Chapter 10: Chapter 1 (Planet: Earth, Country: Yanar, Region: Glacee, City: Paywol)

 

The wind was blowing so strongly that her hat flew away; Izzy shivered, pulled up her collar and buttoned her jacket to the top.

“Hello Gaia, you are in a good mood today,” she whispered with a smile. Izzy took a breath.

I don’t feel any different. I really thought graduating and being accepted into the academy would make me feel different, but it doesn’t. And worse, it is in the south. I hate the heat. In Freya’s name, why does the academy have to be in the south? She thought.

Izzy is a Norse and a member of Freya’s temple. She had collected and prepared her offerings to the gods and dropped them in the palace’s temple; now I am ready.

Astrid Zainab Korsning, heir to the throne, also known as Izzy, followed tradition as she stepped on the balcony. “Thank you, Mother Nature. I promise to make you and my ancestors proud.”

Wanting to remember the joy she felt every time her skin tingled as specks of ice fell on it, she stayed on that balcony if she could, until a holo-cloud appeared

It said, “All Air force personnel to report for Messa deployment.”

Messa, bloody Hel, I hate that place.

“Hey, at least it is not in the south,” she whispered with a smile.

The Messa region was the Alliance’s border closest to the kingdom of Petra, one of the empire’s oldest enemies. The Yans had established a colony there.

It was also excellent to train pilots, so the Yans had signed a treaty with Petra, their long-time enemy, allowing both sides to train their cadets without the fear of being attacked by either side. Most students sent there are humans.

She stared at herself in the mirror; Come on Izz, you’ll kill it! You’ll show everyone that you are the best pilot in the Alliance, even if you are just 15. All the others will be so jealous.

The Yan empire was a member of The Alliance. It comprised 15 planets and 40 colonies that have joined forces to preserve peace in the galaxy.

It failed; other worlds viewed that union as an attempt to dominate the galaxy and retaliated by forming their own alliance.

And now Queen Elsef, Izzy’s mother, was prepared for the worse.

A light started blinking on her dresser; Izzy sighed and pressed it; the Queen’s hologram appeared “Astrid...”

“Mother”, she answered with a smile, “Is everything ok?”

Queen Elsef, Izzy’s mother, was a pale, red-head Viking with long wavy hair and petite stature.

Wearing the traditional Asgardian long sleeve, A-line dress with a precious stoned, gold belts and ornate brooches on the shoulders and flowers in her hair, the Queen seemed stressed.

She was at the front with Izzy’s father, General Gideon Bah, and Izzy had feared she wouldn’t be able to see either of them before her departure.

“Yes, dear, but we are about to be out of communication range, and I wanted to wish you good luck.”

Izzy’s smile widened; mothers are always worried about their children, even soldiers, she thought.

“Mother, where is Papa? Is he not with you?”

The queen smiled. “No dear, he is at the Assembly”

Izzy wrinkled her forehead. “Does that mean the war is not going well?”

Her mother suspired, “We are not winning but we are not losing either, we are at a standstill. But have no fear; sooner than later, Petra is going to run out of Petronians.”

She spun around, then turned back toward her daughter and said, “I'm afraid my time is rather short. Check your drawing-room. Your father and I have a graduation gift for you. We love you, sweetheart, make us proud.”

“I will, mother,” said Izzy.

The Queen blew her a kiss and cut the feed.

Izzy raised a brow and stepped into a large room with a glace ceiling, cream-coloured walls, and double back doors. Wooden shelves with thousands of books, staircases, and ladders.

I placed a few wrapped gifts on her wooden desk. She opens the silver and golden with the tag written ‘from mum and papa’ and found a beautiful charm bracelet that reflects significant moments in her life.

Her first sword, Ruby, her birthstone, a cake to represent her love for baking, a gris-gris for protection, a cow to represent her Fula side and Freya, her favourite goddess. All of them miniature jewels.

She smiled, but her smile quickly disappeared when her eyes lay on a deep red, brocard paper wrap. It was the signature paper wrap of her uncle, the Lamido and her cousin Ameena.

She took a big breath and stared at her shaky hands; the mere mention of them still brings feelings of shame and helplessness to me.

She closed her eyes and whispered, “come on Izzy, you are safe, you are loved, you are strong. You are safe, you are loved, you are strong. You are safe, you are loved, you are strong.”

She threw the box on the floor and started stepping on it continuously. By the time she was done, her hands were shaking, her muscles had tensed up, her jaw was clenched, and she was panting.

