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“COME ON, FOCUS SHELLA! FOCUS!” Shella closes her eyes and tries her best to concentrate on flying as she plummets to the ground at a fast rate. She begins to panic as the ground beneath her gets closer. Her body was now spinning out of control. She could see the ground then sky then ground again over and over. Her wings were not responding. Her mind was clouded, unable to focus on the task of flying.
“Shheeellaaaaaaaa!!!” Grandfather Kiev rushed to her, but he could only watch from a distance as his only granddaughter approached the ground beneath her.
The closer she got to the ground the more her mind panicked. She takes a deep breath as she attempts to calm herself down. However, her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. Her wings eventually spread apart as she begins to take flight just seconds before hitting the ground. She starts to glide only inches away from the ground. Then after five seconds of flight she began rolling on the grassy ground, her body scraping the ground and slowing down her momentum. Her body slides to a complete halt on the grass as she gives a sigh of relief. “AAHhhhhhhh!” She screams out of sheer emotional distress. She forms a fist with her left hand and slams it on the ground next to her out of frustration and the pure adrenaline she felt while laying there on the ground.
“Shella! You alright child!? Are you hurt?” Grandfather Kiev’s heart was racing but was glad she was able to recover from her free fall. He flies down and lands on his feet and quickly kneels to inspect if she has any injuries. “What happened? You were flying just fine.”
Shella lays flat on the grassy open fields. She was breathing hard. She could hear her grandfather, but it was all muffled noise to her. Her heartbeat was in her ears. It was racing out of control. And then she snaps back to reality the moment he says her name again. She was desperately trying to catch her breath. She realized that a fall from that high could have killed her.
“Shella, girl! Are you listening to me? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Uhhhh. E-enough to slap my face.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I-I am fine. No broken bones. Just… just scratches I guess…… Sigh….. ” Shella lifts her body up slowly and examines herself. She is now in a sitting position on the ground. She takes a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She looked up at the sky various times and couldn’t believe that she was flying that high.
“You were not focusing on flying, huh?”
“N-no I was not…… Sigh…..” Shella was finally able to catch her breath. She felt her heart still beating rapidly in her chest. She looked up at the bright sky and wondered if she could do that again, fly so high. She was now afraid of heights. She was afraid of flying too high and falling to her death if anything went wrong.
“I could have…… I could have died.” Shella’s anxieties are now spiking. She decided to close her eyes and took a moment to compose herself.
“You started to fly just in the nick of time. I w-would not have been able to reach you in time, child. Please….. please be more careful when in flight.” There was a concerned look on Grandfather Kiev’s face. He gives a sigh of relief glad that she was alright, and she didn’t get badly injured. But he wondered if Shella was truly ready to head out on her own.
Shella opens her eyes, stares forward toward the horizon, and nods. She swallows hard and takes a deep breath. Her hands were clearly shaking. It frightened her to the bone, free falling to the ground. Not being able to fully control her wings in such a crucial moment left her with doubts.
“Come on. Do not feel discouraged my angel. You will get the hang of flying and using your wings soon enough. But for now, for this mission, you need to put the wings away.” Grandfather Kiev gets up from the ground and dusts himself off.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I said you need to put the wings away. Dematerialize your wings child. For this mission, you will not be allowed to use your Aleeyah wings.” Shella got herself up from the ground and dusted herself off.
“W-why not?” Her facial expression was a mix of curiosity and confusion.
“I will need you to travel to Aixin Mountain the old-fashioned way, using your legs. And climbing the mountain as well will need to be done using just your hands and feet. No wings. Flying to your destination and flying to the top of that mountain will make the mission completely useless. It would prove nothing.”
“I guess that….. makes sense.” Shella closes her eyes and instantly the wings dematerialize.
“Even when you travel back here after your climb, you are to not use the wings for that either.”
“Alright grandpa I understand.”
“You have everything you need, correct?”
“Yeah. Some light food and essentials for the journey.” Shella pats her bag with confidence indicating where all her stuff to travel is.
“Here. Take these two things with you as well.” From Grandfather Kiev’s bag, he takes out a small old map and a dark brown long cloak with a hood for Shella to wear. “When it gets cold you can wear this. And you cannot forget your map. This will be the first time you step outside the protective boundaries of Ariace Village. I will teach you how to navigate your map and what landmarks to go by in order to find Aixin Mountain.”
