Prologue/Chapter 1

Prologue

We must hurry Grayen, if we are to be in time to join in the 'Summer's Start Festival.'" Said Sintao; a young boy of thirteen with green eyes, and brown hair. He started running ahead.
"Ha, as if anyone doubts that you would miss a part of any festival." Grayen called after his adopted brother. Unlike Sintao, Grayen was fifteen and four days away from becoming of age, his eyes were a deep blue, and his hair was a dark, almost black, color. The young boy's had banded together when they were young and lived out on the streets with some other boys. Neither one knew their parents and neither one knew if they were even from the Village of Skint. "You have the reputation of always eating when you can."
"It'll be good to keep that reputation." Sintao called back over his shoulder as he ran, putting on an extra burst of speed. The Summer's Start Festival was the highlight of any year. The woman that became of age were proposed to by men that were already of age, had become of age or even soon to become of age like Grayen, and the men that came of age started training to become knights. Grayen was happy for the festival because it was the only time that everyone in his village came together and were, for the most part, happy.
Grayen jogged slowly towards the Village of Skint, thinking of how, just yesterday he was told that he could become a knight, the dream of most of the boys in his village. Some of the other boys dreamed of becoming merchants and moving to bigger villages. There was just one thing that Grayen feared about the Festival, the Survival tests. There was ten names chosen each year, of the young men that had come of age, and those boys would be sent out of the village and would have to survive without anything but a knife for one month.
Grayen had seen two of his friends chosen, but only one of his friends had returned alive. He had few boys around the village that called him friend but only two would actually be called friends. Sintao was one. He also had girls from the village follow him about. Egh1, Grayen thought to himself, why do they have to follow me?
Grayen entered the village alone. No one greeted him as he entered either. Why should they, they don't do it with anyone else. They don't respect anyone except themselves. Grayen went to the center of the village where the young men and woman became of age. Grayen looked to the sky and saw a large amount of clouds coming towards the village. I hope it doesn't rain that would ruin the best day of the year.
Grayen walk into the village square and looked around. The noise was loud as the young men and women talked amongst themselves2. Grayen looked around for familiar faces and saw one but didn't go towards it. The familiar face was watching him though and walked towards him.
"I was wondering when you would arrive." The young man said walking in front of him.
"What do you want, Clire?" Grayen said to everyone's least favorite person in the village.
"What do you have for me today?" Clire said standing firmly in front of Grayen.
"I don't have anything that you can have." Grayen stepped past Clire quickly into the crowd of young people.
"I'll find you tonight and there's no way your getting out of the payments." Clire called into the crowd.

