»If you don't want to give up, you'll force me to end the fight my way. I would have liked to spare the king and queen this humiliation, but you're giving me no choice.«

Trey grasps the hilt of his sword with both hands and raises it high above his head. The last ray of light of the day hits the tip and he lets it crash down on me.

Reflexively, I close my eyes and hold out my hands to him. Completely unconsciously, I suddenly feel my magic. It is still spread all around us on the battlefield and is bubbling inside me, waiting to be used. It urges me to set it free, to trust it.

But how can I trust it when it murdered so many men and women all those lunar cycles ago?

The empty eyes of my first bodyguard come to mind.

Can I control it when it is no longer trapped in its cage? I used to be able to, but it wasn't as powerful before.

»If you don't try, you'll never know,« I hear Lucca say to me.

»What are you going to achieve if you don't give it your all? You have to trust your magic or you'll never be able to fully control it. Fear has never helped anyone. Don't be afraid, Micah. I'm with you. Together we can do anything. I trust you. But do you trust yourself?«

My magic is bubbling. It's ready. And so am I. It will listen to me because I trust it.

The cage cracks, it weakens, and finally collapses. My magic greedily absorbs the remains. It spreads through my body at lightning speed, connects with every muscle, with every tendon, and takes its rightful place in my soul.

I feel it getting stronger, how I am getting stronger.

I can no longer hold it, it breaks out of me and spreads around me. It touches everyone present, seeps into the ground, and makes contact with nature and all living things of Aquilia.

But it doesn't do it alone.

It takes me with it, shows me our people, my people, in fast forward.

We build a connection to Aquilia that I broke off a long time ago when I locked my soul magic in this cage.

Together we return to the arena square and watch the spectacle from above. I could never have imagined what stretches out beneath us. If I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't be able to believe it.

Without exception, all of the spectators have jumped up from their seats, even my parents are standing in front of their chairs. Everyone is leaning as far as they can towards the battlefield so as not to miss anything. All of those who didn't get a seat are standing in a very small space at the two entrances to the sand court and are watching in fascination what is happening in front of them.

In the arena, small sparks of magic are falling down like snow in winter. Trey is standing completely frozen in the middle of the magical silver-blue snowfall and is trying to understand and take in his surroundings.

I myself, or rather my body, am standing in the middle of the arena. My braid has completely come loose and my hair is floating in gentle waves over my back. The skirt of my battle dress is blowing lightly around my legs. My body is completely surrounded by a silver-blue glowing magic field.

It reminds me of my encounter with Aurora. Like her, I seem to glow from within. But that's not all. To my right stands another girl, formed from my magic. Her appearance resembles me down to the smallest detail. But I know that it is not me, but my sister Lucca.

She is not on Aquilia, my magic showed me that. But I know where she is. Suddenly I am no longer floating above everyone, but am back in my body. I look next to myself and see my sister's laughing face.

»I will find you,« I whisper to her.

»I know. I'm waiting for you,« she answers me and nods.

Then she transforms. Her body, made of my magic, curls up. Her arms become claws and her neck gets wider. A blink of an eye later, my sister has disappeared and in her place is now the manifestation of a giant griffin, whose shoulders only end at mine.

He looks at me and suddenly I realize that he will listen to me. This is my magic that created him, that beats in him and that he is made of.

I direct my gaze and attention to Trey. The manifestation of my magic does the same. Trey is still frozen and trying to understand what just happened. Nothing is left of his confident look of victory.

My magic growls next to me and places a claw slightly forward. It will attack him as soon as I tell it to, not before. The audience is still staring at us, or rather at me, in shock and fascination. I wonder if anyone understands what just happened.

Slowly, my magic places one claw in front of the other and moves towards Trey. When it reaches him, it growls again and then slowly circles him, sometimes making a larger circle and sometimes a smaller one.

Still no one moves. The silence is oppressive. I decide that it is now time to end the fight. The griffin looks me in the eyes and I nod slightly at him. Then he turns to Trey and moves closer to him. A few centimeters away from him, she sits down and looks at him.

