The Redemption Trials

MASSIVE WIP 
At the moment I'll mostly be sorting out the language and guide to the society, but the story will start soon!
==Guide to the Deia Tribe==
The characters in this story are part of the Deia Tribe, a civilisation of humanlike beings from another planet.
=Species Guide=
Home planet: Deiatiss 
Appearance: Humanlike, feathery shards sprouting from their backs (not quite wings, though some Elifekuay have been taught to grow them into wings), pointed, elvish features, long hair spiralling across their backs. Most wear simply cloth robes, with accessories and colours according to their guild.
Politics: The Deia are ruled by one leader, the Deira. This leader is said to be the embodiment of their creator, the Ylodei. A representative from each guild, chosen by the strength of connection with their guardian deity, makes up a group of advisors and leaders of each guild.
Beliefs: Deia folk believe that one high god, the Ylodei (ylo meaning 'great' and dei meaning 'god'), created them all and watches over them. Each citizen of the tribe is born alongside a spirit Deia (Dei meaning god and the a at the end showing it is minor), or guardian deity, which guides and protects them.
=Guilds=
Each citizen is sorted into a Guild at their coming of age, aka their 5th birthday. 
The most important and elite guild is the Elifekuay (pronounced el-leaf-kee), a Guild of the most talented citizens. The Elifekuay are hunters, assassins, skilled in stealth but honour and loyalty. They are each trained in every skill of every guild, but remain specialised in their skills of tracking and are seen as a warrior guild. At the time of this story, the Elifekuay Guild is small, as less citizens are chosen for the guild each year.
The Degarrlo, or the blacksmiths, masons, and carpenters are the creators and builders. Gifted with strength and imagination, they specialise in heavy work, but are also talented in sewing and other more fragile tasks.
More info coming soon!
==Chapter 1==
Night air, fresh and cool. My hair whips around me and my eyes glow with starlight as I wait, watch, ready to begin. 
It's been so long. So long, since the hunt.
The true life of an elite like me, rather than what we've been driven too.
The Elifekuay used to be great, powerful and rulers. We're shadow-hunters now, chasing fading memories of greatness while being used as spares and extra hands for ordinary guild work.
They told us to obey, stay in our camps till the sun rose again.
But they've brought us down, and now the only way to rise up again is to lie and sneak.
I guess we're not as honourable as we used to be.
"Harretis!" 
A snarled whisper, my name called in a familiar voice. I scamper through the tangled brambles, and find myself in a clearing beside a slim, ebony haired girl. Blue eyes flicker in the moonlight flood, directing my gaze to the bushes where a girl sits, humming a tune.
She's only six, one of the young Degarrlo apprentices. We've been chasing her each night, getting to know her each time we catch her in the midst of her half hearted escape attempt.
Some people regret their guild placements, and hate the restrictions. A Degarrlo can't practice entertainment skills, and a jestrio can't chop a tree. Tribe rules, and it's quite often we get young ones like Shina who want their freedom back.
But it's a dangerous world out there, and much as a pity the mite, I can't let her out.
The ebony haired girl, Istrilo, walks over to Shina, coaxes her to her feet, and leads her back to the Degarrlo camp. 
I sigh, and turn back to our camp. It always manages to break my heart as I lead myself back to the prison of normality.
A flash of golden, rippling hair whips past me and a girl, tall and thin, slides through the branches of a nearby tree.
Alexandra has always been the troublemaker. A rebel to everything we're taught, misbehaving and joking and rioting. Yet, she still manages to be one of our smartest warriors. A fighter, some say.
I say a nuisance.
As I enter camp, more familiar faces come into view, and I'm reminded of just how much my guild feels like family. I know these people like siblings, and however much I might love or hate them, we've always been together and will always be together. That's how life works.
Istrilo isn't far behind me, and I'm only just slipping into bed when our cabin door opens and she comes in, light footed but weary. 
"Hey." She nods at me and makes her way to her own bunk.
We've lived together since first coming to the guild. It feels like only yesterday we were comforting each other, missing our homes together.
We never saw our parents again. So I guess, me and Istrilo, best friends and roommates, are family now.
==Chapter 2==
Dreams come swiftly as darkness closes my sleep sodden eyes.
I'm young. Five years old again. 
We've been sorted into our guilds, and I'm scared, nervous, excited, confused, all at once. 
Children huddle around, and suddenly we're being herded through the forest, away from mother, father, home...
We reach a camp. Deep in the middle of the trees, hidden from society. It's impressive. Cabins, linked by twisting stone paths, with campfires dotted between them. 
Time jumps, and I'm in my cabin, with Istrilo. We sit there, watching each other, until finally I'm overwhelmed and break down into tears. I've figured it out by now - I'm not going back. 
We huddle together, strangers, but linked by a loneliness that binds us together.
A shriek outside, and a flash of gold that seems so familiar now, looking back at my dream-memories.
Sparks of fire, a screeching voice that calls 'MOTHER'  and a crash. I run to the window, and watch as a circle of mentors stand coldly around the girl, pinned down by a master Elifekuay, recognisable by the golden bands wrapped around his arms. She lets out a croaking wail, and begins to sob as they drag her away. 
Our eyes meet through the window; green-grey, filled with rebellion and anger, and my dull hazel gaze. I turn away, and I can feel her sense of betrayal burning through my back as I return to my bunk.
Another, larger jump in time, and now we're training.
Soft bladed swords, quick, sharp jabs at each other's chests. I work hard, eager to prove my worth. Jump, duck, twist, slash, retreat, redo. Each movement seems to last an eon, my eyes catching on the faces from my past, some of which... I miss.
Some of them went missing, a while ago. We refer to it as 'the incident'. There one day, gone the next. No explanation.... Apart from the fact that they were less talented than others..... But we prefer not to believe our mentors are murderers.
As if guided by my train of thought, my dream skips to that day, and I see myself all over again, as I watch the search nervously, not yet knowing it was all in vain.
I wake shivering, cold morning breezes seeping through the cracks in the cabin walls. Purposeful, apparently, to wake us early for training.
==Chapter 3==
Coming soon!
Category:Literature
Category:Original Stories
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Fiction