Aghbad was hot. Like, really, really hot. 

I had been outside in the training arena for about ten minutes and my back was already soaked in sweat. I was waiting for the Sultan, Firaaz, to bring me my trainer. I had no idea who it would be exactly, but I had a feeling that it was going to be Anokhan. It was six in the morning; early by my standards. But the heat was still sweltering hot. 

"What if they changed their mind?" Gerrard asked.

"Why would they do that? I'm an open target. I'm sure Firaaz's men would love a chance to have a go at me," I responded. Gerrard gave me a dark look and I simply shrugged. 

The arena was an interesting place. On five corners, there were five tall, wooden posts. At the tops of these posts were black wrought iron sculptures in the shape of a candle flame. The five posts created the five points of a star. I wondered if during battle, they lit the wrought iron flames so that there was an actual fire burning within them. I guessed I would find out, because at that moment, I heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind us.

I turned to see Firaaz and some of his guards. Next to him, as expected, was Anokhan.

"I knew it," Gerrard mumbled under his breath.

"It'll be fine," I said, more for my own peace of mind than his.

"Caley! My apologies for keeping you waiting. I had to go over some things with my men," Firaaz said to me as he and his guards approached us.

"It's ok. I was a little early, anyway," I replied.  

"Better than being late, I suppose," he said, smiling. "I have instructed Anokhan to do what he needs to do in order to train you as you wish. Thus, he will train you as he sees fit. I did not think it necessary to tell him exact instructions, do you agree?" he asked me. 

I glanced at Anokhan and I was reminded briefly of the time when I was six years old and playing outside of the apartment that my mother and I lived in when a gigantic dog without a leash came rushing towards me baring its teeth. I likened Anokhan's appearance at that moment to that vicious beast, with a black chiseled beard, flashing amber-red eyes and a snarl fit for a monster. 

"One question," I said, shifting nervously on my feet.

"Proceed," Firaaz said.

"Did you tell him he can't kill me?" I asked, unable to take my eyes off the brutal fire-master. Firaaz laughed. 

"You are one of us. At least partially. He cannot kill you. It is punishable by law," he replied.

"By law?" Gerrard asked.

"We do not kill our own kind unless they have done something against the rules maintained by our governing body. Usually, the most severe punishments we give out are exiling the perpetrator or sentencing the criminal to a life time in jail," Meekhail, one of Anokhan's guards that we had met previously, replied.

 "Wow. That suprisingly...fair," I remarked.

"Yes, well. There isn't really any point in spilling magical blood, especially if it is our own blood that is being spilled. After all, we wouldn't want to be wiped out like your people were," Firaaz said. I frowned. 

"Of course not," I said.

"Well, I will leave you all to your business. I wish you luck, Caley. You will need it," Firaaz told me. I swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat. I didn't realize it until now, but my hands were tremblind in fear. Although Anokhan wasn't allowed to kill me, he had no restrictions on how much he could torture me during my training. And I had a feeling that he had a lot of pent up anger towards me that he was just waiting to let loose.

Firaaz and his men walked away. Meekhail stayed behind, probably to watch over us to make sure nothing drastic happened. 

"I have been waiting for this moment," Anokhan said once Firaaz was out of ear shot.

"You heard what the sultan said; you can't kill me," I said, stepping back. Gerrard grabbed my arm.

"If you even--" Gerrard began.

"Oh, you be quiet," Anokhan said, immediately silencing Gerrard. Gerrard opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He glared at Anokhan and I'm sure he tried to remove the spell, but to no avail. He was still silent.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Magic," Anokhan replied, his eyes wild. I looked at him uncertainly, wondering if this man was completely sane or not. 

"So where are we starting?" I asked.

"From the beginning," he replied. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him.

"Witty," I said. Gerrard punched me in the arm. I glanced at him. "Can you give him his voice back?" I asked, jutting my thumb at my companion.

"If he promises to keep quiet and let me do what I wish to do," he said. 

"Do you?" I asked Gerrard. He gave me a look. "Hey, it's your voice. I told you I can handle it," I said. He flared his nostrils and sent me a stony glare. Then mouthed that he promised not to interrupt the training. Anokhan gave him his voice back.

"How about you go stand next to Meekhail," I suggested, pointing at the guard that was standing on the outskirts of the arena. 

