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“Good morning, Lapis Moon pack,” boomed Alpha Felix. He clapped his hands together, and beamed round at all of us. We ran over from our warm ups, and, as Samyak had said, I ended up right in the middle. The other Eagles swarmed around me, and we smiled at one another nervously as we lined up. “Good morning, Alpha,” we chirped in unison. I pulled my ponytail tight as he began to speak. “Now, I’m sure that you’re all eager to get started,” he smiled broadly. “But I just need to run through how today is going to work. Most of you most likely already know how this is going to go if you have friends or family that have already been through the Flock of the Eagles. Some of you, however, may not know; others of you may simply need a reminder. Now then, let’s get down to it,” he grinned. “There are five trials that you will each go throu

I was the first to get back to the training grounds. As I scuffed the toes of my sneakers back and forth across the dry, dusty ground, I wondered what the other trials might entail. They seemed to be running for longer than mine had, but I supposed that the Bison’s trial hadn’t been much of a trial at all. At least, in as much as that I’d not even arrived at my planned destination before it had begun.  I wondered if the others had similar twists or tricks, and, as confident as I felt, a shudder ran through me. Kace was right – it had been messed up. It was jarring to see an injured pack member on the ground, no matter how quickly he had jumped up to reassure me. I stumbled from my thoughts when Daisy tapped me on the shoulder. She had a short brown bob, a large but shapely nose, and sleek eyebrows. She looked tired, as though her trial had required a lot of physical exertion, but she was still smiling.

I span around, bringing my fists up to protect myself. I couldn’t see anything, or anyone, at all. The mist had cleared, and the sunlight was streaming through the trees again.  Slowly, I let my hands drop. It could have been a deer, or an elk. Perhaps even a pronghorn, I thought to myself with a small smile.  The fear that had leapt into my heart at the sound had settled it for me, though. Perhaps I simply was not cut out to be in the Salmon tribe. I would find my t-shirt, and I would leave the woods.  I’d seen no sign of any Redwood tree, or any rock cavern. I was even beginning to doubt the existence of pinecones, which in a pine forest made very little sense. I pulled my ponytail tight, and started walking.  As I walked, I realised something. My mind began to wander, now that I’d put aside my desire to succeed in the trial. Samyak had told me about Violet, an