Chapter One

Behind Shamira's Closet

The sun was setting on the warm summer day. As usual the traffic spewed along the roads, horns honking as if they would somehow make each car in front of them disappear. People walked along the sidewalks going in and out of stores and buying food from the venders along the way. Arguments arose every now and then between the kids playing basketball. Of course there were the tormenting insults being exchanged between the two most likely people.

"God, you suck Bardia. How could you miss that shot?" A young sleek girl shouted from behind the caged courts.

"Oh sure, that's easy for you to say on that side. Why don't you come in here and say that girl?" Bardia shot back.

She rolled her eyes. It killed her knowing that she could beat him, of course though she could not let him know. It was not time for him to know who she was or who he was for that matter. She held on to the holes in the cage and continued watching him play.

"Hey Kella, this shot's for you cutie!" Bardia said and shot the ball while talking to her.

It wasn't much of a surprise for Kella that the ball went through the net with great ease. It was the one physical talent he possessed. She couldn't imagine how his training would ever go well if the only thing he could do was dribble and shoot a ball.

"Wonderful Bardia, now could you do something impressive? Like win?" Kella yelled back.

As he began to say another witty comment his voice was drained out by a different, more sensible voice.

"You shouldn't talk to him like that." The little voice said. It came from the small, butterfly like creature that seemed to always be around Kella.

"And why is that?" Kella whispered back to the butterfly like creature on her shoulder.

"Shamira Kella you know very well why not. That is the young master. You should treat him with the utter most respect."

Shamira made a face as her eyes rolled back. She sighed.

"Please Shaylee, until he knows he's my prince I'll do nothing of the sort. He's cocky enough as it is. The last thing I need is him knowing that I should respect him. Not that a fairy of your status would care."

"But . . . "

"Come off it." Shamira said as she knocked the little fairy off her shoulder.

As the fairy fell to the ground Shamira smacked it with her hand and sent her for an unexpected flight. Shamira laughed at her cruel act then turned to continue watching Bardia play. He was very good though she would never tell him. Though, as good as he was, he had a knack for getting hurt. While he jumped for a shot another player knocked into him. Bardia hit the ground hard. He clenched his teeth in pain.

"Ugh." Shamira grunted as she entered the court. "I'm still waiting to be impressed."

"Shut up Kella."

She knelt down by him and helped him back up. She helped him to the side and sat him down. She laughed at him to herself.

"Some great prince warrior." She said to herself.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Where does it hurt?"

"Just my ankle. I'm fine I just need to sit a minute."

"Yeah." She said placing her hands on his ankle.

She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Within seconds Bardia was playing again without so much as a thank you. It hadn't been expected for him to thank her. He didn't know what Shamira had done. Healing such a minor injury was child's play for anyone who knows how to heal. The boys continued to play their game. Every now and then a new comer would glance over at Shamira. It wasn't a surprise. She stood out from most people. Her chin length golden hair seemed to almost glow whenever the light hit it, especially the moonlight. Her complexion was by far much lighter than anyone around. Shamira was small, but had a solid formation, and she had never been a threat to anyone. Still, the most unique quality about the young girl who already stood out from everyone else was her eyes. People, mainly doctors seemed to dismiss them as blue probably because they'd never seen anyone with such blue eyes that they seemed violet.

Though, despite her unique appearance Bardia never seemed to notice her difference. It was like she was everyone else. He constantly described her as a normal plain girl.

Bardia didn't stand out from anyone. He was actually smaller than average height. His brown hair always seemed to be messy. He had dark green eyes, which was a bit unusual, considering the parents he knew both had brown eyes. Bardia didn't seem very muscular, but under the façade was much strength.

When the sun began to lose its summer's light the boys all began to scatter and go home. By the time the street lights where the main source of light it was only Bardia and Shamira left.

"Well how bout it kid you ready to call it quits?" Shamira called.

"Would you stop calling me kid! And no. I want to stay and play some more."

"But there's no one left. You gonna play by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself. You're here. How about playing a round with me cutie?" He teased.

She hated being called cutie.

"Please. There's no point in my playing." She said annoyed

"True. But if you just stand here in the middle it'll be just like you playing against me." He laughed.

Shamira felt her face begin to become red.

