CHAPTER 1

“Excuse me! Coming through!” I said as I ran in between a few people. “Don’t let that boy escape. Catch Atobu.” I could hear Armando, the lead guard saying. I was running away from the guards after I had played a little trick on them. That is, if you call dropping a watermelon on the lead guard a little trick then yeah. I’m in trouble

Hey. My name’s Ezra. Ezra Atobu. I’m seventeen years old; I have blue eyes and white hair. I usually trouble the guards almost every day. I play pranks on them almost every single day and then I get chased by the almost every single day just like what’s happening right now. Let us just forget about all this and return to the story.

“Coming through!” I said as I jumped over a cart belonging to someone I’m not sure of.

“Stop right there Atobu.” Armando yelled again as he and his men continued to chase me.

“Sorry. I can’t hear you.” I yelled back.

I ran through a crowd of people and quickly dived into an alley and hid by the side of one of the buildings. I held my breath till the guards had passed by the place I was hiding. I waited for a few minutes before I released the breath that I was holding back. I peeped from the side of the building to see if the guards were nearby and luck for me, they weren’t. I let out a loud sigh of relief and decided that I better go home quickly before they return for me. I walked quickly and greeted a few people as I walked. I was feeling lucky and happy that no one had called my name to catch me. But then, I heard a voice that made me freeze.

“Where do you think you’re going to Atobu?” the voice said.

I was frozen in place and then I gently turned to look at the person that made me stop in place. It was a girl of about my age. She had long black silky hair that stopped at her waist. She had greenish blue eyes and the most wonderful smile that you could ever imagine.

“Hey Bell. How are you?” I asked.

She is Bellora Hamon, my best friend who is also a half breed. She’s part mermaid, part human. Bellora has been my best friend since we were just five years old. She’s been by my side every time I get into trouble with the guards.

“I’m actually surprised that you’re not being chased by Armando and his guards. Today must be my lucky day.” She said.

“Wrong.” I replied.

“He was, wasn’t he?” she asked which I replied with a nod. She shook her head and chuckled. “Come on, let’s go. You’re heading home right?” I replied with a nod and we both walked to my house.

“Let me guess. Watermelon on his head?” she asked which I replied to with a simple yeah. “You never will change Ezra. Just make sure that they don’t catch you next time”

“And that is why I have you to bail me out Bell. Well that’s what you’ve been doing ever since we were kids.” I said.

“And I can’t keep doing that forever Ezra. I mean what do you think would have happened if I was never there to help you even though you manage to get out of trouble.” She said

“I would have still found my way out Bell.” I said

She rolled her eyes and just shook her head at my response. “You really won’t change will you?” she said. “Well, at least it gets rid of the everyday boredom I experience”

“Yeah. But I think that I’m done with being chased for today. I really need to help my dad at the bakery or else he’ll kill me. I haven’t been there for the last four days and he threatened to stop giving me food to eat if I don’t head down there today.” I said.

“I doubt that’s the same thing Armando has in mind. Once he has his eyes on you he won’t stop till he gets you. Unless you outsmart him again.” Bellora said.

“Tell me about it. I think I’ve had enough of him today.” I said

Just as we went into the next street, we were met by the devil himself.

“I’ve finally caught you Atobu.” Armando said as six of his men surrounded both Bellora and I.

“Great. Just when I thought that my day was going great.” I said

“Tell me about it.” Bellora added as both of us stood back to back. “I take these ones you take the others and Armando.”

I agreed to her plan with a nod as we got ready to defend ourselves from these guards. And just as we were about to attack each other, we were stopped by a voice that sent chills down my back.

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on here?” the voice asked.

I froze in place and turned my head to see a man with black spiky hair just like mine. He had brown eyes and he was someone in his late thirties. And this man was my father, Marko Atobu.

“Hey dad. How are you?” I asked with a hint of fear in my voice.

My dad shook his head in disappointment and looked unhappy by the scene that was in front of him. “I’m sorry Armando for whatever my son has done to you.” He said.

Armando scoffed and looked at me. “Next time you won’t be so lucky Atobu.” He said as he and his men took their leave while Bellora and I turned to face my dad ready for whatever he had in store for us.

“Get inside. Both of you.” He said and the both of us walked quietly into the bakery. We sat at the counter while my dad stood in front of us thinking of what to tell us.

