"Bro, wake up!"
Elijah felt something slap against his face.
"Come on man."
Another slap. This time a lot lighter than before.
"Elijah…"
A gentle voice this time in comparison to the rough voice he had heard at first. His eyes suddenly snapped open.
The green of the jungle greeted him again, as his blurry vision cleared. He was on his back lying upwards, staring at the canopy above. Two figures hovered right over him, blocking what little light that managed to break through the thick leaves above.
"…what happened?" Elijah muttered to himself, his voice sounding confused as he pushed himself up.
"I thought you had died, man!" exhaled Logan, moving back a bit to let his friend breathe.
"Calm down Logan. He doesn't need that right now," Selene quietly added.
Now that his vision had steadied, he could see her clearly. She was crouched beside him, her eyes locked onto his face with concern, sharp and searching for any damage. Never panicked. That was not her style. She was a fixer like him at her core.
The first thing that truly caught his eye was her hair. Not the straight, shoulder length black that he had grown up seeing her always wear. Now it was a lot longer, pulled back loosely with thin strands falling in front of her face. It was still black, but instead of a jet dark there was a faint green tint to her hair now. As if she was already adapting to the jungle.
Then his eyes dropped. She wore similar clothing to what he had spotted on Marcus earlier.
Yet where Logan's clothing look like it had just been thrown together, hers was clearly created with more care. The rough leather was wrapped cleanly around her figure, with vines and braided plants holding it together. It was an obvious difference in which her clothing looked almost professional made in comparison to what Logan wore. It was not because different materials, but a testament to the skill of the creator.
His gaze shifted again.
"You have them too."
The black markings that were on his arms and on Logan's face.
For Selene, they rested along the right of her neck. They stretched downward from just beneath her ear, tracing along her collar before slipping beneath the leather at her neck.
Like he triggered an alarm, the tattoos on his own arms flowed again with the same purple light as before. Both of his friends suddenly grasp their temples as memories began to play through their minds. The tattoos on their bodies were glowing brightly as well.
Like his friends, Elijah was experiencing the same memory download, but this time the memories were of more recent events.
His vision blurred as if something was ramming itself in his head. Images began to flow through his mind like various movie scenes.
__
Dozens of figures, all around the same age of him, gathered in a clearing outside Rooted Howl Jungle. The air carried with it a scent of anxiety as the youths waited for the Elder Speaker in front of them to begin the ceremony. Right behind him, a giant deer with glowing silver antlers and insect wings rested. A Highborn Verdant Stag, a rare species within the Kaltrava jungles. Its presence alone was enough to keep the peace amongst the various youths that had gathered.
Elian stood with his siblings at the edge of the gathering, outcasts amongst the various tribes. He looked over at his brother Kaal who stood there about to jump out of his skin with excitement. Today they would get the chance to bond a beast.
His sister Sylra stood at his other side, quiet and watching. Always watching.
Unlike their younger brother, his twin sister was not smiling or struggling to contain her excitement. Her eyes were calmly moving across the other tribes, measuring and reading them. Constantly on the lookout for threats.
All three of them could feel the gazes of the others taking part in the ceremony.
"I can't believe they are even allowed to be here."
"Vaels bring bad luck. The jungle will eat them up. Just watch."
"Shh…don't be too loud. The Speakers still protect them."
The whispers that moved through the crowd were not spoken lightly, instead they were spoken with the intent to get a rise out of the siblings. Elian ignored them all. He knew that no matter what as long as he and his siblings could bond a beast then the path to restoring the Vael Tribe would be paved forward easily. That was his only goal.
He was use to the whispers and the rumors about him and his siblings, the Last of the Vael. Most saw them as bad omens.
He could care less. One day they would respect his family again as they had so in the past.
All they had to do was bond a beast with a high evolution potential.
Beasts. They were the cornerstone of the world they lived in. Everything revolved around them, especially here in Kaltrava. They were not pets and anyone who treated them as tools would probably be hung out for a pack of Mud Raptors to digest.
To bond a beast was to form a bond with the world and the Veil. In Kaltrava it was a right of adulthood and a sign of the jungle itself accepting you. Their people did not believe that the jungle made mistakes.
Elian's gaze drifted toward the Verdant Stag again, watching the way its silver antlers seem to shimmer faintly with an otherworldly light. A clear sign it was touched by the Veil.
