FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 26

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"Ah!!" I bolted upright in bed, sucking in a deep breath as I realised it had only been a dream.

My body was covered in a cold sweat, the nightmares were getting worse and more frequent. Before they had simply been every other night, but now I'm having them at least once if not twice a night. I really don't know why I was having these nightmares.... but they were really starting to get me.

I doubted I'd be able to get to sleep again so I got up and went over to the trunk that had belonged to my ancestor, Xerxes Anaris. I opened the trunk and took out the parchment that had been tied together to form a sort of make shift book and began to browse its pages. I hadn't really given it much attention the first time since I couldn't read, but now I figured I may as well see if I'd learned anything from Vizimaar.

I couldn't make out much, an odd word here and there I recognised, but not enough to make sense of what Xerxes had written. After a short while I huffed in frustration and put the book back in the trunk and began to rummage some more. I had kept the knife I'd found in the trunk, I hadn't used it yet, but one thing was for certain, it was a damn fine blade.

As I dug down to the bottom of the trunk I felt something rub against my paw, something that wasn't like the clothes I was pushing aside. I felt around for it again and grabbed it. I pulled on it and after some resistance heard a pop as it gave way to my hold. The bottom section of the trunk had lifted up slightly.

I hurriedly, but carefully, removed the contents of the trunk and lifted the false wooden base out. Beneath was something I hadn't expected. There was a sword hidden in there, as well as a couple of trinkets and a small leather pouch. And a note, it was carefully folded, the Anaris symbol inked plainly on it. I carefully unfolded it and stared at the text written on it.

It was jibberish to me, I had no idea what it said or even implied. I put it aside and reached into the trunk and pulled out a small metal box. It was impressive, I'd only seen similar boxes made of wood, but this one was entirely made of metal and was intricate in its design. I tried to open it but it was locked.

I moved closer to the dying embers of the fire, to get some better light, and began to examine it. If it was like my own box it would have some hidden button or mechanism that allowed it to open. After a few minutes I found nothing, there were runes and writing all over it, but it all meant nothing to me. I didn't even recognise any of the symbols. I put the box aside and went back to the trunk.

Other than the box and the note there was noting hidden in the bottom other than the sword and the pouch. I pulled out the sword and examined it. It was old and worn, surprising considering Xerxes reputation in being one of the finest smiths that ever lived. The only thing I could think of was that it had held some sort of sentimental value to him.

I put it back in the trunk and pulled out the last item, a fairly large leather pouch. I opened it and poured the contents into my paw. Surprised at the fact it was filled with gold coins and valuable gems. It had never seen such wealth, this must have been Xerxes private stash. I had never seen so much... a small family could live off this for years!

I sighed and put it back in the trunk. Technically it was mine now, my inheritance, but it didn't feel right to take it. I already took a knife, and I didn't need the coin. I put everything back in the trunk, leaving only the sword and money pouch in the hidden bottom. I was going to have figure out the box, it peaked my curiosity. Normally someone would use a box like that to keep their items of value safe. If Xerxes didn't put the money pouch in the box then what did he put in it?

My curiosity was definitely peaked, suddenly I felt the want to learn to read and write if only to figure out the puzzle of the box. My next lesson with Vizimaar wasn't for a few days. I had my lessons with Xavier after tomorrow, and tomorrow was apparently my day off from both of them. I had promised Xavier I would take time to myself when these days came round, and I respected his advice. Even though he was only a few winters older than me he had the wisdom of someone much older. And I knew he was right.

If I wanted to stay here in Zangar I would have to put down roots. I had made some friends, but nothing I could really say that would make me not want to leave if I was forced to make a choice when Eric and the others decided it was time to move on. When ever that may be. I should really spend some time with them tomorrow as well. Other than my training sessions with Aceh and the occasional night when Cody stayed over I hadn't seen much of them.

After the trunk was packed away, I was still not feeling tired and had little interest in returning to bed, I decided to go for a walk. I grabbed my loin cloth, that I had discarded on the floor when I'd gone to bed, and headed for the door. I'd take a walk round Zangar and see what it was like at night.

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Zangar at night was apparently dead. The air had chill to it it lacked during the day, even though we were deep in the side of the mountain and there was always a chill in the air, it made sense that it would be slightly colder at night. It was so late that even the taverns were closed, and other than warriors on patrols there was not a single soul to be seen. Not that I minded, the peace and quiet was refreshing, and I got lost in my thoughts as I wandered.