“Why must you go around and trouble Armando all day Ezra?” he asked which he got no response to. “There will be a day where I won’t be able to help you and Bellora won’t be able to back you up son.”

“I told him the same thing Marko. But I doubt that he’s ready to give that up.” Bellora said which got her a look from my dad telling her to be quiet which she became quiet.

He sighed and looked at me with worry in his eyes. “Just be careful Ezra. I want you to avoid all this problems you cause for yourself every day. I know that you’re better than this son. You’re destined for something great. I can see it in you Ezra. So avoid all this trouble with the guards and focus on doing something with your life.” He said.

I took all the words to heart as I knew that every time Armando chases me that I make him worried. I sighed and look at him with all sincerity. “I’ll try my best and avoid looking for Armando’s trouble. I’ll be the best I can dad” I said.

He had a small smile on his face which made me happy on the inside. At least I’ll do my best to stick to what I just told him. I have to always bring a smile to his face since he’s all I have left in this world. My mom had died a few months after she had given birth to me. He always told me that she was very brave and very strong. And that she was the best thing that ever happened to him. I can’t really remember much about her but all I do know is that I look exactly like her except that her eyes were purple while mine are blue.

“Come on you two. Let’s get baking.” My dad said as we followed him into the bakery. We baked a few breads, cakes and some biscuits.

We spent five hours in the bakery and when we were done, my dad had told us to go and enjoy the rest of the evening to ourselves. And so we decided to take a walk down to town square and enjoy the cool breeze of the evening period. We got to town square and sat by the water fountain while Bellora used her abilities and made the water swirl around in the fountain.

“Today sure was hectic.” I said

“I know.” She replied and continued doing what she was doing with the water.

We stayed beside each other in silence since neither Bellora nor I knew what to say but I decided to go first.

“Look, I’m sorry for always getting you involved with my problems. I guess I never thought about how you would feel or how my dad would be feeling about my behavior.” I said

“Just let it be Ezra. At least now you know that your dad is pretty worried about you. Just forget about it and let’s enjoy this evening.” She replied.

I smiled at her and just stared at the sunset and enjoyed the evening. That was until we heard an ear piercing scream. We looked at where the screaming was coming from and saw people running away from something.

“What are they running from?” Bellora asked and soon she was answered by something terrifying. We saw a seven foot tall creature with a large club in its hand.

“A troll.” I said.

The troll let out a very loud roar and started smashing everything in its sight. There were people still around which made Bellora rush over to help. She had used her powers to raise water out of the fountain and pushed the troll back giving the people around enough time to escape. She had created chains made of water and used them to hold the troll in place and from the looks of it she was struggling. I just stood there and was dumbfounded since I didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t just stand there. Help me out here.” Bellora yelled which brought be back to reality. I looked around for something to use as a weapon and found some wood that had broken off from one of the destroyed buildings. I took it and ran to help Bellora with the troll. At that moment, the troll had broken free from Bellora’s water chains. It looked mad at her and was about to attack her. I jumped up and smashed the wood I had in my hand on its face making it to stumble backwards a bit.

“Nice hit.” Bellora said as she used the water to form four tridents around her while I grabbed another piece of broken wood and held in my hand as a weapon.

The troll had recovered from the hit and started to attack Bellora and I. I dodged the attacks from its club and tried to hit its body while Bellora used her water tridents and began attacking it. I slid under the troll and smashed the wood into its leg causing it to roar and try to hit me with its club. Lucky for me, Bellora formed a water whip around me and dragged me towards her. I said thanks as we looked at the monster that stood in front of us. She then used the water that surrounded her to push the troll back which caused it to fall back. It didn’t stay down for long and got back up to its feet.

“That’s one tough monster.” I said

“Tell me about it.” Bellora said.

The troll let out a loud roar and started to run towards us while Bellora and I stood ready to defend ourselves when suddenly, the troll was pushed back by a very heavy and strong wind.

“You’ve done enough for today kids.” The new person said.

We looked behind us and what we saw; saying that we were shocked was an understatement. In front of us, no above us in the air, was the Army Commander of the Celestials army, Zoriana. Her silver colored wings wide opened and flapping in all its glory. Beside her was her second-in-command, Alvaro. She wore a silver colored armor while he wore a red colored armor.

“What the…?” I said while I was still in shock.