"I'm comfortable right here," Gerrard said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Ok, whatever. Can we get started now? My skin is starting to burn from the sun," I said. 

"Very well, then," Anokhan said. He raised his hand and in his palm, an orb of fire appeared. I took a step back, wondering if he was going to launch the energy ball at me. I still hadn't fully recovered from the blast a few days ago. 

Instead of throwing the ball at me, though, Anokhan threw it straight up in the air. It accelerated upwards, going higher and higher until it was level with the wrought iron flames sitting atop the wooden posts. It hovered in the air in the center of the arena. Anokhan raised the hand he had used to conjure up the flame in the air. He brought the tips of all five of his fingers together and then made them burst apart, as if flicking something into the air above him. This movement caused the single orb that was hovering in the air to split into five equal orbs that each flew towards the iron flames on the posts. Once the orbs hit the center of the rings, the iron flames burst into actual flames, a red and orange fire blazing around the black metal. I stood, my mouth slightly agape, as each of the five iron flames were lit with fire, as if they were gigantic candles being lit magically.

Anokhan brought his hand down. I looked at him.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Probably to use as energy," Gerrard said with a shrug. Anokhan nodded.

"We train our new magic users in this arena. We light the flames on the five posts so that the new magic users may use the energy from those flames to fuel their own inner energy. So that they don't overwork themselves," Anokhan explained.

"That makes sense," I said, nodding. "What about your energy reserves, though? You used an energy ball to conjure up those flames. Won't they be feeding off of you?" I asked.

"Once a fire is lit, it is difficult to make it die down. The energy ball was simply an initiator. The rest is just nature working its own magic," Anokhan answered. 

There was an inherent simplicity in that statement that struck me. The rest was just nature doing its magic. That's what magic was at its core, once all of the politics and laws and rules were stripped away. It was natural. It was simple.

"All right, now just run through the spells that you know related to fire," Anokhan said. 

So I began listing the limited number of spells that I knew how to perform that included magic. There weren't many. I knew how to conjure up fire energy balls--which were nowhere near as powerful as Anokhan's--I knew how to conjure up a fire whip, to transform electrical light into fire, and to simply conjure up fire from my own energy reserves. 

Anokhan frowned after I completed my short list.

"I have a lot of work to do..." Anokhan muttered under his breath, sighing. 

"If it's any consolation, I'm a relatively fast learner," I said. Gerrard snorted.

"In your opinion," Gerrard said. I gave him a dark look. 

"Shut up," I said. He smirked at me. 

"I think today I will simply teach you battle spells. For the next week you will practice these spells until you perfect them. Then I will test your ability to use those spells in battle," Anokhan said. 

I internally breathed a sigh of relief. At least I was safe for the next seven days. We wouldn't battle until the end of the following week.

"Ok. But honestly, isn't seven days a lot?" I asked.

"You have much to learn," he replied. 

"Fair enough. We should get started then," I said.

And we did. Anokhan, it turned out, was actually a pretty good instructor. He knew a lot about magic, its side-effects, and its limits. He was intensely passionate about the subject, so much so that he reminded me of Gianna. Under his tough, frightening demeanor, he was simply a fire-master with a love for the element that was his own. It was a quality that earned him my admiration. Although, I was still very much afraid of him. 

Anokhan taught me a lot of different spells. He taught me battle spells and defense spells, everyday spells and dangerous spells. The next seven days went by painfully. I didn't realize how much energy conjuring up fire required. It was like my own element of water. Water could only be conjured from thin air by combining the air molecules with hydrogen molecules to create water. In the same way, fire could only be created from thin air by manipulating the air molecules around oneself to combust and then create a spark. Once the initial flame was made, the rest was easier. 

Learning the actual spells--the words and incantations--was easy. Actually performing the spells was a little more difficult. Ancient magic was interesting in that it required much more physical activity than simply standing and saying a spell and moving the hands and arms. There were complex hand movements that were required in order for the spell to do what it was supposed to do.

For example, Anokhan taught me the X-flame spell that Peter Long had used on me back when I had attacked him at the Trinity Government. I had remembered Long doing a complex slashing in the air before the spell took form in the air in front of him. Anokhan taught me that movement. The movement was that I needed to raise my dominant hand up with my fingers lined up against one another. I needed to bring it down diagonally in front of me then life that arm up around me and slash it down diagonally the other way, creating an invisible "X" shape in the air. If I uttered the incantation with the slashing movement, a flaming "X" formed in front of me. I then had to bring my wrists together, making my fingers curl around as if I was grasping a warm mug. Then I thrusted out my hands, pushing the "X" towards my target. And that was the spell. 

