Ibaeran was now crouched down on her knees, panting profusely with her body cover with bruises and aching in tremendous pain, and standing above was none other than Bafuro who stood before her at moment as both her master and her opponent.

“Get up” Bafuro said with his voice void of any and all emotions.

Ibaeran upon hearing what Bafuro said struggled to get back up on her feet only to get struck back down to the ground by a swift kick from Bafuro.

“Get up” Bafuro said once more while looking down at his student who was still down on the ground.

Ibaeran then once again tried to get back on her own two feet only to be put back on the ground by a hit from Bafuro once again.

“You have grown Ibaeran and gotten stronger. I now see clearly, the small spark in you ready to ignite in to a magnificent ember whose light might be enough to give you the strength needed to fight the many battles you must fight to claim the power of the steel wings and become the next Su Baera. Will you let that spark ignite or will you let it die right there on the ground you are lying on” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran upon hearing what he said remembered Preyina and the promise she made her before she passed, the promise that she would at least try to claim the steel wings and become the next Su Baera, with the hope that she would be the one to save her people, and even though she was still uncertain about herself and her abilities, with doubt lingering in her mind as she wonder if she could really be the one to save her people, she still found a way to muster need to get up and like before Bafuro just the opportunity to strike her but this time she refused to go down.

Ibaeran stood with her legs planted firmly on the ground underneath her feet, ignoring the pain inflicted by Bafuro’s many attacks and forced her arms which like the rest of her body was crying out in immense pain, in to two tight fists before proceeding to launch them both at Bafuro.

Bafuro managed to reacted quick enough to Ibaeran’s attack and his two arms to block her blows only to be struck by a kick from Ibaeran, forcing him to fall down on one.

The master then looked up at his student with a proud look on his face before hearing her speak, with a strong and determined voice, “get up”.

Bafuro just smiled upon hearing what Ibaeran said as her words only served to reassure him that he had made the right choice by accepting to train her for she had shown the quality of not only a great warrior but a true Su Baera which strength and a will to keep fight even after falling so many times.

Time passed and Ibaeran kept training under Bafuro, and slowly, no matter how many times she fell or how painstakingly hard it was, she got strong enough to match blows with the greatest warriors in the land.

The time for the tournament was fast approaching and soon it would be time for Ibaeran to fight the greatest warriors in the nation just to claim the wings of the Su Baera and fulfill the promise she made to Preyina before she died.

It was the night before the Tournament, Ibaeran and Bafuro were busy having their supper.

Ibaeran as she ate could not help but think about how far she had come, she had trained hard and gained a strength she never knew she could possess.

It was hard and heaven knows Bafuro did not make it easy for her but she pushed through and surprised herself with how much strength she had.

Never in a million years did she ever think she would be in the situation she was in at the very moment, having trained to fight in a tournament see who would become the next Su Baera.

But as she thought about how far she had come she began to wonder what if she failed, would all the hard work and dedication she put into her training but for nothing.

She had come so far and the thought that it might all be for nothing frightened her.

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Bafuro noticed that Ibaeran was trouble and tensed as her mind was now flooded with thoughts about the possibility that she might fail.

“What is wrong Ibaeran?” asked Bafuro bring Ibaeran out of her train of deep thought.

“Nothing” said Ibaeran but Bafuro could easily tell that she was lying.

“Stop lying child, it doesn’t suit you” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran then sighed knowing that she couldn’t’ lie to Bafuro who trained her and took his time observing her.

Bafuro knew her like the back of his hand at that point and could easily tell when she was lying.

“I’m just worried” said Ibaeran.

“About?” asked Bafuro.

“Failing” said Ibaeran.

“Hmm” said Bafuro taking a moment to think.

“Tell me child, why do you want to be the Su Baera” said Bafuro.

“I’ve already told you, I had a dream” said Ibaeran not wanting to tell him why she wanted to be the Su Baera.

“That’s not the entire truth and you know it” said Bafuro sensing Ibaeran was keeping something from.

Ibaeran then looked away from her master for a moment as she remembered Preyina and the promise she made a tear then fell down from her eye as she did so.

“What’s wrong child?” asked Bafuro sensing once again that Ibaeran was troubled.

Ibaeran then gathered every ounce of strength she had and then turned to her master.

“I made a promise to my friend before she died that I would at least try to become the Su Baera” said Ibaeran trying her best not to shed a tear as she spoke.

“Hmm, then why are you still here” asked Bafuro.

“What?” said Ibaeran confused by what Bafuro asked?

“If your friend only told you to try, why is it that you pushed yourself so far and hard, why did stay when I entered my house and shut the door in your face, why did you continue to train and get so strong, why do you fear failure when all your friend ask of you was to try” asked Bafuro.

Ibaeran just looked at Bafuro speechless and unable to answer his question.

“You can’t answer the question can you” said Bafuro.

Bafuro then sighed before saying, “the way I see it you are using that promise you made to your friend as an excuse and not a reason. There is another reason why you pushed yourself so hard and so far, and I highly doubt it was because of a promise you made. Maybe the promise you made brought you here but it certainly did not force to stay”.

Bafuro then finished his meal and then made his way to his room.

“Get some rest, you’ll need all the strength for tomorrow and Ibaeran think long and about what I said” said Bafuro before he entered his room.

That night Ibaeran went to bed thinking long and hard about what Bafuro said.

She been to wonder if he was right, the promise she made to Preyina made her come but she could have left whenever she wanted to after all she did keep her promise, she tried and if it was too hard she could always but she didn’t, she stayed and faced all the challenges, training long and hard, earn strength she never knew she could possess, she even feared the possibility of failure, a fear that should be there if all she had to do was try.

Ibaeran fell asleep that night with one thought lingering in her head that night, if the promise she made wasn’t the reason she pushed herself so far then what was?

The next day the Tournament began and Ibaeran made her way to the arena where she was to fight the best warriors in the land accompanied by Bafuro who was more than eager to see how Ibaeran would perform in the tournament.

Ibaeran couldn’t help but feel scared, nervous and anxious all at the same time.

She had trained long and hard for this, and now that time had come for her to put all that training to go use, she feared that it won’t be enough to win and she would lose to her very first opponent.

Bafuro could sense the fear Ibaeran felt.

Bafuro then said, “Why is your heart filled with so much fear child, haven’t you trained for this”.

“I know but what if it’s not enough” said Ibaeran.

“But all you have to do is try” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran then remembered what he told her the other day about the promise she made not being the reason she pushed herself so hard and why she feared failure.

She then began to realize that she didn’t just want to try; she wanted to do much more than that she wanted to win.

Ibaeran did not know where the desire to win came from, all she knew was that she wanted, no, she had to do it.

“But what if I don’t want to just try” asked Ibaeran.

Bafuro smiled upon hearing what she said.

“Then you fight with everything you have and win” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran felt a little bit better after hearing what Bafuro said.

They soon arrive at the arena and it was time for Ibaeran to go in alone side the other warriors there.

Ibaeran then looked at her master and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you for everything” said Ibaeran.

“Why are you thanking me child, if anything I should be thanking you” said Bafuro.

“For what exactly” asked Ibaeran.

Bafuro then pulled away from the hug and then looked Ibaeran in the eye to say, “for giving me hope when I was about to lose the very little of it, I had left”.

A tear then fell down from Ibaeran’s face as Bafuro said those words to her.

Ibaeran then rushed in to the arena along with the other warriors.

“I have no doubt in my mind that you truly are the Su Baera child. I know you will win this tournament and free us all” said Bafuro with a smile on his face.