Race for Survival (chapters 1-4 complete)

Prologue

I don't remember much about Earth; it was eleven years ago when the last of the human race, was relocated to this strange planet. I was only ten when the world suddenly caught fire; and millions of people were killed, My dad and I were among those on the last shuttle off that burning rock. That was when we met Brice and Kari; they were orphaned in the cataclysm, and for a long time after we met them they were cautious of us. Eventually though; they latched onto us, and became my closest friends. Second only to my dad of course; Archer Chadsey had always been my guru, mom died when I was little and since then it was just dad and me. and of course; our father-daughter bond didn't stop at cooking up something new in the kitchen, or at annual father-daughter camping trips. No, my dad was a master of martial arts; fencing, dance, basic first aid, survival techniques, weapons and above all else he was the most resourceful teacher a girl could have, not to mention the best father the human race had ever seen.

Brice and Kari needed our protection; as well as a little of Archer Chadsey's wisdom, so he took them both under his wing almost as soon as we arrived on Ioria. This planet's ecosystem was much like Earth's; ranging from the jungles and rain forests of Eogura, to the deserts such as the Black Wastes and the Ghost Plains, as well as the Klygoth Mountains and Mount Lone Watch. Each ecosystem home to a number of exotic animal species; as well as at least one alien race per ecosystem, some friendly to the humans... others? not so much. Unfortunately for us humans; we ended up having to share the woodland realm, with the least human-friendly alien race on Ioria. The strixx: These were a warmongering race; with the appearance similar to that of a bird of prey, and an insatiable appetite for ripping "lesser" races limb from limb. The strixx were the least of our worries however; for quite by chance the Croor: a humanoid race with telepathic and telekinetic gifts; were causing somewhat of a territory issue with the strixx, so we just went about our everyday human lives as normal. Living in among the roots of the Cutleaf Scarlet Eucalyptus trees; honestly I think those bird brains lucked out living up in the canopy, they say the leaves on a Cutleaf Scarlet Eucalyptus are sharp enough to cut through bone. It's a hell of a task making Eucalyptus tea out of them; because they're so sharp, but when done right it's always worth the effort. I passed a cup to my dad; taking note of the date on the calendar he'd made from an old scroll of bark, and adding,

"They'll be choosing the teams for the Arcmathian trials any day now. I won't risk Brice and Kari getting picked, we need to find somewhere to hide them until the trials are over. They're not ready to compete in something so dangerous." My dad looked up at me and smiled thoughtfully.

"It's nice that you want to protect them, but who's going to protect you if you get picked. if the four of us get chosen to compete, we'll be on the same team. The likelihood of all four of us coming back alive is much greater than if you were working with complete strangers, we humans don't communicate like we used to before the cataclysm. We are divided by our fear, but our fear is also what draws us together and keeps us alive and safe. the four of us have traveled this world, learned its terrain and how to use it to our advantage. whatever the elder clan has set for us in the trials is no match for our skill sets and team efforts." He sounded like he wanted us to get picked for the trials, the deadly game in which four members of each race compete for their right to survive. The champion team gets to choose a territory for their entire species, but never in the history of the trials has even one member of the human race come back alive. The thought of losing my dad was to painful to consider; but as of recent months I had been developing certain feelings toward Brice McKenzie, even though he constantly insisted on courting that Claire Fairchild from a couple of trees over when he knows she doesn't even remotely like him.

"Are you forgetting how many fighting styles you taught me? and the survival skills you raised me with? I can navigate most of the planet's terrain relying on my sense of smell alone. do you really think anyone else in the trials would stand a chance?" I interrogated.

"No human trialist has ever finished the trials Caci. Try as we may, we humans are not built to withstand the kind of dangers that face us in the games." My father said as he had for many years before. At the time I had no idea that the four of us would all be chosen; that we'd have to fight or die, that the chances I'd lose the last three people in the universe whom I still had any love for would multiply tenfold overnight. The only thing I could do was hope; beyond all else that we could work together, because the only way the four of us would come out alive was if we came out of the trials together.