My wandering took me to the arena where Kassius taught his classes. I noticed the doors were slightly ajar and decided to head in. I walked to the edge of the pit, looking down into the place where we would train. Two of the braziers were still showing signs of life. I made my way down the narrow stone steps at the far end of the arena and walked towards the nearest brazier.

I hadn't realised how cold I'd been before I'd stepped into the warming heat of the brazier. After warming myself I decided a little late night training might help relax me. I barely had time to practice what I learned during lessons because of my busy schedule. Practice makes perfect right?

I drew on my nen and drew out a dozen or so fire spirits. They floated round me, I couldn't help but smile, this was so easy now. Just a few short days ago I struggled to even maintain one of these things. I looked round the arena, there were no training dummies, so I decided to use the far wall as my target. My main problem was range, after watching Kassius I had gotten much better, but still I was struggling with it.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember exactly what Kassius had done and tried to replicate it. I took my time, careful to keep the delicate balance of my nen and the fire so the fireball didn't burn up the moment I threw it. The first three fireballs didn't even reach halfway, the wall was roughly thirty yards away from me, nearly double the distance the dummy had been.

I kept trying and by the tenth fireball I was nearly there, but I was getting tired. Focusing this hard on controlling my nen was exhausting. There had to be an easier way... I sat down cross legged, taking a moment to rest and think. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind the way Aceh had taught me. Meditating on a problem was sometimes the best way to find an answer, not that I'd had much luck with meditation in the past.

I thought back on everything I had been taught by Kassius and Xavier, even Aceh. They had taught me many things, Xavier especially but a lot of what he had told me was lost amongst the stories he'd told me. He had tried to teach me so much in such a short period of time, there was now way I could have remembered it all. That's when something Xavier had said popped into my mind.

'Everyone's nen is different.'

My nen was different from everyone else, that much was abundantly clear from what both Xavier and Kassius had said. So maybe copying Kassius wasn't my best option, a step in the right direction probably, but not the answer.

My affinity was not for fire, not directly, my primary element was wind. And I would need to keep that in mind when I was trying to bend fire. My element had the nasty habit of making fire burn hotter, so that's probably why I wasn't getting any range on my attacks. But how do I compensate for that factor?

I thought about fire, how it burned, how it died. So long as fire had fuel it would keep burning, so maybe I had to add more fuel to my attacks? I opened my eyes and stared at the brazier, the coals within glowing red hot. Determined and focused I stood up and once again drew on my nen.

I didn't hold back as I reached into the fire, not afraid of losing control, there was no-one here for me to harm if I lost control. I reached down deep, into that spot in my gut where the fire came from, let the feeling consume me, my nen feeling hotter as it spread outwards. When that heat reached the brazier it flared, the flames growing larger and burning hotter than ever.

I pulled out a large flame spirit, easily twice as big than the ones I had been using before. I drew on a few more and went to work. I held the flame between my paws, closing my eyes and focusing on how my nen interacted with it. Once I felt ready I threw the fireball and watched it fly through the air, disappearing into a few embers just feet away from the wall. My plan was working, but if I wanted to hit that wall I needed the fire to be bigger. I pulled all three remaining fire spirits into one between my paws and watched as the fire grew and grew.

The fire was so hot I could feel the heat on my palms, even while using my nen to stifle it. I poured a large amount of nen into the fire and then launched it at the wall. The huge burning mass hurtled through the air and hit the wall, with a satisfying burst of flame, leaving a noticeable scorch mark where it had struck.

I heard a noise and looked up. There were three dragons, all clad in leather and carrying weapons, watching me. Two of them started to clap. I stared at them and said nothing as they disappeared from sight and appeared from the same stairs I had used. They walked towards me, I was still drawing on my nen and I wasn't going to stop until I knew their intentions, careful that they weren't going to try and get the jump on my like Hazani had tried to during that gauntlet match.

"Impressive..." The one in front said, he carried a sword at his hip and looking at his shoulder guard I could tell he was a fire bender himself, adept rank. "I don't think I've seen you before, but going by the head fur... I'd have to guess you're Lord Anaris's son."

I simply nodded, waiting to see what his and his two companions intentions were. He just smiled at me, he was quite cocky. Looking at them I would say they were at least five winters older than me.