Chapter 1
The Summer's Start Festival

Grayen moved swiftly through the crowd as he heard Clire's call "I'll find you tonight and there's no way your getting out of it then."
Grayen continued on until he was near the other side of the village square. Now only to wait until the ceremony and then the Festival starts. He thought to himself.
Grayen checked the sky again to see if the clouds might bring rain. They didn't seem any closer but they might be a problem later. Grayen continued to walk through the young men and women, but trying to stay away from the women. He found himself alone on the Festival of the year. He continued to wander, he wished he was even just a year younger and then he would be able to come here with his friend Garret. But Garret wouldn't be in this place for one year. He would have to bear this on his own or with young girls.
"Egh!" Grayen said out loud at the thought. It wouldn't be all that bad, I guess, as long as I actually have someone with me. Grayen looked around for the only young girl that he would actually consider talking to. Mainly because, though she liked him she didn't pursue him as openly as the other girls did. She was more subtle about it than most girls were. He spotted her and found her by a wall with no one around. He walked slowly over to her.
"Hello Jewel," Grayen said pleasantly.
"Oh, hello Grayen," She said.
"What are you doing?" He said leaning against the wall as she was.
"Me? I'm just waiting for the ceremony to finally start. And you?" She said.
Grayen knew she was staring at him but he didn't turn to her as he answered. "Just the same, I thought this would be fun, but it isn't really that fun at all."
"Do you think your name will be drawn?" She said quietly.
"No, I think that there are so many people that I won't be picked." He said with confidence that he didn't feel.
"I certainly hope so." She said. "I would hate if you got chose."
Grayen was always surprised about how the women were apparently so able to open themselves up so easily. "You don't think I could survive for a month?" He said trying to make the subject lighter
"I don't know you well enough for that." She said.
"Well maybe we can get to know each other better." Grayen surprised himself by saying that. So much for the subject getting lighter.
"Sure, I would like that. There's sir Edmund, I'm guessing the ceremony's about to start." She said. With that she drifted into the crowd and was lost from Grayen's sight.
Edmund was a tall man, strong and young, he climbed up onto a large raised platform with ease. He raised his hand for silence and almost instantly got it. As soon as it was quiet he shouted out "Are you young ready to become men and women?"
The Shout was almost in Unison "Yes!"
"Do you think that you men can become knight's, strong and fierce, bold and brave?" He shouted out.
Once again the Shout was raised, almost in Unison, but quieter because of the lack of the female voices. "Yes!"
"Do you think that you women can become great mother's and wise wives to your soon to be husbands and later children?"
Quieter still was the shout of the women's but theirs was more in Unison "Yes!"
"Do all of you think you have what it takes to be good leaders, never to turn tail and run, always to take the lead and order those under you?"
This time perfectly in Unison all the voices in the square shouted "Yes!"
"Then we now proceed with the drawing." Edmund clapped his hands and a large cylinder was brought up onto the platform. Edmund had them put it on the front of the platform.
Grayen had only listened to the shouting, and knew that few of the people here would actually fulfill what they had just said they committed to.
Edmund called for silence even though it was already silent. He reached his hand in and drew out a hand full he counted them and put one back. It missed the cylinder and started to fall, and then the wind picked it up and blew it over the heads of the people. A hand reached up and picked it from the sky. Grayen couldn't see who had caught it but didn't really care. All he cared about right now was the names that had been picked.
Edmund picked up the first of ten, "Clire Woodsten," Clire stepped onto the platform a little shaky.
"It is a great honor sir Edmund." Clire said trying to keep from trembling from fear.
Edmund picked up another name "Mitch Woe,"
Someone Grayen had never seen before walked onto the platform. "It is a great honor sir Edmund." He said with no trembling in his voice. Clire also seemed to stop shaking as Mitch stepped up.
Edmund picked up a third name "Tarlin Respite,"
Another young man stepped up onto the platform. "It is a great honor sir Edmund." He said blankly.
Edmund took another name "Grayen Ilin3,"
Grayen walked slowly up to the platform. He climbed up onto it and heard himself say, "It is a great honor sir Edmund."
Edmund continued through the names but Grayen was no longer listening. He stared out into the crowd, not even focusing on anyone. The thing that every young man feared was the survival test and he had just been picked.
When Edmund finished he called the ten young men to stand on the front of the platform, "Do you think that you can survive for one month out in the wilderness?"
The ten of them shouted in unison, "Yes!"
The square erupted into cheering. Edmund held up a hand for silence, the square quieted down. "You ten will leave the village in two days and sent into the wilderness for a month. Do you accept?"
"Yes we accept this challenge." They shouted.
"Then feast and propose and whatever else your heart desires tonight!" Edmund shouted above the noise.
The Young people slowly walked off to the feast talking and laughing and even some of them crying.
Grayen walked slowly to the large building that the food had been set up in. He stepped in and immediately had Sintao on his arm.
"I heard that you were picked, is it true?" Sintao said pulling on Grayen's arm.
"I was and I won't be able to complete the challenge if you rip my arm off." Grayen said pushing playfully on Sintao's head. The dinner gong sounded and everyone started to drift over to the food.
"But what if you don't come back?" Sintao said letting go of Grayen's arm
"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll come back." Grayen said walking over to get food.
"Grayen!" A voice called.
Grayen looked towards the speaker and saw Jewel and several other girls coming towards him. Egh, Grayen thought, probably coming to see if I'll propose to any of them.
Jewel looked at Grayen with sadness in her eyes. "I... guess that it didn't matter how many people there actually were, you still got picked."
"I guess," Grayen searched his mind for anything else to say, fortunately for him Jewel continued.
"We all came over to say that we'll still be unmarried by the time you get back." Jewel said.
Grayen felt like jumping into a lake and drowning himself. Had she just actually said that... out loud? So much for her being the subtle one. Sintao gave Grayen a small nudge. "I... I think that you... uh... shouldn't hold off on... marriage just because of me." Grayen searched for something else, anything else to say. How do girls just do that? He thought. "Um... enjoy your life, and don't put your life on someone who might not come back." That should do it, I hope.
Some of the girls wandered off after he said that but Jewel and a few others were still there. "Just so you know." Jewel said. The few girls left and Sintao burst into laughter.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Sintao held his sides. Grayen felt like he would be happy to be gone a month, maybe even a year. "Enjoy your life!" Sintao was laughing so hard he was rolling on the floor. Grayen thought about how he probably had looked and started to smile and from that smile Grayen started laughing along with Sintao. Grayen helped Sintao up and they ate all the food that they could, and drank all the good drink that they could. Grayen and Sintao were tired from eating so much. They were about to leave when Sintao went back in for a moment. He came back out and they went out from the house and went to the small alleyway that they had furnished for themselves. Grayen found it too easy to fall to sleep and didn't worry about anything that might happen in two days time.
         1          A sign of complete dislike in The Village of Skint
         2          The only people that were allowed in the square during the ceremony          were the young people who were becoming of age.
         3          Grayen and Sintao had chosen Ilin as their last name.