The Darwin Chronicles, Book One: The Mountain Ranges

Emmett gathered around the list to see which group he was in. He was in Group Five, along with about twenty other eighteen year olds. They were going by age, oldest to youngest.

Each group was tested in archery, ability to morph, and sword fighting. One by one, each group went, until Joseph called out, "Group Five!"

Emmett swallowed and stepped up with his group, holding his bow. He loaded an arrow and took aim. This was terrible. He sucked at archery.

"And....fire!"

He let the arrow fly, and surprisingly it didn't totally miss the target. Instead it hit the seven. He loaded another one.

"Fire!"

This one did fly off away from the bulls-eye, hitting the next person's target.

"Fire!"

The last and final arrow streaked off and hit the five. The older soldier assessing him gave him a three out of ten on archery, and they moved on to morphing.

"Tawny owl!"

Emmett closed his eyes and imagined a tawny owl. A moment later, he was flapping his wings.

"Lion!"

He dropped to the floor, shaking his mane and roaring.

"Badger!"

He shrunk down in size, and looked up at the soldier expectantly, who gave him a ten out of ten. It was time for sword-fighting.

They took their places and pivoted and dodged with each other until one of them was disarmed. Emmett easily won and earned a ten out of ten in sword fighting.

"Well done. Very well done," The woman said, marking down his average score. "Just work on your archery skills, and you'll be golden."