CHAPTER 6
DARKNESS
The twin suns of Lokkii are starting to set as the seven candidates
disembark from the private space yacht to this forest planet. They are
to compete to become one of The Three and those that do not become
one of The Three, become prey. There are four tests that will need to be
passed. The first is a test of an individual’s strength; the second will be a
test of an individual’s cunning; the third will be a test of an individuals
Shadow power; the fourth will decide who will be The Three. Each of
these candidates has shown an affinity for Shadow powers, that is why
they were chosen. Being able to use the Shadow power in and of itself
does not make you one with the Shadow. It takes more, much more, to
become one of The Three. You must have a dark heart as well.
Once The Three have been chosen, they will under go a year
of training in the Shadow Arts as well as the use of conventional
weapons.
Once trained, The Three will become as one; sensing each other’s
thoughts and movements. Individually they will be strong; together
they will be invincible. They will serve the Shadow Master as he sees
fit doing whatever he bids them to do.
After a six-hour journey into the heart of the forest they arrive at
the Shadow compound. The buildings are made of what can be found
in the forest; branches, twigs, vines and leaves. The floors are made
from rocks.
This first night they eat and rest. When the morning arrives
the candidates will each face their first trial; that of strength. Each
candidate’s test will be a test for him and him alone, no two are the
same. The candidates are well rested when morning arrives and with it
the first trial. Each of the seven are handed an envelope as they sit
in a Circle facing away from the others.
The first candidate opens his envelope and heads out into the forest.
He returns forty-five minutes later carrying what appears to be a large
boulder on each shoulder.
No words are spoken amongst the candidates regarding what the test was.
The candidate sits in the spot that he had started at around the Circle.
The second candidate heads out and returns almost an hour later with a
multi-hued feather. He appears to have scrapes and gouges on various
parts of his face and neck. He too takes his place around the Circle.
Candidate number three opens his envelope and after reading it
heads out into the forest. An hour and ten minutes later he still has
not returned and it is announced that he will not be returning to the
tests.
Candidate number four warily opens his envelope, reads the contents
and heads out into the forest. He returns carrying a small multi-legged
creature.
Number five follows the same routine and enters the forest and he
returns with a small cat like creature.
Candidate number six opens his envelope and smiles a small,
obscure smile. He has to go into the forest, climb a two hundred foot
tall tree that is marked with a black star, retrieve an egg from the nest
he finds in the tree and return. He feels the test is insignificant and
he will return unharmed. How hard can it be to retrieve an egg from
a nest in a tree?
Chi’tas’ sprints into the forest and approximately ten minutes later,
comes upon the tree. As he looks at the tree deciding which will be the
best way to climb to the top, he notices bones and skulls laying about
the ground. Seeing this he realizes this test won’t be as easy as he had
thought. Not having been allowed to bring weapons with them, he
looks around the floor of the forest in hopes of finding something to
use as a weapon. He spies a short piece of a limb that could be used
as a club. He secures it in the waistband of his trousers and starts to
ascend the tree.
In a short amount of time he has been able to ascend three quarters
of the tree, where he rests for a moment. While he rests he looks
around him, checking other nearby trees for any predator that might
be lurking about. He tries to look above, but due to the time of day
the suns are directly overhead which make it impossible for him to see
anything above him. As he reaches the top, a shadow passes over him
momentarily blocking the twin suns. Then, he sees it.
It is nearly fifteen feet long, with a body similar to a snake. It has
the talons and wings of a bird of prey and a head like a bull with three
horns. Two horns were curved and came out each side of the creature’s
head. The third horn was a short spike coming out of the top of its head.
As it passes over, he could see that its tail consists of a large barb on the
end and for about a foot it was covered with smaller spines. It suddenly
turns and heads towards him and before he can react its claws scraped
his back. He’s only a short distance from the nest and his prize!
Using his prehensile tail Chi’tas’ grasps a limb above his head and
swings up grabbing the limb with his six toe’s and opposable toe feet.
He is then able to pull himself up to his full height and peer into the
nest. He reaches into the nest and is able to steal one of the half dozen
multi-colored eggs. As he does, he notices the creature is heading back
in for another attack. As it attacks, Chi’tas’ tail still has a strong grip
on the limb he’s standing on, so he falls backward to avoid the creatures’
strike. It almost works except for the strike from the creatures tail
grazes him. Fortunately for him, the creature was unable to strike with
a killing blow.