Sparks of magic float around us and bathe everything in a bluish-silver light. Trey takes a sharp breath. My magic opens its beak and runs its long tongue over the sharp edges.

I can't help but grin crookedly. The griffin opens its mouth and yawns gleefully into Trey's face. Then she stands up and suddenly runs her tongue over the troll's face. The troll stiffens and simply falls over.

He lies in the sand, his arms and legs stretched out, staring up at the sky. I walk towards him.

When I reach the huge animal, I put a hand on its side and feel the strong pulsing of my magic. It is the same power that I had locked up in a cage inside me for so long.

Now it is free and ready to show itself to everyone. To prove to everyone that I am not weak.

It will take a lot of training to fully control it again. But from today on I will work with it and no longer suppress it.

Together with it I will find my sister and bring her back home.

The griffin roars deafeningly loudly and wakes up our spectators. A few Lux begin to clap. At first hesitantly, but then more and more exuberantly, they celebrate my victory and the display of my sheer power.

Inwardly, I thank the griffin for his help and let him disappear. At the place where my hand is still on him, he is brought back into my innermost being and lies down again in his new sleeping place directly under my consciousness.

I also take in the sparks of my soul magic that are still floating around us. I feel how they unite with my soul and merge into one. My magic is no longer trapped in a cage, but is now a part of me and as such I perceive it very clearly. I will never find it difficult to use it again, but whether I can control it then remains to be seen.

I crouch down next to Trey's upper body and look down at his closed eyes. Maybe I shouldn't have exaggerated so much.

I reach out to him and let my fingertips gently wander over his cheekbones. I manage to break through his outer shell without any problems and look at his soul. I nudge them lightly and at the same time see his eyes jerk open.

Suddenly his upper body shoots upright, his forehead coming hard against mine. The sudden pressure causes me to slide away in the sand, so that I end up sitting next to my former opponent on the floor of the arena.

Amid the still thunderous applause of the spectators, there are a few laughs at our apparent clumsiness.

»Sorry,« Trey murmurs, embarrassed, when he sees me rubbing my forehead, where a slight throbbing is slowly spreading.

My magic is there immediately and stops the throbbing, pushes it in another direction and swallows it. The pain disappears as quickly as it came.

»It's fine. Nothing happened. I didn't mean to scare you like that,« I apologize to him.

»It's no big deal. I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against you,« he waves me off.

I'm taken aback.

»Really? But that sounded completely different before,« I ask.

Trey just shrugs his shoulders. »After the incident at the lake and what people generally hear about you, I wanted to see for myself whether the rumors were really true.«

»And? Were you able to see for yourself?«

Trey seems to disappear into his thoughts for a moment, but then concentrates on the here and now.

»Yes. I know now that our princess...« he clears his throat, »my future queen deserves my respect, my loyalty and my trust. That everything that is said about you is true and that I will never doubt you again.«

»Never again is a very long time,« I provoke him.

He shrugs his shoulders again. »And still not long enough.«

He struggles to get up and then holds out his hand to me. My own almost completely disappears into his, but he manages to pull me up without breaking it.

I brush some of the dust off my skirt as Trey takes a few steps back. I suspect he wants to leave the place as quickly as possible so as not to be embarrassed even more in front of his friends and family.

But what he does next surprises me even more. Instead of leaving the arena in a hurry, he bends his knee and bows deeply to me.

The bell that starts and ends the fight rings at the same moment that everyone present follows his example. As best they can, the spectators in the stands and at the edge of the arena bow to me, showing me their respect.

My gaze wanders over the bowed heads and finally rests on my parents. They nod to me and also lower their heads slightly, indicating a bow.

I feel respect, confidence and trust emanating from all of them. It washes over the stands and the playing field towards me in waves and threatens to suffocate me if it weren't for my magic.

