The Trials (The Elite Series) Read online

  The TRIALS

  By Jonathan Yanez

  http://jonathanyanez.blogspot.com

  The TRIALS

  Copyright © 2013 by Jonathan Yanez. All rights reserved.

  First Print Edition: July 2013

  Limitless Publishing, LLC

  Kailua, HI 96734

  www.limitlesspublishing.com

  Cover: Eden Crane Designs

  Formatting: Limitless Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-1490558783

  ISBN-10: 1490558780

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For Joseph Young more than just a role model,

  an inspiration, a friend, or a brother.

  You were the best of us.

  You were our hero.

  Chapter One

  Plants, vines and bushes scratched at his arms and legs as Connor ran through the jungle. A jungle that seemed so alien when compared to the forests he had grown up with at home. The sun, already at its zenith, beat down harsh rays on his dark hair and did nothing to staunch the fear rising in his chest. He couldn’t imagine this scenario during the night when the jungle would be alive with shadows and strange noises. Mid-day was terrifying enough.

  I’m a Judge, I shouldn’t be afraid, he told himself. But he knew that there was a very high chance he would not live through the day.

  His legs were starting to feel numb. He spotted a large tree to his right, slowed his pace, and threw himself behind it. Chest heaving, he did his best to control his breathing. He had to listen. He needed to know if he was safe. Had he been able to outrun the monster? Gripping the war axe in his hands, he listened—nothing.

  Connor decided to chance a look. Peering around the tree’s smooth grey bark, he braced himself for what he might see—nothing. All that met his eyes was the lush green landscape of the Amazon. It was almost peaceful. The kind of landscaped picture people would save all year for and visit on a vacation.

  Sweat trickled down his neck and muscular chest. The two-handed axe he held was surprisingly light for its size. One side of its grey head was large with a sharp blade, the other side boasted a long point, like the pickaxe he had used to kill his first Elite, what seemed a lifetime ago.

  Could the Catskill incident really have happened just a week back? It didn’t’ seem possible. The past days’ events came at Connor like a flood, drowning him in memories.

  Connor watched Adolpho’s hand disappear into the large iron basin. The container was dark grey and ancient words and symbols were melted along its outer sides.

  “The inscription on the outside of the pot says, Only the strong,” Morrigan whispered into his ear.

  The Council room was so quiet Morrigan’s murmur, although faint, seemed like she was shouting in his ear—or was that his Elite senses again? Regardless, he nodded, the whole time his eyes never leaving the pot. Whatever stone Adolpho pulled would be the first of three tests he was going to face. Connor needed to pass the tests, or trials, as they were more commonly known, to guarantee not only his own safety, but that of his loved ones and the Elite race.

  The room was overflowing with attendees. Everyone had come to witness the beginning of the trials. Morrigan had informed him that the last trials were held over a thousand years ago. To witness this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, even if you were an Elite, who could live for hundreds of years.

  Adolpho withdrew his hand, his bright green eyes examining the smooth black rock he now held, and his brow furrowed. “The first trial.” The room became even more silent, if that were possible, as though everyone in the chamber was leaning forward to catch the first word out of Adolpho’s mouth. “Connor Moore is tasked with bringing the Council the head of an Ignis serpent.”

  The room gasped. Lu took in a big breath of air and puffed out his cheeks as he exhaled, making a small popping sound. Laren tried to hide her cringing. Connor saw it anyway.

  As the room whispered amongst themselves, Connor looked to Morrigan for guidance. “Ignis serpent? What is that?”

  Unlike Laren, Morrigan was better at masking her emotions. “It’s Latin, Connor. Latin for Fire Serpent.”

  Connor smiled and started to laugh but stopped himself when Morrigan’s stoic expression didn’t change. “What? Are you serious? Dragons aren’t real. How could they be? You’re joking, right? This is a joke?”

  Before Morrigan could respond, Adolpho raised his hands for silence. “Our traditions state that the Judge will leave immediately after the first stone is pulled.” The entire room looked at Connor. Bright eyes in varying degrees of blue, green, brown, amber, and violet looked at him with anticipation.

  Unlike the previous sessions in the Council chamber, today Connor was dressed in traveling clothes. Before he was asked to wear suits and expensive ties, now he was decked out in brown boots, cargo pants, and a black shirt. Sitting next to him on the ground was a backpack with more zippers and pockets than Connor could count. Morrigan had reassured him that she had packed it herself and everything he would need for his trip was secured in the bag.

  Connor wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say something to the Council or if he was just supposed to pick up his bag and go. As he reached for his backpack, he felt the twinge of doubt and fear—the emotions he had fought so hard against since he’d found out he was an Elite.

  Swinging his backpack over his shoulder, he looked at Morrigan to say good-bye. He had no idea where he was going, how he was supposed to find the fire serpent, much less how to kill it. Morrigan saw all of this in his eyes before he even opened his mouth.

  “Esteemed Council members,” she addressed the heads of the Five Families. “Will you indulge me for a moment longer?”

