Celestia stood in the middle of the throne room before six of her companions. Casandra and Karmen were still resting and recovering. Graham, standing between Aragol and Elmar, had a linen cloth wrapped around his face with a small hole over his mouth to breath, drink and eat and a slit for his eyes. She eyed him worriedly, hoping he would recover well. Boog had his head down in shame and was avoiding Celestia's gaze. Captain Habon stood on one side of the room as a fox and lizard stood on the other and King Mevon sat on his throne, surveying it all. Standing beside Celestia was Yzara.

Victoria was staring at the owl woman with her mouth slightly agape. She had been overwhelmed by the sight of the bipedal animals and had asked Aragol repeatedly if he saw what she did and even after he had assured her that he did she didn't completely believe him. Now with most of her friends with her seeing what she did she couldn't doubt it anymore. There were actually talking animals standing on two legs in front of her.

"Your coming here is of no coincidence," the owl woman said. "With you came Celestia and I believe that with her power we can stand a chance at surviving this most dangerous and dire situation."

"What power is she talking about?" Victoria asked Celestia, snapping back to attention. "What are you hiding from us?"

Celestia shrugged.

"She is hiding nothing," said the owl woman. "I, Yzara, Champion of Holaar, can sense it inside her. She has it, even if she has never used it before, and it is impressive. It will help us but I will need to train her to use it first. I haven't much time to do that but I will do what I can."

"What do you need from us?" Aragol asked, folding his arms over his breastplate.

"Nothing, truly. I only wished to advise you that Celestia will be with me for a time."

"We have a most important task to complete, Champion Yzara," Aragol said with a frown. "I understand the gravity of your situation but if you prevent us from fulfilling what were brought here to do then it will matter little if your current predicament is resolved."

Yzara narrowed her golden eyes. "Speak plainly."

"There is an anchor here," Aragol explained to her. "Its form is unknown to us but I know that it is in a grand temple deep into the desert. The force we are destined to stop is unlike any threat you have ever experienced. It threatens all life everywhere. Every minute we waste increases its chance of freeing itself and running amok throughout the universes. Once it is free there is no chance at all of stopping it. We need to get to that temple—all of us."

"The only temple deep in the desert near here is the Temple of Rankoor," said Yzara. "It is the very place I am taking Celestia. It seems our paths are the same. I had not planned on any company but perhaps with familiar faces around Celestia will be more at peace and her training will go more smoothly. You are welcome to come along if you wish. Trust me when I say I have no ill will towards any of you."

Aragol nodded. "I believe you, Champion, but what of our other companions?"

The lizard off to the side spoke this time. "The injured one is recovering quickly. She should be ready to depart immediately if you wish her to join you."

"And you are?" Aragol asked with eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"He saved Casandra," Elmar explained. "His name is Grig and he's a healer. Beside him is Lead Ranger Elenia. They saved us from Durn and his two allies. You can trust them...well, at least Grig. Ivory doesn't like Elenia too much."

"She's kind of a bitch," Ivory said, glancing at Elenia sidelong. The fox hardly paid her any attention.

"So it is settled then?" Yzara asked, getting back to matters at hand. "The eagles will be ready in a few minutes. You may refresh yourself in the meantime." She bowed to them and then walked across the room to speak with the king.

Celestia watched her go for a moment and then ran to her friends. She leapt into Victoria's arms and they hugged tightly, overjoyed to be together again. "I was so worried I'd never find you again. I thought you had been taken somewhere else." She pulled away and then eyed at Graham's wrapped face. She gave him a hug as gently as she could and he did the same. He mumbled a few words but immediately winced and remained quiet.

"Looks like Grig might need to look at you, Graham," Elmar said to him with an encouraging smile. "If he can bring Casandra back from the brink a broken face shouldn't be too much work for him. Come, I'll take you to him." Graham nodded and let Elmar lead him to the side of the throne room where Elenia and Grig stood.

"It's my fault he's that way..." Boog said quietly, eyeing Graham across the way. "I...was the one who hit him..."

