The Forsaken

territory.
    “Alenna!” Gadya yells at me, getting right in my face. “Pull yourself together! Grab an arrow!”
    Her voice snaps me back to reality. I do what she says, getting the arrow slotted, despite my trembling hands. My training slowly starts coming back. I crouch down low in the underbrush as more arrows whiz past my head.
    The others do the same. We’re all moving closer to one another. I stare out into the foliage. I can’t see who’s firing at us. Just faceless shadows leaping through the forest.
    Gadya spots movement nearby and unleashes an arrow. She’s already got another one loaded, a millisecond later.
    I stare around wildly. Rika is hiding in the center of the group. An arrow hits one of the pans sticking out of her pack, making it crash like a gong.
    Liam races over to me. Other hunters are spreading to the sides now, trying to establish a perimeter and scare off the drones.
    “Are you hit?” Liam asks, worry creasing his face.
    “No. I’m okay,” I tell him.
    “Just keep your head down. Use your pack as a shield. It’ll be over soon.”
    We crouch down, bows at the ready. Sinxen runs past with his spear. A few more arrows plow into nearby trees, barely missing us.
    I peer into the dense jungle. The shadowy figures keep dancing and leaping, making unearthly whooping sounds.
    “What are we going to do?” I ask, swallowing hard. I knew an ambush was possible. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon.
    “We fight back,” Liam responds, shooting off another arrow.
    “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Gadya mutters. It’s the first time I’ve actually heard her sound scared.
    “Can we turn back?” I ask.
    “Too late. The drones know we’re here, and right now they’re spreading the word. Probably telling every other drone in this sector to come and get us.”
    More arrows hit trees around us. I hold my pack over my head. So far, I’m lucky. I haven’t received a single hit yet.
    But not everyone is so fortunate. Markus bears a bleeding gash on the side of his neck. It looks like a flesh wound, because he’s still firing arrows, but I can’t tell for sure. Some of the other hunters have been hit as well.
    It’s clear that we’re seriously outnumbered. There are so many arrows coming our way, it’s like being in a hailstorm. I figure there have to be at least fifty drones in the forest.
    Then the random fireworks begin, even though it’s daytime, blasting off into the sky. Their pops are deafening, disorienting.
    Even with the noise, I can still hear kids yelling at one another. Veidman is barking orders, fighting against the chaos. He stands there without any sort of shield, his spear raised.
    Abruptly, a lull comes. The frequency of the arrows inexplicably diminishes. Then they cease altogether.
    “Heathens!” a voice cries out into the silence.
    We swivel our weapons in the direction of the voice. It’s coming from a drone hidden in the forest.
    “You’re trespassing,” the voice continues. “The Monk controls this sector.”
    I see Liam take aim with his arrow. He’s honing in on the sound of the voice. Sinxen and two of the other hunters follow his lead.
    But Veidman holds out his arm, signaling them to stop. “We aren’t here to fight,” he calls out to the voice in the trees. “We’re just passing through.”
    “With twenty warriors, all bearing weapons?”
    So they’ve been watching us. Tracking us. It’s worse than I thought.
    “I’m telling the truth,” Veidman insists.
    “It’s more likely you’re here to attack our outpost.”
    “We’re not. We’re from a village in the blue sector, a village that your people have been perpetually raiding. But I’m asking you to let us pass in peace. We’re on an expedition into the gray zone, trying to find a way off the wheel. The knowledge we’re seeking could help all of us—even you and your Monk.”
    There’s a long pause. For a second, I’m afraid arrows will rain down on us again. But then the voice speaks, and this time it’s cold and flat. “You’re a liar.”
    “No. We think the way off the wheel is hidden on the northern coast.”
    I’m surprised Veidman is being so honest. Then I realize it’s a solid strategy. He knows we need a valid reason to be here, or we’ll all be slaughtered like hoofers.
    “There’s nothing inside the gray zone except death,” the voice intones. “Is that what you’re looking for, heathen?”
    “We’re looking for answers,