"Hold in you temper Shamira Kella. Don't lose it here." Shaylee warned from her post on one of the branches of the tree next to Shamira.

Shamira took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Would you relax?" She scolded her fairy nuisance.

"Oh come on Kella. Just a few shots then." Bardia called out.

"Fine." Shamira said giving in.

For the first time that day the two acted as the friends they really were. They goofed around for a little while joking and laughing as though they had never said a cruel thing to each other. They played for about an hour before they both became hungry.

"Come on let's get some food kid." Shamira suggested.

"Yeah. I'm pretty hungry myself. And don't call me kid!" He warned.

They started to walk to get something to eat. As they left the park Shamira didn't notice someone lurking within the shadows. It seemed to follow them for the next few blocks. Of course walking those few blocks Shamira and Bardia were at it again.

"I'm not saying that girls can't play. Just not against me. There's no girl that could beat me." Bardia had been arguing.

"Give me a break. You have no clue what I … I mean, what some girls are capable of."

"Look, just trust me on this. It doesn't matter how good they are; I'll make them look like amateurs. It's like me and you … "

"You and I … " Shamira corrected.

"Whatever. You and I. No matter what you do I can always beat you. I'm the boss and there's nothing you can do about it. It's nothing to be ashamed of its just the way it is."

Shamira stopped in her place mouth agate. She couldn't believe what he was saying. If he was like this without knowing he was really a prince, not just a prince but her master what would he be like then. When Bardia realized the dumbfounded look upon her face he laughed at himself.

"Oh my God." Shamira began to yell. "What is wrong with you? You have no idea what I'm capable of. Not a clue!"

"Shamira Kella control yourself please." Shaylee buzzed in her ear.

"Oh shut up you!" Shamira yelled at her.

"Um. What?" Bardia asked not knowing whom she had been talking to.

"Nothing. I wasn't talking to you."

"Okay then. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm I feeling alright! I can't believe you! What kind of warrior are you going to make with that attitude? I can't believe I'm stuck with you! You don't even know the half of it and you're already completely so so … oh I don't know!"

"Whoa Kella, calm down. It's not like I've never said that before. And, what the hell are you talking about?" Bardia asked.

He seemed also, to notice a bit of a change in Shamira's eyes. For a minute they seemed to be turning a different color. Some shade of red.

"Oh nothing! Just forget about it! Take care of yourself!" She screamed as she turned and stormed away.

She left Bardia completely clueless and flabbergasted. She had never reacted like that before. He watched her stomp away and it seemed to him that a little butterfly seemed to chase after her.

"Wow. It must be that time of the month." He excused her behavior.

Bardia kept on walking down the street to find something to eat. He, just as Shamira hadn't noticed the lurker in the shadows, which seemed now to be getting closer. Before long and when the streets were empty it ended up somehow in front of Bardia. Unfortunately Bardia didn't notice until it was too late. A short dreary looking boy stepped out from behind a bush and startled Bardia.

"Whoa kid. You can give a guy a heart attack doing that." Bardia said on impulse.

The boy seemed to smile at Bardia, grimly. The boy had deep black hair and the dark almost red eyes Bardia had ever seen.

"So this is the mighty Prince Bardia." He said. His voice made the hairs on Bardias neck stand up. There was just something so forceful about it.

"Well, um. Sure, whatever you say kid." Bardia replied beginning to walk by him.

The boy stood in front of Bardia again. "What the hell are you doing?"

He smiled again and placed his hand on Bardias shoulder and squeezed slightly. Instantly Bardia fell to his knees.

"Ahh!" He let out a quiet painful cry. "Let go of me!"

The boy released his grip and Bardia quickly threw his hand to his shoulder in order to rub out the pain.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I was really hoping that this would be some sort of a challenge. Oh well. At least I can have some fun." The boy said coolly.

He waved his hand in front of Bardia and he seemed to be pulled back to his feet. With all his might Bardia swung a fist at the boys face. He screamed out in agony when he made contact. It felt as though he had punched a brick wall. The boy laughed at Bardias pain.

"Pitiful. This is pathetic. Even I can't do this. It'll be like torturing a defenseless animal, poor little thing. Well, I'll just make this quick then." The boy taunted.

