It’s been approximately a month since I was born and a lot of things have happened.

The language of my native race, the Gorgia, seems to be sort of a guttural form of English. It really reminds me of a tribal type of language from Earth. It seems that no matter the universe things tend to develop along the same lines.

The woman in the white robe, whose name is Yaldi, seems to be a sort of teacher/stand-in mother. She’s the one who taught us the language. Our races quick development time coupled with her excellent tutelage has allowed many of the group, including me, to learn most of the language as well as some tribal customs.

Apparently all the women in this race have synchronized breeding cycles with the group they coexist in. This means that, much like many species from Earth, all the groups children are born at around the same times.

Once born the shaman or “doctor”, the man I’ve come to know as Zubu, places all the children into a pen. This is done in order for the infants to naturally establish a hierarchy amongst themselves. Having a leader of the generation from birth apparently has several benefits in terms of natural selection. This explains why all the other children of my generation are beginning to flock to me. It seems they’ve labeled me as their leader…

It seems that, I specifically am a rare case amongst my species. My eyes naturally glow with a golden orange coloring of the iris, while the rest of my species has dark brown, nearly black irises. That is why, according to custom, I’ve been named Agrios which, roughly translated to English, means Savage or Brutal.

According to our customs after a full month, which is conveniently the moon cycle of Edge, all of the new generation are deemed functional members of the tribe. At this point they can choose to rejoin their families or become a

and live alone. Evidently the Siopi route is not very popular because most of the time after a month of development our race is only about the size of around a 10 year old Human.

While this is incredibly speedy development according to Humanity’s standards it is absolutely necessary for the Gorgia peoples’ survival. Due to their often nomadic, animalistic tendencies they can not afford to raise children for extended periods of time.

In fact the only reason our tribe was currently residing in this cave was because of a “breeding season”. During this time of the year our tribe, and all tribes of our race for that matter, return to a tribe-specific location. They remain there for about a month in order for the next generation to be born and taught..

Today is the last day of our teachings and also the day of the official naming ceremony. The last thing we are to be taught is of the various gods and races of this world.

Just as I was thinking of this, while laying against the stone cave wall, I heard the light echo of footsteps signalling that our lesson was about to begin. Standing up and brushing off my fur shorts, I slip through the cave entrance and out into the shady meadow outside. There, many of my group members are already socializing and our teacher is just approaching wearing a cloth wrapping and fur shorts.

“Whewwww, it’s hot out here isn’t it~”, she mutters with a smile on her face, “Alright, alright children settle down and sit in the shade. Today we are going to learn about something very important.”

“Yeah! We’re gonna learn about the Gods right teach?”, shouts a particularly rowdy girl named Vali.

“Yes that’s right Vali. Now sit down so we can get this over with. It’s a lot to explain.”, she started raising her voice trying to get the children to settle down. “Agrios can you please help me here?”, she whispers as I approached.

“Yooo. Sit down guys.”, I mutter.

In an instant everyone fell silent and began to take their favorite spots beneath the trees.

“Thank you.”, she says with a wink at me.

“Anyways,”, she continues, ”like Vali said we’re learning about the gods that govern the eight races today. As you all most likely know by now there are a total of eight races in Edge. These races include: we the Gorgia, who are the People of the Paw, the Ti’Ani, who are the People of Mana, the Corjah, the People of the Rock, the Humans, the People of Curiosity, the Sorans, the People of the Sky, the Janisa, the People of the Sea, and, finally, the Demus… The People of the Shade.”

“Gahhh. That’s a lot to remember…”, says Zero, the child I originally fought in the pen, while scratching his head.

“That’s right… And there’s a lot more too it as well.”, says Yaldi while nodding.

“Each one of the races is considered a child race of a god. These gods include: our god, Gorex, the god of the Ti’Ani, Anystia, the god of the Corjah, Gro’Kan, the god of the Humans, Ishtana, the god of the Sorans, Miani, the god of the Janisa, Puida, and the god of the Demus.... Sylik.”, she finished with a shallow breath.

“So wait a minute”, mutters one of the other children, “why exactly do I have to know this? I’m just a kid yuh know~”

“I’m glad you asked.”, whispers Yaldi as she stands up and turns around.

She slowly begins to unravel the bandage like cloth wrapping covering her upper body as many of the boys’ faces become flush. Their expressions quickly fall as they realize what was hidden beneath the wrapping on her back.

Various scars, from what appear to be a very sharp blade, encase a massive brand like burn mark on Yaldi’s back. Many of the children’s breaths catch in their throats, including mine.

“This is what happens when the uneducated leave our clan without any knowledge of the outside world!”, she spits. “It’s important to know how truly vicious some of the other races can be in relation with our people. You see… Our people are often imprisoned and used as slaves due to our physical prowess and beauty.”, she held in a soft hiccup,”Many of our brethren have fallen into slavery and died without honor or love in a dungeon. There is evil in all of the world, intermingled… Mixed in with everything else. And it is incredibly important for each and every one of you to understand what it means to be one of the Gorgia…”, she finishes on the verge of tears.

