Race for Survival (chapters 1-4 complete)

Chosen

It was market day on the forest floor; Brice and Kari had gotten distracted by some street performers, while I helped my dad with groceries and other essentials. The sun was shining through the trees; and the day was warm but not too humid, it was perfect weather for a market day. Yet something still didn't feel quite right; perhaps it was the agents of the elder council I'd seen skulking about, that made me feel as if the trials were drawing ever closer.

I paid the market stall owner for the groceries and handed the bag to my dad; then headed onward through the market, toward where Brice and Kari were. Stopping here and there for the last few things we needed; I never imagined that what happened next would confirm my worst fear, losing those I cared so much about.

"Let go of him! No! Let go! Brice!" it was Kari; she called out for help in desperation, I gave my dad a quick glance and then sprinted in the direction of Kari's voice.

"Let my friends go!" I shouted, twisting one guard's arm behind his back and slamming him down on a market stall counter. "You can't force them to compete in your deadly game! They'll die before they get past the fear cages!" they had already wrestled Kari into shackles; and grabbed me, Brice looked at me helplessly as they corralled the three of us into a bone cage.

"Then you can join them sweetheart." sneered one of the guards as he grabbed me and threw me in the cage, that's when my dad stepped in.

"If you want to take my daughter and her friends, you'll have to fight me first." he raised his short bow ready to fire; and the guards started on him, I couldn't watch him get hurt so instead of letting him be outnumbered, so I decided to use some of my martial arts training to level the playing field a little. unfortunately they still managed to get the drop on him; and shoved him in the cage, with the three of us.

"Well on the plus side we're all on the same team." I said, trying to look at the bright side. "As long as we stick together we'll be fine. We can beat this, I know we can. Because we're more than the human scum they think we are, we're champions."

Brice was the only one looking at me; as my dad was unconscious, and Kari was too upset. I wanted to say more; but I feared it would only make matters worse, so I curled up in the corner and pretended to sleep to avoid any other exchange. I felt a small shuffle and then Brice rested his head on my shoulder; I'll admit I was glad I tried to stop the trial guards, if I had stood by and done nothing I'd have lost something more precious to me than anything in the world... not just my best friends, but half of my family. After that I felt myself drift off to sleep; knowing that as long as we had each other, we'd all make it.

It was morning when I awoke in some sort of housing suite; having no idea how early or late it was I refused to leave the comfort of the bed I lay on, but I was awake now and once I'm awake it's almost impossible to go back to sleep. I rolled over; thinking the first thing I'd see would be an alarm clock like the ones back on earth, and instead met a familiar pair of medium brown eyes.

"Morning, Beautiful. did you know you're even prettier than usual when you sleep?" Said Brice; and in response I pummeled him with a pillow, and the two of us sat laughing until an Aculelian walked in with a small cart of breakfast courtesy of whoever put us in here.

"The human emissary wishes to see the team chosen for this year's trials, he sends his regards along with a human breakfast. I hope these housings are to your liking, as they will be your home until the trials begin." she spoke surprisingly fluent English for an alien species, but then if she works for the elder council I guess she'd have to speak several languages fluently in order to convey messages between races.

"Please inform the emissary we'll need a few minutes." My dad said politely from the small living room; and the Aculelian bowed her head and left the room, theAculelian race are known for being peaceful and kind -- thus they never have to compete in the trials. Their species is more suited for hospitality and servitude; but because of their friendly nature they're never treated poorly, quite the contrary in fact these aliens are probably the best loved race in Ioria. And of course there's also the fact that they're a protected species; primarily due to their being hunted near extinction years ago, as it was rumored that their blood could cure even the gravest illnesses. 

With only a few days until the trials; I was eager to enjoy the time we had here, it was an improvement from living in a giant tree root. I had hoped the emissary was just pulling our leg about us being in the trials; however unlikely that was, it was only going to get much worse once the trials began. The fear cages were the worst of my problems; since each competitor is paired with the one thing they fear most in a fight to the death, the worst part of that is that every team member is separated by high voltage electric fence, and the only way to get out is to earn the two weapons you're assigned and finish the fight. so my only option is to kill my fear with one weapon, cut power to a fence with the other, and then improvise to pull the rest of the team together. It was a complicated plan; but I needed it to work, so I had no choice.