Hunched over on his knees clutching his hand Bardia looked up. He watched the boy reach for something on the side of his hips though nothing was there. In a blink of an eye the boys hand was grasped around the handle of was seemed to be a bright glowing sword. He raised the weapon above his head.

"I do wish this could have been more fun. But well, here's to a job well done . . . "

The boy said and he lashed the sword towards Bardias body.

He froze, glued his eyes closed and tried to prepare himself for immense pain and most likely death. But the pain never came. Instead his ears pounded by the sound of two metals crashing together. Bardias eyes flew open. The boys glowing sword had been stopped by another glowing sword.

"Over my dead body." Said a voice said. He recognized it. It was Kella's.

The new sword pushed the boy's sword back towards him. Quickly Bardia crawled out of the middle of the two. Turning around expecting to see the boy and Kella he was shocked. It was not Kella, at least to him. Standing there was a girl a bit taller than Kella. Her skin was much darker and so was her long hair, it was almost black. The eyes, the eyes were Kellas eyes; there was no mistake about that.

"Ah, so you must be the little prince's stooge. Sworn to protect him. Sworn to … "

"I know the deal Dima." She said coldly.

"So you know me? Have we met before? It's hard to keep track of all the silly little females I come across."

"Maybe you'd know me better like this."

The girl tightly closed her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them they had turned to a deep blood red, the same color as the boys. Dima's cool and confident face faded as his eyes widened almost with fear.

"Sh, Shamira Kella?" He asked rhetorically.

"You said you wanted some fun, a challenge? You got it!" Shamira yelled.

Immediately she charged towards him. Bardia had never seen anyone move so fast. The two locked blades and Dima was pushed to the ground. He was pushed so forcefully he slid a few feet along the ground. Bardia waited to see the girl run over but to his surprise she leapt from the very spot she had been in and landed right above the boy. Dima reacted as fast as he could and blocked her next blows successfully making her stumble a bit. Without delay he was back on his feet and charging toward her. She raised her sword and stopped him. Their swords clanged together as they swung at each other. Dima's fear began to increase. Shamira overpowered him here. Her strong blows kept knocking him off balance. He was pushed down to the ground just as Bardia was before. Shamira circled her weapon above her head and swung it down like an axe. The blade sliced through Dima's shirt and his skin, though not enough to cause major damage. Cowardly Dima rose to his feet and sliced the air. Bardia couldn't believe what he was seeing, but to make things worse Dima seemed to have torn the air as though it were a piece of cloth. Dima stared at Shamira.

"This isn't over." He yelled.

"Not by a long shot." She replied accepting the challenge.

Dima stepped into the tare he had made and disappeared along with the sliced air. Shamira placed her sword back in its place by her hip and it disappeared as though it had never existed. She turned to face the confused and frightened Bardia.

"Some all powerful prince." She said with a satisfied smirk.

She closed her eyes and began to whisper something softly. Wind encircled her body and before Bardias eyes the girl with Kellas voice began to transform into the Kella he knew. Her hair shortened and glowed again in the bright golden color. Her skin lost its color and even her body began to shrink a bit. And last the deep red eyes returned to the elegant violet they had always been. Bardia stared in complete shock for a few minutes. After a while he was able to get out a single statement.

"What the hell is going on?"

Shamira ignored Bardias plea for an explanation.

"Shaylee! Shaylee!" Shamira called for her.

"I'm here Shamira Kella. What's happened?" The fairy asked with concern.

"What happened? Weren't you there? You're always around when I don't need you, but when I do of course you're no where . . . "

"Can you just tell me what happened?"

"Dima, Dima happened. He came too early. He wasn't supposed to come until a month before Bardias next birthday." Shamira exclaimed.

"Shamira Kella, it was an estimated prediction. And only a year off which isn't so bad.

"He could have easily killed him. Bardia doesn't even know who he is. How . . . "

"Wait a minute please. Can you please explain what just happened, and why in the world are you talking to a butterfly?" Bardia burst.

"Oh you shut up please. Can't you see I'm trying to organize what's going on? You're not the only one a little confused here. You would think that everything was about . . . "

"SHAMIRA KELLA!" A deep voice scolded from behind her.

