Dragon Prince: Warrior (Re-Write)

Chapter Eight: Change of Fate

As the next day loomed over the horizon, the sun rising from the mountaintops, Sierra walked out onto the balcony of her room, leaning over the edge to admire the beauty of the land. From the east, she thought if she tried hard enough she could see Xadia. Katolis was closest to the Border that divided the Human Kingdoms and Xadia, but even now she couldn't tell which mountains were which from which.
It has been officially announced that Sierra is part of the royal family as the King's Ward after they couldn't find her family. But it has been four months since King Harrow and Lord Viren had killed the Dragon King and the Dragon Prince to avenge Queen Sarai's death. Though Callum had consulted with Sierra and started comforting him about his conflicting feelings towards the situation. She had also ended up comforting King Harrow about his guilt killing the Dragon King and the Dragon Prince. That's not the only issue, the royal family ended up facing several elven coups, assassination attempts, and conspiracies to have their revenge for the deaths of Thunder and his unhatched heir. Sierra understood that their king and high mage have lit a fire of rage and vengeance within the Xadians, but what has been done can't be undone.
As she continued gazing at the sunrise, emotions rolled around inside Sierra like a whirlwind. She don't know whether to feel scared or upset or sympathetic or uncertain. She sighed softly as continued petting the Xadian bird next to her as her concerning thoughts made her feel dizzy. It was as if her current reality was the dream and the books and legends were the reality. She felt more at home, more at peace whenever the name Xadia came up. As she watched the setting sun she gently held her necklace, the one link to her past.
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Callum was in the courtyard with Sierra, Soren, and a number of guards. Callum finally found the perfect staff, it was slim and made of sturdy lightweight material. He held it in one hand and performed the same trick he did with his charcoal pencil then swung the staff to the side like a sword. The speed and precision almost cut off the second practice dummy's head clean off.
Sierra's mouth flew open. She knew Callum was getting better, but his performance was borderline knight levels of skill. Callum took a stance, closing his eyes as a light breeze blew into the courtyard. Sierra sensed the wind, the direction in which it was going, and how fast or slow it was moving. She watched, mesmerized as Callum moved his body in accordance with where the wind was swirling. It was a beautiful fusion between a battle stance and rhythmic dancing.
"Nice going Callum!" Sierra exclaimed, while the other soldiers clapped and acknowledged him with smiles.
Callum smiled at them humbly and walked off to watch Sierra's practice. He started speaking to Claudia, while Sierra is ready to learn how to defend herself too. Soren was more than happy to show Sierra the basics of sword fighting, like parrying an attack, the good places to stab someone if they were wearing armor, and holding a sword correctly. Some of the guards watched them as did Callum and Claudia, while Marcos and Soren threw out pointers to Sierra to adjust her stance and that sweeping the leg in a fight was a possible move.
"Good job Sierra," praised Soren with a smile. "You're becoming skilled as Callum."
Sierra smiled. "Thanks Soren."
"Now, let's see how you do in archery." An arrow sailed through the air and hit the center of the target that Sierra was aiming at. She nocked her last arrow into the string of her bow and pulled it back. The arrow flies through the air, only to hit the center of the target again. Marcos let out an impressed whistle and Soren crossed his arms over his chest with a proud smile.
"Aspiro!" But all of the sudden, a gust of wind have came out of nowhere and ruffled their hair all at once.
Sierra spun around defensively and Marcos placed a hand on his sword. The two of them both relaxed and chuckled at the sight of Claudia with a Sky primal source in hand and was showing it off to Callum, while Soren looked annoyed at his younger sister. "Were you just trying to mess up my hair?" Claudia shrugged, a mischievous smile gracing her features.
"Well, it didn't work," Soren continued. "You just gave it more volume."
Callum laughed. "That was amazing. What else can you do?"
Claudia began drawing another rune, but Callum and Sierra both saw a serious-looking guard approaching them.
"Prince Callum, Lady Sierra," the guard said. "The king needs to speak with you and Sierra urgently."