She screamed in rage, “Aaarrgggg” until her head started spinning, then she let herself fall to the floor and placed her head between her legs.

Slowly her body relaxed, and her head was no longer spinning; she pushed herself up and walked to her bathroom.

She washed her face and went back to her room. As soon as she stepped in, a cloud appeared saying, “Meet me at the enchanted garden asap and keep it to yourself.”

Izzy shook her head, smiled, and rolled her eyes. There was no need to ask who the cloud was from “Thor”, she whispered while shaking her head.

Izzy stared at the light blue cloud, smiled, and burst it with her finger. She then took two flights of stairs down to the enchanted garden, their resident Mistry shop.

The resident witch, better known as Mistry in Yanar, had Izzy’s favourite in-house shop; boy, I love her boutique. When I have some free time, I should try to squeeze in some herbalism classes; maybe familiarise myself with the extensive array of plants and potions she has in her shop.

As soon as the Enchanted Garden’s door was in her sight, she let out a cry of frustration. Typical, no Thor anywhere. What is it with that guy? He is always late.

Crossing her arms, she leaned against the garden’s door’s wall. She had started to kick the floor gently when she heard stomping footsteps.

She raised her head and gasped, “H, what on earth are you doing here?” she asked with a big smile.

Hassan leaned forward, and wrapped his arms around her, “It’s good to see you, cousin.”

As happy as she was to see him, she was also surprised; the southerner that he is hates the north.

He loved his home region, Beka, with its warmth, fields of flowers, sandy beaches, beautiful mountains, and running free animals. The north, however, is in the arctic, with temperatures below -50 sometimes.

“It’s good to see you, too. But what on earth are you doing here?”

He raised one brow, smirked, licked his lips, and said, “Someone was in dire need of my .... uh, attention.”

Izzy pushed her head back, frowned for a few seconds, her face then relaxed, and she pouted “Yeah, sure, because all the boys are dead, and girls are desperate”

He laughed, licked his lips again, stroked his chin and said, “Ladies, go nuts for this face.”

She made a face, crossed her arms, and smirked. “Yes, in Hel and can you stop with the lip licking? It reminds me of hyenas. You are not even good-looking. The only moron who thought that you were is that goofy ex of yours.”

“Don’t listen to her cousin; she is just jealous. She wishes she were half as hot as you,” said a voice behind him.

Hassan turned around, and a big smile appeared on his face. “Thor”, he said, hugging his cousin.

“You are late, as usual,”

“Oh, get over yourself, Izzy. You are the queen of late arrivals,” retorted Thor.

“Oh, am I? And yet both H and I got here before you. “

Hassan let out a laugh and raised both his hands, “guys, guys, guys, come on, I didn’t come all this way to watch you two bicker.”

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Thor frowned, then scratched the back of his neck. “Hold on, what are you doing here? You hate Glacee.”

Izzy laughed. “that’s exactly what I said. Wait, if Thor didn’t know you were here, why did you come to the garden?”

Hassan ran his hand through his afro. “Well, the awesomeness in front of you is called to Messa, so I came down here to get a good luck charm from the Mistry.”

“Messa, bloody Hel, me too,” said Izzy

Thor added, “me three. I guess rumours are true; they have intensified our training. The war is not going well”

Hassan nodded. “Unfortunately. May Gaia protect us all. So, not knowing how long my assignment would last, I took the decision to come, say goodbye, and pick up a charm.”

He taped Izzy on the shoulder. “And now it’s your turn. What are you doing in front of a garden?”

She smiled and pointed at Thor with her chin. “Ask him.”

Thor smiled, walked past them, twisted the doorknob, and said, walking in, “Charmed, honey.”

Izzy and Hassan exchanged a look.

“Are you serious? There is no way the Mistry will have it in her enchanted garden,” said Hassan.

Izzy hit Hassan on the arm, “Never mind that; we can’t use it; it is frowned upon, and if we get caught, grounded we are until Ragnarok.”

Thor burst out laughing, “Oh relax, it’s not that bad.”

Hassan made a face. “Technically, it is not a big deal, but my father has already cut me off; I don’t need my mum doing the same.”

Thor shook his head, “Oh, for folly’s sake, I’ll cover your father’s allowance. Now shut up both of you and help me find it; this garden is a mess.”

Hassan’s face brightened, and he punched his fist in the air. “Yes, that is what I call ‘cousinly love’”

Izzy pressed her lips together, shook her head, and hit Hassan on the arm again. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

Hassan rubbed his arm. “Ouch, Izzy, what was that for?”