Celestia frowned and poked his chest with her tiny fingers. "Stop it, Boog! You were under a spell or something. It wasn't you. No one is invincible and you need to realize that."

Boog looked away from her but didn't argue.

Ivory moved off to the side where a table of refreshments awaited and took a long gulp from a cup of water. She eyed the trays of food and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Most of the snacks consisted of large, dead insects prepared in various ways. She spotted some slices of meat and, trying not to think where they came from, took a few and munched on them. She liked the taste and had a few more. Aragol joined her and picked up a large, stuffed beetle. He raised an eyebrow skeptically, brought it up to his nose, and sniffed it a few times. Shrugging, he took a crunchy bite out of it and Ivory turned away, gagging. She glanced back at him and to her horror he continued to eat it, as if he actually liked it.

"You're disgusting, Aragol," she said, struggling at preventing her stomach from flipping over.

Aragol finished the last of the fist-sized beetle and licked his fingers. "That was actually quite delicious. You should certainly try one, Captain."

"Not a chance! I'll stick to my meat slices..."

Captain Habon approached and nodded to them. "I can understand the insects may not be to everyone's liking but I agree that everyone should try the rat sausage. It is spiced to perfection."

"Rat?" Ivory asked in horror, her face paling. "Are your rats large rodents like in my world?"

"Yes, precisely!"

With a hand to her mouth she hurried away, quickly finding a large vase and emptying her stomach contents into it. She coughed and heaved, emptying it thoroughly.

Aragol tried a slice of rat sausage and widened his eyes in delight. "You are right! This is spectacular! This is unlike the rats I grew up having to eat. Had they been this delicious I doubt they would have been so easy to find."

Captain Habon smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you...sir..."

Aragol extended a hand. "High General Aragol Silversheen."

The cheetah in leather armour clenched his hand and shook it. "Captain Habon."

"Remarkable that a handshake seems to mean the same thing in different worlds, don't you think?" Aragol remarked.

"Remarkable indeed!" After letting go of Aragol's hand he grabbed two snacks from another plate. "Would you like some honeyed tarantula?"

"Yes please!" Aragol answered enthusiastically, gladly taking one of the large, glazed arachnids and eagerly biting into it with a loud crunch.

****

The eagles took off from one of the landing platforms jutting out of the side of the Jewel of Fire, two riders to each one. King Mevon looked on with his arms clutched behind his back. Captain Habon stood beside him, watching the gigantic birds disappear in the distance.

"Prepare the army, captain," King Mevon told him. "If Yzara's attempt fails to subdue Nilepyt I will need the army to slow it down while I get the rest of our people into the Jewel. Ensure that they understand their purpose."

Captain Habon nodded. "They are ready to sacrifice themselves for the good of all Moharans. Not a one will shy from their duty. You have my word."

King Mevon put a scaly hand on Captain Habon's shoulder and eyed him directly. "Your loyalty and strength will be sorely missed, captain. I wish it did not have to be this way."

"As long as the Moharans have lives to live and you to lead them I will know that my life will not have been surrendered in vain, my king. My men and I have prepared for this day our entire lives. We will not let you down."

King Mevon nodded and smiled. "I never had any doubts."

****

Slicing through the air like feathered knives the eagles sped over miles of sand dunes at an incredible rate. The riders aboard them held their bodies low and clutched tightly to the leather straps wrapped around the eagles' chests. Those seated behind the lead rider held on to the rider before them or to some feathers with all their might.

Yzara rode no eagle and instead soared above them all with her white wings spread wide. She was much smaller than the eagles but she stayed at pace with them nonetheless. Flying over the eagle Celestia held on to, the only one with one rider, she poked her back gently with a finger.

"Celestia!" she called out over the sound of rushing air. "Now would be a good time to practice!"

Celestia looked up at Yzara as she flew just a few feet above her and shook her head. "I don't know what training you're talking about! What do you want me to do?"

Yzara beat her wings down and brushed some feathers against Celestia's body. "I want you to fly with me!"

"I am flying with you!"

"No! I want you to fly with me!"

