Three days later, Aurelie finally got the chance to ask the question she had.

“What is the effect of cultivation on age?” She asked, hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed at Farn and Mellana. The two paused, looking at each other. The three of them were currently walking on a small path around the village. It was secluded enough that they had privacy, but they were also within shouting distance of the village. It had been decided that the they would leave along with Mrs. Dreslin sometime next week, along with another eighth level Apprentice named Gallo, who really held no high hopes of getting in.

“Well… cultivation slows down aging. When you’re an Apprentice there really isn’t any discernible impact, but a Master ages one year in the space of ten years, a Grandmaster ages one year in the space of fifty years, and once you’re an Elemental Apprentice, it slows down to the point that it practically stops. That’s another reason why the barrier between Elemental Apprentices and Grandmasters are so significant.” Mellana explained. “There’s even a saying, ‘The youngest cultivators are the most dangerous.’”

Aurelie sighed. She figured it was something like that. She wondered how surprised Zane and her Uncle Chase would be if she went to visit them in five years, looking exactly the same as she did when she left… ‘No! I will get back way before then! Don’t even think about it, Aurelie!’

And in that one vital moment, she was distracted. Her guard went down. And he struck. No one was even aware of anything happening. There was a black shadow that flitted between Aurelie and Farn, a hand around their mouths, used to drag them backwards with an irresistible force. And a sick crunch, the sight of a pair of lifeless eyes and Mellana’s twisted, broken neck.

~~~~~~~

Kadaras read the papers in front of him, then leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers before him. Kando, standing in front of his brother, looked rather grim as well, the same look he had had when he delivered the report.

“What is that man planning?” Kadaras asked no one in particular. Someone had seen a man matching Gradas Meir’s description kidnapping a small child from a village. When he was followed, they saw a massacred clan of Spirit Beasts lying on the ground. The information was spread by those villagers, and it eventually reached Meir and Lejus. Dansel, sitting next to Kadaras, also had a grim expression.

“I should have killed him during the duel.” Dansel muttered.

“That would only ruin your reputation, the same way his was ruined during the fight. He surrendered, you couldn’t kill him, it is against the rules of a duel to do so. No one blames you for your actions, and you shouldn’t do so either.” Kadaras responded. They heard a noise by the door, and everyone looked up, seeing Mrs. Dreslin in the doorway. Everyone in the room stood up, bowing. They had learned that first day that Cailysi was a sixth stage Grandmaster, Planos (the male student) was an eighth stage Grandmaster, and their teacher, Mrs. Dreslin, was a second stage Elemental Apprentice.

“We apologize if we disturbed you, we were discussing a few problems around our village, there is no need for a guest to get involved.” Kadaras said, straightening.

“I normally wouldn’t, but I believe I know what is going on. If I’m not mistaken, then you may be in big trouble. Does the report state how many Spirit Beasts were killed and the age of the child?” She asked.

Kadaras looked down. “The child was two months old and the Spirit Beasts were ‘too numerous to count’.”

“I see. If my guess is correct, then he is attempting to use a forbidden method to become an Elemental Apprentice. And when he succeeds, he will likely come back here to retake his village, and maybe take over this village as well.” She delivered the news calmly and with little ado, but the faces of everyone in the room grew grim.

Just as they were digesting this new development, Mrs. Dreslin’s head snapped up.

“Another Elemental Apprentice just entered the village.” They all jumped up, preparing for an attack… but then the teacher frowned. “The Elemental Apprentice left.”

“Huh? Why?” Dansel asked. “Everyone he hates is…” His eyes widened. Kadaras, Padan and Kando had connected the dots at the same time.

They burst out of the meeting room and grabbed the nearest villager by the arm.

“Where’s Aurelie?” Kadaras asked.

“I, uh, I saw her go onto that little forest path with Farn and Mellana. Why? What’s wrong, sir?” The villager answered, startled by the desperation and panic in both Kadaras’ voice and facial expression.

Upon hearing that Aurelie was with their children, Kadaras, Danadie, Padan, and Manadet all grew pale and ran at their fastest speed into the forest. Due to their speed, they came across Mellana’s body fairly fast. Taking one look at her daughter’s dead body, Manadet collapsed and began to sob, screaming. Padan stumbled towards Mellana, gathering and cradling his child in his arms and curling his upper body over her protectively. Danadie sat next to Manadet and hugged her friend, though she was crying herself. Kadaras placed a hand on Padan’s back, while Kando stood off to the side, his knuckles white and teeth gritted. All of them were overwhelmed with memories of her laughing, smiling, crying, angry, all of her jokes, kind deeds, and just… her. Mellana. The beautiful, strong girl who would never be able to do any of those things again.

Padan raised his head and roared, “GRADAS!!!” in a heartbroken, rage filled voice.