An attractive man dressed in dark robes seemed to have come from no where. At the sound of his voice Shamira shuttered and a sheepish look of guilt invaded her face which had gotten paler. She spun around, looked down at her feet and knelt down in front of the man. His hair was long and tied behind him. A few strands fell in front of his deep brown eyes. He held a wooden staff, which looked extremely old.

"M, Master Kimball." She sputtered out. "I, I didn't . . . "

"You didn't know I was there and so you felt it was necessary to scold your prince for something that doesn't deserve scolding, not even on Elam." The man named Kimball yelled harshly.

Shamira opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. She seemed to be searching for words.

"I, I'm sorry sir." She spat out.

"To me? Why apologize to me? You should apologize to your young master." He said, implying a demand.

Shamira tightly closed her eyes and swallowed hard, like all her pride was shoved into her mouth and she was forced to swallow. She took in a deep breath stood up and walked over to where Bardia was standing. Without once looking up or even daring to make any eye contact with him she knelt down.

"I'm sorry young master. Please forgive me." She forced out.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Bardia murmured.

Shamira rose still without looking up at Bardia. She became a bit more at ease now.

"Master Kimball, Dima came. He tried to kill Bar. . . "

Kimball gave her a warning look. She almost called him Bardia, which right now would not be acceptable.

"Um, I mean, he tried to kill Prince Bardia, sir. He came before the expected time."

"Yes, yes I know. I will say this one thing. Aside from your degrading vocal performance you displayed a very strong achievement by forcing Dima back. Good job."

"Thank you Master Kimball."

"As for Dima, well . . . "

"Wait a minute! Would someone please explain to me what's going on!" Bardia screamed.

"My apologies young prince. Come let us go somewhere we can talk." Kimball calmly said.

Kimball turned and led the way. Bardia turned and looked at Shamira in a way to ask what he should do. She nodded in Kimball's direction and he followed with Shamira close behind him. As they left Shaylee landed on Shamira's shoulder.

"See, I told you to treat him with respect." She told-you-so'd.

"Oh shut up." Shamira said annoyed.

"Well, all I'm saying is if you had listened to me –"

"Shaylee, would you just shut up."

There was some anger appearing on Shamira's face. Her hands, which were clinched in fists, began to shake.

"Shamira Kella. I believe this is something we worked on in your training. I seem to recall you despising the treatment for you temper. We don't need to jog you memory do we?" Kimball said matter-of-factly from up ahead.

He had stopped walking and stared sternly at her. He held his staff outstretched in his left hand. After this there was a new expression on Shamira's face. It seemed to be a bit of fright. Bardia had never seen her close to being even remotely frightened.

"No master. I apologize for the loss of temper. I shall work harder at controlling it."

They walked down a few streets and ended up in front of the building where Shamira and Bardia lived. In silence they went to Shamira's apartment. Inside it looked completely normal. Bardia had been there many times and never seemed to notice that her closet door was black. No other door in the whole building was black. Of course this was the door they stopped in front of. For a minute nobody did anything, then a golden glow shown from through the bottom of the door. This didn't seem unusual to Shamira and Kimball, however Bardia was almost entranced by it.

"Come on your majesty." Shamira grunted snapping him back to reality.

Although this wasn't reality as he knew it. In fact this was unlike anything he'd ever seen in his life. Behind the door, instead of a closet were what seemed to be woodlands. The new realm fascinated Bardia.

"What is this?" He asked in awe.

"This is our homeland young sir." Kimball said as he entered.

Bardia once again turned to Shamira. She stared back at him and fiercely pointed at him then inside the woodlands indicating she definitely wanted him to enter. He obeyed and followed after Kimball, despite the fact that outside the building was dark and foggy in here the sun was shining warm and brightly through the trees.

Shamira followed behind him and closed the door. From where they stood the door had completely disappeared. They walked to a clearing and Kimball sat down. Shamira quickly did the same thing.

"Have a seat, kid … oh uh, Sir." Shamira corrected herself quickly looking at Kimball making sure he wasn't reaching for his staff.

Bardia didn't move. In fact now it seemed he was becoming very irritated.

"Wait a minute! What's going on? Where is this? Who are you? And what do you mean our homeland?" He began to demand at Kimball.

Shamira sat back against a tree. She was, for a moment relieved that most of the attention had shifted off of her. Kimball straightened himself up. He cleared his throat and seemed to be searching his mind for a place to begin.

