Dragon Prince: A Warrior's Journey (Under Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Breathtaking

The wind was soft against her skin, a feel that she'd grown to enjoy. It didn't matter what others thought, a Sky Perian, they could laugh all they want, make fun of her for all she cared. But the fact stood strong; she enjoyed the sky. It had been there form birth, a natural sense of connection to the vast blue ocean that lay above them each day.
Sierra was joyfully aware of the wind all around her. She could takes the cloud spray and smell the raw, endless sky. She heard the rush of the air as it parted to make for her body.
She was soaring.
She pumped her wide beige mage wings up and down, enjoying the way she pushed the air around, currents tense and smooth as water, the tips of her wings brushing lightly against the sky. She stretched them out to their fullest span, so that she could see the sun glinting beige and blue of the feathers underneath her wings.
She felt at home in the skies, ducking and diving through the clouds. Over the past two years, Sierra had explored much of the surrounding area around the Storm Spire. Sometimes, a few curious Skywing Elves would fly up to see her, all of them had the same reaction: shock.
Sierra smiled, the warmth she felt in her chest as she flapped her wings, watching the land of Xadia below, it was a sense that she enjoyed, a feeling that just gave her great joy. She felt free up there, alongside the dragons, the birds, and the other creatures that ruled the skies.
As they continued their fight, Pantala soon spotted the peacemaking spot and she alerted Queen Zubeia.
Sierra let out an impressed whistle at the sight of it. "Looks like King Ez and his council has really pulled it off."
"Indeed they did," agreed Queen Zubeia warmly.
The earth shook as Pyrrah and Pantala both landed in the center of the peacemaking circle. Pyrrah looked at the gathered humans with wary curiosity while Pantala gazed at the humans with open curiosity, probably trying to figure out what type of people they were, from the inside out.
Coming in for a landing, Ibis's mage wings faded, allowing his arms to take their original form.
Lightly landing onto the ground, Sierra's mage wings faded too, allowing her arms to take their original form.
Upon arriving at the Valley of Graves, the sight nearly made Sierra breathless and her heart ached at the sight. There were people absolutely everywhere. Various carnival-like stands were set up in the area and bright colorful decorations have been hung. Many of the children played games while the adults had their own fun.
Sierra explored the sea of faces, hoping to find anyone who struck her as familiar, but everyone felt like a stranger to her. Most of the people stared at her with looks that ranged from surprise to intrigued, muttering whispers amongst each other. Sierra heard one person comment about her unique heritage, saying she is beautiful and foreign. She didn't know how to respond to that.
A group of young girls stared at Sierra, some with envy while others gave her looks of old admiration, wishing they had her looks and flawless skin. The looks she received from the young males were less divisive. They stared with widened eyes and mouths opened ajar. She rolled her eyes at the sight and looked away, much to Ibis's protectiveness. The children's reactions were more pleasant. They waved and and smiled with innocent enthusiasm. A few elderly folks and younger townsfolk were also friendly, so she wasn't met with suspicion everywhere she went.
That's when Queen Zubeia had landed in the peacemaking camp. She has unintentionally brought forth dirt, dust and electricity everywhere while making everyone in the camp covered their faces. When it settled, Sierra struggled to keep her amusement at bay when she spotted the humans' suddenly fluffy hair that seemed like it had gotten electrified from Queen Zubeia's arrival.
Once Queen Zubeia had risen and turned her attention to them, the council then bowed in respect before she bowed in return. "King Ezran."
"Zubeia, Queen of the Dragons, Your Heavenly Majesty!" Ezran greeted her royally. "Ruler of the Skies, Lands and Seas of Xadia, I hereby formally welcome you to our—" Ezran was then cut off as Zym flew right at him and knocked him several feet back, barking happily while licking his face.
"I guess I should have seen that coming," Sierra said, chuckling.
"Hi Sierra." Ezran freed himself from Zym and hugged his older sisterly friend, in which she returns before going back to their business.
"Uh, where's Callum?" Corvus asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be here for the thing? He was the opening act."
"Opening act?" Queen Zubeia asked.
"Well, the official plan was to welcome you with a display of majestic light and colors from the High Mage," Ezran explained, looking around. "But he seems to not be here so..."
"Oh!" Soren hurried over to whisper something into Ezran's ear before the young king nodded and he ran off.
Sierra exchanged an uncertain look with Ibis, who shrugged with curious expression. Pyrrah, Pantala, and Zym seemed curious about what was about to happen. In Callum's place, Soren acted out his stand up comedy routine, and managed to make Queen Zubeia laughed after a few tries. The father and daughter both laughed at Soren's show while the two other dragons let out rumbling laughter and Zym barked out an amused laugh.
At that moment, Callum had suddenly appeared. Immediately, he executes his role and casts "Eritque Arcus Ignis" to make his crystal color orbs erupt in a colorful firework, right after Barius had wheeled in the dragon-sized jelly tart meant for Zubeia to consume. The explosion accidentally causes the giant jelly tart to explode and for jelly to splatter onto Zubeia's snout, causing her to declare it the most delicious jelly of all of Xadia, much to everyone's joy, which also earned Barius the respect of the attending humans.
"I had a speech planned for today, it was about peace and love and hope. But I think I left something out — I ignored something that was true, I denied something that was undeniable." Ezran started walked down a few steps to address the gathered crowd. "We are angry! I am angry. I have been hurt, my dad was killed when I was ten years old, my mom was taken from me before I could even remember her. It hurts! I feel pain about this and I am angry!" Ibis held Sierra's hand, whose expression was filled melancholy as she remembered her late mother. She watched as Zym climbed up to stand by the young king as he continued his speech. "How can we stop this cycle? Violence, loss, pain, violence, loss, pain, more violence, stop! I just want to yell stop. But that's not enough, it won't work. I think about a positive vision, a fate we can all share. That we might build a future and hope, a future where we can be safe with each other, but it's not that easy or simple, because people are still hurting and they are still angry."
"He has a point," Sierra said quietly and her father nodded. She was witness to this sort of anger and hate two years ago due to their late family members.
"And it's hard to let go of that hate." Sierra looked around as Ezran continued to talk, watching the nervous looks the crowd had been making earlier change to smiles and nodding in agreement. She looks back to the altar to see Zym pressed against Ezran in a hug, in which he hugged him back.
"Oh, Corvus is gonna play now!" Sierra gasped.
Corvus took a seat and positioned the large string instrument to play it. "This is called 'A Song of Love and Loss'." He soon began to play a beautifully woeful sounding tune.
Corvus continued to play, everyone was being given candles to light and hold or put near the graves, the sky now turning dark as Opeli lit the torches near the altar. Ibis and Sierra both bowed down at Daphne's grave while speaking in hushed whispers. Once that was done, Corvus finished his playing, stood up and bowed.
"Hey, who's that?" Ibis gestured to a figure at the front of the crowd who was walking to the altar. Sierra looked to where a hooded figure was standing before they pulled the hood back and she gasps. She quickly hands her candle off to her father and pushed her way to the front of the crowd to see it really was Rayla.
"Rayla!" She managed to say and the elf turned to her with a surprised face before Ezran rushed forward to hug her tightly. Sierra couldn't help, but smile at the sight, glancing back to see Callum coming over, not at all confused.
Before any of them could say anything, as trong wind ripped through the crowd, extinguishing all their candles and lights in a flash before it sent straight into the sky to reveal a figure in the clouds.
"Who is that...?" Callum looked to see a horrified Ibis and Sierra as the figure of Osiris has spoken about a forbidden staff being stolen and a fallen star is started to return.
"Grandpa!" Sierra cried out.
"Father!" Ibis gasped at the sight.