Gerrard and I exited Jeya's home feeling down. I had initially wanted to stay in Aghbad not for my training in how to master fire, but to find more information about my mother. Now that I had that information, I felt like I was grasping at thin air. I was in no way closer to finding an answer than I had been at the start of this journey. And it was already October. I had already wasted two months. Time was ticking away quickly and I was afraid that my mission would be left unresolved. 

"Caley!" I heard my name being called. I looked up to see Meekhail walking towards us with some of the other palace guards. 

"Meekhail," I said, nodding at him. 

"The Sultan has asked me to show you around the city. He will be making his speech shortly and then the real festivities will begin," he told me. 

I glanced at Gerrard. 

"Let's do it. We need a good distraction right now," he said to me. 

I couldn't have agreed more. So we for the next half hour, we followed Meekhail around as he showed us various landmarks in the city and explained to us what exactly this festival was for. 

"The Festival of Lights is an ancient tradition started by our ancestors to honor the new generation of witches and wizards. Since it is nearing the end of October now, and the Harvest Moon, or as you may know it, the Yellow Moon, is at its fullest, a new generation of witches and wizards will be receiving their powers tonight. This festival honors that," Meekhail explained to us. 

"The entire city comes out to honor the new generation?" I asked, slightly in awe at the incredible amount of nationality that the city had. Meekhail nodded.

"It is custom for most magical communities to honor the new generation of Magii. Each community has a different way of celebrating the milestone, but everyone celebrates it nonetheless," Meekhail said. 

"And you celebrate by lighting lanterns, right? Is that because this is a fire nation?" I asked. 

"That is one of the reasons," he replied.

"What's the other one?" Gerrard asked.

"It really looks quite spectacular," he answered with a smile. I felt the corners of my mouth tug up as well. I decided I liked Meekhail. He was nicer than most of the other guards. 

All around us, the city was alive. It seemed like everyone was outdoors, enjoying each other's company. The smell of fire, food, and wine filled the air. I dodged a couple of children that were running aroun, chasing after one another with fire cracklers. I smiled as I watched them run off. On the side street, a folk band was playing music, except instead of actually playing the instruments themselves, they were using magic to make them move and create sound. 

I fell in step with Meekhail. 

"I have a question," I said to him.

"Ask away," he said.

"How is it that the moon supplies our powers? I thought that was Mother Nature's job?" I asked. 

"Well, the moon is actually part of Mother Nature. That is vital to understand. The sun, the moon, the trees, the earth, the stars, the animals. All of it is a part of Madra Nurtura, or Mother Nature. We live in a natural world with powers of its own and only on special nights are these powers at their height," Meekhail told me.

"So why this night? Why is it that it's only the night of the full moon at the end of October, or the Harvest Moon, or the Yellow Moon or whatever you want to call it. Why is it that this moon is the one that supplies powers to the new generation of Magii?" I asked. 

"It dates back to pagan times and the birth of the zodiac signs. The full moon in itself is powerful. You can read about it in any magical community. On a night of a full moon, the forces of nature are at their height. It just so happens at this full moon, the Yellow Moon, the powers are the most heightened. The zodiac sign of Scorpio begins at the end of the month, which is when the full moon peaks. In mythology, Scorpio is the serpent beast that was sent from Mother Earth to kill the hero Orion because he was arrogant and flaunted his power. As you know, a vital part of magic is balance because that is what Mother Nature prizes most. The abuse of power is thus an abuse of balance. At this time of the year, then, we are reminded that it is Mother Nature that controls our power. Just as She controlled Orion's power by sending the snake to kill him, so, too can She give or take our magical abilities. That is why the full moon in the month of Scorpio holds the most power," Meekhail explained to me. 

I listened to his explanation in awe. It was so fascinating, the details and reasoning of the ancestors. Their way of magic seemed to be so much more simple. I wondered how the modern form of magic came to be, with the technicality of the spells and the ruthlessness of the curses. More interestingly, I was beginning to notice a common theme in ancient magic: balance. 