"The names Cairn, these two are Leonidus and Garan." He said, motioning towards the two dragons that stood either side of him. Looking at their shoulder guards I could see that they were both adept level benders as well, Leonidus was a water bender and Garan was an earth bender. "What? You got a problem with us?" Cairn asked.

"No..." I said. "Just curious what you're doing here." I said bluntly.

"We were wondering the same thing until we saw you start throwing fireballs round the place." He replied. "We come here during our patrols to have a rest and warm-up."

That would explain why the braziers were lit when I got here. This was a resting place for the warriors on patrol. I guess from their perspective I was the intruder here, they hadn't come here to start anything. I sighed and realised that I'd been acting a bit hostile towards them.

"The names Malakye." I said, suppressing my nen and raising my right paw to my chest in a formal greeting. "Sorry if I seemed... aggressive."

"Hey don't worry about it. I get it." Cairn assured me, moving closer to the fire and taking a seat, his companions doing the same. "But that was some impressive bending there, not that I'm overly surprised since you're Lord Anaris's son."

"Yeah... I seem to get that a lot." I sighed, Cairn seemingly picked up on my feelings.

"Something bugging you?"

"No... not really. Just a little tired of being compared to my father is all." I admitted, but at the same time I felt guilty for saying it. I was trying to appear as a fire bender, when I'm really a wind bender, and complaining now that everyone was comparing me to my father in that respect.

"True that." Garan smirked, his voice deep and booming. "But I'm afraid that's what's going to happen when you've got a famous family member." He seemed to know how I felt, I guess it's the same for everyone.

"Garan's right, you're always going to be compared to your father, at least until you become strong enough to be seen as your own dragon." Cairn nodded. "But with skills like that I think that will be sooner rather than later, I don't think you've got anything to worry about."

"Thanks, but I've only just started to learn how to bend."

"Trust me Malakye." Cairn said in a reassuring tone. "You have nothing to worry about. Hell I couldn't do what you just did on my best day!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! There are some seriously skilled fire benders here in Zangar, but not many of them would be able to do what you just did." He explained. "Well... most could. But it's impractical."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because most dragons would have to spend considerable time building up their nen to even attempt an attack like that. And in a fight a second can seem like a long time. I would probably need the best part of a minute to build up the nen required."

"Build up your nen?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah... just like you..." He trailed off, suddenly staring at me with an expression of confusion. I was probably looking at him with a similar expression. "You don't know how to build up your nen?"

"Not really... I don't even know what you mean by building it up." I admitted.

"So how did you manage to conjure a fireball that big?" He asked.

"I don't know... I just did it."

"There's no way... there's just no way..." Cairn turned to Leonidus and Garan, both of which gave him a shoulder shrug.

"He is the son of a grand-master." Garan shrugged his shoulders..

"Go on. Do it again." Cairn insisted.

"What? The fireball?" I asked, sighing when he nodded eagerly. "All right."

I stood up and drew on my nen, reaching into the flames and drew out several, large, fire spirits. They floated the short distance towards me and merged together between my paws, the fire growing larger and larger. Once the last fire spirit had merged I turned to face the others, all of them looking impressed, particularly Cairn.

"That's fast." Cairn grinned.

"Smart is what it is." Leonidus chimed in. "Using several small fires to make one big one."

"It's more than that guys!" Cairn insisted. "Did you see the size of those fire spirits?"

"What about them?" Garan asked.

"Oh come on guys! I know you're not fire benders but when was the last time you saw some use fire spirits that big?"

"Okay, I'll admit... I can't remember." Garan admitted. "But what does the size of the fire spirit prove?"

"Really? I have to explain this?" Cairn sighed.

"The size of the spirit that the bender can control is directly proportionate to amount of nen the bender can summon." Leonidus said, seemingly quoting someone.

"Exactly!" Cairn exclaimed. "So Malakye here has some major mojo going on!"

"Mojo?" I asked, still holding the large flame between my paws.

"Oh... just you've got a lot of nen." Cairn explained. "So how big a fire spirit can you draw? Was that the biggest you can manage?"

"I don't know... I've not really tried to do anything bigger." I admitted.

"Well then try!"

"I'm not some street performer you know!"

"Please!!!!" Cairn begged, all but dropping down to his knees, holding his paws up pleadingly.