It joyfully pounces on this positive energy as soon as it penetrates into my innermost being and absorbs it, unites with it and only becomes stronger as a result.

Unlike my magic, which seems to really enjoy this expression of emotion, I suddenly feel terribly uncomfortable in my own skin. I have never liked it when others throw themselves in the dirt in front of me because they think I am better than themselves.

That is probably also the reason why I cannot prevent what my body does next. I grab my skirt with both hands, pull it apart slightly, place one foot with the tip behind the other, sink a little to my knees and return the bow of my people.

They are not the ones who depend on me, but I am the one who relies on them. My bow is shorter than theirs and my upper body is turned towards my parents, so that it probably looks as if I am bowing to them.

But I let the Lux present feel my love and respect for them. My magic helps me to carry my message to the hearts and souls of my people.

I stand up again at the same time as my parents. The director enters the battlefield at the moment our people finish their bow.

She walks towards me with stern steps. A friendly smile is on her face that doesn't match the rest of her appearance at all.

Director Siz is an Amazon and as such she is very muscular. Her dark blue suit stretches over her arm muscles and at the same time emphasizes her impressive figure. Her brown hair is tied back tightly in a bun, which makes her look particularly scary. But there is a kindness in her brown eyes that hardly anyone can compete with.

Although she always has her hands full as director of the Phoenix Academy, her door is always open for us students. She always listens to our worries, needs and problems with a lot of patience and helps us to find a solution. Director Siz is very popular with the students, the employees and the parents.

»Princess Micah,« she greets me kindly as she reaches me. She bows briefly once more before finally embracing me.

»I knew you would win,« she whispers in my ear.

»Thank you.« I return her surprising hug with as much love as she gives.

She then lets go of me and grasps my left wrist with her right hand. She stands next to me and aligns us both with the seats of the ruling couple.

»I present the winner of the last duel of the second graders: Princess Micah, daughter of the Star Warriors.« With these words, she raises my left arm to the sky.

Again, thunderous applause breaks out.

My gaze wanders to Trey, who nods at me and slowly leaves the battlefield. Nobody seems to be paying attention to him. All the attention is on me, once again. But Trey doesn't mind. He's probably quite happy that he's no longer the center of attention. I would have liked to thank him for the good fight, but he's already disappeared from the arena and mingled with the crowd.

Principal Siz lets my arm fall again and addresses the audience, who immediately quiet down again and listen attentively to her. »That really was a breathtaking fight, the excitement of which could hardly be surpassed. I think I speak for all of us when I say that you deserve this victory, Princess.«

The audience begins to cheer again. You might think that they are slowly running out of steam, after all, this was not the first fight today, but the last. But at the moment there is no end in sight. Where they get the energy from is a mystery to me.

With a small hand gesture, the headmistress calms everyone down again and continues her speech.

»This was the last final fight of the second graders. Our judges will now withdraw and finish the evaluation letters. Your fight grades will be posted in the entrance foyer after dinner. Please remember that this is not your final grade. This also consists of the results of your theory exams. The tournament for the final grades starts tomorrow. You already know when and who you will fight against. Please arrive on time for the fights or you will be disqualified and your fight will be considered failed. It would be a shame if you were to fail because of such a trivial matter and have to repeat the school phase. You all have a great future ahead of you. Dear first-graders, today and yesterday you were able to see what awaits you in the next phase. Please continue to use the opportunity to exchange ideas with your older classmates. They already have more fighting experience than you and can certainly give you some tips on how you can increase your own potential. Dear second-graders, I thank you for your great and sometimes very exciting fights. Each of you showed what you can do. Please also use the opportunity tomorrow and the day after to attend the third-graders' tournament and learn from their tactics. I would also like to thank the parents, families and friends present for their support. You are cordially invited to dine at the Phoenix Academy again this evening. I don't want to keep you all any longer and will say goodbye to you for the time being. Go in the light of the Phoenix.«

With another bow to the royal couple and me, the director leaves the arena and goes back to the main building with the judges.