"If I may begin young sir, this may be hard for you to accept. You see, you're not of earth."

"Not of earth. What the hell does that mean?" Bardia asked abruptly looking over to Shamira for an answer.

"You were not born here young sir." Kimball answered instead.

"Yeah, I'm lost. So what? You're saying I'm an alien?"

Shamira sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Bardia it's not hard to understand, but a bit difficult to accept. You see you weren't born in the realm of earth that you are aware of. This is the country of Elam, a sort of other dimension of the earth you know. Just like in earth there are other countries, only here there are different depths to the world."

"Right." Bardia said, completely lost.

"Young sir, what Shamira mean's is there are species here that are only fantasy in the world you know. The main thing you need to know for now is that the realm of the living and the realm of the dead co-exist here."

"You mean like ghosts?" Bardia asked.

"Something like that. You've heard of demons? Just like with the living, some are good, while others, well, you get the point." Shamira finished.

"So you're, what more advanced here or something?"

"Not so much more advanced. You see we don't use your technology here. We just use our resources in a way beings in earth cannot." Kimball explained. "In earth only ten percent of their brains are used. Here we use portions of our brain that are much more in depth then others. We can use our abilities to control our surroundings…" He stopped when he noticed the quizzical look on Bardias face.

"Kid, it's like magic. Watch."

Shamira stood up. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Bardia watched as the wind began to pick up. Her eyes opened and Shamira pointed her hands at Bardia. All of a sudden it seemed that all the wind was being sent directly as Bardia, but instead of pushing him back, he rose off the ground softly. He looked horror-struck as he floated in midair.

"What the hell! Let me down! LET ME DOWN!" He yelled in a panic.

"Okay, okay." Shamira said.

She let her hands fall to her sides and the wind immediately stopped. Bardia fell to the ground. She couldn't help laughing. She stopped quickly when the hard wooden staff made contact with the back of her head.

"Ow!" She yelped in pain as she grabbed the back of her head. A sudden rush of fear flooded her body and she removed her hands from the back of her head just in time. Kimball had swung the staff again, but retreated when her hands were moved.

"SHAMIRA KELLA! THAT WAS COMPLETELY AGAINST … "

Kimball's shouts were stopped.

"Whoa, that was amazing! Can everyone here do that?" Bardia asked picking himself up.

"Excuse me? Oh, well, no, not that. Shamira can manipulate the wind. That is her birth ability. Everyone is born with a birth ability. Some can manipulate the wind, other use fire. It all depends on your blood line." Kimball told Bardia letting go of his moment of anger.

"Why are you calling her Shamira?"

"It's my name, Shamira Kella. Kella is a name more suitable in earth."

"Oh. And you are?" He asked Kimball.

"I am Lord Kimball, the leader of the realm of warriors. Sort of the leader of Elams army if you will."

"But you're her master? You taught her and all?" Bardia asked.

"Yes. Yes, it was me who taught her and many others what they know, just as I will teach you young sir."

"Young sir? Why do you keep calling me this?"

"Because you're the Prince of Elam. Prince Bardia, son of Adelio."

"Whoa! I'm royalty? I'm a prince?"

"Yes young sir. You are our prince."

"So why was I sent to earth?"

"For your protection." Shamira said. "You see, just like in earth, there are wars here. Unfortunately for us, our war is with the dead and those who have betrayed us."

"People fighting with the dead? Why would they do that?" Bardia asked.

"It is better to walk beside the devil then in his path. So long as they serve the demons, they are immune." Shamira said staring at the dirt.

"And why are the fighting?"

"Why are there ever wars? For more power. The King of the Realm of the Dead, Morrigan murdered King Adelio to take over the land of the living."

"Murdered? And this, Adelio, he, he was my father?"

"Yes. When you were first sent to earth. Your mother, died while in child birth, your father was killed three weeks later. It's why you were adopted in earth."

"Oh." Bardia answered.

He paused for a moment to reflect on what he had just been told. He was an orphan prince from another dimension. Somehow, he didn't feel as upset as he felt he should. It seemed to all click inside somewhere.

"So why was I being protected?" He asked.

Shamira didn't answer. She just looked around at Kimball waiting for him to answer this question.

