CHAPTER 3

The next few days were just a bit different from the rest. Wherever I went got me glances from people. I literally pranked Armando by throwing a few tomatoes at him and he left me. He didn't try to attack me back and he looked a bit afraid of me. Being a half-breed really isn't easy. I had received a letter from Zoriana saying that I was allowed by the queen to be admitted into the training camp and that she would come to get me and Bellora by the end of this week and that we should get ourselves ready.

The week flew by and then the day for me to begin the first step towards my greatness had arrived. I had packed my stuff together in a bag and a box. Bellora had gotten to my house with her stuff and so we waited for the celestials to come pick us up. Right now, we were sitting in the living room waiting for the celestials to arrive. I saw that Bellora was shifting uneasily on the chair so I tried my best to comfort her.

"Nervous?" I asked which she replied with a nod. "Same here." Honestly, I was more than nervous. I was re-thinking about this decision when we suddenly heard a knock on the door. My father opened the door and outside stood the two beings we were waiting for.

"Are you both ready to leave?" Zoriana asked.

"Yes. We're ready." I answered.

"Good. Then let us leave. We don't have time because we must introduce you both to the queen. She has requested your audience." Zoriana said. At the sound of the word queen I froze in place. I was surprised that the queen would want to see some half-breeds. Zoriana saw my surprised expression and sighed.

"It is a form of precautionary measure to ensure that her accepting you to be trained won't result in you wanting to become an enemy to the whole realm." she said.

"Oh. Okay." I said as we stepped outside.

"So how exactly will we get to The Paramount since you know, we can't fly." Bellora said as she made a fly gesture with her hands at the last part of her statement.

"Don't worry about that. We've taken care of that." Alvaro said. He made a whistling sound and out from the sky came two large bird-like creatures. They were blue and wore some sort of golden helmet on their heads.

"These are midnight hawks." Zoriana said. "They are mounts that are used by various warriors that are incapable of flight. Mostly used by the elves and very few celestials that are born without wings."

"This is awesome." I said as I admired the mounts that stood before me. I turned and saw Bellora with an excited look on her face. She noticed that I was looking at her and looked at me with a smile.

"Alright you two. Hurry up and get on the mounts." Zoriana said. "We don't have all day and it would take a while to reach the Paramount." We nodded our heads and got on the mounts while the celestials helped to strap our luggage to the side of the mounts.

"Well then." Zoriana said, "let us be on our way. We don't want to keep the queen waiting."

I did a slight nod and took one last look at my home. I saw my dad with a smile and tears on his face. I returned his smile with a reassuring look while remembering all that he had told me the previous night. This is the beginning of my journey for greatness. I hope you're watching mom. I'll make sure I live up to your standards. I said in my mind.

Zoriana turned and looked at my dad. "We shall be on our way now. Do not be afraid about your son. He shall be in safe hands." She said which my dad answered with a nod. The two celestials spread their wings and took off and the hawks on command did so.

Soon we were high up in the sky and I looked down to see my hometown and it looked so small from up here. I turned to look at Bellora and she had a joyous look on her face.

"Can you believe it Ezra? We're flying!" she yelled

"Just don't let go of the reigns." Alvaro said as he flew to her side. "This is your first time in the air and you might fall off since your aren't used to it."

"I know." She said. "I'm not that crazy as to let go when I haven't done this before. It's just so breath-taking and awesome. Is this how you feel when you celestials fly? I mean the wind blowing on your face and getting the feeling that you're in paradise."

"Well, it may be as you describe it." Alvaro said which got him an even bigger smile from Bellora.

Zoriana flew to my side after noticing that I was silent since the journey began. "What is bothering you Ezra?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I guess that all this celestial and half-breed stuff is still a shock to me. It's been a week and yet, I still find it very confusing and surprising."

"Don't let it bother you child." She said. "When you discover that there is more to yourself than meets the eye you will be in shock for a long time. For a considerable amount of time in my life I was branded as the weakest among my siblings. But with time, the magic and the power within me grew and now, I am among the most powerful celestials and then I am the Commander of the celestial army. A position I never imagined myself to hold."

"Yeah, I don't get why you told me that." I said

She let out a sigh and looked at me. "What I mean to say is that don't let all these things bother you. Focus on the task at hand. Become someone that everyone can trust and rely on. Yeleda has placed a great deal of trust in you and so have I. Yeleda sees a bright future ahead of you and I trust her words. Just don't betray this trust and I assure you, your life would be safe."

"Okay then. I promise to make you proud and to make sure that Yeleda's trust in me does not falter." I said which got me a small smile from her.

"Come on Ezra." Bellora said as she flew to my side. "You have to enjoy this." I looked at her face and saw her smile. I sighed and cleared my head of anything that was worrying me and smiled.

"Let's see what you can do." I said. The hawk then took a dive and we were going down very quickly. I held the reigns tightly as we went down. Once we got below the clouds, a lake came right into view below us. And just as we were a few inches above the lake, the hawk spread its wings and flew above the lake which also caused the water below us to divide a bit. I yelled out of excitement as we went back up to meet the others at full speed. We flew past the others and I heard Bellora calling out to me but I couldn't make out what she was saying. The hawk then did an aerial somersault before finally going back to be beside the others.

"That was insane Ezra." Bellora said as her hawk flew to my side. I smiled at her which made her to shake her head and let out a chuckle.