  Adolpho looked at the other four Council members in turn; Raban, Thema, Tian, and Arden. They all nodded in approval.

  “Yes, Morrigan,” Adolpho answered, “What is it?”

  “I understand that Connor has to accomplish these tasks himself, however he is at a disadvantage the previous Judges were not.”

  To the left of Connor, Morrigan, Laren, and Lu sat Faust, Randolph, and Christof. All three of the Elites scowled at Morrigan as she continued. “The earlier Judges were aware of our customs. They knew where to find the beasts and how to kill them. I am in no way implying that we should give Connor any type of advantage, only the same opportunity that each Judge was presented with in the past.”

  “Outrage!” Christof jumped from his seat, extravagant as ever, his designer suit quivered as tight muscles underneath shook with anger. “Is it not enough that we have delayed this trial to indulge Morrigan and her so called prophecy? Now we have to babysit this imposter Judge and provide him with an advantage?”

  “We would only be guiding him. He would do the actual trials themselves. In no way does that compromise any of the trial’s rules,” Morrigan said.

  Christof sneered at her. “And who is to go? Do you volunteer, witch? I’m sure you wouldn’t help along his journey.”

  “No, I’ll go.” Lu stood, his wide shoulders and muscular body filling every inch of the black suit he wore. “I’ll take Connor to the Ignis Serpent.”

  For the second time that day, the room was silent. Morrigan gave
an approving nod to Lu, while Connor and Laren exchanged shocked expressions.

  Lu and Connor had started off on the wrong foot since they met, and although Lu wasn’t that much of a tool anymore, the two were far from friends. For a split second, Connor almost spoke up to say he’d rather go on this journey himself than with Lu.

  Lu looked over at his sister, Laren, and winked with a mischievous grin, clearly enjoying her shock.

  “The Council cannot seriously be considering this. Lupus and Connor’s fates are intertwined. Who is to say that Lupus Abelardus will not aid Connor? There can be no guide on his journey because there is no way to ensure that Connor Moore is not helped,” Christof shouted, sounding more like a small child than a lawyer.

  “Agreed. Mr. Designer Suits, why don’t you come with me? I mean, to make sure I’m not cheating and helping Connor slay the beast,” Lu said. “I’m sure we can find you a nice camouflage suit you can wear while we run around in the jungle.”

  Christof looked at Lu as though he had just escaped from an insane asylum. “I am not a warrior nor do I pretend to be one. My place is here, not traversing the jungle on a fool’s errand.”

  “Lupus does have a point.” Arden, the youngest member of the Council, pointed out. Arden sat on the Council representing Connor’s own bloodline as well as being Morrigan’s younger brother. “If a member of the opposing side accompanies Connor as well, we can assure that Connor will complete his task and that no cheating will be involved.”

  Christof turned to his two clients, only taking a moment to pass over Faust’s empty eye sockets before landing his gaze on Randolph. His only thought now was how to dodge the bullet of accompanying Connor and Lupus and save his own skin. In his fear, he made a hasty decision. “Randolph will go.”

  Randolph turned his head from side-to-side as though he forgot his own name and was looking for someone else. “Who, me?”

  “Yes,” Christof said, more sure of himself now, glad he had found a way to spare himself. “Randolph, will you answer the call of The Council? Will you follow Connor and Lu through the trial and ensure everything is conducted with utmost fairness?”

  “Well, actually—“

  “Good, it is decided, then,” Christof interrupted with a smile, clearly pleased with himself. “The three shall leave immediately.”

  The room, including Connor, was struggling to grasp the strange turn of events when Adolpho’s gavel pounded on the table. “Order. Lupus and Randolph will be given an hour to prepare, upon which they will meet with Connor at the front of the castle and set off on the first trial.”

  The Council rose to leave and the room took the traditional posture of respect, kneeling, eyes directed to the floor, as the five heads of the Elite families exited the room.

  As soon as the doors closed, the crowd broke silence and began speculating about the meeting’s events. Connor tried to get Lu’s attention and ask why he would be so eager to help, but Laren and Lu were in what looked like a heated debate. Deciding against getting between the brother and sister, he followed Morrigan’s lead and headed for the exit.

  “We’ve been granted an extra hour, let’s not waste it, shall we?” Morrigan walked briskly past well-wishers and supporters.

  “What do you mean?” Connor asked, trying to keep up.

  “I mean that we know what your task is and we have an extra hour to prepare. Hurry, there’s no time to waste.”

  Morrigan headed straight for his room. As soon as they were inside, she gave a curt whistle. Running paws were heard and a moment later Pete and Joe, her bulldog and hound dog, were by her side, all happiness and lolling tongues. They both wore silly grins and looked over at Connor and winked or panted their hellos.

  “Boys, we have under an hour to help our friend Connor. If you would go to my chamber and bring me the Dragonicon, that would help very much.” The words had just left her mouth when the two dogs were off at a sprint, paws hitting the carpeted castle floor like a steady metronome.

  “Come sit down, Connor, and take off your backpack, for goodness sake.”