I sighed and relented, allowing the flames between my paws to die and then turned back to the brazier. I focused as much of my nen into the fire that I could and everyone, including myself, jumped back when the flames suddenly flared up to twice their size. The sudden shock had made me lose my focus and the flames died back down once I had stopped focusing my nen on the flames.

"Sorry... I have a little trouble controlling the flames when I try to do that."

"Take your time." Cairn nodded while taking a few steps back.

I tried again, focusing my nen on the flames and pulling out as large a fire spirit as I could. I wrapped my nen round the brazier, in it, through it, and then pulled. There was a moment of resistance that I had never felt before. I grunted with the mental exertion and pulled harder with my mind. In a matter of moments I was able to, not only pull a fire spirit out of the brazier, but I pulled every part of the fame out, leaving only the smoking coals behind.

I heard everyone gasp behind me, but I didn't turn round to look at them. I was staring in disbelief at the huge burning mass suspended in mid-air. The coals in the brazier let of some smoke, but there was no sign of any fire, the coals didn't even glow red hot from the heat. I had pulled everything out!

"No way!!" I heard Cairn mutter, seeing him pace round the burning mass, at a safe distance, looking awestruck and possibly even a little fearful. "I'd expected... but not this!"

"I don't think I've ever heard of someone doing that." Garan muttered.

Feeling a little nervous and unsure about what I'd done, and afraid that I may lose control if I lost my focus, I pushed the flames back towards the brazier and then released the grip my nen had on the flames. The coals set alight again, albeit the flames where much smaller than before as the fire tried to take hold of the coals once again.

"Well now I see what Tal'nar was going on about." Leonidus muttered. "Said that you were one to keep an eye on... he was right."

"I watched that fight... it was close. No one expected Tal'nar to come that close to losing." Garan muttered before shooting me an apologetic glance. "Sorry... no offence."

"I didn't expect to win the fight... but I was disappointed to come that close and lose." I admitted.

"Say... have you ever sparred, a bending spar I mean?" Cairn asked with a tone curious anticipation.

"No... I've only just learned how to control fire without it going out of control, much less dare spar with someone."

"Well then why don't I give you a few pointers?"

"Why would you?" I asked, my old habit of not trusting someone who was seemingly good intentions scratching at the back of my mind.

"Well, for one you seem like a nice guy and we have a little time to kill before our next patrol." Cairn said with a seemingly honest smile. I wasn't surprised however when there was a slightly selfish reason following. "And besides, we're bound to end up working together at some point in the future, so why not earn a favour or two from the up and coming super star."

"You are just too honest for your own good, you know that Cairn?" Leonidus scoffed, but Cairn seemed unaffected by his comment, in fact if anything he seemed encouraged by it.

"So what do you say Malakye?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt." I admitted, silently thinking to myself that having a couple of allies wouldn't hurt. I had already seemingly made enemies of Baroc and Hazani, not to mention the dragoness Kassandra.

"Awesome. So you know how to block yeah?"

"Block? Block what?"

"Oh man... this might be tougher than I thought." He sighed.

I turned to look at Garan and Leonidus, they had taken a seat at a brazier on the other side of the arena, out of range of any possible misfires. Cairn seemed to be eager to continue despite the obvious task he had set upon himself.

"Right so you can throw a fire ball, but there's more to bending that just being able to attack." He explained. "You need to be able to block an attack, otherwise your just a sitting duck." I nodded in understanding, letting him know I was listening intently. "There's two ways to do this, well at least that I know of, the simplest is just to make a wall of nen between you and your opponent."

"A wall?"

"Yeah... like holding a shield in front of you, only with your mind."

I remember Xavier saying that emotions and imagery could enhance ones ability to bend. I had experience this already and knew it to be true. I nearly fell to far into my own thoughts that I hadn't been listening to what Cairn had been saying.

"But essentially it's more tiring to constantly have the barrier up constantly than to use bursts of nen to break your opponents attacks."

"I think I understand."

"Okay then, so to start with we'll see if you can block my attack." He said jogging a short distance away from me to another nearby brazier. I felt his nen begin to reach into the brazier and drew on my own.

I reached out with my paw and began to imagining a shield of nen forming front of me. My nen pulled in on itself, forming a large circular shape in front of me. The nen forming from my palm was much denser than the rest of the nen in the bubble that surrounded me, and slowly swirling counter clockwise.

"Ready?" I simply nodded and braced myself.