Jeya had said sacrifice entailed balance: giving a life to save a life. Queen Maya and Rowan emphasized how because Mother Nature supplied us with powers, we should in turn respect Her by not abusing the materials she has provided us with. Again, balance. I wondered, then, if the key to finding the countercurse for both the Blood Oath curse and the Curse of the Aguamenti was balance. I tucked the idea in the back of my mind, choosing to forget about my plight for the night and just focusing on enjoying myself and the ancient traditions of this nation.

"It is about time for the ceremony to begin," Kilam, one of the other guards, said to Meekhail.

"So it seems. Shall we proceed to the palace?" Meekhail asked me. I nodded. Gerrard and I followed Meekhail and the other guards back to the palace. "We can go inside. I can show where the best view is," Meekhail said to me. To the other guards, he ordered them to bring us lanterns that we could light for the ceremony.

Meekhail led us to one of the four minoret towers that were on each corner of the palace, surrounding the domed center. We climbed up a set of stairs that had me out of breath by the time we were finished climbing. 

I wheezed when we got to the top.

"Can we Transport back down?" I asked, clutching at my sides.

"You are so out of shape," Gerrard said jokingly. I shot him a glare and he smirked, following Meekhail outside. I followed suit and the gasped when I saw how high up we were. 

I could literally see the entire city from where we were standing, from the Eastern gates that we entered from to the arena on the Western side where Anokhan had given me my lessons. It was breathtaking. 

"We usually use these towers for surveillance and security. Tonight, however, we only need one tower on duty. It is, after all, a night of celebration," Meekhail told us. Kilam brought us our lanterns before leaving again. I clutched mine in my hand and held it out, examining it.

The lantern had the pattern of a bursting sun on it, the center of which had a flame drawn. Upon closer inspection, the flames were actually drawn with hundreds of smaller flames. Meekhail explained the significance of this as the individual members of the community coming together as one to form a strong nation (the smaller flames making the bigger flame) to create the most powerful magic (the sun). I thought back to the symbol for the Trinity of Magic, the ideal held by the modernized Western civilizations of magic. Its symbol comprised of power, peace, and magic, the same ideals held by this nation. But for some reason, here it worked. Even though there wasn't peace in the equation here, there was this sense of unity and strength in numbers. It was so different than the world that I had come from, where there divisions that were quite literally fatal. 

"When does the Sultan give his speech?" Gerrard asked. 

"He is probably giving it right now. We won't be able to hear from this high up," Meekhail responded.

"You didn't think it was important to hear what he had to say?" Gerrard asked. Meekhail looked at him sheepishly.

"I've grown up hearing the same speech about unity and strength and the immortality of this fire nation given generation after generation. Now I just like to enjoy the actual ceremony itself," Meekhail said. "Which is actually starting now," he said, pointing. Gerrard and I looked in the direction of his finger.

From this height, the people looked like tiny figurines. But as we watched, we saw a series of lights flare up as people began lighting their lanterns to release them into the blackness of the night. The rest of the lights in the city were turned out and almost as if it was a ripple effect, tiny golden dots burst into the sea of people. 

"On the ready then," Meekhail said. He conjured up a small flame from the tip of his finger and lit his lantern. Gerrard and I followed his lead. The lanterns lit up, the orange-red of the sunburst becoming illuminated against the pale color of the parchment-like paper. 

"And one, two..." Meekhail counted, holding his lantern out in front of him. "Three," he whispered. At the count of three, he released his lantern into the air, whispering a spell to make it float. Gerrard let go of his, too, but I held onto mine, too amazed by the sight of hundreds of lanterns floating up into the night sky. It was so magical, so beautiful. The city below was silent as we watched the lanterns float up higher and higher into the sky. I reached my arm out and let go of my lantern, too, tracking its path among the others as it rose up into the night sky. 

As I watched the hundreds of lanterns fill up the night sky, I felt a sense of freedom wash over me. The lanterns glowed in the dark, like fireflies in an open meadow. They illuminated the entire city with a warm glow and as I watched my lantern float up higher and higher into the sky, I felt like a weight was being lifted off my shoulders. After my conversation with Jeya, I had felt so helpless and hopeless. But now, I felt determined. I felt like the stress and worry I had about finding the countercurses was floating away with the lantern, up into the night sky and that now I could start over. Like I had said, I was back to square one. I had no new information, but I had my mother's original plan. Now, all I had to do was figure out what went wrong. At least that was a start.

