Chapter 2
Faster than one could blink, the officers moved even closer.
As the muzzles of their guns were pointed directly to her chest, Isla didn’t move or flinch.
Instead, a memory resurfaced in her mind.
Less than a year ago, she’d begged the greatest metal mage alive to teach her how to bend metals. The answer had nearly gotten her killed.
“Feel the earth trapped inside the metal,” The old master had said. “Control that, and the metal obeys.”
Every training then and afterward was brutal.
For weeks, Isla had tried but continued to fail.
Despite learning to bend metal, it didn’t come with the same precision her teacher wanted. Disappointment became a familiar expression on her master’s face.
Then came another lesson.
“Now watch carefully.” The woman said before loading dozens of metal pellets in a machine, and positioning herself before it.
The machine had fired the pellets at the old woman one after another without stopping.
She didn’t dodge them, the master remained perfectly still.
Isla watched keenly from her spot.
Rather than penetrating her master, every shot fired by the machine only flattened against an invisible metal barrier before dropping harmlessly to the ground.
Isla had been jawstruck.
Bending metals was one thing. Doing it while fear clawed at her throat was another.
She had begun backing away as discreetly as she could when the woman’s gaze locked onto her.
“Your turn!” Her command was sharp, snapping Isla back to the present.
In that very instant, lightning sparked through her right hand while streams of water coiled around the left.
Quickly, she flicked her fingers, launching five electrified spheres toward the patrol officers.
They fired at the exact same moment.
For a heartbeat, Isla’s breathing became fast and shallow, her mind suddenly clouded with confliction. She wasn’t sure if she should trust her training. What if she failed? What if she couldn’t do it?
Bracing up, she reached out with her senses to the alloy plates hidden inside her pack.
With a sharp clench of her fist, the entire seven metal plates burst free and spun through the air.
Isla watched as they collided together in front of her, unfolding into a flaring barrier just before the bullets arrived.
The impact of the metals tore through the air, ringing loudly through the tavern.
Slowly, the sounds faded away. All that were left was the sparks bursting from the battered shield.
Which shattered apart a second later, the remains of the metal crashing onto the floor by her feet and emitting smokes.
At the sight, Isla exhaled shakily, relieved.
She might have done all she could but she had never mastered the technique her metal instructor tried to teach her.
Standing still, controlling and stopping bullets had never worked her way.
So she created her own solution.
Alloy plates folded neatly inside the pack she carried everywhere. The moment danger appeared, they would snap together into a shade.
Although it was only but a single use, it was still effective.
Groans and cries rose in the room, gaining Isla's attention.
Her face twisted in a cold sneer as she looked down at her feet.
The officers lay scattered across the floor, their bodies squirming from the electrical current that had ripped through them.
“You sustained a cut!” The little girl suddenly yelled on top of her voice, her expression transforming into shock.
Only then did Isla became aware.
She instinctively touched her shoulder.
When she lowered her hand, her fingertips came away stained red.
One of the bullets must have grazed her before the shield had fully formed.
The adrenaline that was still running in her veins made the pain barely felt.
But the wound was far from a bruise.
Shaking her head dismissively, Isla ignored it and walked toward the frightened family.
The parents immediately pulled their daughter behind them.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” Isla said calmly, noticing the mortification on their faces. “But you need to leave. And it’s now.” She told them, stopping feets away.
The father hesitated, sharing a look with his wife.
Whatever they communicated between themselves, Isla had no idea.
She just knew the time was ticking by.
When both parents looked back at her, their bodies now trembling with immense fear, as if they weren’t sure if to heed to her instruction, she sighed.
“Take your daughter and disappear before more patrols arrive.” She told them again, this time, her tone even more urgent.
Then she looked directly at the little girl.
“And don’t let anyone see her using her magic again until she learns to control it.” Isla warned.
The couple exchanged another glance before nodding.
The father scooped the girl into his arms.
“The back door,” Isla gestured quickly just as they were about to turn toward the front door. “Go before the street is surrounded.”
As they hurried away, the little girl looked back over her father’s shoulder.
“Are… are you the Avatar, miss?” She asked, attempting to murmur but her voice came out louder than ever.
Instantly, the parents’ hit a halt, taken aback by their daughter’s utterance.
Together, they hushed her with disapproving looks, but Isla’s mouth curved up into a smile.
“Yeah,” She nodded without hesitation, answering as softly as she could, “That’s me.”
The parents disappeared through the back door. Only the barman remained.
His terrified gaze followed Isla as she bent down and picked up one of the fallen pistols.
His eyes felt like they might burst from fright. “You… you’re going to…?” He stammered, faltering as Isla turned the weapon continuously in her hand, as if dissecting it.
Then she straightened up on her feet in a swift.
As Isla’s eyes flicked toward the bar man, he staggered back.
But she made no attempt to lay a hand on him.
Instead, she looked pointedly toward the officers still writhing on the floor. “For the kid to survive, they mustn’t.” With that said, a brief silence settled over the tavern.
Followed by five gunshots that shattered it just as quickly.