Because these spells required movements, for part of my training, Anokhan tested my agility and reaction times. He told me that I needed to be able to move fast out of the way of an oncoming spell that I couldn't block with magic. He told me the importance of not using up energy stores when they didn't need to be used. That meant that I couldn't always use a deflection spell. I had to be able to move fast enough to jump out of the way. And if my energy stores did run out, I needed to be able to get away fast enough to get to a material that I could use as an energy source.

Sometimes, Gerrard would also join in on the training sessions. Although he already knew the majority of the spells that Anokhan was teaching me, he often joined me in my training when he didn't know a spell or when he saw that I was getting too tired. He still wasn't happy about the beating that Anokhan gave me during the training sessions, but whenever he joined in, he got to release some of the dissatisfaction by beating Anokhan up. 

In addition to magic, Anokhan had me doing a lot of physical exercise, too. He had me sprinting and doing hurdles. He had me fighting him in hand-to-hand combat. He taught me kick-boxing. I trained all day, every day, for seven days, only taking a break to eat meals and to sleep. The first two days I was incredibly sore from the intensity of the work-out sessions. I hadn't properly trained in a while because Gianna had also gotten busy over the summer. In just one week, I became stronger and faster than I ever was before. 

I attributed this dramatic increase in strength completely to Anokhan. Although he was rough and didn't miss a chance to make sure I suffered while we trained, he was helping me. I learned so much from him that I would have taken ages to learn otherwise. And even though it hurt, I struggled through it because I knew in the back of my mind that I was working towards a higher purpose.

On the last day of my training, the day before I was to do my epic battle with Anokhan and show him what I had learned, the Sultan invited us to an annual event that they had each year. It was held in the autumn to honor the night of the Yellow Moon, when the new generation of Magii were given their powers. I found that this was one of the things that stayed the same in all of lands of magic that I had been to; they all had some tradition of honoring their new users. 

Gerrard and I were in our rooms getting changed before the event.

I was in the bathroom, getting ready to take a shower to wash off all of the desert filth that I had accumulated during my last training session of the week. I lifted my dirty, sandy shirt up off my head and examined my body in the bathroom mirror. I had become considerably more toned in just the past week. I pinched the skin over my stomach and could barely grasp any between my fingers. The little bit of fat that had before covered my body was now all muscle. My skin was tanned and toned to perfection. I now looked and felt like I had the body of an athlete.

I smiled to myself, thinking that Trey would probably be really impressed with the way I looked now. Although, he probably would also question it to no end. I felt a jab of pain in my heart when thoughts of my fiancee flooded my mind. I hadn't spoken to him at all since we had left Sicily to come here. I missed the sound of his voice. 

Sighing and shrugging off the depressing and longing thoughts, I stepped into the shower and turned the tap on, letting the cool water soothe my aching muscles. I rinsed out the dirt and sweat from my hair and body and then turned the water warm. I massaged the back of my neck and felt the tensity of the muscles. I really needed a break. I sighed and then turned the water off, stepping out of the shower and drying myself off with magic. I wrapped the robe that was hanging on the hook around my body and then stepped out into the room to find Gerrard already dressed and ready to go.

"Any day now, Lucia," he said. 

"How the hell did you get ready so fast?" I asked, rummaging through the pile of clothes that the Sultan had one of his maids--Asha--bring in for me to choose. I pulled out a white flowy dress that had a boatneck with beaded gold and red designs. 

"Because I'm a guy. And I can use magic," he replied with a shrug. I rolled my eyes at him and then went back into the bathroom to put my dress on. It fell to the floor, it's pleats flowing around me. I waved my hand over my hair and it fell in soft curls down my back. I quickly did my make-up and then was out of the bathroom in seven minutes.

"See? I can be fast, too," I told Gerrard. 

"Seven minutes too slow on my clock," he said, tapping his wrist. I shoved him and he chuckled. We both walked outside. The Sultan had told us to meet him in his throne room where we had initially been brought when we had first arrived in Aghbad. We made our way to the room, messing with each other and admiring the beautiful architecture of the palace. 

