The Eastern side of Garig didn't just feel like another country; it felt like another world.
Even though the continent was a single landmass, the Shink-Ra side possessed a biome that felt fundamentally foreign. The trees were towering, fruitless pillars of pale bark, and the "predatorless giants", slow-moving, multi-limbed behemoths the size of siege towers, that drifted through the fog, grazing on the canopy. It was a biological impossibility that somehow thrived on spite and ancient magic.
For the twenty-four Astran teens huddled around a dying fire, this was the Trial. If you couldn't survive the terrain, you'd never survive the war.
"I'm telling you," Gouti snickered, leaning his massive Hurc frame against a log, "the second I'm verified, I'm heading straight to the city centre."
The girls scattered around the camp rolled their eyes in audible unison.
Gouti continued unphased by their show of disgust, "I've heard they have some Alven girls there that can make your soul leave your body."
Relik stifled a laugh, as he connected the hilt of his blade to a metal chord.
"Gouti, you have the charisma of a wet rock. You'd be lucky to rub one out in a barn and even then the cows would judge you."
The circle of teenagers responded with a chorus of oohs and muffled laughter.
Gouti grinned at that his tusks protruding slightly. "Very funny Mr. Unmarked, at the very least I know that I'll do better than you."
The Hurc held up his left palm to show the magic circle that sat at the centre of it, "without this you couldn't get any play in the red light district."
Relik paused a moment knowing well that his friend was right but decided to respond solely for the entertainment, "I'm pretty sure I've got more seals here than anyone combined.
"But you're missing the only one that matters."
The voice belonged to Jace. He sat apart from the others, taking time to mend the leather under his breastplate.
The group had only met three days ago, and from then they had subconsciously selected Jace to be their leader.
They had learned later on from one of the Alven girls, that Jace was the son of Potaan city's Shiear, which added a perspective the others didn't know they needed.
He had guided them towards what they hoped to be Remu and had the final say during any of the groups disagreements. With him here, Relik felt as though graduation was guaranteed.
One of the girls, in Relik's opinion the prettiest, interjected. She had his attention before she even said anything, "Jace is just jealous of all your fancy tattoos."
Jace shook his head, "I am not...they are... Interesting."
She turned to Relik again, "see who are we to decide that you're any lesser."
Gouti cut in, "only it's not us and it's the literal god of the universe that decided."
The other teens chuckled at the joke. Relik only stifled his laughter after noticing that Allegra was displeased by it.
Relik opened his mouth to say something clever, but the humor died.
Jace stood up, his hand on his sword hilt. His eyes weren't on the group; they were fixed on the treeline.
Everyone dropped flat on instinct.
Relik noted that everyone's left palm started giving off a soft glow.
One of the perks of being marked was the interconnected link it provided. With it one could partake in wordless communication over several miles.
Thankfully, Allegra didn't forget him, and started passing on information via sign language.
He was so grateful for her action that he did not think to question why she could sign in the first place.
"Their are enemies nearby... Unverified amount... you said that you are a scout right? Get close... Sign back."
Relik wanted to say no.
Shink-Ra were powerhouses, if he made any error he would be dead before he was noticed. And yet there was a part of him that wanted to feel useful. A part that yearned for inclusion.
Foolishly he didn't argue.
He slipped away from the goup, with the practiced silence of someone who had spent seventeen years trying not to be noticed. He proceeded to scale a tree with lower hanging branches, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
He skillfully slipped through the canopy with the night breeze, ensuring there were no wasted movements. He finally found a tree both close enough to make out what lay below, but far enough that he was granted a headstart on retreat.
From there, he saw them.
Three Shink-Ra. They were absolutely terrifying—nearly eight feet tall, skin the color of polished bronze, their eyes emitting a soft and unique glow.
Yet what surprised him most was the fourth figure. A shock that caught Relik's breath in his throat. The person to catch his eyes were much smaller than the Shink-Ra butand for that Relik could easily tell what had transpired here.
An Astran.
A traitor
In addition to a green hood was a metal mask, with slits just wide enough for Relik to catch that this traitors eyes were also glowing.
They spoke the Shink-Ra tongue—a series of melodic clicks that had the tongue fully employed. Relik caught fragments: "...mined," "...infestation," "...clean-up."
Relik signaled back to the others: Four targets. Do not engage. As matter of fact run!
Allegra seemed to pass the message to Jace.
Relik sighed then allowed himself to relax against the branch, for his work was done.
"FOR THE EMPIRE!" Jace screamed to the chorus of the other teens.
Relik jolted out of his calm to see his comrades rushing towards their enemies with swords out.
The teens surged forward. They must have suspected to be a slaughter and a slaughter it was.
Just not in their favour.
The Shink-Ra shared glances of confusion until the Astran traitor signalled that they could defend themselves.
They didn't seem to care for weapons. One moved so fast he was a bronze blur, catching a Hurc boy's charge and simply... redirecting it. The boy's neck snapped against a tree with a sickening crack.
The masked Astran watched, bored. When a second teen lunged at him, he didn't even move. The teen simply stopped in mid-air, his eyes bulging as he struggled to catch his own breath. Once he stopped struggling whatever technique was used was shut off dropping the boy in a lifeless heap.
Upon seeing this, as anyone would, the group realised that they may have overestimated their own skills.
"Retreat!" Jace yelled, his voice cracking. He didn't wait for the others. He turned and bolted toward the dark. Making about five paces before a Shink-Ra appeared in front of him, as if folded out of the air.
A bronze hand clamped over Jace's head. With a casual squeeze, the "Golden Boy's" skull collapsed like a ripe melon.
Allegra held the side of her head and let out a scream, but it was cut short as a backhand slap tore her jaw clean off her face. She slumped into the dirt, twitching.
Gouti was already a pile of broken meat near a tree stump.
Relik watched from the tree, a hand held tightly over his mouth, paralyzed. Twenty-three of the Empire's "future" were gone in less than two minutes.
The Shink-Ra began to circle the clearing, poking at the bodies.
The masked human paused, tilting his head toward the trees. In a perfect, fluent Astran voice, he spoke:
"There's supposed to be one more."
Relik's heart skipped. His grip failed. The tree beneath him, weakened by a body being slammed against its stem, gave way.
He tumbled through the leaves and landed hard in the dirt, right at the masked man's boots.
Ignoring the pain, Relik jumped to his feet and started making space between him and his enemies. Marauding through a pool of blood as he spun to make sure that he held his perimeter.
Which he could admit wasn't as hard as the Shink-Ra just stood by staring at him. A look of confusion on their faces that they didn't seem use to.
This was followed by a series of whispers rapidly in their own tongue, pointing at the boy as though he was some kind of zoo animal.
The masked man tilted his head. Through the eye-slits of his mask, a faint green glow pulsed then stopped completely.
"Hand!" the man demanded.
Relik,knew what he meant, but held up both palms to be sure.
The man stared at the blank, smooth skin of Relik's left palm. A low, distorted chuckle came from behind the mask.
"This is... Interesting," he murmured.
It was only then that Relik realised he hadn't taken a breath since he feel from the tree. He tried forcing himself but nothing came. Unfortunately nothing ever came as he was swiflty struck over the head and everything faded to black.