Chosen
Ted Dekker
 Chosen is a book created by Ted Dekker. It is in the Circle series, and Elyon, (God) lost many of the forest to Teeleh (Satan). Evil is seeming to win, and the Horde, a group of humans with rotting flesh (the devil’s minions) are taking over much of the Forest. Thomas Hunter needs to raise an army of over 10,000 Forest Guard to stop the Horde. The general of the Horde is Qurong, and he wants to vanquish all seven forests and destroy all the water loving humans. Qurong has been supplied with information from a traitor of the Forest Guard. The traitor insists that the enemy Guard is building their forces rapidly, and Qurong insists that they are nothing important. Qurong’s major disagrees, telling him that the young are very crafty and aren’t to be taken lightly at all. However, Qurong has the Forest Guard tricked, since the Guard thinks they will attack from the East, and the Guard is putting many of their forces there. He, however is going in from the West, and will annihilate the Guard and take them by surprise. The Horde will attack within four days, and the Guard has to be ready to fight them and win at all costs. Meanwhile, in the Forest, a dozen of the strongest recruits are going to play a game Thomas Hunter called football. This game called football was from Hunter’s dream of some other land. The football was Horde hair, and that hair was given to Thomas by Johnis’ father, Ramos. Johnis’ mother was killed while going out in the desert to go look for a medicine for Johnis, who was struck with a fever. She went without an escort, and she was presumed dead. Ramos, in an outrage, goes out to the desert and kills several Scabs (members of the Horde) in a fit of anger, and takes their hair and ties it up and gives it to Thomas. Johnis hadn’t recovered from that incident, and he went and tried out to be a Forest Guard. However, he was dismissed because of his size. So Johnis went and sat on the sidelines. He watched the teams play football, 12 people on each team, and armed with sticks. When football started, Silvie was the first one to go and get the ball. Then, the lines of the football teams collided with their sticks hitting each other. Jackov, then swung at Silvie, but she ducked and he then, the ball flew up in the air, and into the mess of people attacking each other. Then, the ball came out of the pile of people attacking each other, and it rolled towards Johnis. Johnis hides the ball around his waist, and then Thomas called everyone to stop. He promised a horse to whoever found his Horde ball. Thomas knew already that Johnis had the ball, but he was trying to make a point. Many people weren’t doing anything, but Jackov tried to find the ball, but he couldn’t until Johnis shows him the ball. They fight, and Jackov is on his knees. Then, the crowd cheers wildly for Johnis. Thomas Hunter then chooses four people to lead the Guard, they are Billos, Silvie, Darsal, and surprisingly, Johnis, who doesn’t know what to say, but eventually agrees and says yes to the calling. After the choosing, the Chosen ride out into the desert. Johnis had to get food, which included taro root, sago cakes, and fruits. As they were riding they heard the noise of something unusual, and Johnis saw a figure with red eyes with wings. Johnis thought he had seen a Shaitaiki. Then the group rode on quickly, but they were arguing. All of a sudden, they saw some of the Scabs. Johnis, once again, had second thoughts about becoming one of the chosen ones. The four eventually killed all 5 of them. After that, they came to Igal point. You could see so much from that point. As they were talking along the way, Silvie’s horse then smelled something weird. There was at least 20 Horde, and Johnis could say only one thing, and that was to run. As Johnis was fleeing, he heard something say “This way! Over here!” It was a fuzzy white bat creature. He followed the creature into a crevice, and he discovered it was a Roush. The two Roush introduced themselves as Michal and Gabil (The names sound like Archangels Michael and Gabriel). The three conversed for a little while, and Johnis found out he might die because Gabil had told him that most chosen ones ended up dying. Gabil wanted Johnis to promise him that Johnis would stay alive long enough to find the Lost Books of History. Johnis promised, but he thought it sounded weird. Meanwhile, at the Horde camp, Qurong was angered at the loss of the assassins. Qurong wants Johnis dead because Thomas Hunter thinks Johnis could save the people; Johnis dead will devastate Hunter. In the forest, Thomas was worried about the four chosen ones. Mikil and Thomas are worried about the recruits, and that they are not probably strong enough to go fight the Horde. Over in the desert, Johnis was unsure. Johnis knew he had few qualities that seemed actually good to make him a good leader. Johnis wanted to leave them and go back the way he came. Johnis knew a passage that he could take, thanks to a Roush. Everyone looked at him strangely when Johnis said