He threw a small fireball in my direction, I felt my entire body tense as I watched it approach. I was fairly confident I could have dodged it, but that would defeat the point of this exercise. I forced myself to remain where I was, my eyes clenching shut the moment before it hit my 'shield'.

While my eyes weren't open my nen bubble still allowed me to see the event play out. As the fireball struck the shield of nen I saw Cairns nen within the fire dissipate at it came in contact with my own, causing the attack to break apart into little more than a few embers; which washed over me with a wave of heat.

I opened my eyes and looked at Cairn. He was grinning like a fool, but it was infectious, and found myself following suit. He drew another fireball and I nodded. He threw the fire at me, this time it was a little larger but I was feeling more confident than before and managed to keep my eyes open as it struck my nen shield.

This time the attack didn't just break apart the moment if struck my barrier. It forced the barrier to bend, contort for a brief moment before my nen overwhelmed Cairns, the attack once again breaking apart into little more than a bust of heat and embers. I was beginning to see how this worked, you could block an opponents attack if you could overwhelm the nen in the attack with your own.

"Looks like you've got a hang of it, how about a little friendly spar?"

"Okay." I agreed eagerly. It would be interesting to see how I would fair under fighting conditions.

"Right, so we'll keep this as a pure bender spar, no physical contact." Cairn explained.

I was confused at first but then remembering some of the fights from the tournament I began to understand. A fight between benders wasn't just about bending skills. Physical attacks were also used, in a fight anything went. But this was just a friendly spar, bending only. I nodded my understanding and we began.

I reached out to the brazier to draw on the fire, but Cairn was fast, he had already launched two small sized fireballs at me. The sudden attack made it difficult to focus on drawing fire spirits to use while I was focusing on maintaining my defence. Cairn was not only fast on the draw, he was fast period. He was shorter than me and had a stocky build, but he was fast!

Not only was he launching fireballs at me, none of them strong enough to break past my shield thankfully, he was charging headlong towards me. When he had closed the distance his nen reached into the brazier next to me, I managed to leap away in time, as he sent a burst of flame at me. He ran to the other side of the brazier and threw his nen through the fire, his nen grabbing the fire as it passed through it and created a fireball which surprised me, my surprise wearing off as it struck my nen shield.

He grabbed a fire spirit and ran at me, obviously intending to take this fight to close quarters, I was about to attack him, but hesitated as I remembered the fact that he said this was a non-contact fight. My hesitation was all it took for him to come within a couple of yards of me and all but smash the fire spirit into my nen shield.

I unable to do anything but watch as his attack pierced my shield, shattering and dispersing my nen, and then strike me in the chest. I grunted and was forced back a few steps, but I remained standing, my chest tingling unpleasantly from the heat of the attack. His attack had been greatly reduced when it forced its way through my shield so it hadn't been enough to down me, but now I was realising the difference in our skill level.

"You can't win a fight by just defending the whole time you know." He smirked.

I scowled slightly, he was right, he had all but overwhelmed me... hell he had overwhelmed me! He was so fast, before I could draw a single fire spirit he had launched two attacks at me. Speed was key in bending, how quickly you could attack and defend. Not unlike a fight of fists I realised.

"Lets go again, this time see if you can actually make an attack." He laughed, I knew it was a just a jest, but I couldn't help a pang of annoyance.

This time I would show him just what I was capable of. I drew on my nen, digging deeper for that hotter nen from the pit of my stomach, feeling the heat of it flow through my muscles and out into the bubble of nen that surrounded me. I didn't make a nen shield this time, I was going straight for the attack.

We both nodded and immediately reached out to our respective braziers with our nen, like before Cairn was faster, he had fired his nen through the flames, instantly sending fireballs flying in my direction. I didn't stop drawing on the fire spirit to defend, not trusting myself to be able to do both, so I dodged them, at this range I had plenty of time to move out of the way. By the time I had drawn on my first fire spirit Cairn had fired another three fireballs my way, but I kept moving, none of them coming close to hitting me.

With my fire spirit now at paw I used my nen to split it as I had learned to during my lesson with Kassius, still moving to avoid Cairn's constant barrage of attacks. I had moved a fair distance away from my own brazier by the time he began his charge, heading straight for my brazier, and then undoubtedly towards me. But I wasn't going to let him have it his own way this time.

I threw a fireball of my own at him, missing him narrowly as he sprinted for my brazier. I once again divided the fire spirit and threw another attack as he reached the brazier, he swept his paw at it and with a burst of nen dispelled my attack like he had done little more than swat away a fly.

