Eden's Creatures by Valerie Zambito Page A

that made him want to run from the world and hide somewhere safe. But, like the shadow of his nightmares, it continued to find him. Time and time again.
    “It is now time!” Julius shouted. “Warriors! Go!”
    Gilad snapped his fanged teeth in Cal’s direction and took off into the woods along with the others.
    Cal took a deep breath and slid into place next to Stassi, Leeah and Abram. Fear flooded through his body. Not about the track. Having spent most of his life in the woods, he felt confident he could find one of the warriors easily. But what to do when he found him? He wasn’t capable of disabling anyone, much less a Faedin. Yet he had to do this. For the first time in his life, another person had put faith in him and he wasn’t about to throw it away.
    He had to admit, there was also a big part of him that wanted to put these taunting birds in their place. Something that would be much easier if the birds weren’t eight inches taller than him.
    As though reading his thoughts, Stassi leaned over to whisper to him. “According to the rules, you just need to put a warrior on the ground. If you do that, you win.”
    “Piece of cake,” he muttered, drawing a scowl from her. A sudden thought occurred to him. “Wait! What if I run into a real Fallen?”
    “They will not show themselves. They hide in fear from us. That is why we must hunt them.”
    Julius raised his hands, cutting off all further questions Cal had, and he had a lot of them. “Novices! Go!”
    The three Faedin took off at a fast run, all going in different directions. Cal stood there for a dumbstruck moment before finally following after Stassi.
    She turned back with wide eyes at the sound of his footsteps behind her. “What are you doing? Go find your Fallen!”
    “But I thought we could work together.”
    “No! Faedin work alone.”
    She sprinted away, leaving him no other choice but to strike out on his own. He took the first path he came to and slowed to a smooth jog, not wanting to give his position away.
    He studied the ground. The warriors were making no effort to conceal their tracks and he found several footprints right away. He started to pursue slowly, his mind spinning with strategies on how to defeat his much larger opponents.
    Suddenly, the sounds of the forest fell still.
    Cal froze, his heart thudding in his chest. He cautiously slipped off the path and slid behind a large tree. His instincts screamed at him that someone was nearby. He waited silently for several minutes, but heard nothing. Finally, he placed a hand on the bark of the tree to slowly peek around the other side.
    A dull thud sounded and Cal cried out in terrible pain. He looked in shock at the black-handled knife pinning his hand to the tree. He yanked the blade out with a curse and spun around.
    Gilad stood on the path, his jaw rock hard.
    “What are you doing?” Cal demanded.
    The blond warrior took a step toward him. “You are not wanted here, son of Adam. You are inferior and dangerous and a thief.”
    “Thief?”
    “You stole what was mine.”
    “If you’re referring to Stassi, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t belong to anyone. Including me.” Cal stripped out of his coat and wrapped the sleeve around his bleeding hand.
    “No matter what they say, you are not one of us. And you never will be. I challenge you.”
    “Challenge me?”
    “Fight me, son of Adam. If I win, you go back to your world and never return. If you win, I will leave you and Stassi be.”
    “No.”
    Blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “No?”
    “I will fight when there is purpose, Gilad, not just to inflate your ego. Especially, when your prize wouldn’t have you even if you won.”
    Gilad’s nostrils flared angrily. “Oh, I will win.”
    “From all that I just heard, our enemy is the Fallen, not each other.”
    “Fight me!” he bellowed.
    “No.”
    “You are a coward,” the warrior spat, his face dark with rage.
    Cal readied himself for another attack, but after a long,