Myrrh never finished her sentence. Whatever the terrible test consisted of, James would never know. Maybe it was a slaying a fire breathing dragon, or flying to the blazing sun, or fighting a million Earth-Born Misterians, but it was interrupted by an elegant lady Mysterian by the doorway.
"My daughter!" The lady snapped. "It is forbidden to speak of! You know that yourself! It would be injustice for one Earth-Born to know of it when a hundred others remain ignorant!"
"Mother," Myrrh swept herself into a humble curtsy. "You misjudge me, I would never dare to speak of it."
The aristocratic lady pursed her lips thoughtfully, then dismissing it, she turned to James instead.
"And you, brave young Misterian, we will always be in debt to you."
It occurred to James, that if this lady was Princess Myrrh's mother, then she had to be the Queen of Skyaira! And he was in their 'palace'! He could feel the aura of her raw power radiating from her where he was standing, petrified with reverence. Really, he wanted to bow, but his legs were too stiff with anxiety.
And an amazing thing happened! The Great Queen knelt before James, earning a stifled gasp from Myrrh.
"Mother!" Myrrh exclaimed in pure shock. "You bow before an Earth-born? The other pure Misterians will not be happy!"
"You ought to bow too, my daughter," the lady merely replied stiffly.
And in a second, Myrrh was on her knees too. James honestly didn't know what to do. At the moment, he currently had the Great Queen and Princess of Skyaira, bowing before him, claiming that they were in his debt. He flushed with embarrassment. He hadn't even done that much, just knocked out two men and got shot by the third, that's all.
"I didn't do that much," James muttered lamely. "I don't... deserve this..."
The Queen, sensing his discomfort, laughed and rose to her feet. "It was brave of you to risk yourself to protect my daughter. We are forever in your debt. Ask, and it will be granted."
That, only happened in fairytales. James stared at her dumbfounded, before the reality of that statement hit him like a ton of bricks. And immediately, he already knew what he truly wanted. He was sure of it.
Not anything cliche. Not gold, or silver, or bronze. "I want to go to Earth," he said without hesitation. "I want to say farewell to all my loved ones there for the last time."
"That..." the Queen trailed off and shared an uncertain look with her daughter.
"You have to understand," Myrrh said. "We Misterians live by very strict laws."
The Queen nodded sadly. "Earth... is not desirable to us, Misterians. There are only two rigid ways one can gain access there."
"Quests or Tests," James remembered, echoing Myrrh's words. "I understand. And I would like to participate in a Test then."
Silence. From the looks on his companions faces, it seemed as though James had just requested for a death sentence. Myrrh had buried her face into her hands in complete dismay.
"I see your determination," the Queen finally whispered. "Very well then. As Misterians, we value honour. We do not take to unfulfilled debts. So in return, I shall ensure that you are well trained for it at the very least."
"Thank you, My Queen," James smiled, hope spreading throughout him like wildfire. "It means more to me... than anything."
"Do not thank me, brave one." The Queen looked to her daughter. "Myrrh," she said, and Myrrh seemed to understand what she wanted. The girl grinned at her mother before nodding a curt nod towards him. Uh oh, that was the sort of look Nate had when he had just finished pranking some poor first year by the lockers. Not good news.
Without warning, Myrrh had grabbed James by the hand roughly, and was running. Running so fast that the world passed by in a blur. James screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. And despite the blindness, he felt the sensation of a soaring jump, and the realization that he was amid the freedom of the air. He was...
James opened his eyes to find himself off the so called the invisible supposed 'solid floor' by like... a few hundred kilometres. It was freaky. Yes, he had dreamt of flying many times, but when he said 'flying', he meant flying in a vehicle like an aeroplane or something, not being dragged by some crazy girl with wings through the air.
"WHAT THE HELL?" James yelled over the raging winds. "PUT ME DOWN!"
"Hell?" Myrrh asked confused.
"JUST BLOODY PUT ME DOWN!"
Realization dawned on Myrrh. And she giggled. "As a Misterian, you have to get used to this sensation."
"WHAT THE-" a gust of wind cut the curse off in mid sentence. "I wish I were human then!"
James must have said the wrong thing, for Myrrh's cheerful demeanor deteriorated fast.
"Which reminds me," Myrrh's face darkened. "I eluded it earlier... You may not like it... but I decided I must share this with you."
"YOU CAN TELL ME AFTER YOU PUT ME DOWN!" James screeched as Myrrh narrowly missed a couple of floating objects.
Myrrh ignored him. "Earth-borns... are mostly discriminated here..." she said quietly. "That is why your outright request to return to Earth just now... just do not do it in public."
"Discriminated?" James panted, interested. So the Misterians weren't just a whole race of brainless flying creatures. They operated like humans and had the ability to dislike. And they seemed to really really hate humans for some reason. That was news.
"Yes. Humans are pitiful creatures that have so much to learn. Honestly, I used to think that they were flightless demons themselves, only capable of destruction to themselves"
"Holy-" James breathed, suddenly forgetting about his fear of falling or crashing. "Do you... do you believe that?"
"No," Myrrh said. "After you rescued me, -it was an even greater disgrace- but I shall never feel the same about humans again."
For some reason, after hearing about an entire race of pure Misterians who hated him to the core, James just felt better hearing that. "Good," he said gently. "That's all that matters you know."
Myrrh smiled, but the smile faded fast. "Just... watch yourself. Besides being young and inexperienced, Mortal-born Misterians are believed to still have retained a fragment of so called 'earth-weakness' within them. They-... Well, you understand. Careful."
"Thanks."
James gulped, the hopes of visiting his loved ones (humans) on Earth was quickly fading. If they really hated humans that much, would they really allow him to trawl through a human infested area while not on an actual quest? Oh yes, that explained the Tests. They only allowed a small group to go... But even that was pretty lenient.
He suspected with a sinking feeling that the Tests probably were far from easy.
But it didn't matter. He would do anything to see his family and friends one last time.
James wasn't given time to speculate any further, as Myrrh had swept him upwards, high above the clouds, sending him screaming bloody murder as she spiraled gracefully through the skies, lugging him after her. It was only after a moment or so that James realized that despite his denials, he was actually thoroughly enjoying it. Not only that, but he actually wanted to try out flying with his own pair of wings!
"You must learn how to fly," Myrrh was saying in the background. "Misterians look down on those who cannot fly as well and respect those who can."
Really? This was going to be fun.
"Come, let me bring you somewhere," Myrrh abruptly said in mid flight, severing his train of thoughts.
He wondered where to now?
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