  “Oh, right.” Connor was so wrapped up in the events of the day that he had forgotten he was still wearing the fifty-pound bag. Placing the backpack on the floor, he took a seat next to Morrigan. “So, dragons, huh?”

  “So, dragons,” Morrigan agreed, raising her eyebrows and smiling.

  “Where are they? I mean, I doubt they’re easy to find.”

  “When the world was young, there were hundreds of dragon species. Many have died off now with the cultivation of the world and the expansion of mankind, but a few still exist in the Amazon basin.”

  Connor’s brown eyes widened as he tried to wrap his mind around his first trial. “I’m going to a deadly place to find a mythical animal, hunt it, and bring back its head to the Council.”

  “Almost, but like we said, dragons aren’t mythical, they are very much alive.”

  The door to the room swung open and Pete and Joe bounded into the room. This time the two awkwardly held a thick brown book between them in their mouths. “Thank you, boys, that was very fast.”

  The dogs wagged their tails and looked at her with big sad eyes. “Okay, you may go say hello, but behave. We have just a few minutes to instruct him on the history of dragons and the species he’s going after.”

  Both dogs ran to Connor and gave him licks on his hands. Connor smiled. Even at a time like this he couldn’t help but remember his long history with the two dogs and the great job they had done looking after him as he grew up. In their human forms, they had been like uncles to him. Disguised as deliverymen, Morrigan had planted them working for his mother so they were able to keep a close eye on him on a daily basis.

  “Here it is.” Morrigan opened the book on the small table between herself and Connor and pointed to a picture.

  “Forget what you know about flying dragons that are the size of mountains.”

  “Oh, you mean those didn’t exist?” Connor asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

  “No, they did. Those just died hundreds of thousands of years ago. This is the only species that remains today, hidden deep in the Amazon.”

  Morrigan pointed a manicured finger to a picture of what appeared to be a dinosaur. It looked like a dragon, but was the size of an elephant with smaller wings folded on its back. “Just like everything else, dragons have evolved to survive. This is what they look like now. This species are what the local tribes call Os Comedores de Man, ‘The Man Eaters.’”

  Connor ruffled Pete’s ears and the back of his neck. “Oh, ‘The Man Eaters.’ That’s great. Well, at least they’re not intimidating or scary at all. How have they stayed hidden for so long?”

  “They live deep in the Amazon where the locals don’t even travel. They’re very smart. They never stray from their hunting grounds and only a handful of locals have ever seen one, and even fewer have lived to tell about their encounter. There’s also a local tribe of Elites that have taken it upon themselves to protect this last remaining dragon species.”

  “A tribe of Elites?”

  “Yes, they have remained content to live out their days as the guardians of the dragon, you should know that they will not take your reason for being there lightly.”

  “Awesome. So once I get past the tribe of Elites who are probably going to try and stop me, how do I kill the dragon?”

  There was a slight rap on the door.

  “Come in, Katie,” Morrigan said.

  Connor hadn’t quite figured out how Morrigan always knew who was on the other side of the door. Was it her gifts with magic or perhaps some other kind of intuition?

  “The door slowly opened and Katie sheepishly stood eyeing them. “I’m sorry, Morrigan. Is this a bad time? Should I come back later?”

  Morrigan was quiet and thought for a moment. “No, it’s all right.” Turning to Connor, she said, “Take the book on the trip with you and rely on Lupus for advice. Watch Randolph, he may not be past the poi
nt of saving yet.”

  Without another word and leaving questions in her wake, she rose from her seat and smiled at Katie as she left.

  Connor didn’t have any time to wonder what Morrigan had meant about Randolph being past saving before Katie entered the room.

  “Have you been working out harder? You look bigger, like more muscle.”

  Connor stood up and looked down at himself. It was true, since being turned into an Elite, he felt taller and there was no doubt that his muscles were bigger. “Nope, it’s the Elite gene. Another perk, I guess. We can eat whatever we want now. No more calorie counting or cutting down on the fats and sugars.”

  “You’re telling me,” Katie said, turning in a full circle. “I’ve been on a cinnamon roll binge and drinking unearthly amounts of chocolate milk. I think I’ve actually lost weight.”

  Connor took this as an invitation to look Katie up and down. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn’t. Katie was slender and curved in all the right places. Things were still unresolved between the two and Connor didn’t know how to broach the subject of their complicated relationship or if he even wanted to try.

  “You look great,” a sarcastic voice at the door added.

  Katie and Connor turned to see Laren standing in the doorway.

  Connor’s heart raced as he looked into Laren’s green eyes. The two girls in his life knew of each other, of course, but to Connor’s knowledge, had never met or spoken. Now he wished he could be anywhere else besides in this awkward standoff. Anywhere, even fighting dragons and tribes of Elite warriors in the Amazon seemed a better option than his current predicament.

  “Thanks. I’m Katie, by the way. You must be Laren.” Katie walked over to Laren and extended a hand.

  Connor held his breath as they stared at each other like cowgirls in a western standoff.