A conspicuous amount of time passed as I went over Javier's words over and over again. Was that truly the extent of people's distrust toward me? That they would utter such words even in the presence of children? Didn't they mind the impression they left behind.

I was disappointed in how people were taking so lightly of such situations. I found my way to the training fields alone and trained harder than I had ever before. A few hours into the exercise and I was ready to call it a day.

Except I didn't have that luxury.

I sat somewhere quiet, just within the training fields and replenished the energy I had lost during the exercise. Every bone and nerve of my body shouted for me to rest. I felt tired and lonely. As I was enjoying my peaceful silence, a dark looming figure started me and clasped my ring bow in an attempt to attack.

"Wow, impressive! Is that tailor made here or did you travel with it from earth?" Kari was standing by my side, his sword tightly held be his side. He plopped himself on the ground beside me and and smiled.

"It was my mother's, Princess Amberling. I don't know where she got it from. Why so you ask?" I looked at him surprised that he was talking to me without being forced by anybody. Last time he was giving me the attitude and I had to be the big guns but now he was talking to me freely. Like we were long list friends. Well, technically we were but that doesn't count.

"I've not seen that kind of masterpiece since I was reborn on Azure. And since I don't have any memories of earth whatsoever, I would say this is impressive. The maiden archers usually have their bow and arrows made by the blacksmith Ghadi, then blessed by Fauna which am sure you've met.

" You've not been here that long and yet you know so much. Why are you here Kari or Kyle, whichever. Why are you here talking to me tight now? Aren't you no longer afraid to be seen with the pathetic, frail and weak warrior princess? "  If he had something to say, he didn't have to pretend making small talk. He could just go straight to the point and save us both the time and energy. I had heard and experienced worse. Words don't break bones!

"How long do you think we've spent on Azure so far? This is not earth milady, where you can say a few days or hours have passed. The time you alone have spent here could probably be months since you left earth. If anyone remembered you then, by this time, they have forgotten about you and moved on." When he got no response from me, he proceeded to speak.

"Pardon me if I don't remember the times we spent together on earth. I am not a royal blood after all. Only royal bloods like yourself can manage to salvage their memories from earth and draw strength from them, even though most people think its a weakness. Also, I'll have you know that the rebirth process is not a simple baptismal conversion from human to a new being. It's a battle of wills, only the strongest survive. Those who hold on so much to their earthly memories often don't make it to the other side. The process makes us new beings, a special specie. We're faster, we're stronger, we're more intelligent than any other being. The process give us all the necessary knowledge we need to have and boom, nothing can stand in our way. Where else do you think you can find the kind of technology we have here?" I shrugged my shoulders clearly having no answer to his question.

"That's right. Nowhere! It will be ages before humans can even reach a quarter of what we have here." He explained proudly and I smiled at his easy mood.

"You're not so different you know." I found myself saying before I could stop myself.

"What do you mean?" He asked equally confused.

"The Kyle from earth and you. He was always enthusiastic about everything he talked about and listening to you now, I feel like you're still the same person. The process might have changed your outside appearance, you're more buff now, and even given you new strength and prowess but by this inside, it's still you. I can feel it." I told him and he went silent. He might be looking more roguish now, to fit the general character but his heart belonged to him still. And the heart was a hard piece to forget.

He couldn't forget his inner self, even though the outside was tampered with. That brought my mind to think of why Azurites residing on earth had to be reborn to enter the city. Shouldn't the process be optional? Since only the Azurites by blood received the call of the guardian of nature? It was one's only travel ticket to the gates of Azure.

" You're right milady, I may not remember you but the feeling that we were close before, I cannot shake it away."

"So, why are you here really?" I asked him the question that had been lingering at the tip of my tongue since he arrived.

"I came to wish you luck, in the battle against Kore today." He said it easily like there was nothing to worry about.

"Am fighting against Kore? The Oren of strength and strategy?" Oh God. He's going to break me to pieces.

"You are the Oren of war yourself, its only fair that you get a worthy opponent." He enticed me with sweet words like a mother enticing her child with candy.

"That's no it even Kyle..I mean Kari. I'm just surprised that's all. What happened to Kira? She was the one so eager to sit on my throne!" I tried to reason with him and his brows furrowed in understanding.

"Just call me Kari, I'm not sure how I feel about the Kyle name. Also Kira will always be Kira, she will use whatever manipulative scene she has just to get what she wants. Now come on, let me help you train for the battle. Grab your sword and let me show you  how the warriors do it. Then you can show me how your archery is fairing on." He taunted jokingly and held his hand to help me get up.

