Earth Master

Chapter 2 - the Air Master

Chapter 2 – The air master

"Are you alright?" asked Aurora putting her hand on Moonshade's stiff shoulder.

"I'm gonna be alright once I beat them two inches out of life."

His eyes were fixed on the tall old man ahead, 'He must be a master.', he thought, 'So they come to even small towns like this to capture demons from their hiding places.'

"Don't do anything that will cause our death." said Aurora looking very worried.

"We can take them."

"Hell we can if he's a master." Aurora continued with a soft voice that made him relax his fists and jaw:

"Please don't do anything stupid."

Moonshade was now only looking at her, he took her hand from his shoulder and squeezed it tight saying "Fine, don't worry.", but all he wanted was to kill them and save his own.

Suddenly Aurora felt a heavy stare and when she turned around, she saw that the man was looking at them without an expression on his face.

"Hello!" yelled Aurora.

"What the hell are you doing?" whispered Moonshade but she was already walking towards the man. He realized that it was best to follow her so he followed unwillingly.

"Wait here." ordered he to the horse.

Aurora was feeling the thrill as she came near to the man. Her heart was beating faster and harder with every step and her body was getting numb. She stopped when she thought the distance was enough to carry on a conversation without yelling, she did not want to get too close. She gulped her excitement away and spoke up:

"Do you come from the Head city, ...sir?"

The man had a good look at her before he answered. She was a bit tall for a girl but slender even for a girl, had a very fair complex with big brown eyes and long brown hair. She had something special that made him keep looking. 'What powerful eyes' thought the man.

"And why does that interest you?" he finally answered, clearly annoyed by Aurora's forwardness.

"We are also headed there. You see, I am a master and I need training." she responded respectfully.

"You think you are the new fire master?" man chuckled. "The solstice was only yesterday but I've met three fire masters already. Must be my luck."

"Oh no sir you misunderstood." said Aurora, but quickly she realized her mistake and corrected herself, "I mean, I didn't explain it correctly. I am not a fire master, but an earth master. I am sure of it."

The man raised a laugh.

"Stick to the fire master lie my child, for it made more sense. We have our earth masters for the recent years, including this year, in the city."

One of the men who was with him earlier came to let him know that they were ready to return.

"Very well." said the old man, "Let's go." and he began walking away.

"Thank you for the advice sir, much appreciated." Aurora called after him smirking, "However I never said that I was chosen recently. It was actually eight years ago, to be exact. Do you happen to have an earth master for that year sir?"

The man stopped and turned back, Aurora flinched when she saw how he was frowning.

"If you don't believe me, you can examine me sir." added she hoping that would calm him down.

"You are not old enough to be a master for eight years. What is your gain by wasting my time?" asked him angrily.

"What's the harm in checking if it's true?" interrupted Moonshade who was until now watching silently.

The man did not reply, he was thinking while staring right at her. She certainly had something special about her but there was no way that a girl at her young age would have acquired the master title. He told the younger man behind him to go and make sure that the prisoner does not escape and that he will be there shortly. Then he turned to Aurora and asked her age.

"I am fifteen years old." answered her.

"Impossible," he said "...but I will examine you."

Aurora could not help but smile. She moved closer to him and let him put one of his hands to her forehead and the other to the center of her chest. Moonshade was watching the man's expressions closely. He was ready to attack if the man were to pick up that she was in fact a demon. All three was extremely concentrated when someone suddenly yelled and made them jump:

"Here they are! You thieves! Where the hell is my horse?!"

It was the owner of the inn and two other men, he was running to their direction and yelling in the mean time, "You bastards! I'm gonna kill you, bastards!".

When he finally approached them, he took Moonshade by the scruff of the neck and asked him where his horse was, while yelling and spitting. Moonshade calmly removed his hands from his neck and said:

"You just past by her." pointing the horse. The inn owner looked back and saw his horse standing perfectly still on the side of the road. Blushing a little, he said:

"You are still gonna pay for it!"

Moonshade sighed and told him to just take her and go.

"No, he can't take her!" Aurora upbraided Moonshade for saying that he could take the horse and she continued, looking at the inn-owner, "How much money do you want to let her go?".

Dumbfounded Moonshade protested against the idea of buying a horse that will not do any good to them. "You were against the idea of spending so much money on an animal before!" he argued.

"I'm just getting a price for her if you don't mind." Aurora responded.

"What price?! She's good as dead, we were doing you a favor by simply taking it." Now Moonshade was arguing with the inn-owner.

While they were arguing over the horse, the old man took out a small pouch and gave it to the inn-owner.

"There is 20 silver pieces in there, considering the condition of the horse it is plenty."

The inn-owner was satisfied as he weighed the pouch, "Fine." he said, "For you good man's sake I will let the kids and the horse go." After giving an angry look to the kids he went back with his friends before the gentle old man changed his mind and asked for his money back.

"You were too generous." said Aurora when the inn-owner went away. "Why?" she asked.

"Because you were giving me a headache and I am in a hurry." he answered holding his head. "What is your name child?" he asked.

"It's Aurora."

"Aurora, I am the air master Kumo. Do you and your friend want to travel with us to the Head city?"

** ** ** ** **

During the examination Kumo sensed a large amount of 'qi' energy in her before that loud man came and interrupted them. 'How could this be possible?' he thought the whole time.

'The youngest person that was chosen as a master was thirteen years old, and if her claims are correct than that means she was chosen at the age of seven.'

'...What is so special about this girl?'

*End of chapter 2