help me! Help me!” he screamed, terrified.

      They all slowed as they walked up close to him; Reece began to laugh.

      “Well, who is the coward now?” Reece yelled out, amused.

      “Why you little crap!” he yelled. “I will kill you when I get down from this!”

      “Oh really?” Reece retorted. “And when will that be?”

      “Set me down!” Elden yelled, turning and spinning in the net. “I command you!”

      “Oh, you command us, do you?” Reece said, bursting into laughter.

      Reece turned and looked at Thor.

      “What do you think?” Reece asked.

      “I think that he owes all of us an apology,” O’Connor said. “Especially Thor.”

      “I agree,” Reece said. “I’ll tell you what,” he said to Elden. “Apologize—and make it sincere—and I will consider cutting you down.”

      “Apologize?” Elden echoed, horrified. “Not in one million suns.”

      Reece turned to Thor.

      “Maybe we should just leave this lump here for the night. It would be great food for the animals. What do you think?”

      Thor smiled wide.

      “I think that’s a fine idea,” O’Connor said.

      “Wait!” Elden screamed out.

      O’Connor reached up and snatched the banner from Elden’s dangling finger.

      “Guess you didn’t beat us to the banner after all,” O’Connor said.

      The three of them turned, and began to walk away.

      “No, wait!” Elden cried. “You can’t leave me here! You wouldn’t!”

      The three of them continued to walk away.

      “I’m sorry!” Elden began to sob. “Please! I’m sorry!”

      Thor stopped, but Reece and O’Connor continued to walk. Finally, Reece turned.

      “What are you doing?” Reece asked Thor.

      “We can’t leave him here,” Thor said. As much as Thor disliked Elden, he didn’t think it right to leave him there.

      “Why not?” Reece asked. “He brought it on himself.”

      “If the tables were turned,” O’Connor said, “you know he would gladly leave you there. Why should you care?”

      “I understand,” Thor said. “But that doesn’t mean we should act like him.”

      Reece put his hands on his hips and sighed deeply as he leaned in and whispered to Thor.

      “I wasn’t going to leave him there all night. Maybe just half the night. But you do have a point. He’s not cut out for this. He’d probably piss himself and have a heart attack. You’re too kind. That’s a problem,” Reece said as he put a hand on Thor’s shoulder. “But that’s why I chose you for a friend.”

      “And I,” O’Connor said, putting his hand on Thor’s other shoulder.

      Thor turned, marched towards the net, reached out and cut it down.

      Elden landed with a thud. He scrambled to his feet, threw the net off and frantically searched the ground.

      “My sword!” he yelled. “Where is it?”

      Thor looked down at the ground, but it was too dark to see.

      “It must have flown into the trees when you were hoisted up,” Thor answered.

      “Wherever it is, it’s gone now,” Reece said. “You’ll never find it.”

      “But you don’t understand,” Elden pleaded. “The Legion. There is just one rule. Never leave your weapon behind. I can’t return without it. I would be ousted!”

      Thor turned and searched the ground again, searched the trees, looking everywhere. But he could see absolutely no sign of it. Reece and O’Connor just stood there, not bothering to look.

      “I’m sorry,” Thor said, “I don’t see it.”

      Elden scrambled everywhere, then finally gave up.

      “It’s your fault,” he, pointing at Thor. “You got us into this mess!”

      “No I didn’t,” Thor replied. “You did! You ran for the flag. You pushed us all out of the way. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

      “I hate you!” Elden screamed.

      He charged Thor, grabbing him by the shirt, knocking him down to the ground. The weight of him caught Thor off guard. Thor managed to spin around, but Elden spun again and pinned Thor down. Elden was just too big and strong, and it was too hard to hold him back.

      Suddenly, though, Elden let go and rolled off. Thor heard the sound of a sword being extracted from his scabbard, and looked up and saw Reece standing over Elden, holding the tip of his sword at his throat.

      O’Connor reached over and gave Thor a hand, and pulled him quickly to his feet. Thor stood, with his two friends, looking down on Elden, who remained on the ground, Reece’s sword at his throat.

      “You touch my friend again,” Reece, deadly serious, said slowly to Elden, “and I assure you, I will kill you.”

      CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

      Thor, Reece, O’Connor, Elden, and Erec all sat on the ground, before a fire, forming a circle around it. The five of them sat glum and silent, Thor surprised it could be this cold on a summer night. There was just something about this canyon, the chill, mystical winds that swirled around, down his back, and mingled with the fog that never seemed to go away, which left him damp to the bone. He leaned forward and rubbed his hands against the fire, unable to get them warm.

      Thor chewed on the piece of dried meat the others were passing around; it was tough and salty, but somehow nourished him. Erec reached over and handed him something and Thor felt a soft wineskin being pressed into his hand, the liquid sloshing in it. It was surprisingly heavy as he raised it to his lips and squirted it into the back of his mouth, for too long a time. He felt warm for the first time that night.

      Everyone was quiet, staring into the flames. Thor was still on edge, being on this side of the Canyon, in enemy territory, still felt as if he should be on guard at every moment, and marveled at how calm Erec seemed to be, as if he were casually sitting in his own backyard. Thor was relieved, at least, to be out of the Wilds, reunited with Erec, and sitting around the reassurance