Celestia didn't understand. "You're not making sense. I don't have wings like you do. I can't fly."

"You can't right now but I can show you how!"

"What?!" It was difficult hear her over the flapping eagle wings, rush of air and her racing heart.

"I can show you!" Before Celestia could speak Yzara dove, grabbed Celestia's arms, wrenched them away from the eagle's holding strap and shoved her off of it. Cries of protest and alarm came from her friends atop the other eagles but with a sharp cry she ordered the eagles to keep flying straight and they did so, despite the riders' efforts to turn them around.

Meanwhile, Celestia fell through the air, looking up at the eagles and her friends receding away as if they didn't care for the fact that she was plummeting to her death. Her dress flapped loudly and her golden hair screened her face and she should have been screaming but she wasn't. For a reason she did not know she felt at peace, as if the air brushing against her skin and body was something she should enjoy. She twisted her body around so she looked at the ground and felt her cheeks being tugged against the sides of her face and her body almost felt massaged by the air it was passing through. The eagles had been thousands of feet high thus the ground was yet still far away but it was approaching quickly. Still, she was not afraid. The freefall felt liberating in a way. All the petty worries that had once plagued her mind were vanished. Her mind was put at ease and she had never seen the world through the eyes that saw it now. Far in the distance she could yet see the floating Jewel of Fire and the dark line below it that was the city of Akamar. The dunes reminded her of the waves splashing on the surface of the lake she had grown up beside. Everything appeared so beautiful. She closed her eyes and let the air pushing against her body relax her and relieve any tension she still held inside.

Diving alongside her but slightly above was Yzara, watching closely. She had noticed the lack of fear immediately and hoped it had been for the right reason. She did not want Celestia to reveal herself as secretly suicidal and simply accepting that her death was near. She glanced down and saw the ground rapidly approaching. They were only a few hundred feet away now. If Celestia didn't act soon she'd have to save her.

"Fly, Celestia!" she called out to her. "Fly!!"

Celestia heard her voice and glanced to her left, only just now realizing that Yzara had been there, and felt her face go pale. She didn't know what to do or how she could make herself fly. She eyed the ground, all too close now, and flapped her arms but nothing happened. She just kept falling. "I can't do it!" she yelled. Realization that she might actually die in a few seconds gripped her tightly and she screamed in fright, terror taking a hold of her. The summit of a gigantic sand dune rose up to greet her and she thought she was done for but at the last moment she felt herself get shoved aside and pulled upward slightly before being let go to fall again. She hit the side of the dune painfully and rolled down it, kicking up sand and flipping end over end. When she finally reached the bottom and stopped moving her hair was a mess, her entire body ached, one her arms hung limply at her side and she coughed up a mouthful of sand. She heard Yzara land beside her.

"It's just dislocated," she said, detecting her injured arm. Before Celestia could resist she grabbed her arm and popped it back into place.

Celestia screamed in agony and shut her eyes as tears streamed down her face. "Why did you try to kill me?! I thought you were someone I could trust!" She sat up, groaning and moaning in pain, and rubbed her newly refitted shoulder. "I told you I couldn't fly..."

Yzara crouched and sighed. "I know. I...I know you can, Celestia, but usually all it takes for one of my kind to spread their wings and soar is a little push. I thought I could at least get you to do that..."

Celestia frowned and pointed at her back with her thumb. "Do you see any wings on me?! I'm not your kind so why did you think I would be able to fly? I'm not going anywhere until you explain yourself!" With that she crossed her arms over her chest as she sat on the sand and waited.

Yzara sighed and gazed into the sky, witnessing one of the eagles flying toward her. It was Celestia's, having sensed her distress, and was coming to inspect. She looked down at Celestia with her blonde hair in total disarray and her blue eyes glowing. "Did you ever wonder why the eagles come to your aid? They came to you when you first arrived here and they came to help you when King Mevon frightened you. One is coming now, as we speak. You have a connection to them. You have a connection to all birds—even I, a hybrid. You can speak to them, even if you don't realize you're doing it. You can hear them too but you haven't achieved that skill yet. I believe it is because deep down inside of you is a second self, an avian self. Have you ever experienced anything strange when you're around birds?"

