Chapter 923 - Master Hollow (3)

Saturday, afternoon…

Sarah is sitting on a mat, facing Master Hollow. His eyes are closed. She is not sure if he is resting, thinking, meditating, or maybe that is how he sleeps. But he is not moving.

Sarah's irritation is growing. That morning she warmed up, did some light exercise and sparred against one of four Master Hollow's disciples. The outcome was the same. No matter how fast and how precise her hits were, she was unable to defeat him.

She started wondering if they are practicing some skill for neutralizing damage to the body. That is the only explanation she came with.

Since then, they had lunch and other than that, they are sitting in silence. Sarah reminded herself to be patient. She can't rush things. If she tries to rush, that might make Master Hollow chase her away, and she is already here.

With all this thinking time available, she understood that three days of sitting was the trial. He was probably assessing her character. And he is doing that even now.

'Ah, only if Aiden is here!' , she screamed internally for the hundredth time that day. With every passing minute her desire to see him is swelling and she is confident that the painful crack inside her is getting bigger, and it can be healed only with Aiden's embrace.

She is not sure how long they were sitting until Master Hollow stood up and gestured in the familiar direction. It's time for another round.

Sarah bowed to one of the disciples and their match started within a second. A swift exchange of vicious blows, none landed. Sarah was losing her patience. Why is this not working? She can obviously defend against him, she is faster… She needs to move faster. Few blows landed, but why are her hits not causing any damage? The man barely flinched!

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a commotion from the main clearing. There was a fight going on there, and even Master Hollow furrowed his brows while looking that way. He waved his hand and his disciple and Sarah stopped their attacks.

Two of them followed after Master Hollow in the direction of that other fight.

As soon as they stepped out of the lush foliage, Sarah saw that two Master Hollow's disciples are exchanging blows with two newcomers. One of the two received hit in the shoulder and in the next moment was pinned on the ground. Sarah recognized him as Jesse! Then the other one… Sarah held her breath at the sight of Aiden who is engaged in a fight with the second disciple.

Sarah made two steps toward the fight with intention to help Aiden, or to stop the fight, but Master Hollow extended his hand, preventing her from advancing. He was observing the exchange in silence.

About dozen blows later, Aiden saw Sarah and his opponent used that moment of distraction to land a kick on Aiden's right thigh, making Aiden stumble backward.

"Aiden!", Sarah cried and wanted to go there, but Master Hollow stopped her again.

He saw that she panicked and understood that these two came because of her. But why are they fighting? His disciples greet everyone with respect, and unless they are provoked, they will not attack.

Master Hollow's lips curved into a smirk when he swiftly hit few points on Sarah's body, making her fall on her knees.

Even with that, her eyes didn't leave Aiden.

Aiden saw Sarah falling and rage consumed him. Why is this person in his way? Sarah is right there! His hits became heavier and faster. He wanted this man out of his way! And she is hurt, damnit! Aiden noticed that his hits are landing... the man is falling back.

Aiden used all his skills, and all his speed and strength that he could muster and hoped that it will be enough to get that man out of his way! And it was working. One by one his hits landed in rapid succession and his oponent lost balance while retreating.

Before Aiden's oponent hit the ground, Master Hollow made some whistling noise, and all four disciples stopped their movements and lowered their heads.

The man in front of Aiden was on his knees, not showing any intent to continue fighting.

Aiden only cared about the fact that his oponent was out of the way and his path to Sarah is not obstructed.

Aiden dashed straight to Sarah and immediately pressed a pressure point on her back.

She was able to move her legs again.

Aiden sat on the ground with Sarah in his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed and took a deep breath. Ah, she can smell that woody-flowery fragrance. It is real. He is here. She held onto his sleeve firmly, unwilling to let go.

Sarah and Aiden paid no attention to anyone around them. After an endless longing for each other, they reunited. Finally.

She looked into his dark pools which stirred with happiness and smiled. "Why are you here?"

"I was missing you.", his smile reflected hers and he tightened his hold on her.

He was missing her to the point of losing his mind.

Aiden arrived previous night and could not sleep in that inn. Not with the knowledge that Sarah is close by. Jesse reminded him that Sarah should do the trial by herself, and Aiden held himself back until after breakfast, but then he was unable to wait any longer. He had to see her.

Jesse said that if Aiden is going, he will follow as well because it's boring to just sit and wait. So, two of them packed their things and headed to find Sarah.

Aiden's only concern was that Sarah might head back and they miss each other, but he modified one tracker to use satellite signal, so even without the cell phone reception he can confirm the location of her ring. He was happy to see that his modification was successful. It seems that after all this time with Sarah and Felix, some things rubbed off on him as well.

Back to present...

The older man next to them cleared his throat, making them aware of his presence.

Sarah's smile dropped when she realized that this is a form of disrespect. Luckily, they didn't start making out. She swiftly got on her feet and pulled Aiden up.

"This is Master Hollow.", she told Aiden and then looked at the old man. "This is my fiancé, Aiden."

Aiden gave a deep bow as a greeting. "I apologize for intruding. I only wanted to make sure that Sarah is safe. I will not be in the way."

Master Hollow looked at Sarah and then at Aiden, amusement apparent in his expression.

"Interesting. Lebedev and Voronin together... Very interesting."

Sarah and Aiden exchanged glances before looking at Master Hollow.

"Master, can you repeat that?", excitement mixed with confusion was evident in Sarah's voice. She realized that just now they got a clue about background of Aiden's skills. That second mysterious Eastern European family finally got a name! But she needs to hear it again, just to make sure.

"You know that you are a Lebedev. And his skills tell me that he is a Voronin." Master Hollow explained and observed their expressions.

"It seems that you didn't know about your fiancé. Now I know why you came to seek my guidance. Neither of those two families will allow for your union to happen."

Master Hollow turned around to leave.

Sarah made few steps after him. She has so many questions to ask!

"You should take care of your companion.", Master Hollow said without stopping his movements. He went inside one cabin.

Aiden and Sarah turned to each other in confusion until they realized... Jesse! Right!

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