Roush; Billos then said the Johnis was mad. The group argued for a long time, but Darsal said she was the oldest, and that they were going back. Then the Shaitaiki appeared again at the cliff. Then, Billos was taken, and Darsal then wanted to save him. Johnis knew that he wasn’t dead, and he too wanted to save him. Meanwhile in the forest, Thomas was still pacing around in the war room. There was no sign of them, and it was dark. Then, Ramos, Johnis’ father, appeared in the room. He wasn’t happy with the fact that they didn’t know where his son was. Thomas then called Mikil to gather 100 of the best fighters, as they were going to leave soon. As the three were riding out in the desert, Darsal had second thoughts about going to go save Billos. Johnis wanted to save Billos. Johnis then said something stupid, and that was to follow him to hell, and their destiny was to ride out into the desert and save Billos. Silvie and Darsal disagreed still. Johnis told them about the story with the Roush, and that seemed to make them agree, but Darsal, as Johnis thought, took over the group. Then after riding, they got some sleep, and Johnis told them more about the encounter with the Roush. At the same time, Billos was with the Horde. He was being taken to Qurong in the morning, and he was scared. Then, as he was alone, something was cutting in the canvas tent. Billos thought it was Darsal. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he wasn’t in the tent anymore. In the morning, Johnis and Silvie were awake. None of them knew where Darsal had gone. Then Darsal had appeared behind them, and the Johnis realized that he was starting to become like a Scab. So was Silvie. The morning after that, Johnis couldn’t move. Johnis felt like a total idiot. Nobody disagreed. When they slept that day, Johnis slept on the book. He had a cut on his head from Jackov, and the blood mixed with the Book of History wasn’t a good thing. Meanwhile, at the Horde camp, Qurong wasn’t happy due to the fact that the prisoner Billos was missing. Qurong, though, was busy talking to the traitor, who supplied Qurong with tons of information. Thomas Hunter was at Igal Point, and recently found Billos’ extra horse and water from the horse. Thomas thought the three went out in the desert, but his general advised that only fools would do such a stupid thing. Ramos then thundered through the desert and then saw Thomas and asked if there was any sign of the four. Thomas replied that there was no sign of them so far. Ramos wanted an expedition set up, and Thomas did too, but by then the four would have all been Scabs. Ramos was panicking, because he wanted his son to survive. He was mad at Thomas for not heading up an expedition for his son. He did not want to lose his son too, like he lost his wife to the Scabs. Thomas reminded him that Ramos’ daughter was going to be without a father is Ramos went. Ramos, who was very unhappy, then thundered away on his horse. Thomas asked if Ramos was a sergeant, the reply was yes, and that Thomas said that he is a captain, and that he gets his honors. Johnis was getting ever so closer to becoming a Scab, and so were Darsal and Silvie. Johnis, while sleeping, had a nightmare with a beast, possibly Teeleh (the devil.) Johnis wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Then his dream changed to something peaceful, but then again to the same nightmare. Then he woke up, and Silvie was in terrible shape. He woke her up too, and him and Darsal. They rode along, until they saw an oasis, with palm trees and water. As the three were drinking water, Johnis saw the Roush, and Darsal and Silvie believed. (In a way, just like Doubting Thomas, he saw and believed.) As they were chatting, Silvie saw a rock, which told them about a path to the Dark One beyond the blue. Silvie ducked her head in water, and saw something. Johnis and Darsal did the same and dipped their heads underwater. They saw an image of some man beast with the Books of History. The three had an argument; Darsal went by herself, and Johnis and Silvie another way, to the second Lost Book. The two talked a lot as their horses were riding out into the desert, and both were scared. At the same time, Darsal was lost. Then, something had killed her horse. Something was attacking her, and things were cutting her. She blacked out. At nightfall, Johnis and Silvie rode for several hours before falling asleep. When Johnis woke up, Silvie was showing him something strange in the sky. They were Shaitaiki bats, and there was red coming from them. Something wasn’t right, and they prepared to go after them. Silvie noticed something bizarre. The bats were perched on something black, which seemed as if the whole world was at an edge; Johnis knew that it must have been the Black Forest. Johnis and Silvie then rode to the Black Forest. Surprisingly, the bats were perched on branches, and they let Johnis and Silvie pass by. As they were riding into the forest, they heard several screams. They went into the stadium and in the center of