When I Fly

Chapter 4

The day after the test, Darius and I start training for the next test.
     "The next test is hand to hand combat. No powers." Darius explains.   "You have to be quick." He says, throwing a punch at me. I quickly dodge it. "Try to hit me." I throw a side punch at him, but he dodges it. He rolls on the ground and swings his foot underneath me, forcing me to fall back. He gives me his hand to help me up. I take it and throw him down as well.
     "Very good." He says, getting up.

We continue to fight. By the end of training, I'm dodging and attacking faster than Darius is.

I go back to school Monday with bruises on my arms and back.
     "Kamea! What happened?" Alice yells.
     "Calm down. I'm fine. Really. I keep telling you. I was training for something." I explain for the fiftieth time.
     "Yeah! But this is not acceptable!" She yells, gesturing towards my bruises lining my arms.
She continues to yell at me until the bell rang. Even then, she was still upset.

I somehow got her to calm down. Once I did, I fly to Aejithis. I go to the training area and practiced until Darius came. We continue to work on defense. By the end of the week, I have bruises lining my arms.

Then came the day of the test. I barely won, but I did it.

The next weeks get harder and harder. The last test is today. It is going to be random. I have no idea how it is going to go.

I climb into the case and am brought up to the arena. The sun shines in my eyes and I shield myself with my hand. The crowd starts cheering my name. I wave to the crowd and they get even louder. The King raises his hand and it immediately goes silent.
     "Today is something special! Kamea will be completing her final test! Let the battle begin!" He announces.
The crowd cheers and Darius spawns a cage. Inside the cage is a demon. The demon's blood red eyes look straight at me. The demon hisses at me, shaking the bars, wanting to get out. I start to have flashbacks but I push it to the back of my head.

I nod to Darius and he lifts the door open. The demon flies out of the cage, frantically flying around. I fly up towards him, shooting a strong water attack. He dodges it and comes shooting towards me. He is preparing an attack and I take the chance to dodge. I fly around to get behind him and shoot one of his wings with a fire attack. The attack creates a large hole in his wing. The demon screeches out and turns back at me, his blood red eyes burning in rage. I fly as fast as I can away from him, but he's close behind. He launches attack after attack, with me barely dodging them. I drop down and get behind him again, shooting his wings with a wind attack. The wind rips up his wings even more. The demon gets extremely angry and launches a strong attack. It hits me and I fall. The crowd gasps, cheering me on to get up. The demon comes down to attack again. I put a shield around me and slowly get up, wincing and the crowd goes crazy. I look at my leg and there is blood running down my leg. I focus all my energy on sound manipulation. I imagine a high pitched screech and open my mouth. A screech louder than ever before projects throughout the arena. The demon hisses and covers its ears. As it is distracted, I throw a lightning bolt at it. It dissolves into ashes. For a few moments, there is total silence. Then, the crowd cheers louder than ever before. I catch my breath as the King starts to talk.
     "That was the most amazing fight I have ever seen. Where did you learn that, Kamea?" The King says.
     "I taught myself." The crowd cheers again.
     "It is now time to announce whether or not Kamea has passed the test." Darius comes up.
     "I announce that Kamea has passed!" He says.
The crowd cheers and Luke flies as fast as he can to me and hugs me. Because of how fast he came towards me, when he hugs me, I'm spun around in a circle. I laugh and he congratulates me. The King takes the microphone.
     "Kamea," He starts. "I give you the title of Elite Demi-Angel. You will be allowed to participate in battles. There will be a ceremony for your induction as an Elite in three days. We will give you more information later."
The crowd cheers and my heart beats out of my chest.
     "I am honored, Your Highness." He just smiles at me and nods.

Three days later, I fly up to Aejithis with my favorite dress and makeup. I burst through Luke's door.
     "Kamea, what's the rush?"
     "The ceremony is tonight, Luke!"
     "Oh shit! I don't have a suit!" He flies out the door. I laugh to myself and go into the bathroom. I get undressed and slip into my blue dress. As I am finishing putting my makeup on, I hear Luke come back.
     "How was your shopping trip?" I giggle. He rushes into the bathroom and starts to undress. "Hey! Go somewhere else!" He runs to the bedroom and finishes getting ready. I wait at the door as Luke almost flies into me.
     "Let's go!" He grabs my hand and we fly to a large auditorium. There were enough seats to hold about fifty thousand people. King Rylon approaches me.
     "When the music starts, walk down the aisle and up to the stage." He smiles and walks to the stage. My hands start to shake and Luke kisses me on the cheek. He goes to a seat in the first row. I take a deep breath as the music starts. I softly walk down the aisle and walk up the stage. King Rylon shows me to my seat and goes to the podium.
     "Three days ago, Kamea became one of the first demi-angels to finish all their tests. Today, she will be given the title of Elite. Elite Master Pippin and I will grant Kamea her title. Please hold your applause until after the induction is over." King Rylon gestures for me to stand. Another angel with huge wings who I assume to be Elite Master Pippin stands next to him. Pippin cups my crystal in her hands and closes her eyes.
     "May this girl grow strong and brave, show her the ways of truth and light, protect her and keep her safe. Crystal, transform her. Make her wings stronger and faster. Help her defend the weak and fight for good." Pippin opens her hands. The crystal has different shades of blue and green swirling around. "Now that you are an Elite, your wings will grow." I am lifted up into the air and my simple blue wings become bigger and stronger. The crowd gasps and cheers as I am lowered back down.
     "Congratulations once again to Kamea, the newest Elite!" King Rylon announces. The crowd cheers loudly and I am congratulated even more after I am dismissed. Luke meets me outside the doors and hugs me as soon as he sees me.
     "Your wings are amazing, Kamea! Go try them out!" I fly up and dive down to the ocean. I use all my strength and flap my wings once. My huge wings create waves from the wind. I grin and fly around, faster than ever.
     "Get back here!" Luke teases, flying up to me.
     "Only if you can catch me!" I say, flapping my wings to push myself to go even faster. I look behind me to see Luke flying as fast as he can towards me.
     "Is that all you got?" I yell out.
     "Now you're really going to get it!" He says, going even faster than before.
We chase each other around in the sky. I fly into a cloud, disappearing from him. I watch him look around for me.
     "Kamea?" He calls out. "Kamea? Come on! This isn't funny anymore!" I push myself as fast as I can out of the cloud, tackling him. He yells out in surprise and I start to laugh. He catches his breath and gets a good look at me.
     "Wow..." He says.
     "What? Is something wrong?" I ask worriedly.
     "No," He sighs. "You're just so beautiful." I start to blush as we drift smoothly in the sky.

He flies me to the gate, holding my hand the entire time.