When we got to the room, one of the guards opened the door for us. We walked in to see the sultan sitting on his throne, conversing with his men. He was holding a goblet of wine in one of his hands and had a smile on his face.  He looked up when we walked inside and raised his arms in welcome, beaming. He was clearly a little buzzed from the wine.

"My guests of honor!" he said.

 "Hello, Firaaz," I said, smiling back at the king.

"My, you have changed quite a bit over the past week. I take it that your training has gone well, then?" Firaaz asked.

"It has. I feel a lot stronger now. And I've learned a lot. I really underestimated Anokhan's abilities," I replied. Firaaz grinned and took a sip of wine.

"Good, good," he said, getting up off his throne. "Let us proceed outside. I want to show you what this festival is all about," he told us. Gerrard and I looked at each other and then followed the slightly tipsy ruler outside to the arched walkways that gave a spectacular view of the city below. Gerrard and I stood on either side of Firaaz and gazed at the entrancing sight before us. 

Below, the city was completely lit up. The clay houses looked like candleholders, aglow with a warm yellow light that filled me with a sense of peace. Each house was lit up brightly, almost like lanterns. In the streets, it looked like everyone that lived in the city was outside. People milled around, chatting with each other, filling the air with laughter. Everyone was wearing either red or yellow or white. The city looked like a sea of flames emitting laughter and chatter into the air. 

"We have the Festival of the Yellow Moon every year to welcome in a new generation of Magii. Before the moon is at its peak height and brightness, I say a speech for the newcomers. Then they receive their powers. Once everyone has received their powers, we celebrate until the morning. To celebrate together as a city, everyone lights up a paper lantern to commemorate the new magic users and to honor the Moon that has provided these powers. We release the lanterns into the air and let them float up. Then, we celebrate," the Sultan explained to us. 

I looked down at the city below in awe.

It was such a beautiful way to celebrate the new generation of magic users. It was both encouraging and inspiring, in a way that made a person feel like they belonged. All we did at Trinity High was have a school dance. This honoring ceremony was so much more special. 

"It's absolutely beautiful," I said. "I love it."

"All I got when I received my powers was a pat on the back," Gerrard muttered. I frowned at him in pity. I couldn't imagine Elijah being too ceremonious upon the arrival of his adopted son's powers. He was probably too busy plotting ways to use those powers to his advantage. I felt bad for him.

The Sultan downed the remainder of his drink and then set the goblet down on the sill of the arch.

"Well, I must go prepare for my speech. Feel free to wander. I recommend going outside of the palace to really experience the festival in its entirety," Firaaz suggested to us. We thanked him before he walked off back down the hallway. 

"Want to explore?" I asked Gerrard.

"Let's go," he replied. I smiled and we both walked down the other side of the hallway in search of an exit to get outside of the palace. We found one at the end of the hallway and pushed open the door, letting the humid desert air engulf us. I didn't even mind the mild heat because the city was buzzing with life. 

Children played in the streets, chasing after each other with their toys. Some had firecrackers in their hands and were waving them around in the air, creating a dizzying array of lights. There were young couples lounging around outside of their houses, their arms around one another, nuzzling each other and kissing. There were old couples holding hands or chasing after their children, laughing and gossiping and sharing food with one another. There were elderly people, smiling silently or talking animatedly, telling stories and giving advice. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. I had never before felt such a sense of community and togetherness. All my life, I was never able to feel the friendliness of a neighborhood or a close group of friends. Being around all of these happy people sharing an important event together was a wonderful experience for me.

"This is amazing," Gerrard said to me as we walked through the streets together.

"I know. It's stunning," I said, amazed by the warmth and happiness surrounding me. 

"The fact that all of these people are doing this just to celebrate a new generation of magic users," he said. 

"All I got was a school dance," I said. 

"Better than nothing," he replied. I nudged him with my elbow. A little girl ran up to us, holding a paper lantern in her hands.

"Hello!" she said, smiling up at us with a few missing teeth. She couldn't have been more than six years old. She had bright amber eyes like the rest of the people in this city. She had curly golden hair that hung around her face in tight, springy curls. She was wearing a white dress that was tied in the back with a small bouquet of red and yellow flowers. In her hands, she was holding a tall paper lantern that had the symbol of a flame with a hemi-circle drawn around it. 

"Well, hello there!" I replied, smiling down at the young child.

