PROLOGUE
Will you die today? Maybe tomorrow?
The question waved through Jak’s mind, deep and slow, like he was hearing it from under a deep pool of water. Will you die today? The echo of the words the man had yelled seconds ago made a trickle of fear move down Jak’s spine, but everything was . . . dreamy, not . . . real. He couldn’t see. He could hardly hear. His head felt foggy and . . . strange.
Am I dreaming?
Was he trapped inside a nightmare? Would Baka shake him awake any minute, telling him to keep it quiet with her sharp voice and soft eyes? The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his own bed and then . . . this.
He wrapped his arms around himself, his teeth making clicking sounds as they chattered together.
No, not a dream. Dreams are never this cold.
All of a sudden, something was pulled from his face, and he let out a short yell as he realized something had been covering his head. He blinked into the darkness, starlight catching his gaze, flecks of light in a dark blue sky. The circle moon shined yellow, big and round and bright.
He turned his head around, his breath coming from his lips in clouds of white. Snow. Snow everywhere. Trees. And— He cried out, tripping back from the edge of what he now saw was a cliff right in front of him. His backside hit the snow, his bare hands sinking into the freezing powder almost up to his elbows.
His heartbeat went fast, the fog in his head moving away as fear raced through his body.
“Get up.”
Jak’s head turned, and he stared at a tall man behind him, his face hidden in the shadows of his hooded coat. “Get up,” he repeated, only now it was a low growl. Jak pulled himself to his feet as fast as he could, catching movement to his left. Now that his eyes could see in the darkness, he noticed that there were three other boys standing at the edge of the cliff, only a few steps from each other. Two dark-haired boys, one small with eyes too big for his face, filled with . . . confusion and fear, one tall and skinny, and a blond boy, who was shaking even worse than Jak was.
Why? Who? What is this? Where’s Baka?
“Will you die today?” the man repeated from behind them. “Maybe tomorrow? Next week? Many years from now a lauded warrior? Celebrated?” Jak didn’t know all those words, didn’t know what the man was talking about, and when he started to turn his head, the man stopped him with a mean-sounding, “Face forward.” His shivering got more, he was so scared, and he could barely stand up, his thoughts rolling all over each other, but slowly, too slowly. He couldn’t think. Why is my head all funny?
“You will die. Or you will survive. But that is up to you. It will all depend on your will to live.” The man suddenly placed his gloved hands on the side of the blond’s head and leaned in close, the darkest of the shadows. “Do you have a will to survive? To fight for your life? Tooth and nail? Heart and soul?”
The blond nodded his head in a jerky way. “Y-yes,” he said, but tears were sliding down his cheeks and a sob came after the word. Jak’s hands fisted. He was scared, so scared, but he wanted to do something. Make this stop. He looked at the big-eyed boy next to him, and that boy was staring at Jak’s clenched fists. He looked up, meeting Jak’s eyes for a second before looking away.
The bad man let go of the crying blond’s face. “Good.” Jak heard snow crunching under the man’s feet as he stepped farther back behind them. “Now, in a minute, I’ll tell you what is happening. After that, the only rule is to survive.” He paused. “Survive or die.”
What does he mean? What’s going to happen? A sudden cloud of white filled the air in front of Jak’s face as he let out a fear-filled breath. The blond sobbed again and the dark-haired boy with the big eyes tilted on his feet, his hand going into the pocket of his coat. Jak looked away quickly, so he wouldn’t bring the man’s eyes to whatever the small boy to his left was reaching for.
He felt a tap on his hand, and the boy slipped something hard and cold into his palm. Jak took it, dropping it into his pocket fast. His heart was thumping so hard it felt like it might jump right from his chest, but that feeling of being underwater stayed. His mind grabbed for something to hold his thoughts still.
I can’t think. I can’t think. Why can’t I think? His baka had told him he was a “smart monkey too big for little britches,” and she had said it with a frown on her face, but in the way that made him think she was happy with him anyway. But he didn’t feel smart now. He felt . . . scared out of his mind.
Jak gave a quick look over the cliff and saw that even though it wasn’t a straight drop, it was far down to the bottom. Really, really far down. He didn’t know how to describe it in numbers, but he was smart enough to know that if he jumped to get away, he would die. The only rule is to survive. Or die.
Why? Whywhywhy? This can’t be real. This can’t be real.
A cracking sound exploded around them, making Jak cry out in shock and terror. But before he could question where the noise was coming from, he felt a gust of cold air and then the ground started to move. Slide. The snow went out from under his feet and he slid forward, grabbing at the empty air for something to hold on to. But there was nothing.
He heard the bad man yell something and then he yelled too, along with the screams of the other boys as they all slid over the edge in an explosion of white powder.
His thoughts were still slow. Everything was slow . . . but then he was awake suddenly. He could hear every fast beat of his heart.
He could feel the stinging of the wind as it hit his face, and he could smell something green that he couldn’t name any better than that.
Someone grabbed his hand. The small boy next to him. Their eyes met for one quick second, the dark-haired boy’s gaze filled with the same fear that must be in his own. With a grunt of strength, he turned his body as the world dropped out from under them, putting his hand on the other boy’s wrist and holding on tight, so they were falling together.
They whirled and tumbled and hit something solid—a piece of ground—with a loud grunt and a short scream. Pain exploded through Jak’s body. He felt the other boy’s hold loosen, so he gripped harder, and they kept going down, down, still holding on to each other.
Tumble, roll, fall, hit. Pain.
So fast. They were flying so fast. He couldn’t catch hold of anything, his empty hand reaching, grabbing, slipping.