The Guardians (draft 2)

Chapter 1

It had been two months since Sky had turned eighteen, heralding the start of her training. Sky was born with the special cloud shaped marking on her arm, signifying that she possessed the powers to control the element of air. On her eighteenth birthday she had received a letter from Queen Lumina, stating that her training would begin once the person possessing the plant element was of age. Sky was anxious, as she didn't know when the final element's birthday was... Hopefully it would be soon, they flowers were blooming and the snow had melted, now was the perfect time to train, before the hot summer months took over.

Sky sighed and pulled herself out of her creaky bed. Her bedroom was small and undecorated, just like the rest of the house. Her house might as well just be a storage shed, it was tiny with only a gas stove to provide heat. Her parents slept in the main room, letting Sky have the only actual bedroom.

Sky's family was low on the social class, her mother was a seamstress for the nobles and her father was a palace servant. They barely made enough money to live, but when Queen Lumina began her time as Queen, she had hundreds of homes made, so no one in Lyera would be homeless. It was an amazing and kind act and her subjects adored her for it and although the homes weren't great, they were still better than living in the streets.

Sky lived in the quaint village of Wimborne, which was perched on the top of a meadowy cliff overlooking the ocean. They were pretty far away from Central Lyera, and she was right along the Eastern Coast, but Sky liked the small town environment. She got to go to the market everyday and she knew everyone in town and though every day went the same for her, Sky was content there.

It's going to be weird leaving my home and going somewhere completely different. Sky thought as she walked over to her small mirror and threw her blonde hair up in a high ponytail, securing it with a lilac purple ribbon that matched her eyes.

"Good morning mom." Sky called as she entered the main room.

"Good morning sweetie, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty good, thanks. Do you want me to run to the market for you?"

"No thank you, I already went. I left out an apple and some bread for you. Oh! I also finished your outfit for when you get taken to the camp. Try it on!"

Sky's mother passed her two articles of clothing and Sky excitedly ran to her room to try them on. The outfit consisted of a white sleeveless tunic with some light purple swirls designed into it. The bottom half was a light and airy skirt that was a pastel purple and it had a dark purple frill at the bottom. To finish off the look, Sky pinned the air symbol medallion above her heart. Sky smiled joyfully and did a small spin, tears coming to her eyes.

"Mom, it's- it's beautiful! I love it!"

"Wait! There is one more thing."

Sky's mother handed her a delicate necklace with three feathers on it. One was a soft purple, one a teal colour and one gold. They were all on a simple white string.

"This is from your dad. He got these feathers from some pegasi at the palace stables. He wished he could be here on this special day, but he had to stay at the palace overnight."

Sky smiled and hugged her mom tightly, then stepped back with a confused expression on her face. "What do you mean on this special day? It's Monday! What's so special about Monday?"

"Well I tried hiding it, but I got a letter yesterday saying that the final person had their birthday! You are getting picked up today, the carriage is on its way!"

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"Aspen Griffen get down here right now!"

"Coming father..." Aspen groaned and stood up letting out a big yawn. The sun shone through his window sparkling off of the many trophies in his bedroom. Aspen threw on a gray tunic and trotted down the stairs to see what his father was yelling about.