Free Forged of Fire by Stacy Von Haegert

Walter, standing by a large glass window beside Stefen who looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Kielyn,” Stefen waved her over. “I want you to see what a bender can do.”
     
    She walked beside Kizer and Skyler to the viewing glass. On the other side of the glass was a large room that was set up to look like a dark and seedy street at night. It looked like a connecting back ally off Bourbon Street in the Quarter. “Is this a stage?” She asked.
     
    “Sort of,” Walter said. “It’s one of many training simulations,” he nodded towards the room. “Just watch.”
     
    She turned her face to the glass just as the dark, mysterious man from last night appeared on the stage. He was bare footed, wearing lose fitted sweatpants and was shirtless. His back muscles rippled and lengthened under his tan skin with each step he took as he walked to the middle of the room. “I don’t see what…” A person holding a gun leapt down from the ceiling and fired two shots at him. The dark haired man with the blue eyes moved so quick that his image all but blurred. Kielyn’s heart hammered in her chest as the handsome one manifested on the other side of the room, an orange glow lifting from his palm. In one graceful move, the glow morphed into a blade of fire and severed the head from the dummy. Before she could ask what was going on, the opposite wall began to rotate, exposing hundreds of knives and throwing stars. The man squared his shoulders as the deadly weapons began to shoot out from the wall, one after another with blinding speed. He spun and dodged, twisted and turned out of the way of each would be assailant with the stealth of a cat. At last he jumped straight up and flipped backwards, clipping a devise with the heel of his foot that halted the throwing contraption on the wall.
     
    Slowly he lowered his seemingly weightless body back to the floor and turned to face the glass. His piercing blue eyes danced with a confidence Kielyn had never seen in another human before. He tilted his head and smirked at them before raising a hand. Without warning flames hurtled from his fingers and raced towards where they were all standing in the observation deck. Kielyn threw herself backwards as the fire collided with the protective glass and climbed the wall like rabid attack dogs. “What the hell!” She stared as the angry, red hot embers on the window turned to black ash and fell away in the training room, leaving nothing but smoke in their place. The mysterious man from last night was gone.
     
    Stefen leaned down and offered his hand. “It’s time Kielyn,” he pulled her to her feet. “Time to learn who you are.”
     
     
    ****
     
     
    “My, my, she is a stunner, is she not?” Marsala said from behind Ash.
     
    “It’s unfortunate.” Ash kept his eyes trained on the young bender behind the observation glass. He had been watching Bane and Kizer with her for the better part of three hours now. She was a quick study. After an initial meeting with all of them and a solid understanding of what they were there to do, the two Water-benders had wasted no time in starting their leg of her training. “You know that beauty gets us nowhere good.” Ash continued to study the balancing act Kielyn was currently trying to master by holding a single drop of water suspended in air. If her mind shifted too much from right to left, emotion to logic, the drop rolled to the most dominant side. Just like with fire, that delicate balance of one’s inner thoughts could mean the difference in life and death. “Beauty only gets you noticed and in our world, that’s never a good thing. She will be only that much more of a prize. Just as I was for Dante. A beautiful trophy.” The words were void of emotion. “Or so he intended.”
     
    Marsala’s reflection joined him in the glass. “I dare say you sound unusually chipper today,” she teased. “Must be the thought of the kingdom they wish to bestow on you.”
     
    “Feel free to