Eden's Creatures by Valerie Zambito

by carrying a Faedin feather in his hands.”
    Worry creased Julius’s features. “Such a simple happenstance that could have ended the world as we know it. I suppose we are fortunate that this human will take up our cause. We may even learn from his ways. You’re sure about him, Perstassia?”
    “Yes, I am.”
    “Then I must trust your instincts. Now, let us return to the others. For some reason, Gilad seems in a very foul mood,” he said with a pointed look her way.
    Stassi did not offer an explanation and kept her eyes straight ahead as she walked alongside him.
    “Please gather around, everyone,” Julius said loudly when they rejoined the group.
    Stassi went to stand next to Cal, who looked a shade paler than before. She couldn’t blame him really. He looked so small standing next to the male warriors who towered over him. Perhaps she should have taken the time to put him more at ease. Her eyes softened as she stared at him.
    “Will the four novice warriors taking part in the trials please come forward!”
    Two Faedin, a brother and sister, both with fiery red hair, stepped into the ring of warriors. Stassi followed. When she realized Cal had not moved, she reached back to drag him next to her and he almost fell. He lifted an awkward hand in the air, drawing grim looks from all around.
    Stassi moaned in embarrassment.
    “Before we begin the first trial, I would like to introduce our four novices. Abram! Leeah! Perstassia!” Julius hesitated, his mouth twisting in distaste as though he had just eaten a sour grape. “And Cal!”
    “How odd,” said one of the warriors. “One of our novices still has her fledgling wings. I cannot say that I have ever seen the like.”
    “And another has no wings at all!”
    “At this point, we will take any warrior we can,” Julius admitted solemnly. “As you know, the Fallen do not die. If we don’t start to reduce their numbers more rapidly, I am fearful that we could be overrun.”
    “But they already outnumber us three to one,” the redheaded Abram pointed out.
    “And that number is growing. For reasons we do not understand, we have lost an unacceptable number of warriors to the Fallen over the past year. It’s as if…”
    “As if what, Sire?” Stassi asked.
    “As if they’re fighting back.”
    “That’s impossible!” Gilad scoffed. “We all know the Fallen have no free will. They’re mindless cravens, helpless under the evil influence of Gai’tan!”
    “I hope you’re right, Gilad,” was all Julius said.
    “So what do we do? How do we kill more of them?” Leeah asked.
    “Hunt smarter,” Julius replied. “Put your tracking skills to use. Listen for their cries. Watch for signs of passage. Find them and destroy them.”
    “I wish we really were hunting the Fallen today,” Leeah lamented, a warrior’s gleam in her eyes.
    “You haven’t earned that right yet, novice,” Julius told her. “And that brings us to the first of three warrior training trials. For this exercise, the warriors with us today will serve as the Fallen. They will spread out into the woods and each novice must locate and disable at least one warrior.”
    “Disable them?” Cal asked Stassi out of the side of his mouth.
    “Yes, disable them. If you do not, they will disable you.”
    “What does disable mean?”
    “In a real raid, it means kill. In the trials, it means… anything short of kill.”

CHAPTER 8
A Challenge
    C al blanched, and Stassi must have read the horror on his face.
    “You can do this, Rupa . You are a good hunter and fast for your size.”
    “ Rupa? ” Gilad questioned aloud after overhearing Stassi’s comment. “Did you hear that? She calls her little pet Rupa! ”
    “Quiet, Gilad!” Stassi growled at him.
    Cal’s ears burned. Humiliation was no stranger to him, but boy, was he sick of it. The feelings of worthlessness that crept insidiously through his body until it made him want to peel out of his own skin just to get rid of it. The shame