Shella nods as he proceeds to explain how the map works. She puts on her new long brown cloak and slips on the hood.
“How do I look grandpa? Stylish?” Shella smiles and looks at the brown cloak and wonders how it looked on her. Grandfather Kiev smiles.
“You have to climb the mountain and retrieve at the top a smooth turquoise rock.”
“A rock?” Shella looked down to the ground. She wasn't feeling confident about completing the mission successfully.
“Yes, a rock. It will prove to me that you got up all the way to the top. Only those types of stones are located at the summit.”
“Grandpa….. I…. I have doubts that I cannot do this….. climb this mountain. I feel like I am going to…. I do not know…. I feel…. I have this thought in the back of my mind that I will fail you. I-I just have this feeling… that’s all. I do not want to disappoint you. But I feel like…. I will never become an Aleeyah warrior…”
“Nonsense! Get that out of your head right now. You will be successful. You will not fail, child. I am proud of you. Your father and your brother would be proud of you too. You made the decision to work this hard and train to find the Chosen One. You sacrificed countless hours training under me. Once the second half of your training is complete, we will see what a fine, powerful, and mature warrior you will become. A warrior that fights for what is right and with a pure heart. Anything that you put your mind to, you will succeed.”
Suddenly Alrin popped into her mind, and she wanted to talk about him to her grandfather. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t feel comfortable with him being her partner. “Thank you…. but…. Grandpa, uhmm…. Look, about Alrin…. Being my partner that is. I just do not want him as my partner, ok? I feel like he is not the best choice for me.”
“Huh?” Grandfather Kiev raised an eyebrow and wondered where all this was coming from. “We could stand here all day and discuss this, but well, Shella, time is moving quickly. Perhaps when you return from your mission you will have a different outlook about the situation and have some time to meditate on the matter. I am not sure right now what is going on, but if you wish to discuss it further after your mission, we can.”
“Okay.” Shella nods and takes a deep breath.
“And one last important thing Shella.” Shella looked up to meet her grandfather's gaze. “If you encounter any danger, try your best to avoid a full-on confrontation. Be cautious out there, use your head, and stay sharp. The world you're stepping into is unforgiving. Do not let your mind be overwhelmed by your enemies. They will seek every opportunity to find your weaknesses and use them against you.”
“Yeah, thank you grandpa. I will try my best out there.” She stepped forward, embraced her grandfather tightly, and made her way to the dense forest. She waved good-bye to him and exited the familiar grounds of Ariace Village.
“The journey should take her several days, approximately a week tops if she moves quickly enough. A day or two to get to the mountain, then a whole day of climbing. And then the journey back to the village. I am confident she will be able to manage on her own. ….Sigh….. I need some tea to calm my nerves.” Grandfather Kiev watches as his granddaughter disappears into the dense wilderness that surrounds and protects the village.
Shella moved quickly through the forest, keeping an eye on her little map. Grandfather Kiev explained everything to her, everything she needed to know about the important landmarks and any other obstacles she would encounter on her way to Aixin Mountain. She gulps hard and moves fast trying to keep up a pace as she walks into the unknown.
This was all new to her. She had never been outside the village before. Her first night sleeping under the stars was nerve wracking. She could hear the forest come alive with wild creatures crying out in the middle of the night. Predators roaming about stalking prey. The plentiful sounds of birds and other nocturnal creatures, chirping, squeaking, and growling, noises she was unfamiliar with, made her react every second. It was difficult for her to even think about sleeping. Not being in her own bed in the isolated walls of her own home made her uncomfortable. The unknown, the uneasy feeling of not being able to predict what was out there, made her heart race at times. She was shivering the first night she had to sleep next to a tall tree in the forest. There was hardly any sleep. Her body was trembling wildly as she slipped the hood on her head trying to keep herself warm. She's hugging her knees, sitting on the ground, looking to her left then her right each time she hears any sound around her. She rubs her hands together and breathes into her palms desperately wanting the night to end and she could finally feel the warm rays of the sun again.
