The Sorcerer's Ring (Book 1) Read Free Page A

Olivia running back to her. She looked further ahead and noticed that the town wasn’t on fire. That was a good sign. Nothing too serious could be happening.
    “What is it?” Remi asked as her friend stopped in front of her.
    “Your parents are back with the rest of the raid.”
    “Already?” Remi said in surprise. A raid usually lasted days. A day to plan, a day to infiltrate, and a day to make sure there wasn’t anyone chasing them. Though Cimmerians rarely left their world, there was a commonly held belief that if they ever discovered where the thieves lived, they would have the entire town executed.
    “I know! I don’t think they were successful.”
    Remi couldn’t wrap her head around the thought. “But why?”
    “They might have come against some trouble. Everyone is calling for a town meeting.”
    Remi scoffed. “When was the last time one of those were called?”
    “Not since I’ve been born,” Olivia admitted. “I don’t know what this means.”
    “But you have to admit,” Remi grinned. “It’s a little exciting.”
    “Ha. You would think so,” Olivia laughed. “Maybe we’ll all hold hands and sing songs of great warriors and fantastic adventures.”
    Remi continued walking back to town and Olivia stepped in line next to her. “All I’m saying is that we could probably accomplish a lot more if we weren’t trying to kill each other all the time. This was bound to happen—an unsuccessful raid. How long did they think it was going to last before the Cimmerians got sick of having their stuff taken? Do you know if anyone was killed?” she said suddenly, dropping her voice to a whisper.
    “No, no,” Olivia said suddenly. “That would be terrible.”
    “I guess depending on whom,” Remi muttered under her breath. Olivia pushed slightly to the side.
    “That’s not funny!” Olivia half-chuckled and half-shouted. “No matter how despicable someone is, we need everyone to make the raids go well.”
    “See what I mean?” Remi said, tapping her forehead. “We need each other.” Olivia’s face fell as and she pursed her lips as her eyes narrowed.
    “I hate it when you flip stuff on me like that. Okay, okay, I agree with you. Kind of. We could be a little more productive if everyone would just shut up for once. I mean, the roof in my house has been leaking for months. I’m sure the town could use some fixing up. But what you’re talking about is never going to happen. We’re not going to all of a sudden go somewhere and start anew. We’re not going to join Paragon’s army or whatever it is you want us to do. We have a way of life here that works. No one’s going to deviate from that.”
    “Then no one can complain when the raids stop working.”
    “You know, you talk a big game, but it’s not like you’re going somewhere. And you know why? Because you’re scared. You know you can’t do by yourself what we do as a collective. They may be gross and fight each other and neglect their homes and families, but they are still our people, and you still get fed. You have no right to complain either, or you should just leave already.”
    “Yeah,” Remi whispered, nodding her head. “You’re right.”
    “What?” Olivia asked in shock. “What did you just say?”
    “REMI!” someone shouted from the center of town. Olivia whined as she knew she wouldn’t get confirmation now. They came upon the wooden gate and Remi stopped walking for a second to gather her thoughts. Once she hit the center of their quaint little town, where all the grown-ups were congregating, she knew that she would have to deal with a lot of stupid questions and lines of reasoning she couldn’t even imagine. It was taxing.
    Her eyes averted from the group of adults about a quarter mile in the distance and to the sides, where their homes laid. It wasn’t much to behold. Long lines of log cabins and makeshift huts extended out into the distance as far as she could see. There were no fields or crops or town