“This shouldn’t be the battle of a human and a half-breed if that’s what you are?” she said that last part looking at Bellora. At that moment, the troll got and was running towards us ready to attack but was stopped by Alvaro who used his sword to stop the troll’s club from hitting any of us.

“Nice try big guy. But your attack stops her today.” He said as he created an orb of some sort and hit it in the troll causing it to fly backwards.

“That was awesome.” I said which he replied with thumbs up and a smile.

We heard another roar and saw another troll appear while the one that Alvaro had blasted got to its feet and both of them surrounded us.

“You kids better leave here right now. We’ll handle these monsters.” Zoriana said bringing out her sword and ready to attack. She raised her hands up and a large gust of wind blew away the trolls from us creating an opening for Bellora and I to escape which we did. We ran as fast as we could while the two celestials handled the trolls.

“That was awesome. We were saved by two of the strongest celestials.” Bellora said with glee.

“I know right.” I replied while running. We then heard another roar and saw a third troll running towards were the others were fighting. I saw something in front of the troll that made me stop running and look in fear. Right on the path where the troll ran stood a child who was standing still and was frozen in fear.

“Look out!” I yelled as I started running towards the child while Bellora called my name which I ignored. I yelled out to the child who still didn’t move while the troll got nearer and nearer to the child. I ran as fast as I could and got ahead of the troll and I pushed the child out of the way while I got smacked by the troll’s club and was sent flying into town square. I landed beside the fountain while the two celestials looked at me in shock. Zoriana quickly dealt with one troll and Alvaro did the same as the two flew to my side and supported me up. I think I might have broken a few ribs otherwise I just had bruises all over my body.

“What happened kid?” Alvaro asked.

“Ezra!” Bellora yelled as she ran towards us. And just as soon as I saw her, she was gone. I looked and saw her in the hands of a troll. I looked in fear and I began to fill anger flowing in me.

“Let her go you monster.” I practically growled and unknown to me, my eyes began to glow and sparks of lightning flew from my body shocking the two celestials beside me.

“Let her go!” I yelled filled with rage as I stretched my hand towards them and then I shot lightning from my hands which passed straight through the chest of the troll killing it instantly. It opened its hand that it had Bellora been in and dropped her. She looked at me with shock and amazement, just the same way the celestials were looking at me. The other two trolls had gotten back to their feet and began charging at me. I saw them and I was filled with more rage than I ever had been.

“You monsters!” I yelled as more sparks flew from my body. “You destroyed my town and you nearly hurt my best friend. Now you must pay.” And then more sparks flew from my body as I was practically surrounded by lightning. I stretched my hands beside me and shot large bolts of lightning at the two trolls killing both of them instantly. I let out a loud shout and then a wave of electricity flew from my body and went round the area. The celestials flew into the air while carrying Bellora to avoid getting struck by my lightning wave. I had calmed down and my eyes had stopped glowing. I fell down on my knees feeling weak.

“Ezra.” Bellora said as she ran to me after the celestials had landed on the ground. She sat beside me while I was breathing heavily.

“What happened?” I asked feeling a bit dizzy.

“I don’t know but you just got angry and started shooting lightning at the trolls killing them and saving me.” She answered.

“I did what?” I asked.

“You did exactly what she said you did, Ezra.” Zoriana said.

“How exactly did you do that Ezra?” Alvaro asked

“I have no idea. I don’t know how I did that.” I answered.

“I believe that I can answer that.” A new voice said as we looked to see who owned that voice. We saw another celestial flying down. She had white wings and snow white hair. Her face looked kind despite looking very old. She was Yeleda, the seer.

“What brings you here Yeleda?” Zoriana asked.

“Is it wrong for me to be flying around the land dear Zoriana.” Yeleda answered.

“Stop the humor Yeleda. I know you well enough to know that you won’t go anywhere without a good reason.” Zoriana said

“Okay Zoriana. I came for you, Ezra.” Yeleda replied looking at me.

“Me? Why me?” I asked in shock.

“Why do you ask such question? Hasn’t today’s event been clear to you?” She asked

“Speak in English Yeleda.” Zoriana said as she rolled her eyes.

“Isn’t it obvious to you all? Ezra her,” she said pointing at me, “is a half-breed just like his mermaid friend here.” And that statement left all of us, especially me, in shock.

“He’s a what!” Zoriana, Alvaro and Bellora exclaimed.

“Wait, hold on. I’m a what now?” I asked which she replied with a smile.