"Well you see, an arrangement was made between a god and goddess over a thousand years ago. Before that each realm co-existed peacefully, helping one another in times of need. Until one king felt he did not need to share rule. King Dilios of the living world feared the demon world taking over his kingdom and declared war. These wars have been waging ever since. The prophecy was made between Nemesio and Uma, the god of vengeance and the mother of the gods that the prince born of the stars would restore peace. However, Nemesio cursed the arrangement. He made it so the prince of stars had to reach his twentieth birthday and claim the thrown. Your mother, Prince Bardia, is Isis, the goddess of the stars. You are the prince of the stars. Once he got word of your existence Morrigan would have sent assassins. We sent you to live in earth under the care of a warrior."

"Warrior?" Bardia asked.

"Yeah, that's me. You know the one that's always gotten you out of trouble."

Kimball shot Shamira a look and she quickly stopped talking and stared at the ground.

"The problem is Morrigan has already found out of your existence. It was predicted that they wouldn't know for another year. And still it would take a month or so to find you. The warrior who attacked you before was Dima, the adopted son of Morrigan. It was a surprise to see him already."

"So they want to kill me? That creepy guy wanted to kill me for being someone I didn't even know I was?"

Kimball nodded in agreement. Bardias face seemed to grow darker. There was no question about him believing. It'd be much harder to believe had there not been another world on the other side of Shamira's closet.

"I know this is much to absorb. It wasn't meant for you to find out in such a harsh manner." Kimball said, breaking the silence.

"So, what do I call you? And you, I've known you only as Kella. Am I supposed to call you Shamira now?" Bardia asked ignoring the previous statement.

Shamira opened her mouth the answer, but was beaten by Kimball.

"You may call her whatever you wish to address her by. You, as you now know are the prince."

Bardia seemed pleased. Before he had a chance to say anything there was a slight rumbling noise. Preceding the unexpected attack by Dima, Bardia and Shamira had been on their way to find food. The both were still hungry. Kimball reached into the small pouch that hung from his side. He pulled out a vine with what looked like grapes on it, only they were nothing like the grapes Bardia had ever seen. Instead of green or purple the outside was hot pink. Shamira didn't look remotely surprised by the odd colored fruit. Instead she look completely excited. As soon as Kimball's arm was stretched she snatched them from him. She took a bite with her eyes closed. A soft 'mmmm' was the only noise that filled the air. Now the fruit was even more peculiar. Shamira had bit the fruit in half and the inside was glittering. Kimball interrupted her moment of peace with a disapproving grunt. Shamira opened her eyes and he stared at her crossly then pointed his head towards Bardia. There was a definite hesitation, but only for a moment. Shamira reluctantly handed the food over to Bardia, who didn't seem as excited to receive the food as Shamira had been.

"Umm…"

"Go ahead eat. They're good." Shamira assured.

Bardia slowly raised one to his lips and took a bite. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted. The fruit was the perfect amount of sour he always liked. And even though they had been in Kimballs pocket they were soothingly cool. The juice was plentiful with each bite he took and the most refreshing liquid he'd ever had. There was one thing he couldn't understand. He'd always loved sour food, but Shamira never had.

"I don't get it." He started with his mouth stuffed full of the fruit. "You hate things that are sour. Why do you like these things so much?"

"They don't taste sour to me. To me they're sweet. And they're called trifes."

"And why do they taste different to me?"

"They take the taste of the eater. Whatever flavor you like best is how they taste."

"Oh. Well okay. Guess you can't argue with that."

Bardia ate until he was full. He then handed the vine back to Shamira who ate the rest. The sun had begun to fall by the time they had each had their fill.

"I think it best to camp here tonight. It will be too hard to travel by night, it's difficult to sense enemies." Kimball suggested.

"Whoa, wait a minute. What do you mean camp? And why would we be traveling? Where are we going?"

At first no one said anything. Shamira rudely spoke first.

"We have to get you home your highness."

"Shamira." Kimball said warningly. "Young sir. It is time for our journey to begin. We must get you to the kingdom safely. It will take much time to travel by foot…"

"Hold on! No one said anything about going anywhere! I don't want to leave my friends behind! That's my life back through that door!"

"No, Bardia. Your life is here. This is where you belong. This is your place. Your destiny." Shamira said sincerely. Kimball didn't even scold her after addressing him so informally. "I'm sorry. We can't go back now."

