Survival of the Fittest Preview Read online



 

  “Unnnh…” Huh? Where am I? Kendalion thought groggily. The rough stone bricks were cold, not to mention that there was a draft coming through the barred window.

  “Urgh! I wish I could actually close that darn window!” Kendalion said aloud irritably. He looked to his left to discover solid, wrought iron bars. Kendalion moved to try to look through the bars, only to discover he was chained tightly to the wall. Clank-kling-clank-kling-clank-kling! An armored guard clanked over to Kendalion’s cell.

  “You have been chosen,” he said blankly.

  “For WHAT?” Kendalion replied, confused.

  “Come,” the guard ordered.

  “How? I am all chained up!”

  “Come,” the man repeated.

  Kendalion moved to escape his bindings but his efforts were fruitless. He summoned all the strength he could and to his amazement, the chains broke away from the wall. Kendalion stood up and walked toward the guard. Oddly enough, there was barely enough space for Kendalion to squeeze through the bars. Since he still had the chains attached to him the two were doubly noisy. Clank-cling-chada-ching-clank-kling-chada-ching

  “Where are we going?” Kendalion asked the guard in a “you-are-suspicious!” manner.

  “To see the master,” the guard replied.

  “Oh, kinda like that wizard who was a phony?” said Kendalion, snickering.

  “The master is a wizard, but he is not an imposter. Quiet, we’re here.”

  Suddenly, large, grand, polished cedar doors had loomed up out of nowhere. They were more exotic than Kendalion had ever seen. The doors had curious paintings on them too: there were four people, each wielding a weapon. There appeared to be a double bladed sword, an extremely large double ax, a staff and what looked like a boomerang. Kendalion peered at them with great interest.

  Suddenly, the doors swung open, almost squishing Kendalion into a wall.

  “Come,” the guard ordered a third time. “Master wishes to see you.” Kendalion stumbled inside only to come face to face with-

  “Kyak!!! Karuka?!?!”

  “Watch where you’re go-“

  “Silence,” a low, rumbling voice ordered. A cloaked figure wandered out of the shadows. “Come forward,” the voice instructed. Kendalion and Karuka, plus two other kids (who looked about twelve or thirteen) followed them.

  “Sit,” the shadowy figure ordered. So the four took a seat on the red carpet that led up to an unoccupied throne.

  “You four have been chosen to fight in the nationwide Eluria Tournament, representing the Nenayro nation. You must all choose a weapon to use along the way.”

  The figure waved their cloaked hand and mysterious, shimmering green fire appeared in four spots around Karuka, Kendalion, and the others. When the flames faded, in their place were a double bladed sword, a boomerang, an iron staff, and a double ax that was enormous.

  “Choose your weapon,” the cloaked voice boomed. “You first,” it said, pointing towards Kendalion.

  Kendalion stared, it took him a couple of seconds to realize that he was supposed to pick first. Everyone stared at him, anticipating his choice eagerly. Kendalion considered each weapon carefully.

  The sword is going to be tricky cuz I might hit myself. Then again, it’s the same with the axe, however it’s heavier. On the other hand, I broke the chains from the wall, and heavier probably means more attack power. The boomerang would be handy for multiple foes and getting things out of reach but I would be defenseless until it came back. What would the staff be useful for? Oh! Defense and I could knock people out…

  “Would you hurry up alr-” Karuka began, but the cloaked figured silenced her.

  “She has a point,” one of the others said. Kendalion just noticed that she was a girl. She was obviously different from Karuka, who used to work on a ranch with her father. The girl had loose, brightly colored clothing.

  “Agreed,” the other sighed, this one a boy. He was dressed as if he belonged in a mansion.

  Kendalion decided. He strode toward the double bladed sword. As soon as Kendalion touched it the sword, it began to glow crimson and a sheath appeared on his back.

  “It is done. You next,” the cloaked figure said, pointing at Karuka.

  Karuka proudly grabbed the boomerang and this time it glowed sapphire. Karuka tucked the boomerang in her sash and walked back to the center of the room.

  “It is done. You next,” the cloaked figure repeated, pointing at the other girl.

  She darted to the double axe and raised it above her head triumphantly. It glowed gold and she smiled a big grin before she joined Karuka. (Who was looking rather disgusted that a girl was wielding the axe.)

  “It is done. I believe that the staff is yours then,” the figure said.