A new beginning.

                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~

I chewed the inside of my cheek nervously and twisted my engagement ring on my finger. Today was my final day of training under Anokhan. It was also the day that he was presenting me with my final test: to fight against him in battle. It was for this reason that I was so nervous. 

"You don't have to do this," Gerrard said to me. I frowned.

"I kind of do, though. If I can stand my ground against Anokhan, it means I'm stronger. And a part of me has the ability to be a fire master, even if it isn't in the complete form. I need to do this," I said.

"You can very well train under me and Gianna. You know that, right?" he asked.

"It's not the same," I said.

"Why not?" he asked. "Gianna's a fire master, too."

"Yeah, but, my mother came here bearing me in her womb. If I can master fire here, it's like I've connected with her somehow. And I think I need that right now. I need to be connected with my mother if I'm ever going to figure out how to find the countercurse," I explained. Gerrard pursed his lips.

I didn't really expect him to understand. I barely understood it myself. It was just one of those things. I just knew that I had to get through this training today before I left the city to go back to Italy the next day. I just had to.

"If you say so. But Anokhan has been training his whole life. And he is a fire master," Gerrard said.

"He won't kill me. The worst that can happen is that I'll be injured. And I'm used to that now," I replied, looking at him. 

"Emotionally, maybe. You haven't faced real physical pain yet. And you're about to in this battle," he told me. 

"I felt physicial pain when I fought against Ahmet and we were imprisoned," I pointed out.

"I have a feeling that that will be a pinprick compared to what Anokhan will do," he said.

I knew he was right, but my determination was far more powerful than my fear. It didn't stop the feeling of dread that was creeping up my neck, though.

I heard voices and looked over to see Anokhan walking up to us, the Sultan and Meekhail following close by. As he walked towards us, I could see the manic glint in Anokhan's eye and a menacing smirk on his lips. The feeling of dread multiplied tenfold.

"You're early," Anokhan noted. "You must be eager to die."

I squeaked, my eyes wide with terror, and the Sultan gave Anokhan a look, making him chuckle. 

"Shall we get started or do you want to go over the rules once more?" he asked me.

"What rules? The only elemental spells that are allowed are fire spells. Otherwise, anything goes," I stated. "Oh, and, you're not allowed to kill me," I added. I looked at the Sultan. "Right?" I asked, just to make sure.

Firaaz laughed.

"Right. We can't kill one of our own," he said.

"That really takes the fun out of it," Anokhan said.

"This isn't supposed to be for fun! It's purely educational!" I exclaimed. He rolled his eyes.

"Let's begin," he said, gesturing for me to follow him to the center of the training arena. 

"Good luck!" Meekhail called out after us. 

"Thanks!" we both replied in unison. We sneered at each other before walking into the arena. 

We stopped once we got to the center. I could see Gerrard on the side, next to the Sultan and Meekhail. He was chewing the inside of his cheek, his arms crossed over his broad chest. I could see the concern in his blue-gray eyes from here.

"Do you want to light the arena candles?" Anokhan asked. 

"Ok," I said with a shrug. I raised my hands, conjuring up a ball of flames. I split the ball into five smaller ones and then sent them flying to the five arena poles shaped like candle flames. Once they made impact with the centers of the wrought-iron flames, they lit up, burning brightly. 

"Let's make this a little move ineresting, shall we?" Anokhan suggested. With a flick of his wrist, the flames connected with one another in the air above us, forming the outside outline of a star. 

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"It looks more impressive," Anokhan answered. I frowned.

"Fair enough," I said. 

We heard voices coming from the horizon. I looked over to see a crowd of people walking over. 

"What are they doing here?" I asked.

"I guess they've come to see the show. I would imagine that everyone would want to watch the half-breed get beaten up by me," he replied. I scowled at him. I really did dislike this jerk.

"Or they're here to watch a girl kick your ass," I retorted. He let out a bark of laughter. 

"Let's get this started," he said. 

"Fine," I said.

"Fine," he replied. With a final glare, we turned our backs to each other and walked ten paces away from each other. 

"Ready, water-fiend?" he asked me.

"Whenever you are, son of the devil," I replied. He glared at me and I smirked.