The general, accompanied by Erick, headed the new warriors on a tour of the academy, which would be their home for some time. They started with the warriors’ training grounds, a big part of which was a wide grass lawn. In the training grounds, a good number of warriors in their neat, military uniforms of the four colours and feathered hats were standing in lines, and once the eleven warriors entered the place, the emphatic beats of music started again. There were warriors in red uniforms like the warrior they met named Kaleo, there were others in light-blue ones like Erick, there were warriors in dark green like the general and others in navy blue. They looked very colourful yet very organised.

    ‘Are those the academy students?’ asked Andy.

    ‘No, they’re the guards of the fortress. Well-trained warriors that had graduated from this academy and came back to serve in it under the command of Captain Erick, who is here as a delegate of the king’s Security General,’ said General Harvey. 

    ‘Are these guards different from the ones in the brown uniform that we’ve seen outside?’ asked Leo.

    ‘Good question,’ said Erick. ‘The Brown Guards, as we call them, are regular Hozafians with no gift, the coloured uniforms are worn by gifted warriors. It’s worth noting that the Brown Guards are just guards but military officials with the gift of controlling the elements are the only ones whom we call warriors—even if their job is not very much different from regular guards.’

    The new arrivals watched as one of the warrior guards brought the rest of the formation to attention. ‘Arms,’ the guard shouted the command, the feathered-hat guards sharply raised their right hands, in unity, to salute them; an unofficial, one-time, courtesy gesture shown to the new ones on their first day at Zodia—a gesture that had, undoubtedly, managed to impress them.

    They moved to other parts of the fortress’s grounds through a long archway where there was another one of the fortress’s marvellous sites: the Fountains Yard. It was a big place and the most beautiful yard they had seen in the academy so far. The fountains yard was a rocky area, surrounded by several columns and thick bushes with odd-looking flowers, but the most important thing in that yard was the fountains that scattered all over it and gave the yard its famous name. There were more than twenty different fountains and each had a unique shape and all produced gentle, running currents of water. There were small round rocky fountains that looked like wells, with a gentle jet of water streaming from their middle. There were bigger fountains with upturned roofs, and there were huge fountains with statues of mermaids, lions, wails and girls carrying pails.

    Beyond the fountains yard, there was a big green area, in the middle of which there were four pigeon towers, on top of each one, there was a flag with a different colour. The pigeons that lived in those towers were messenger pigeons, according to the general, and they were practically the only means of communication of the remote fortress with the rest of Hozafia. Next to that yard, they were shown the stables where Zodia’s finest horses were, fastidiously, fed and groomed.

    After they finished viewing the open areas of the ancient fortress, the general led them inside the main building. From the very first step on the wide, marble stairs that led to the majestic doors of the headquarters building, they could feel how big that place was and how much it was treasured with history. The first thing they walked into was a huge hall with a high ceiling that opened to a cylinder tower, which they were told was known as the Western Tower. There, a tremendous, brass object consisting of ten, wide, metal, spiral rings of different sizes, which they assumed to be a chandelier, was suspended in the middle. It was probably lit by oil since there was no electricity, but with the morning light that filtered through the huge windows lining the hall and through the grimy skylight dome that crowned the hall’s entrance, there was no need for the chandelier. The entrance hall was lined by red carpets and decorative plants in clear contrast to the medieval stone surroundings.

    Among the other places they visited inside the building was the artefacts corridor, where the works of the most famous and the most talented of the Hozafian artists were displayed. There was a huge gallery with paintings of many members of the royal family (the only family that ruled Hozafia for more than a millennium). There were sculptures and some trophies. A section of the gallery also served as a library, but a library that, mainly, contained books about the Hozafian monarchs, as well as diaries of many kings and queens of the past. They also visited a museum for ancient swords; centuries-old swords that were owned by kings, generals and famous warriors of many achievements and heroic tales.

    ‘As you probably have guessed, Zodia was once a real fortress built for our eastern defence, but that was many many years ago,’ said the General. ‘It underwent many renovations throughout the years and now it serves as the academy for training new warriors.’

    After the long tiring tour, the warriors were shown their way to the mess hall, which was called the Leckerin after a famous food only served at the royal palace. The Leckerin was a big hall with stained-glass windows that were half-covered with thick, velvet, crimson curtains. Many small, square tables spread around the dining hall, and in the middle, there was a long rectangular one set for only them with a lovely tablecloth and candles. A big chair was placed at the head of the table for the general who invited the eleven warriors to have their seats too, and on his right sat Erick. The food was served by guards in brown; another strange-looking meal, but the warriors were too hungry to judge a meal by how it looked. After they finished devouring their food, which turned out to be delicious after all, they all walked out of the Leckerin feeling full and tired.

    The final site to be seen on their tour was the dormitories that were on the top two floors of the Western Tower. The first floor was for the boys and the one at the very top was for the girls. The tower floors were not very big but each contained three dormitories. Each dormitory was for the students of one of the three years. Inside, there were bunk beds for six warriors. There, the general and the captain were to leave them to rest before the big event that was to take place in the early evening.

    ‘Today is a day for celebrations,’ the general explained. ‘This evening will be very special. This evening, you are going to have the real jewel of your powers. Also, you’re going to meet with the rest of the students at the celebration.’ With that, the general and Erick left the worn-out warriors and went downstairs. Once they were alone, Leo jumped on the bottom bunk nearest to the window and relaxed.

    ‘And why do you get to choose your bed first?’ asked Andy as he took off his cloak and flung it on the top bunk next to the door. Leo closed his eyes and ignored the question. Andy frowned at Leo’s indifference for a while, but eventually, he too jumped on his bed and relaxed. The rest of the warriors took the remaining beds without arguing or even talking since they too were too tired to talk.

    All the events of their long day flashed in Leo’s mind before he slept. It took a few seconds for Leo to drown into a deep sleep, and all the day’s events seemed but dreams, and it seemed but seconds before he woke up to a voice calling.

    ‘Leo, wake up,’ said the voice. Leo opened his eyes and moved them about the place.

    ‘What a strange dream,’ he said, feeling one with his bed; every muscle in his body was too heavy to move. Still half-awake, Leo didn’t know where he was, and for a moment believed it was all a dream that his fiction-inspired mind had fabricated, but then, he saw Neil laughing.

    ‘I wish it was,’ said Neil, who was sitting on the bottom bunk next to Leo’s, trying to wear his boots. Everything returned to Leo’s memory. The Rest House, the tunnels, the chase and the fortress were all real. The entire dormitory was alive with movement; all the boys were making themselves ready on the lights of twelve lanterns. ‘Ah! Finally,’ said Neil once he saw that Leo was awake. ‘Get ready. We’re late for that party—I mean Celebration.’

    ‘What time is it?’ asked Leo as he sat upright and looked at the window—it was dark outside.

    ‘Seven-thirty,’ said Neil looking at his watch. ‘The girls have already gone down to the theatre.’

    ‘The theatre? They didn’t show us a theatre,’ said Leo.

    ‘Apparently, it’s the place where they celebrate certain events here, like initiations and graduations. A warrior came here and told us about that while you were sleeping. He also said that we must be down by seven-thirty, but we all slept in. Can you imagine? The girls got ready before we do.’

    ‘Well, I slept with my clothes on so I’m ready,’ said Leo who was even wearing his boots.