“Taking his money. He is your cousin; taking his bribe rather than worrying about the addictive effect of Charmed Honey on him is a big no-no.”

Hassan burst out laughing, “says the cousin with the largest fortune among us. I am not just going to take his money dear, I am keeping it too,” and he walked off.

Izzy sighed, pouted, and shook her head; the health ministry had classified Charmed honey as a mild narcotic.

It places the user in a state of euphoria; they can no longer feel fear, which in turn gives them the very misguided feeling of being invincible.

But at least there was a chance they would not find it, she hoped. Their Mistry’s Garden, packed to the ceiling with tiny little bottles, was gigantic.

Noticing that Izzy was not searching, Thor yelled, “What the Hel couz? I am finding this thing with or without you. Without you, we get caught and grounded; with your help, however, we have a chance to get out of here clean.”

She threw her arms in the air and then got to work

All bottles had a label on them, but it was not much help. They were four massive wooden display shelving units packed to the maximum, and most of them looked old and untouched.

“Guys, I am due to leave for Messa today. It is a three-day journey; I need to depart,” said Hassan.

Thor raised a brow. “What about your good luck charm?”

Hassan shrugged. “I’ll take my chances. Besides, I have a plan; pretend that my engine is malfunctioning, stay at the back and flee if we run into trouble. Voila”

Izzy burst out laughing, and Thor sneered, “You really are a special kind of creature. Fine, hide in the back. I, for one, much prefer to be on the front line, so no one leaves; I need that, honey.”

He looked at them, “and the fact that both of you are still here tells me you need the honey too.”

Hassan shrugged, “I won’t lie. I wouldn’t mind having some, but I don’t need it.”

“Neither do I; I am out of here,” said Izzy.

“Wait, guys, come on, we will be heroes. Izzy, you will have a statue made of gold and you, H, with a hero jacket on your back, you will finally stop being the laughingstock of the family. And me, it might help me be king one day.”

Izzy gasped and let out a giggle. “Bloody Hel, you must be really desperate if you are playing on H’s cowardness to get him to help you on top of the bribe you offered him. And, by the way, remember that a few people are in front of Ingrid, including me”

Hassan burst out laughing, “I am not even offended that you guys keep calling me a coward, but I am a smart coward, and I am out of here. Thor, I love you, but I love me more”

Thor shrugged; in Yanar, women inherit the throne because they are the mother of the land. However, if they have a female relative too young or unable to rule, they can take the role of guardian.

Thor’s sister has Down Syndrome and since their parents are dead, he is her legal guardian and the next in line to rule after Izzy.

“Please guys, I am begging you,” added Thor

Izzy shook her head, giggled, then made her way to the back of the shop.

One hour later, Hassan’s gaze finally descended on a green bottle with a Protea flower on it.

Izzy glanced at the antique nymph watch on a workstation, with his gold mechanism, wood, and beautiful green leaves, a favoured graduation gift item for top green witches.

She suddenly clasps her hands on top of her head and yelled, “Oh no.”

“What now?” asked Hassan

Izzy looked at him. “I missed my transport.”

Hassan bit his lips, squinted, and shook his head. “Why is the Yerima of the empire catching a lift from commoners?”

Thor laughed “Izzy has ditched the protocol”

Hassan’s eyes doubled in size. “Are you mad?”

She placed her hand on his shoulder “We are at war H, ceremony can wait”

“Fine, but I need to leave, or my father is going to kill me.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” said Thor, putting the honey in his pocket.

He then placed his hands on each of their shoulders and said, “We are the members of the Tens; who exactly is going to dare reprimand any of you? They are beneath us. Just tell them to shut it, and they will.”

Hassan frowned and shook his head. Thor’s attitude toward people he considered inferior to him scared him.

Izzy nuzzled his hand away. “Don’t be a mancrement couz, you are better than that,”. Mancrement was a wordplay on man/excrement; it was a name given to people who act unethically.

Izzy crossed her arms and said, “we will just have to take a craft.”

And so, they made their way to one of Izzy’s crafts, and the boys shared the honey.

Izzy turned to Hassan. “Are you sure you want to take some honey with you? Honey is not a good luck charm.”

He sighed and nodded. “Unlike you, Izz, I never wanted to be a soldier. Thor is right; I wasn’t born for combat.”

No one is cousin; no one is, she thought

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