"Are you new to Aghbad?" the girl asked. 

"We're just visiting," I answered. Gerrard squatted down next to the girl.

"What's your name, kid?" he asked.

"Maribelle!" she answered.  "Are you her boyfriend?" she asked. He chuckled.

"Just a good friend," he replied. 

"She's pretty," she told him. I felt a flush of color rise onto my cheeks. I was getting flustered by something a six year old was saying. "Can I ask you something?" the girl asked me.

"Of course! What's up?" I replied.

"Was your mother Katerina Lucia?" she asked. I felt my jaw drop. Gerrard stood up next to me and grabbed my elbow.

"H-how did you know that?" I asked her, my eyes wide and my hands shaking. Maribelle handed Gerrard her lantern and then took my free hand in hers.

"Come with me," she said. 

Maribelle led us through a winding path between clay and brick houses that were mostly square in shape. The road was unpaved, but lined with white stones of varying shapes and sizes. All around us were people outside celebrating. But now my amazement with the city was gone. In its place was a burning curiosity about how this girl knew who my mother was.

We followed Maribelle to a clay house that had a sheer red cloth draped over it, held up by a point, like a tent. Maribelle pushed aside the draped cloth and then knocked on the wooden before opening it up. She gestured for us to follow her inside the house. 

The house inside looked much larger than it did from the outside. I imagined it was an enlargment spell. It made sense; since there were so many people living in the city, the houses couldn't be too big from the outside because more houses would be able to fit in the city if they were smaller in size. However, magic allowed for the inside of a thing to become bigger using an enlargement spell, which I imagined the owner of this house used to make the place roomier.

Maribelle led us into a room that was covered with a plush red and black Persian carpet and many pillows of varying shapes, sizes and designs scattered along the floor. There were candles everywhere, some simply emitting a warm light and others giving off a smell that reminded me of cinnamon and winter tea. In the center of the room was a woman with platinum blonde hair that looked almost silver. She was sitting cross legged on a circular pillow, her hands folded under her naval and her eyes closed. She wasn't moving. She looked like she was meditating.

"Ma, look who I found," Maribelle said. Before responding, the woman took a few breaths. A small smile appeared on her pale features and then she opened her eyes to reveal a deep purple color that I had seen only one other person have: Valenya.

Gerrard nudged me with his elbow. He was thinking the same thing I was.

"Hello, Caley Lucia. I've been expecting you," the woman said. 

_________________________________________________

A/N: I'd like to start off by apologizing for updating after so long. I have been incredibly busy with a lot of things. As most of you know, I am a graduating senior this year in college. What does that mean? It means that I barely have time to breathe. I'm applying to medical schools, filling out applications, making big decisions of my life that make me cry, all while balancing my grades and my life with friends that I might never see again.

Senior year is a SUPER busy time of year. Like everyone tells freshmen in college to just enjoy themselves, I want to enjoy MYSELF this year. It's my last year in college and I want to do the things that I should have done in the past 3 years. I want to have fun and experience new things. Because if I don't, I know I will go insane from the INCREDIBLE amount of stress that I have been experiencing because of medical school applications.

As a majority of you know, I did not receive the score that I needed on the MCAT. In fact, I did horribly on it. But I'm still trying to remain optimistic and hoping that maybe I'll get into SOME school by SOME miracle.

That being said, as I have told you all multiple times before, I won't be able to have consistent updates for a while. Until I'm done with this semester at least, for sure. I'm still in the process of applying to schools and it is both extremely time consuming AND very expensive. I'm paying for everything myself, which means that I'm working two jobs as well as being a full-time student. So I have very little time to update. The little free time that I DO have is spent doing things like sleeping.

So once again, I ask you all to be patient with me. I ask you not to continuously ask me to update. I ask you to not tell me that I'm ruining this story because of lack of updates. If I could help it, I would update everyday. But that's not possible. So just be patient. I don't ask anything else of you except that.

I might get another update in this weekend. I have a very short break, but I also have a lot of stuff to do, so don't hold your breath.

I know I said this chapter would be more action-y, but I completely forgot that I needed to talk about Caley's mother and her lineage. So that's what the next chapter will be about.

Leave me a comment. Vote. Do whatever.

In the side, there's a link to pictures of things in Aghbad. Do what you like with it. It's under "External Link" under the picture with the book cover.

Until next time...XOXO