The Uha Tamunarans took Ibaeran to a gigantic machine that called a sky ship with a massive engine that spewed out fire, massive sliver steel propellers attached to two pair the wings by its side resembling that of a bird, made out of materials that was lighter than still but strong enough not to break apart when flying, the ships body was made of steel built by the labor of the slaves for their Uha Tamunaran masters.

It was truly a magnificent machine and Ibaeran, having seeing such a flying machine could not stop marveling and staring at it with her eyes winkling with wonder and astonishment.

She had heard of flying machine like this, built by the people from her father who was a builder before becoming a warrior to participate in the tournament to claim the wings of the Su Baera.

Her father helped build many machines including some flying machines like the one Ibaeran saw.

It was not an easy though and the presence of the Uha Tamunaran who would often beat builders for making the smallest of mistakes, at times they would even beat people for no reason at all.

The Uha Tamunarans took Ibaeran in to the ship.

The very first room Ibaeran saw in side was the power room, the source of all the power in the ship.

Slaves were busy there carrying hips of coal to a burning furnace, the heat generated by the coals in the furnace was what supplied power to the entire ship.

The slaved were forced to carry the coals in to the furnace that was so hot that sometimes they would get burnt if they went too close to it.

Those that got burnt by the furnace were still forced to continue their work by an Uha Tamunaran who had the power to create a whip made of light that he would to whip anyone who refused to work due to an injury because of the furnace.

The room was filled black smoke because of the burning coal which made it difficult of the slaves to breathe and see but the Uha Tamunarans who was watching over them had no problem due to the smoke as he wore a protective mask that shielded his face from the smoke and allowed him to see and breathing without any problems.

Ibaeran felt her stomach twist and turn as she watched what was happening to her people.

It wasn’t right; they were treated far worse than animals, they had no dignity or respect and were used to do the work the Uha Tamunarans deemed were too degrading for them to do.

She wanted to do something and at least try to save them but she knew there was nothing she could do, the Uha Tamunaran were too powerful for her to face and if she tried to do anything they could easily hurt both her and the slaves as she tried to save them.

Ibaeran was then reminded of Preyina and how she too suffered in the hands of an Uha Tamunaran for so long and she could do nothing about it.

Ibaeran could not help but shed a tear, feeling terrible for seeing her people in the state they were in but felt much worse for not being able to help them just like she couldn’t save Preyina.

“Come” said the Uha Tamunaran as they began to lead her away from the room.

Ibaeran left then room but was unable to get the horrifying images out of her head.

She looked at the Uha Tamunaran that worked by her side, guiding her through the ship and wondered if all Uha Tamunarans were heartless and cruel creature incapable of showing love to anyone but their kind.

Ibaeran felt a level of disgust she had never felt before.

It went beyond anger and hatred; it felt like shame, shame for the Uha Tamunaran who chose to use the power they possess to oppress other people.

Ibaeran could say proudly without an ounce of hesitation, that she had never seen a single creature that was as cruel or as heartless as the Uha Tamunarans.

The Uha Tamunaran took Ibaeran to a room a small in the ship that had and a window.

“Stay here and don’t come out, we will provide you with whatever you may need. Do you understand” spoke the Uha Tamunaran coldly and bitterly almost as if he felt ashamed and disgusted as he spoke to Ibaeran.

“I do” said Ibaeran trying her best to hide her disgust for the Uha Tamunarans.

“Good” said the Uha Tamunaran before the Uha Tamunarans left.

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Ibaeran then sighed deeply before she went to the window.

There she saw almost all the people in Ijawana gathered outside the ship, chanting and screaming one thing, “Su Baera”.

Ibaeran could not believe it; the people actually believed that she could be the Su Baera.

Ibaeran smiled a little at the people below before sighing deeply, she still feared that she might fail and if that happened, she would have failed the people and their hopes and dreams of one day being free.

Ibaeran then began to feel the weight of an immense pressure that emerged from her fear of failure that slowly began to consume her but than in the mist of the crowd Ibaeran saw Bafuro with a smile on his face chanting along with the people, “Su Baera”.

Seeing Bafuro gave Ibaeran a little bit of confidence in heart, enough to push away her fear and doubts.

She placed her hands on the mark on her neck, she still doubted the possibility that she might be the Su Baera but that doubt had shrunk immensely to the point where she could barely notice it, she could still feel it though but at that very moment it had no power over her.

Soon the ship’s engine started, igniting flames from the bottom of the ship that began to push high to the sky.

The people took a step back as the ship engine started not wanting to get burnt by the flames or the smoke.