Once the night was over, she made it on the second day to the mountain. “Yes, Aixin Mountain.” She said to herself as she looked at the map and then to the mountain in the distance. “I cannot believe it. I am here already!” Shella takes a deep breath of relief. But she knew deep down getting to the mountain was the easy part of her journey. It was climbing the mountain and coming back down that will be the ultimate challenge for her. Her stomach at that moment began to growl. She places her hand on her stomach, realizing that she had ignored everything else. She had ignored her body's natural cravings for food and water because she was extremely focused on getting to the mountain at a good pace. Her walking became an obsession. The mountain in the far distance became tunnel vision to her. It was all she could focus on as her heart kept beating faster in her chest from the amount of exertion she was putting on her body. Her forehead was covered in sweat. She refused to take a break, not even stopping to take a quick sip of the water she put in her bag.
“The faster I get there, the faster I can head home and prove to grandpa that I am good enough. I can do this!”
She needed to move faster and get there quicker or else she felt like a failure. It was almost to the point that her legs were starting to swell up from all the walking. She kept pushing her body more than what it could handle. She had never walked that much in her entire life. And her pace was faster than normal. She didn’t want to stop for anything. But now exhaustion, thirst, and even hunger was creeping in. When she finally got to the base of the mountain she collapsed from exhaustion. She closed her eyes and tried to slow down her racing heart rate as she laid there on the ground. She was breathing hard, her feet felt extreme soreness. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and focused her view on the grand scale of the mountain. “This mountain looks a lot….. larger up close….. ” Shella decided to take the time next to the mountain to eat and drink something. She gave her legs a rest before starting her long arduous climb.
After several minutes of resting and getting her heart rate down, she gulped hard as she did some stretches before starting her climb. She got up close to the mountain to start her climb. Shella looked up trying to visualize herself at the top holding the turquoise stone confidently in her hand. “Okay, one step at a time Shella…. Wait.”
Shella realized that she needed to do one final thing before starting the climb. She put her travel bag on the floor and removed her dark brown long cloak. She folded it up and put it in her bag. “The cloak is going to get in my way for sure. It is best if I take it off.” She placed her bag back up on her shoulders and began the long difficult climb.
She went at a slow pace, realizing just how tough and nerve wracking the climb really was. She made sure that every hand and foot placement was right. She didn’t want to slip and fall. She places her body weight on one piece of stone then the next slowly testing each rock making sure that none would slip out and cause her to fall to her death. She suddenly looked down, even though she didn't want to and realized just how far up she had gotten. It was an hour into the climb. Her slow pace and cautiousness didn’t really get her too far up but at this point if she did slip and fell off, it would be fatal.
She reaches up to get to the next stone. As she grabbed it, she realized that something was wrong. The stone slips out of place and an extremely huge boulder larger than her body slides down toward her. It was still caught on something but the dust and gravel it kicked up hit her face causing her to react and cough. Some dust got into her mouth. She tries desperately to spit it out. Dust was in her eyes now making it difficult for her to see. That's when the rocks under her feet also shifted and another large boulder beneath her rattled itself free from the side of the mountain. “AHhhhh oh no! What just happened?” Rubble and gravel began falling all around her, she tried to keep herself calm but all she could think about was not being able to see because of the dust in her eyes. Her body was off balance and all she could do instinctively was try and reach for another stable stone. She was reaching, touching, trying to grab anything around her that was secure. She needed her body to be stable, if not she would be at the risk of falling back. The stone beneath her feet holding her body weight finally gave way and the large boulders under her and over her both broke free from the side of the mountain.
The sensation of free falling helplessly to the bottom triggered in her mind again as she fell back losing her grip from the side of the mountain. “AYahhhhahhhhhhhahhhh!!” Shella screams out. There was no time to react. She had nothing stable to hold on to. She fell back and the large boulder under her fell at a rapid rate smashing through the side of the mountain creating a large hole on the side of the mountain for Shella’s body to fall through. Shella fell inside, just as the larger boulder that was free falling above her smashed onto the hole that was created by the first boulder. Shella’s body hits a few large rocks on the way down, slowing down her descent into the large crater. When she finally enters the hole created by the first boulder, she violently hits her head when she reaches the bottom.
Shella wasn’t moving as the final larger boulder slams over the hole created by the first boulder, essentially sealing her inside the crater. There was nothing but darkness, dust, and rubble. Her motionless body was just laying there, helpless.
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