Avatar: Mage of All Elements

Six hours. For six whole damn hours there was a scream, almost for the whole forest. After all I'd done to the boys, it would be more merciful to kill them. And it was all the fault of one of my comrades who specialized in interrogations and who was always talking about different methods of torture. And what was all this for? And all for the obvious simple.

The three pillars of aristocracy: power, money and intrigue. To elaborate, it all started because of the Beifong family. They used all their influence to send their daughter-in-law to my team for training. I don't know their motives, but they were one of the three richest families in the entire country.

The other two families took it as a blow to their balls and decided to take revenge, and in order not to be expensive, they leaked information about us to the Land of Fire for a huge amount of money, and since they were the only ones who knew the location of the actual training, they came here and promised to eliminate us for a huge amount of money.

In the land of fire there are no fools, and when they saw our record and our achievements, they realized who was so good at sabotaging their backs, and decided to take revenge by giving a little more on top. These two families used their power and used the royal guards to eliminate us, which guaranteed our death.

Thus, they eliminated the heir of their hated family, made a lot of money, and undermined the authority of the emperor of the country, marking his place. All in all, it was a win-win situation. The only thing they didn't know was where I was. That's where they got screwed by the unknown value of my name.

But the other question is, what do I do? On the one hand, I've shown my power, and now they'll be afraid to mess with me. On the other hand, since I could not be restrained, they may try to do it through my relatives. And don't forget that people have always been afraid of what they can't understand or control and have tried to destroy it.

They are already afraid of me, and if I take revenge on those two families, I will be seen as a monster by the whole world, and I will still have to live somewhere. But I can't let that go, because it would be considered cowardice.

The situation is complicated.

We have to decide what to do with the fighters. I can't leave them behind, it's a slow and painful death for them, and I can't carry them all to a place where they can be helped. Conclusion?

I have to help them, and to keep them quiet when they wake up, I have to tie them up. That's what I did. Their injuries were varied and of varying severity, but none of them had missing limbs, which made my job much easier.

It took me another four hours to treat them up. After that, I could be proud of myself. Not one patient had died. Since it was already evening, I made a comfortable place for everyone to sleep, tied them to the bed with a rope, and went to sleep myself. It had been too busy a day. Poppy was probably home by now. But I should still check, not until tomorrow, there's no energy left now.

***

The next morning I was greeted by the sight of a seal rookery. All the ones I had tied to the bed couldn't get out, but they were always hanging around. Heh, it's not so easy without magic. And all it takes is a few broken nerves.

«Now, I'm going to say something and then I'm going to untie you», everyone fell silent and turned their attention to me. I, on the other hand, lifted up all the beds facing me and arranged them in a circle around me so that I could be seen better. «I've found out the reason why you attacked me and I'm not angry with you since you were basically doing your duty», I could feel their surprise even without any abilities. «Yes, yes. You didn't misunderstand and I really want to let you go. But before I do, let's get a few things straight. Okay?» I saw a few barely perceptible nods.

«Fine. You do realize that I basically single-handedly incapacitated all of you because I needed information? I had my student's back. What would have happened if I had been alone, shooting to kill, as everyone understands?» the nods were more obvious now, and from everyone. «I think you realize that if you do something stupid, it won't end well for you.»

One by one I calmed their nerves, and within minutes they all came to their senses.

«So who's in charge because yesterday was a bit of a mess?»

Anyway, there was a lot to talk about. These two families had ruined many people's lives, and no one knew what to do with them. The Dai Li wanted to crush them, but I talked them out of it, saying that the country's empire might suffer.

I offered to report to the Czar, but I was told that the Czar did not know and did not want to know about the war. In general, the situation was bad and no one knew what to do. I wanted to suggest that they leave the country altogether, but there was nowhere to go but to the Land of Fire, and they would hardly be welcome there.

We decided to pretend that no one had noticed us. For my part, and Poppy's, I promised to help, and she'd keep her mouth shut. Let Lee go back and threaten the two families to keep their heads down and not use the Royal Guard for personal gain. That way the sheep will be safe and the wolves will be fed.

And if they don't get it, I will come to them and have a heart-to-heart talk in the best tradition of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And though the Dai Li weren't happy about it, they had no choice. Everybody wants to live.

So we said goodbye and I ran back to Poppy's house. I didn't catch up with her in time, which was natural, considering it had been almost a whole day. But the guards must have been warned about me, because they greeted me politely and let me in.