Now at my brazier he launched several more fireballs at me, all of which I managed to dodge, but the much shorter distance made it more difficult to focus on splitting the fire spirit to launch more attacks. If I simply used the fire spirit I would have no means of attacking unless I could make it to another brazier before Cairn overwhelmed me with his barrage of attacks.

Like before Cairn grabbed a fire spirit, two this time, and began sprinting headlong at me, he hurled one at me and I stepped to my right to avoid it. There was little I could do to stop his assault, he was fast and in a matter of seconds he would upon me! But I was going to go down fighting! Knowing that I wouldn't be able to block the incoming attack I moved to attack myself. Lunging forward, thrusting my paw, holding the fire spirit, towards Cairn; as he was doing to me.

I yelled out, forcing as much of my nen into the fire spirit as I could in the short time before our attacks connected. I felt our respective nen colliding, and briefly mingle, both of our fire spirits flared, and with an invisible flash our nen burst, the two fire spirits bursting into a wave of intense heat and embers. It was enough to stun me for a moment and forced me staggering back a few steps. The result of our stalemate had been more dramatic on Cairn, he hadn't just been sent staggering backward, but he was also forced to a knee and clutched at his paw in some obvious pain.

I had come out on top from our exchange, but I knew from the look in his eyes that this spar was far from over. He slowly stood back up and I tensed, ready to run to my right towards the next nearest brazier; since Cairn stood between me and the closest brazier. We both sprung into action at the same time, this time I made a nen shield to block his attacks as I made my way towards the brazier. Before I had closed even half the distance his first attack struck my shield, but was blocked easily.

Once I was in range, I reached out towards the brazier willing my nen into the fire, even as several more of Cairn's attacks bounced of my nen shield. Trying to do both was difficult, but I managed to do it this time, drawing out three fire spirits. I realised that Cairn was not going to attempt another charge, or at least not as eagerly as he had. He seemed quite content to remain where he was and hurl a constant barrage of small fireballs at me.

Since my barrier was not struggling to block the current barrage of attacks I took the time to draw on several more fire spirits, despite the struggle in maintaining my barrier and drawing on yet more fire spirits, I was not as pressured as I had been when Cairn had been rushing me. Once I had drawn on half a dozen large fire spirits I made my approach on Cairn's position. Walking towards him, reinforcing my nen shield as much as I could, taking my time so as not to run into any traps or tricks he may have waiting for me.

The constant barrage of attacks continued, but I could see that the effort of maintaining such constant attacks for this long was slowly tiring Cairn, and soon I would be in range to launch my own counter attack. I wanted to get as close as possible. I didn't trust myself to be able to create a fire ball that would travel over a long distance in a fight, not yet any way.

Once I was confident I was in range I drew one of the fire spirits to my right paw, focusing as much nen as I dare into it, without losing control of my shield or the other fire spirits, and launched it at him. Cairn leapt to his right to avoid my attack and I quickly launched another and another.

He calmly dodged each one, each of my attacks missing him and shortly after dissipating into nothing but embers. When I was down to my final two fire spirits I began to panic a little, but I forced my worries aside and launched the next one at him, but he calmly stepped past it with a simple side step. My attacks lacked speed, his were fast and precise while mine we big and lumbering.

My final fire spirit hung in the air in front of me as I stared down Cairn, he was waiting for me to use my last fire spirit before going back on the attack and at this range he would be difficult to stop if I had nothing but my nen barrier to defend myself with. I had to go all out if I wanted to beat him. I dropped my nen barrier and focused everything I had into this last attack, the fire spirit flaring up and growing to nearly thrice its original size.

I saw Cairn's eyes go wide in surprise, he knew that he had to avoid this attack, the entire fight came down to it. He would win if I missed, and would win if it hit, or at least I'd still have a fighting chance. But I needed this to be faster than my last attacks, my wind attacks were so much faster than my fire attacks, I needed that speed but could risk revealing the fact I was a wind bender.

