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

Gen – Birth and Connection

 
Forever
It took me three cycles to reach level seven, and another ten cycles of intense training to advance to level twelve.
At level twelve, there are only two choices.
Become Gen, or die.

Vala says that I’m almost as fast as a Gen already.
But I’m still bound to this world and this flesh.

Now that the birthing is so close, I’m filled with doubts and fears about becoming Gen.
Will I lose myself?
Who will I become?

People say that the Gen reject emotion.
Some say that they don’t feel anything at all.

Is that what waits … Read more

The Necklace and the Wizard

 
Hiding from the Energy Web
Keela and I land on a high hill, its sides covered in blue and yellow wildflowers.
A few small houses cover the top of the hill, surrounded by a high wall.

The houses and the wall are decorated with the royal symbol, in dark blue and gold.

“This is the royal camp,” she says.

“Camp?”

She sighs.
“That’s what it’s always been called.”
“Our ancestors came to this area as an army, after a war, and the surviving leaders camped here.”
“In many ways we are still an army.”

There are guards everywhere.
Heavily … Read more