As the creature moves away Chi’tas’ simply lets go of the limb with
his tail and starts to fall towards the ground. With limbs and branches
rushing at him he reaches out and latches on to another limb with his
feet. He only rests long enough to get a good swing going and launches
himself to the next tree. When he lands, he quickly moves to the
opposite side of the tree and drops another twenty feet before stopping.
He then launches himself to a third tree and allows himself to drop
another twenty feet, descends to the forest floor where he immediately
heads back to the Circle.
Upon arriving at the Circle, he returns to his
position and waits for the others to finish their challenges.
The second test consists of entering a maze, the walls of which
are ten feet high and three and a half feet wide. You must exit in the
shortest amount of time. The candidates enter one at a time, when
instructed by the overseers.
Finally it is Chi’tas’s’ turn. He enters and
starts following the tracks of the previous candidates when it occurs to
him that it would be swifter to traverse the maze from above. He braces
one leg on a wall then places his other leg on the opposite wall using his
tail to help reinforce each time he moves a limb. In short order he is on
the top of the walls and can see where the opening is to exit the maze.
Prior to reaching the exit he jumps down and exits the maze through
the doorway. The overseer is taken aback by the short time it has taken
Chi’tas’ to cross the maze.
The challenges are suspended for the daily meal, which consists
of fruit, bread and water. Each candidate eats in seclusion. Once
the candidates have finished the meal they journey back to the Circle
and arrive just as the day is turning to dusk.
They are told that they
are ready to move on to the next Circle and to do so
they must travel
together until the suns rise in the morning. They are also told
that this
is their third challenge and that only the candidates that are strong
with the Shadow power will arrive at the second Circle safely. They
are each given a small backpack containing a compass, a hand drawn
map, rope and a knife. They are told they may travel together, in pairs,
individually or anyway they see fit. Chi’tas’ looks up to see that one of
the six remaining candidates has already left the Circle and that two
others are preparing to leave. He looks at the remaining candidates
and they decide that there is strength in numbers and that the three of
them will travel together.
Chi’tas’ two associates talked very little as they traveled. One was
a female and the other was androgynous. The female whose name was
N’ky, was covered with tiny, multi-colored feathers and a long plume.
The plume started at the top of her head and ended at the middle of
her back. The other, whose’ name was Larbi, had dull, light green skin
with a darker shade of green hair. It also had a web that ran from its
wrist to its armpit and was attached to its waist.
They had traveled for about two hours when they discovered the
body of one of the candidates. It was found a few feet off of the trail as
they had prepared to sit and rest. His neck had been snapped, leaving the
head in an awkward position. It was one of the pair that had left
together. Chi’tas’ quickly scavenged some jewelry off of the corpse and
then they were on their way. As they walked, Chi’tas’ noticed that
since darkness had fallen, it was very difficult to make out Larbi even
though it was only a few feet away. He surmised that Larbi must be
strong in the use of the power of Blend, which allowed it to blend with
shadows. Chi’tas’ also was able to use this power but had to remain still
and concentrate. He also noticed that he had heard no sound coming
from N’ky, which would mean that she was using the power of Mute.
He, on the other hand decided that when they were close to the second
Circle, it would be time to use the power that he was strong in to subtly
help increase his chances of becoming one of The Three. He had ‘felt’
that they were being stalked and started to specifically target Larbi. He
did this by influencing the emotions of the creature stalking them into
sensing the fear that Chi’tas’ had started to churn in Larbi.
When they were fifteen minutes from the Circle, Chi’tas’ nudged
the creature into attacking Larbi. When it did, N’ky and Chi’tas’
bolted from the area and arrived safely at the Circle. This now left four
candidates vying to become one of The Three.
Each of the candidates is sent to a bungalow where food is brought
to them. They are allowed to rest until late afternoon. They are then
gathered and brought to the Circle where they receive are instructions.
This is the final challenge and one of the four must perish. They stand
in the Circle facing one another feeling through the dark emotions,
which one is radiating the highest level of fear. Individually, they are
brought to four different entrances to a cave. They are told to enter and
seek out the others that will form The Three and eliminate the fourth
and final candidate. The loner, N’ky and Chi’tas’ go in search of the
fourth one. By radiating the cave with the emotions of fear and doubt,
they are able to find him hiding in shadows.
This causes the fourth to try and sprint out of the cave, hoping to
save himself. Chi’tas’ and N’ky stalk the fourth causing him to run
into the loner and his knife. The knife becomes embedded in his chest
causing him to gurgle, dribble blood from his lips and fall to the floor
of the cave. The Three have been chosen for training.