All of the girls and some of the boys in the group are silently crying.

“So what happened to you exactly?”, I stand up and ask.

All of the children quiet and look up to me with tear filled eyes.

“I was taken in as a slave by a Demus general. Many of the Demus race and Human race enjoy using females of our race for their…”, she pauses and falls silent.

“For their bodies…”, I finish for her.

“Yes…”, she turns to look at me with eyes full of question. “Due to our races quick development and long youth, we are… Ideal. In their eyes.”

“I see.”, I say, “I’m incredibly sorry for what you’ve had to deal with…”

“You have so much understanding for one so young…”, she whispers. “Okay. Anyways, that is why our race began to educate our young before they decided to venture out or-”

“Heyyyyyy! It’s time to start the festivities. They’ve had enough schooling now, leave the rest of the teaching for those Humans!”, says Kobarashi, or Koba, the leader of this tribe, and the same scarred man from the pen. It’s also been rumored that he’s Zero’s father…

“Okay kids. Time to go eat!”, says Yaldi with a smile as she wraps her upper body again.

Walking into the dining section of the cave we encounter something the like of which our group has never seen before. Sitting in the center of the room is a giant boar-like animal set on a rotisserie over a huge bonfire. I guess they do know how to cook, I guess it explains the massive hole in the ceiling

“WOOWWWWW!”, says Vali. “I CAN’T wait to eat that.”

“Well good. Because you don’t have to. Dig in kids!”, yell Koba.

At those words we all rush forward to the roasted meat. Children’s hands plunge into the soft, fall-off-the-bone meat and then into their mouths. I walk over to lean against a wall to let them all eat to their heart's content so I could take what’s left. What ended up happening was unexpected however.

“Awwww. Look at howww cute!”, many of the female adults of the tribe were saying in various ways.

It appears that several of the girls in my group decided to make sure I was well fed… Really well fed. They’ve taken stone slabs that we’ve often used like plates and were bringing hunks of meat to me.

“Uhhh. Thanks.”, I say with an awkward smile. I had never been very good with the ladies in my past life, even as a child, and now they just seemed to be fawning over me.

“TCH!”, came a noise from Vali as she leaned near the pig while putting more meat in her mouth. “What are you guys doing all that for?”, she asls with a wave of her hand.

“T-that’s right girls, you have to make sure everyone gets some yuh know?”, I mutter slowly to the 4-5 girls around me.

“So giving!”, “So caring!”, “So sweet!”, whisper the girls to each other amongst various other things as they walked toward the bigger group of kids.

“Now it is time for the naming ceremony to begin!”, shouts Zubu in an eccentric tone. “Line up and sit down. Let’s not make this take too long now yuh hear!?”

Our group begins to line up in front of where Zubu is standing in front of a large stone made of an Onyx type of mineral.

“Begin the ceremony!”, shouts Koba.

Just then several men with drums come into the room playing a tribal sort of beat and take their seats lining the walls.

“Up first is E----!”, Zubu’s voice begins to wash away as I begin losing focus.

I’m nervous… Why in the world am I so nervous? I’ve spoken in front of hundreds of scholarly individuals simultaneously in my past life while in university. This should seem absolutely trivial in comparison!

A lot of time passes with me just lost in my thoughts. Finally, I, being the last in line, am called.

“And now last!”, Zubu shouts, “But not least.”, he mutters with a wink at me, “Is Agrios!”, he finishes with a flamboyant gesture toward me.

Looking up I see that many of my friends have already met their parents and were hugging them with tears in their eyes. Looking forward I can see who I remember to be my mom and some faintly familiar man on either side of the stone with small smiles on their faces.

I begin to walk forward, in between a sea of people on either side sitting on the floor, reminiscent of a wedding without chairs. As I stop in front of Kubu he smiles and nods.

“On my right here is your mother, Toli, and on my left is your father, Weik.”, he says, “Would you like to be considered of the lineage, a Redar? Or would you like independence?”

“This is why I was so stressed!”, I realize. I hadn’t even really thought about it…

With a sudden resolve I straighten my back and look to the left, then to the right. “I declare myself an independent!”

A hush falls over the once chattering crowd.

“Oh… Okay.”, says Kubu with an inkling of wonder in his voice. “From here on I declare you as Agrios. Agrios Siopi!”, he shouts.

He dips his thumb into a stone bowl with a red concoction in it and drew a streak across my forehead, much like the ones the others have received.

My father bends down to me whispering,”All those with a profound purpose declare Siopi, I respect your decision son. If ever you do decide you need us, we are always here. Remember that.”

Then my mother looks down to me, “I kind of figured this was gonna happen. Your beautiful eyes… They hold a fire. I wish you the best in life my son!”, she says as she begins to hiccup in a soft cry.

My father embraces my mother and they walk toward the rest of the crowd to congratulate the other children.

It’s a harsh world. Truly dog eat dog, and I intend to be the biggest.