I remembered how Cairn seemingly fired his nen through the fire, maybe I could do the same. I pulled back my fist and focused a portion of my nen into, just like I would during my lessons with Xavier, and aimed my punch at Cairn, who was still over a dozen paces away from me. I launched the wind attack through the fire spirit, hoping that this would work. The fire spirit flared up once again, I could sense the fire consuming the pool of nen within it that much faster as the attack made it burn hotter, but it also sent the fire spirit hurtling towards Cairn at great speed. So much so that Cairn was obviously taken by surprise. He raised his arms and focused a fair amount of nen into his arms as a shield, attempting to move out of the way, but it was too late for him to dodge it completely.

My attack struck his arms, he had twisted his body to the side and my attack bounced off his nen shield to the right, but also sent him stumbling and then rolling backwards from the force as he lost his balance. Not waiting for him to recover I quickly leapt forward, reaching into the nearby brazier and drawing on yet another fire spirit and drew it to my paws. I managed to close the distance before Cairn had managed to get back to his foot-paws.

He froze, still down on one knee, as he saw I was upon him with fire spirit in paw. I saw the look of fear, realisation and then he closed his eyes and hung his head in defeat.

"I give, you win." He sighed.

I let the fire spirit die and then offered him a paw, helping him back up. He smiled at me and was about to say something when a clapping from above drew our attention. To my surprise, and Cairn's as well, watching us was Kassius himself.

"Well done Malakye, I must say I am most impressed." He yelled down. "It was a good fight Cairn, you did well."

"Yes sir!" Cairn replied respectfully. "You can say that again!" He laughed.

Kassius disappeared from sight and appeared at the stairs a few moments later and walked towards us. Cairn, Garan and Leonidus all stood rigidly to attention as he approached. I wondered why for a moment before realising that Kassius was obviously a higher rank than them, and they were simply showing him their respect for his position.

"Are you not on duty?" Kassius asked with a calm, yet slightly stern tone.

"We were on a break sir, we were just about to resume our patrols." Leonidus responded.

"Very good, see that you do."

With that the three of them gave them a curt nod and then hurriedly left. I suddenly realised just what kind of authority Kassius held.

"Very impressive fight." Kassius repeated.

"How much did you see?"

"Pretty much all of it." He smiled. "You learn quickly, in fact... you may benefit from having someone else teach you."

"Why?"

"I mean no offence Malakye. Simply that I feel that you require more attention than I can give you during the classes I already teach. You learn quickly, showing remarkable natural talent." He explained. "Perhaps if you were to join the adepts... yes that would be best I think. I will consult with Stern on the matter, I'm sure he will not disagree."

"Stern? Who's he?"

"He is in charge of managing the warrior adepts and assists General Ortavia in managing the warriors duties around Zangar. Bit of a traditionalist however, I suspect he will initially object to your joining since you are neither an adept or an appointed warrior for that matter, but I suspect I can talk him round." He grinned. "And if not, I'm sure a quick word from your father would certainly change his opinion."

"I don't want any special treatment." I snapped, a little harsher than I had intended it.

"It is not special treatment, there is a precedent for such things, although not common. He would undoubtedly consider the request if you asked yourself, considering your growing reputation. But I expect he would refuse you out of principle, he's very stuffy about rules and tradition like that." He waved his paw dismissively. "But I'm sure that with someone like myself suggesting it he will agree. But should he refuse I will have to press the issue, going to your father if that's what it takes, because this is your best interest."

"Okay... fine." I said, still not happy since it felt like I was getting special treatment.

"You are refreshingly full of surprises, you will be a valuable asset to Zangar no mistake. And one day I would be more than happy to serve under you when you eventually take your place as the head of the Anaris house."

"Oh... I still haven't decided if I'm going to stay or not..." I admitted and I think the admission surprised Kassius more than I'd expected.

"Well I truly hope you do. You have caused a stirring amongst the warrior ranks, a welcome one. As stories of your growing skills spread I have seen certain individuals increase their efforts." He smiled. "A true sign of a good leader is one who inspires those he leads, and you are having that effect already."

"I'm not sure..."

"But the truth is you are." Kassisus interrupted me. "Whether you meant to or not. And that is a good thing, and I hope you do decide to stay. For that reason as well as the fact that I find you a very pleasant, to not only teach but to spend time with."

"Thank you..." I said, unsure what else I could say to the kind words.

"Now if you excuse me I'm going to finish my rounds before I have to return to teach class. Will I be seeing you there today?"

"No... I'll be taking the day off to rest. On Xavier's advice."

"It is wise to take some time for yourself from time to time. I am aware that you keep quite a busy schedule. Good day to you Malakye." He said before turning to leave.