Gen – Seven Towers

 
First Tournament
Vala and I hover, waiting, five hundred feet above the stadium, as the gates open.
Another newborn Gen and her master hover near us.
We watch the first rush of walkers, as they pass through the gates to get the best of the unreserved seats.

The arena where the Gen perform is round, a hundred feet across.
An empty space, five feet wide surrounds the arena.
Each row of seats forms its own circle around the performance area, rising, higher and higher, toward the outer walls of the stadium.

The first circle of seats is reserved for … Read more

Forest – Death Climb

 
Death, Feelings, and Fire
The climb lasts five to ten hours, for those who come out of the hole.

We wear strong, thin leather on our hands and feet.

We rub our skin with the bark of the felik bush.
It toughens the skin for a few days, but we still bleed.
Felik also has a good scent which hides the smell of blood.

It is forbidden to practice the climb in the hole, but there are other places with sharp rocks to cut us.
We climb and crawl through narrow spaces without water or food, and learn to … Read more