"You mean, we can't go back? Ever?"

"Not through that way. There are other doors. We can't travel by magic anymore. You're not strong enough yet. And it's safer by foot. Anyone following us can be sensed that way and anyone appearing by magic, there's a glow before they appear." She explained.

"Where are we going?"

"To the kingdom. You must claim the thrown of Elam. It will take months to get there. While we are traveling you will be trained. You will learn how to control and manage your birth ability. Master Kimball will train you, as he trained me."

There was more silence. The new responsibility of saving another dimension was a bit much to handle. The sun was gone now. It was much later. Once again Kimball broke the silence.

"We need to rest now. Here." He raised his staff and pointed it towards Bardia. He had been wearing a T-shirt and jeans, not comfortable to sleep in. A warm fog seemed to engulf him and when it settled he had on sweat pants and a white shirt similar to the top of the robes Kimball was wearing. As Bardia was admiring his new outfit Kimball had done the same for Shamira. He then pointed his staff to the empty space next to Bardia and a large tent appeared. Inside had a big comfortable bed. Next he made one for himself. In between the two tents after he pointed his staff, only a cot and blanket appeared. Shamira looked at him with disbelief.

"You walked away. You lost your temper and left the young prince alone and vulnerable."

That was all he said. Shamira huffed to herself as he raised his staff one last time. A warm roaring fire appeared.

"Rest now. Everyone. Sleep well. Both of you." Kimball said.

He bowed slightly to Bardia, turned to Shamira who knelt down to bow, and entered his tent. Bardia and Shamira stood in a brief awkward moment. Without saying anything Bardia went into the tent. A few minutes later Shamira welcomed herself inside as well.

"So. Guess this all came as a bit of a blow, huh?" She began.

"Well, yeah, I guess you can say that. I just don't believe you've known all this time and never said anything."

"Well, I couldn't. It was never my place to tell you before the right time. But if you ask me I don't think anyone ever really knows the right time. I'm sorry kid, I really am. This is a huge burden. I carry one myself." She said smiling slightly. Bardia returned the smile.

"So you could come here anytime you wanted to?"

"No. I haven't been here in nineteen years."

"Wow. But, you're only two years older than me. How do you remember all this? And when were you trained?"

"Ah yes. I was waiting for that one. Time is different here. I've actually been around for 47 years and technically speaking in comparison to others I'm still a child. I'm actually 26 years older than you are. I was 26 when I left."

"Oh. Well then you basically left your home for me?"

"You can say that."

"It's just so weird. All this time there was a portal to another dimension right in the building I've lived in my whole life just waiting for us to walk into. Well, I guess that's better then, I dunno, falling down a well or something."

"Um. Yeah okay. Um, how do you feel about all this?"

"I dunno really. Its sort of crazy. For some reason though, it just seems to fit. I do feel like I belong here." He paused then smiled deviously. "And you know, I am a prince. I always knew I was meant for greatness. And now you have to do what I tell you to. I'm pretty sure I could live with that eh?"

"Ugggh. I knew it. I always knew it! Thank goodness you didn't know earlier! You'd have been unbearable! I can't believe that after everything you'd be this way! Actually whom am I kidding? Of course you'd be like this! In fact, well, um, you know what! I'm going to bed! Goodnight my almighty prince!" Shamira ranted and stormed out.

She mumbled obscenities until she was tucked under the blanket on her cot. Kimball chuckled from inside his tent. Shaylee shook her head in disapproval.

"Oh! I've told her time and time again to treat him with respect!" She complained.

"Shaylee, Shamira has a temper. She has a good heart. She deserves much more than she has ever received. She means well, always has. There is much anger inside of her. One can't really blame her. She's been through quite a lot in such a sort span of life."

"But Master Kimball, you yourself discipline her for such behavior."

"Of course I do. That's my job. I don't enjoy scolding her, or punishing her. It's especially because I see what's within the hostility. She has to face her fears and anger. It's a burden she's lived with all her life. Something, which I only wish, I could rid her of. But, it is who she was born to be. Now Shaylee, like them it is time to rest." Kimball rested his head upon his pillow and the group slept under the moonlit sky, with only the sounds of the crackling fire in the still of the night.