Celestia shrugged and took a moment to think. "Well...there was this crow..."

"Ah, so you have! Good. That means your abilities are beginning to take shape. I worried you may be too young yet."

Celestia still didn't understand. "So how can being able to communicate with birds mean that I can fly on my own?"

Snapping her foot at Celestia's neck so quickly the young woman had no time to react, Yzara slammed her down the ground. Her four talons stabbed the ground around her neck, two on each side, and slowly began to tighten their grip on it. Celestia looked up at Yzara with pleading eyes, wondering if she had grown frustrated with her questions or if she had been wanting to kill her all along. She gasped for air but little came. She grabbed Yzara's leg with her hands and tried to pull it off but she wasn't strong enough. She kicked her legs but they flailed uselessly, hitting nothing. Dots began to form along the edges of her vision and her head pounded painfully. She gasped again as tears rolled down her face, splashing on the sand and darkening it as it quickly absorbed the water.

When all seemed lost, when Celestia was about to give up and let death take her, she heard a voice inside her. It was faint and spoke a language she was unfamiliar with. She held on to it, drawing strength from it, building courage from its strange words. She felt a rush of warmth flow throughout her body and her fingers began to tingle. She eyed at Yzara and the owl woman's eyes widened. Celestia saw her clearly with vision sharper than she had ever experienced before. She could hear Yzara's heart beat in her chest and the rapidly approaching eagle flapping in the distance. She felt the tips of her fingers pulsate and burn and she looked down as they gripped on Yzara's leg. Where her nails had been curved talons shot forth and dug deep into the owl woman's leg, making her utter a cry of pain. Celestia let go of it, shocked at what was happening to her, and got up to her feet, breathing in a great lungful of air. She eyed her talons and a strand of hair fell over her eyes. She blew it aside but then gasped as she noticed that it was corvine. She grabbed more tresses of her normally golden hair with her clawed hands and they were all the same. They had all turned pitch black. She stood up, terrified at what was happening to her and looked at Yzara with wide eyes.

"What did you do?!!"

Yzara, limping on one leg, managed a smile. "I awakened your second self. I had a suspicion there was more to you than what I initially saw. Now...it appears that I am correct."

Celestia opened and clenched her clawed hands, her chest heaving from the shock of the transformation, and then winced as pain began to build around her back. It increased to unbearable levels and she fell to her knees, her hands in the sand and her head bowed as her black hair hung around it like a veil. She screamed when newly appeared growths on her shoulder blades bulged and then ripped out from her back and dress. They stretched out, revealing themselves as two, long fleshy appendages. Within moments feathers began to grow along their lengths and long flight feathers jutted out from underneath them. Celestia whimpered during the painful transformation but when it was complete she looked up and discovered that two great, black wings now sprouted from her back. She eyed them with a mix of awe and terror and made a little cry when she saw them flap.

"I...I have wings?" she asked in a whimper.

Yzara nodded, as amazed as she was. She heard the eagle land nearby but it did not rush toward Celestia. She must be calming down, she surmised. She eyed the impressive wings, the sunlight giving their black surfaces a violet sheen. "Can you control them?"

"I...I think so," Celestia said as she slowly stood up. She glanced from one wing to the other and watched as they stretched, folded, leaned up, leaned down and wrapped around her like a protective cloak. She stretched them out and made them flap mightily and she giggled with glee as her feet lifted off from the ground. She only rose a few inches before her wings began to flap out of sync and she touched down to the ground again. She beamed at Yzara, her eyes wide and sparkling. "I have wings!"

Yzara couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face. "Climb aboard the eagle and let's try to fly again."

This time, Celestia was more than willing to agree. She ran to the eagle and it lowered itself as she climbed atop its back, being careful not to stab it with her talons. Once she was seated and holding on to the leather strap Yzara took to the sky. The eagle followed her, an excited and transformed Celestia atop of it.