A flicker of envy quickly flashed through his eyes as he watched the Highborn beast just lazily rest in front of them. Its partner, the Elder Speaker who was presiding over the tribe still stood silently in front of him gazing over the youths. Even from this distance, Elian could feel the power that radiates off his body.
Beasts weren't born equally, most were at the level of Common from birth and would remain so for the rest of their lives.
Then there were others that were born into the higher ranks: Lord, Highborn, Titan, and once upon a time the legendary Primal rank.
Luckily this rank was not always set and beast could grow through stages and even break into the higher ranks through evolution. That was why the Beast Trials were so important.
His eyes shifted, looking towards the distant jungle behind the clearing. The roars of the beasts within it could be heard even from where they stood. It would be where they soon be sent to determine their futures.
Depending on the evolution potential of the beasts they bonded with they would be sent into apprenticeships after the trial. Some of them would purposely seek safer and lower level beasts. Their talents laid within supplying the tribe in other areas. These were the ones with hopes to live lives as artisans, farmers, or healers. They had no need to go deep into the jungle.
Then there was the other type participants in the trial. The group that wished to be Hunters and Warriors. Those who sought apprenticeship with the Speakers.
For one to have a shot at such a position they naturally needed a more powerful beast. One whose evolution potential and combat prowess was high.
But bonding such a beast meant going deeper into the jungle where more risks and danger laid. There were seven stages in between each rank with a noticeable gap between each stages. The outer edges of the Rooted Howl Jungle only contained Stage 1 beasts with the rare chance to encounter a Stage 2. The Trial area only covered up an area that typically saw up to Stage 3 Beasts rarely.
If the Rooted Hollow could be split into five zones, then the Beast Trials took part in Zone 1. The inner jungle was said to be the home to High Stage Lord and Highborn beasts. Nobody would be foolish to try to bond with one of these for their first beast.
It was not just the fact they lack the combat power.
The bonding process even if they could overcome such a powerful beast woukd likely destroy their minds and turn them and the beast into Daemon. Nobody dared take that risk.
His eyes unconsciously looked at his brother Kaal as that thought ran through his mind.
Correction. Most people dare not take the risk.
Before he could finish that thought, the Speaker stepped forward and turned around. The Verdant Stag stood up suddenly moving to its partner side.
The Speaker rubbed behind the beast's ear before whispering in her ears.
"Shall we begin?"
He began chanting in a low, mystical language that left the crowd behind him completely silent.
It was Ithic! The language of the beasts and the Veil. Their ability to use it was what set Speakers apart from others with beast bonds.
The mystical language that could draw power from the Veil to manipulate the world itself. It was a power equivalent to God within their nation.
The jungle seemed to grow quiet as the Speaker chant continued, low and soft, but the power could be felt by all around him. As if an announcement was ringing through the trees and earth itself, a low pulse could even be felt by some.
The Speaker turned to face them all.
"You stand at the edge of your beginning. Five days. Five days to find your path forward."
His voice carried over the crowd.
"You enter as children. You will return as something more…or not at all!"
He paused for a second, his gaze sweeping over the crowd of children. The Verdant Stag behind shifted behind him, it's wings fluttering vibrating softly and giving off a low hum in the silence in the clearing.
"The jungle will judge you. Make sure you are worthy."
The Verdant Stag suddenly raised up on its hind legs, letting out a cry before stomping down back on the ground. As it did so a pulse was sent forward through the crowd and jungle in front of him. A greeting and a warning to the beasts within.
"Enter!"
The crowd was hesitant for one second. Then the moment broke as one figure could be seen already moving ahead of everyone else laughing as he did so. That familiar laughter was something Elian had heard all his life.
As Kaal took off in front of everyone, the crowd surged forward following splitting in various directions. Elian and Sylra followed behind Kaal without any hesitation catching up to their younger brother as others overtook the trio.
The three of them approached the jungle line, the towering trees before them looming overhead dark and alive, as if they were waiting to devour them all.
They crossed the line together and enter the darkness.
The jungle swallows the whole.
Elian slowed for a half-stepped, instantly feeling something was wrong. Like soemthing was watching them.
"Sylra…Kaal…be on guard."
They continued forward.