Bafuro smiled as the ship took off.

“Good luck Su Baera, our freedom lies in your hands” said Bafuro watching the ship fly off high in the sky.

Ibaeran sighed knowing that the journey ahead would not be easy and would be the hardest battle she had ever faced but she knew she had to do it, not just for Preyina or her people but for herself.

She didn’t know why she felt so driven though, all she knew was that she felt a strong desire to fight in the tournament and win.

Even she knew nothing about why she felt the way she did as the feeling was too strong to ignore or even suppress.

She had to fight not just for her people or the promise she made to Preyina but for herself and the feeling she felt deep within her.

Ibaeran stood beside the window watching the clouds the ship passed by as it flew with a smile on her face.

It actually quite peaceful high up in the clouds so peace in fact that at that very moment Ibaeran forgot all her fears and worries, focusing only on the beauty of the sky she watched from the window.

Ibaeran as she watched the clouds saw a flock of birds flying passed the window.

Upon seeing the birds, she could help but wonder what it would be like to fly and be free like the flock of birds that just flew passed her window.

She then imagined herself flying with the pair of steel wings that belonged to the Su Baera flying high up in the sky without a care in the world.

She was trapped in her fantasy of her flying with the steel wings of the Su Baera for a long time, feeling a sense of bliss and peace of mind as she imagined herself with the wings of the Su Baera, it was only when the sky darkened and the night sky began to form with the rising of moon and all the starts slowly appearing did, she finally come back to reality.

She did not know why her imagination would wonder so far to the point where she would imagine herself with the steel wings of the Su Baera.

Ibaeran did not know what to think about herself at that moment; did she secretly desire the power of the Su Baera so much that she would go as far as to imagine herself using it to fly high in the sky like a free bird.

Ibaeran could not help but feel disgusted a bit at herself and her thoughts that she might secretly desire the power of the wings to the point where she would fantasize about it.

Ibaeran came out of her train of deep thought when she heard a knock on the door.

Ibaeran then wondered who it was, it might have been the Uha Tamunarans coming to check up on her but knowing how the Uha Tamunarans were she found it strange that they would knock instead of just come in to her room.

“Come in” said Ibaeran.

Then the door opened up and a slave boy walked in to the room with a tray of food for Ibaeran.

“This is for you,” said the boy.

Ibaeran looked at the boy, shocked to see him there in the room with a plate of food as she was excepting the Uha Tamunarans to be the ones to come in.

“Who are you?” asked Ibaeran as she began to examine the boy.

He wore grey faded clothes that greatly resembled rages that stains of smokes and dust on them, she also noticed a few scars that looked like that were formed by whip meaning he was one of the slaves tasked with the duty of supplying coal to the fiery furnace that supplied power to the ship.

The boy seemed to be about the same age as Ibaeran but also shows signs of maturity meaning he could be older than how her appeared to be.

“I’m Tanya, I was sent here by the Uha Tamunarans to bring you food,” said the boy.

“Tanya” said Ibaeran with smile on her face as Tanya was the name of her late father.

“Thank you” said Ibaeran as she accepted the food from him.

“You’re welcome” said Tanya with a smile on his face.

The boy was about to leave but Ibaeran noticed that the boy looked like he hadn’t had anything decent to eat in days with thin and skinny body that looked like it had more bones than flesh.

“Are you hungry, you look like you haven’t eaten in days? I wouldn’t mind sharing my food with you” said Ibaeran offering her food to the boy.

“No, I’m not really hungry, plus you will need all your strength to win the national and international tournament,” said Tanya.

Ibaeran was shocked by Tanya’s confidence in the way he spoke about her fighting and winning in the national and international tournament.

“How are you so sure I’ll win” asked Ibaeran.

“My mother taught me that it takes something different to create change. Many warriors have fought in the tournaments before but they all failed to claim the wings. But you are different than them,” said Tanya.

“So, you have faith in me because I’m a girl and not some strong tall man” said Ibaeran who couldn’t help but feel a bit insulted by Tanya’s statement.

“No, I have faith in you because you are different,” said Tanya.

Tanya, before he left the room said to Ibaeran as a few words of advice to her, “a woman though may seem weak at first glance may have the strength that outmatches that of ten thousand men but all that strength will be locked away if she doesn’t realize she possess it in the first place”.

Tanya, with those words said left the room and Ibaeran not only with food but with something to think about throughout the night.

Ibaeran eat her food and used the hours she spent awake thinking about what Tanya said to her before finally drifting away to sleep.