the field, and there was a wheel, and strapped to it were Billos and Darsal. The bats were flying into the bleachers, and Johnis knew it was a trap. As Johnis and Silvie gazed, something approached Johnis, and it was Teeleh. When the bats slapped the two back to consciousness, Darsal was sorry, and Billos was thinking Johnis came to die with him (He had lost his mind). The two were going to be drowned in water, and Johnis wanted to stop them. He told Teeleh that he would tell him where the Book of History was, and Teeleh eventually let them go. Meanwhile, Johnis promised to stay alive, and Johnis heard a legend that Teeleh was a beautiful creature created by Elyon, in fact the most beautiful. Now Teeleh was an ugly creature. (In relation to the Bible, Lucifer was a beautiful angel created by God, until he disagreed with God, and became known as Satan.) Then, after the other three had ridden out, Johnis refused to give Teeleh the location of the book, and Teeleh was infuriated. Johnis constantly kept on refusing, and Teeleh was getting angry. Then, Johnis was attacked and was knocked out subsequently. Then, as Silvie and the other two were riding out into the desert, the bats were attacking them. Silvie too, was captured, and she was blacked out. When she awakened, she and Johnis were on the same wheel, tied, just like Billos and Darsal were. The two were sobbing, and in tears. Johnis revealed the location of the books. Teeleh retrieved his two books. Overhead, in the desert, Gabil saw the two other chosen ones, Darsal and Billos, who had entirely lost their minds. Gabil had those two bathed in Elyon’s water so they could regain their minds. Gabil told them that they will go back, but Billos disagreed. Darsal agreed because Johnis saved them. Gabil told them that he knew what the black bats had feared the most. Qurong was readying his forces for a battle against the Forest Guard. The traitor knew that it was all ready, and Qurong was as ready as he has ever been. Meanwhile, a Shaitaiki bat gave his name to Johnis, and that bat’s name was Alucard. As they were talking, a fire broke out, and every bat was frantic, including Alucard and the toughest bats. In the sky, Gabil and the other two chosen were watching. They started attacking the bats. After that, they had found Johnis and Silvie and poured the healing water over them. Then, Johnis told them that they were going after the books. Meanwhile, Thomas was talking with Mikil about this fire from the western horizon, and it doesn’t seem good. Mikil thinks that those four are dead, and Thomas doesn’t think so. Mikil in response is ordered to take 10 of the best fighters, and extra water, and only 1 day out. Johnis, meanwhile, remembered something Alucard told him, and it was that the lair of Teeleh was below. He saw something, and he knew this was Teeleh’s lair. Johnis was going by himself, and Darsal gave Johnis a match. Johnis went down the stairs and in a room, against his own wishes. The room was filled with books, and other objects. Johnis thought this must have been the library or Teeleh’s room. Johnis then found the two Books of History. Johnis then went up the stairs and then, suddenly, dozens and dozens of Shaitaiki had appeared and were going to take those books back. The Chosen ones stood together, and Johnis truly saw Teeleh for the first time. Teeleh, perched on a branch high, ordered the bats to attack the chosen ones, and rip them limb from limb. Then, dozens and dozens of Roush appeared to take the bats on. The bats and the Roush clashed into battle, and Gabil told them to go to the pool, and to the forest, and don’t stop until they had reached the forest. As the four were riding out, the bats were killing the Roush. Meanwhile, Qurong saw smoke, and thought it was black magic. The traitor knew that a slaughter then would be coming up. Qurong knew it was the Forest Guard’s slaughter would be coming. Later that day, at the stadium, Marie, Thomas Guard’s daughter said that they were found. At first, Thomas didn’t believe it, but he saw four cacti, and the four chosen ones. A crowd was gathering. Then, Ramos, Johnis’ father, appeared, and was so overjoyed. Each of them became a sergeant. During the celebration, Michal told Johnis more about the 7 Lost Books of History and that there were now 6 Black Forests, since Johnis had destroyed the smallest forest. Johnis wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about the Books of History, or about the black forests, and after the short conversation, Michal left. Shortly after, Silvie approached Johnis with something from Michal the Roush. It was Johnis’ mother’s ring. Johnis knew that meant that his mother was alive, and not dead. She was taken hostage, and possibly now she was a Scab. Then, Billos approached Johnis and told him that Billos knew that Johnis deserved more respect than any other one of the chosen. Johnis thought that they should all make a vow. They all vowed to get the 5 Lost Books of History, and destroy the enemies fulfill their destiny.