  The rich boy sulked over to the staff and it glowed emerald when he touched it. Kendalion assumed that the boy thought the staff was useless, like he first did.

  “You four shall all compete in Eluria’s kingdom-wide contest, and if you lose you shall be a disgrace to all of Nenayro. You have all been chosen for your fighting prowess,” the cloaked figure said.

  “Hahaha…you’re kidding, right?” Karuka laughed nervously.

  “Ya-HOO!!!” the girl in orange and blue exclaimed excitedly.

  “Oh man. I may be a Taijutsu master but jeez!” the mansion boy complained.

  “Hmmm…what’s your name anyway?” Kendalion wondered, not paying attention to a word the man said.

  “First off, this should be obvious, but I am The Master,” the cloaked man replied turning his head to look at Kendalion. “Second, I’m not kidding,” he continued, now appearing to stare at Karuka from underneath his dark hood.

  Karuka was looking pretty frustrated.

  “Take them to their room,” The Master ordered. The guard that led Kendalion took everyone to their room.

  “Is it possible for you to stop clanking?” the rich boy complained.

  “No, and is it possible for you to stop whining like a baby?” Kendalion replied sharply.

  “Oooh! You just got SERVED, Tokonami!” the other girl said, smiling.

  “Shut it, Karutoshi!” Tokonami said, evidently flustered.

  “So let me get everyone’s names straight,” Kendalion interrupted. “Tokonami is the whiny idiot,” he began.

  “Am NOT!”

  “Karutoshi is the tomboy,” Kendalion continued, ignoring the childish comeback from Tokonami. Karutoshi chuckled, obviously proud that she was a tomboy.

  “Karuka is my utterly aggravating childhood rival,” Kendalion said haughtily.

  “Hey!” Karuka replied crossly. She and Kendalion had always been rivals as soon as they met, from martial arts to practical jokes and horseback riding.

  “And you are?” Tokonami said, glaring at Kendalion sternly.

  “Kendalion, but I prefer Kendal,” he replied coolly.

  “Quiet. Here. In,” the guard boomed, shoving them into the room and slamming the door. To everyone’s surprise, it had a large window seat and four beds.

  “Yahoo!!!” Karutoshi ran, jumped on a bed, flipped to the next and rolled off the other side. “Oops…hahahaha! That was fun!” she exclaimed. Tokonami sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “I cannot believe you’re my cousin…,”

  “Huh?! You’re cousins?!” Karuka and Kendalion said.

  “Yep,” said Karutoshi, getting up and wiping the dust off of her.

  “Hmmm…hey Karuka, do you know what this is?” asked Tokonami. Karuka walked over and looked at the floor where Tokonami was. There was a large painted rectangle, divided in half down the middle. It took up almost half the ro
om, which was also fairly big.

  “Uh…I think…it’s a battle arena…for us to train?” Karuka stuttered, confused.

  “Alright! Hey Karutoshi! Wanna train?” Kendalion exclaimed.

  “Is it alright if we use our weapons? I need ta practice with my axe!”

  “Fine with me!”

  Kendalion ran to one side of the arena, and Karutoshi dashed to the other.

  Kendalion drew his sword and glared. “Let’s go!” he yelled and charged.

  “Bring it on!” Karutoshi said calmly, putting up her guard.

  The impact of the two weapons sent sparks flying and the two were in a dead lock.

  “Heh…nice parry!” Kendalion said arrogantly.

  “Why, thank you!” Karutoshi replied evenly, swinging her axe and sending Kendalion flying.

  “Yowch!” said Kendalion, rubbing his head, which had hit the stone floor when he fell.

  “Hyah!” Karutoshi’s axe fell, a minuscule distance from Kendalion’s head.

  “I think I won this match!” Karutoshi said proudly.

  “Y-yeah!” Kendalion stuttered nervously, still in shock from hitting the floor and the axe.

  “There you go again, beating up a guy,” groaned Tokonami.

  “Hey! She never hit me!” objected Kendal.

  “Because you surrendered,” Tokonami replied, smirking.

  “Did not!” yelled Kendalion, feeling rather embarrassed.

  “Shut it! I’m trying to sleep!” Karuka said, obviously annoyed at the commotion they were making.

  “But it’s only two in the afternoon!!!” said Karutoshi, confused.

  “It’s probably a good idea, considering we have no clue what we’re up against tomorrow,” Tokonami said, trying to justify what Karuka said.

  He reminds me