"You've got guts boy." Alvaro said. "I know a few creatures that would have had to think twice before attempting to do something that crazy."

"But for the meantime I think it is best that you keep your stunts at a minimal level till we reach our destination." Zoriana said. I nodded my head and didn't do anything to irrational throughout the journey. Except for an occasional aerial somersault.

After a few hours of flying, Zoriana finally spoke up. "Young ones," she said, "we have arrived at our destination."

"Whoa!" Bellora said in awe. "No way!" I said with surprise in my voice. I started laughing then I yelled with excitement as we had finally reached our destination. In front of us stood the most magnificent of all the kingdoms that were in Elmanda. The Paramount. The Kingdom of the Celestials. It was built around a mountain with the castle built by the side of the mountain. It was just as beautiful as people had said it was.

"Alright then. To the palace. The queen awaits your arrival and it is best to not keep her waiting." Zoriana said and then we flew straight to the castle. I looked below us to look at the kingdom and it was even more beautiful. The streets were neat and tidy. Guards in armours of gold, silver and various metals were patrolling the streets. Either they flew or walked. The buildings were mostly white and had some gold designs on them.

"This is the commercial district of The Paramount." Alvaro said. "To the left is the residential district and to the far right is the industrial district where various items to be sold and used are produced. And on to the far right of the residential district is the temple where Yeleda stays. So what do you think about this place?"

"It's far more amazing than I had imagined it would be." Bellora said. I added a yeah as I was still looking around with wonder and amazement. We flew above the market square and the town square before we finally arrived at our destination, the palace. Of all the places that we saw when we were flying, this was the most magnificent of them all. The yard was beautiful with its trees and flower bushes. At the center was a golden statue of a female celestial holding a sword at her front.

"That's Queen Loriana. The previous queen before Soriana." Zoriana said. "And also my mother."

We finally reached the entrance of the palace where the hawks and the celestials landed. While Zoriana went to talk to the guards that were guarding the entrance, Bellora and I got down from the hawks and we were told by Alvaro to not bother about carrying our things that this wasn't our last stop. Zoriana signaled to us to follow her inside. As we passed the entrance guards, I couldn't help but notice the spiteful looks that they had given me but that wasn't a surprise to me anymore.

"Stay close to us while we take you to the throne room to meet with the queen." Zoriana said.

We walked down a large hallway which was filled with a few portraits of the previous rulers of the celestials. We then passed a particular place that got my attention. I looked to my right and saw a sword hanging on the wall. The blade of the sword was greyish with a black fuller. The guard was shaped like wings and was made of gold and had a gem in it its center. The grip was also made of gold and had tiny gems in it. But what really caught my attention was the portrait of the woman beside it. She had white hair and purple eyes and she was beautiful. I felt like I had seen her somewhere, like there was a connection between us. She had a smile on her face. And by looking at that picture, I felt happy. I felt calm and in a moment, I had forgotten why I was here in the first place.

"That's Luciana." Zoriana said. Hearing her voice brought me back to reality as it startled me.

"I'm sorry Zoriana." I said apologetically. "I should have been following you but I got distracted."

"It's alright Ezra." She said as she walked to my side and looked at the picture of the woman who I now know as Luciana. "She was my elder sister. And she was one of the greatest warriors that ever lived."

"Whoa. What happened to her?" I asked

"She perished along with our brothers and sisters during the last war against darkness. She was the one that brought an end to the war." Zoriana said. "She gave up her life force in order to destroy the king of darkness."

"That's amazing." I said. She said all those things with pride in her voice. I could tell that she had a very deep admiration for her sister. "You must have really admired her" I said.

"That I did Ezra." She said. "She was the most courageous warrior that I had ever seen and not one soul in Elmanda hated her. She was a true warrior that fought for all not minding the race of any creature. I aspire to be better than her as a warrior."

"That's nice." I said as we both stared at the portrait for a little longer. This was the greatest celestial warrior that ever lived. If there was someone that I would like to follow, it will be her. If I'm going to be a great half breed and a great warrior, I would love to be like her.

"Come on Ezra." Zoriana said as she walked away, "We don't want to keep the queen waiting any longer." I took a last look at the portrait before I followed Zoriana to the throne room where she had said that the queen was waiting for us. Alvaro and Bellora were already waiting for the both of us to return.

"Took you long enough." Alvaro said as Zoriana stood by his side. I stood beside Bellora and we were both behind the two celestials. Bellora gave me a "really" look and I gestured to her that I'll explain later. I took a look at the doors that led to the throne room and it was huge. It was about ten feet high and they were gold and had been decorated with a few gems.

"The queen awaits your arrival." Zoriana said as the doors were opened by Alvaro. We went inside and I was totally amazed. The place was huge and it was nicely decorated. I looked up at the ceiling and saw a painting of various celestials all together fighting against monsters. I looked to the left and saw a painting of three young female celestials standing around an adult celestial. I looked at it and what came to my mind was that it was Zoriana, her sisters and their mother.

"Your majesty." Zoriana said as she and Alvaro got down on one knee and bowed down to the figure in front of them. I finally took notice of the queen and before I knew what was happening, I was down on one knee and bowing to the queen. I felt a hand on my head and I knew that it was Bellora. I took a quick glance at her and she mouthed the words, you owe me. I smiled at her and gave her a brief nod.

"Arise." The queen said. In our front sitting on a golden throne in all her majesty and glory, was the queen of the celestials, Soriana.