A Just Farewell

Even for a boy on the cusp of turning ten, living in the subterranean homes of his tribe affords little opportunities for friends. Thus Abraham makes what friends he can with the burrowing cockroaches so common in his world, stealing his mother's dyes to paint their carapaces in bright colors before decorating their shells with the designs of sunbursts and swirls. But the threatening castles of the unbelievers that loom above his village force children to quickly grow into men. On the cusp of his tenth birthday, the high cleric commands Abraham to begin his trials of his man-making, for the clerics and the tribe need warriors far more than they need boys. Unknown to any within the boy's village, unseen eyes watch Abraham's progress, and the opinion those eyes form of Abraham's man-making will decide the future of an entire world.