Training with Kari felt like revising for an exam. I felt like I didn't know anything yet I wasn't totally blank. I knew how to put my defences, the most important part according to him and I was also good at striking target. I knew how to look for a weakness in my opponent's defense and I knew the perfect moment to attack. These and many more moves, Kari taught me patiently and he was impressed at the speed and grasped the skills.

He let me practice archery and he sat down and watched as he claimed it was the women's job to draw arrows. The first time he saw my arrows, he laughed the same way Karina had. Doesn't the rule don't judge a book by it's cover apply on Azure? Appearances could be deceiving. The Azurites had learnt the hard way. Trusting the beautifully faced creatures who turned out to be their worst enemies. The Beasts of the West.

Time was drawing near and the looming predicament drew closer. I had forgotten to ask Kari if people fought to death in these cases but nothing like this had happened before so I didn't know who turn to for wisdom and insight.

The Seer.

The thought struck my head and I made my way to his house to talk to him. I was at his house knocking when Javier came to open the door for me.

"Milady? Am I in trouble? Why are you here?''

" I'm looking for the seer but I think I might have gotten the wrong house. " I said hastily turning around to go when he stopped me.

"The seer is here. I am his son." Javier said excitedly as he welcomed me in. The place looked decent, with ancient antique designs decorating it. At first sight, you wouldn't suspect any presence of magic but looks could be deceiving. The little child went ahead to call his father for me and we talked a whole lot. Once I was sure I had grasped all the rules of the fight, I bid my goodbyes and made my way back to my chamber to prepare psychologically for however outcome the fight would bring forth.

It was time.

I braced myself and my maid servants dressed me up in my war garments. They mainly consisted of a green tight leather jumpsuit which is turtlenecked. The neck, bust and bodice part of it was of the colour blue. They also dressed me up in my amour and I was ready to roll. Clutching my helmet in one hand and my sword on the other, I walked briskly to the training fields where the battle would be held. Caroline and the rest of my maidservants insisted on going there with me to support me even though the entire city didn't know what they really wanted.

The fields looked so different from how they were a few hours ago when Kari and I were training. A ring of fire had been set at the middle of it. Four groups of people stood gracefully around it in four corners. The first corner consisted of the entire population of Azure which stood in perfect rows and columns. The second corner harboured the male warriors dressed in their blue war garments, standing in perfect rows as well with their swords held by their sides. The third corner had the Archer maidens dressed in their green attire standing gracefully with their arrows set and bows in hand. The last group was of the Orens and Elders seated in high seats ready to watch the battle.

I smelled the fresh smell of the earth mixed with burning embers before I jumped into the ring where Kore was eagerly waiting for me. He was armoured as well. He kissed his sword, a sign of luck before he took his position.

I studied him carefully but I couldn't find a weakness. He directed his sword at my heart with force and my eyes widened in panic before I intercepted it and be drew back. We paced around each other scrutinizing to find weak points. He attacked again and this time I was ready. His aim was on my shoulder and I had to draw my sword backwards to intercept it. He was pushing down and I struggled to push his sword up with mine otherwise he would slice my shoulder off my body. At that moment, I understood why he was the Oren of strength and strategy. He knew how to play his cards well. He was overpowering me by the minute and my heart was throbbing blissfully. He must have seen how panicked I was because he smirked an evilly smirk and I took that opportunity to strike him with a roundhouse kick, the way Kari had taught me. As it was, I was equally strong due to the beast blood in me and the impact of the kick sent Kore flying to the other end of the ring where he almost caught fire. He was up on his feet in minutes and the looks he gave me could break bones if they could.

He came at me again, more vicious this time that the force made my sword tumble on the soft grass. His stance was calculated and I couldn't go down to pick my sword because he would slice my head off in the process.

Think Aura, think.

I tried to envision possible points where I could dupe him and pick my sword but all possibilities were null. I drew back a few steps before holding my fists in attack mode. If I could use my sword, then I would use my bare fists. Anything to win the battle. When he attacked, I slid between his thighs and struck his crotch with a kick and he tumbled on the other side painfully. I was smiling victoriously that I failed to notice his attacking figure until his sword was mere inches from my face. I hastily blocked my face with my hands and his sword struck my fist, connecting with the ring bow and the sword bounced off flying away until it got stuck on a tree meters away from the ring of fire.

I didn't know the ring bow was this strong.

The audience burst into murmurs as they saw what had happened. We were both unarmed now. We fought for a little longer before someone from outside the ring threw Kore a trident which had three spearheads and he aimed it at me.

But the time I understood what was happening, the trident had already pierced my abdomen and the three spearheads protruded to the other side of my body.

I fell on my knees painfully blood dripping from my mouth before I fell down completely facing the clear sky.