Battle of Elements

Chapter 7- Azara

The wind rushed through Azara's hair while Pyroc carried her through the sky.

After Azara heard of his father's plans and his announcement at the dinner, she knew she didn't belong there. She was meant to be somewhere else, and she would find out where that would be on this journey. She quickly packed the most important things she would need and changed the beautiful red gown into something more useful for a journey with no return; she wore a simple grey long sleeve pullover, tight dark pants, and robust boots. Even though the red gown flattered her figure and let her look like a flaming goddess, the clothes she changed into made herself feel honest with herself. Beauty now radiated also from within Azara.
After flying almost the entire rest of the night with her dragon Pyroc, they rested on a meadow. When Azara saw the sun rising and dipping the sky into an enchanting mix of red, orange, and yellow, she realized she was truly free. Even though freedom was everything she had wished from her journey, she thought that having a company (besides Pyroc) wouldn't make the moment less beautiful; it would make it better.

Azara was carried by Pyroc again. For her, it seemed like Pyro's black wings cut through the wind with every wing beat. Azara could feel the strong (and huge) back covered with matt black scales. Azara always had been fascinated with Pyroc's wings; he was able to lit up the tips of his wings and create lambent flames. Even though everyone else at the pyro empire thought Pyroc was completely untamable (it was also pretty unusual to have a strong bond with your dragon), she couldn't feel any safer with him. 

Azara looked down at the passing landscapes underneath her. After hours of only passing grassland and bleak pastures, she sighted fields full of thriving vegetables and flourishing fruits. Such fields were only cultivated by Tierra wielders. That meant they will soon pass the Tierra empire.
Azara's goal was, for the time being, to head to the aqua empire. She was on the way to a small export trail (she heard members of the guard talk about), which was leading directly to the next aqua tribe.

Azara felt exhausted and her stomach had crumbled for the past half an hour- and, although Pyroc was way too attached to his task and had too much pride to call for attention that he needed a rest, Azara could feel Pyroc was exhausted as well.
As soon as Azara sighted a small village- probably inhabited by Tierra wielders- she told Pyroc to land on a field in front of it. Pyroc laid down, so the ex-princess of the pyro empire could get off of her huge dragon. She grabbed her bag and whispered, "I'm going to be back soon. Take some rest", but Pyroc already laid on the ground and snored.

Azara entered the small Tierra village and made sure the coat she put on earlier would cast a shadow on her face. Even though this commune was located on the border of the Tierra empire and it was likely that no one could even name the princess of the Pyro empire, she didn't want to take any risks.
Azara would go to the next restaurant, take some food with her and leave. Nothing special. Nothing could happen.

She continued walking down a path and passing beautifully aligned huts on both sides of the way. Although her cloak covered most of her appearance, she still didn't quite disappear in the mass of Terria masters; they all were musculus and well-built- not for a fight though, rather for hard work. The people here weren't poor, but they still created a striking difference between the life and the people in the court. While it was normal to judge a pyro master by his wealth, status, or his connections to people living in court, the values in a village (such as the one Azara was in) were a lot different. Azara thought to herself that working hard for your family and yourself was truly worth to be honored.  

Between the ordinary houses, she eventually found a tavern and entered it through a heavy wooden door. As soon as the door shut behind her, a warm feeling surrounded Azara. Besides the strong smell of alcohol, she found the place cozy in its way. On the left side, there was a long bar table and a door which, she assumed, lead to a kitchen. Most of the guests sat around round stone tables and played cards or stridently told each other stories. The guests were mainly middle-aged, heavily drunk Terria wielders.
Azara sat down on the last bar stool in the row, next to the bar table. A fed-up looking woman, who couldn't be older than 50, approached her while scrubbing a whiskey glass with an even more dirty flannel.
As the woman leaned forward, she said, "Are you here for causing trouble? In this bar, we don't like people who pull their cloak hood too far down their faces."
Azara followed her example and leaned forward to her too. With an assertive glance she lowered her voice and said, "I won't cause trouble, but I also won't make friends". Without losing eye contact, Azara took a hand full of gold coins out of her pocket and put them on the table, "Is it possible to get something to eat and drink here or do I have to spend my money somewhere else?"
The woman glanced at the money, grunted, and turned her back.
Azara turned around too and let her eyes observe the other guests. She was about to return to her thoughts again, when she suddenly saw him. Azara saw a boy, that couldn't be older than him, on the other side of the tavern. It wasn't his kind facial features,which were special under all the harsh looking faces around her, or the fact that he looked at her too; it was rather a feeling that caught her attention. In his brown pullover and wide green pants,that were typical for Terri's wielders, he should have looked like one, but he didn't. In fact, his slim figure distinguished him from the others.
Azara caught herself staring at him, but why couldn't she look somewhere else...-
Her thoughts were disrupted by three Tierra wielders approaching the boy and cornering him.