I Refuse to be a Named Character

Part 3

"But..." I trailed off as he moved around Graham, reaching out to hug me. It was an awkward motion, as we were both still sitting on different horses, but before I could move he leaned closer and whispered "It's okay. I'll find you again."

With that, he turned and rode away. I stared after him a while, ignoring Graham's increasingly furious expression.

"Let's go." He reached out to grab my hand, but I pulled away, riding ahead.

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As we neared the Serpent Camp, I watched Chloe and Graham discuss strategy in quiet voices.

"The Serpent Camp leader values personal strength and skill above all else."

Graham nodded. "Can you see anything now that we're closer regarding what her requirement will be to obtain the Tarif?"

"Not really." Chloe flashed an embarrassed smile. "My powers aren't showing me very many details."

Is she pretending to be psychic and using knowledge of the book? I watched her struggle to come up with useful information, interested. She had read the book over and over, and knew a lot more details than me regarding the world.

"The leader is an older woman, apparently."

Graham raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? How would she keep control of a bandit gang?"

"I'm not sure, she must be very powerful."

A very powerful older woman? A familiar face flashed through my mind, but I shook my head, chuckling. There's no way that there would be such a coincidence...

"I leave you alone for a year, and you've already failed at being a nobody, foolish girl." A familiar sarcastic voice called out, freezing me into place.

You've got to be kidding me. I looked up into a familiar face and sighed.

"Hello, Blade."

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Our group was brought into the bandit camp. We walked past multiple well-fortinfied structures, moving to the center where a large blood stained fighting ring stood. There were benches to spectate along the side, a primitive arena. The area was impressive, only marred by a large stack of bloody rags sat off to the side. As we were brought to stand before the ring, Graham and Chloe stared at me in shock.

"How do you know the Serpent Camp Leader?" Graham finally spoke up, watching me suspiciously.

I didn't see any reason to hide it. "She trained me."

"Why?"

"Good question." I muttered, walking up to Blade, who glared at me.

"I thought you were going to stay in the forest?"

"That was the plan."

"Why are you here is these lowlifes?" She gestured towards Graham and the others.

I shrugged. "My sister is part of his group. She begged me. I found it hard to say no."

"Do you know why I trained you, girl?" Her gaze traveled down to my empty wrist, her brows knitting together.

"Luke asked you to, and you were a friend of his mother?"

"I was her friend, and so I gave her son one favor." She held up a single finger. "Only one. He was supposed to use it to ask for this Tarif. Instead, he asked me to train you to survive on your own."

I looked down at her hand, which clutched an amulet made from bone with intricate carvings. The objective of the second task.

He used up his favor on me?