The Hunt Part 2

Pov: Kai

I ran at top speed, leaping between the buildings with ease, while Jeph struggled to keep up with me, not forgetting to keep an eye on his surroundings in case of another ambush.

- We're almost there! - I shouted, jumping up with my fire.

Kai and Jefh jumped over the palace wall with extreme ease, some guards quickly fired their flames at the intruders without hesitation, but their attack was thwarted when Kai snapped his fingers, extinguishing the wave of fire as if it were a simple cake candle.

It took the guards a few seconds to regain their composure before they recognized the albino's appearance.

- General Kai! I apologize for our attack...

- Quiet! Gather the soldiers, we're being attacked by the enemy, secure the perimeter! - I ordered, invoking my authority as a general.

The guards were stunned, but quickly followed what they had been taught until it became ingrained in their souls, and set off to warn all the other guards protecting the palace.

Seeing the rapid mobilization to protect the royal family, Kai closed his eyes and searched for his companion's energy.

- Did you find her? - Jeph asked, looking around, a little impressed by the design of the palace.

- She's in the royal hall with the others. - I replied seriously.

- Do you recognize all of them? 

- Most of them don't, they may have already infiltrated the palace, don't let your guard down.

I quickly took the shortest route to the royal hall, being watched by some guards who were confused by the presence of Kai and Jefh. 

When I finally saw the golden door, the entrance to the royal hall, I decided to ignore the guards protecting it and gave a kick that knocked the metal door to the ground, scaring all the people at the meeting. 

With the thunderous sound of the metal door crashing to the ground, many nobles rose from their positions, alarmed, with fear in their eyes. Ozai and Azula quickly prepared for a possible confrontation as a simple act of reflex. 

The image of Kai appeared with a serious expression on his face, walking calmly through the hall, seeming to investigate any presence near Azula.

- Kai... - Azula whispered, surprised and confused by her fiancé's abrupt action.

- What do you think you're doing? - Ozai shouted angrily from his throne, his flames leaping furiously around him. 

- We're under attack, we may have infiltrators in our midst! - I raised my voice, along with my murderous pressure.

After Kai's words, Ozai rose from his throne without hesitation and looked sternly at each of the nobles, many of whom were terrified, while others didn't seem to be suffering so much from the Fire Lord's oppressive pressure.

- This is a hasty accusation, Lord Ozai. - pleaded one of the nobles.

- We are your most loyal servants, Your Highness, we would never betray you. - One of the nobles knelt down. 

Ozai looked seriously at Kai, waiting for a report on what had happened.

- Jefh and I were ambushed by archers in the city, nothing we couldn't handle, but they were clearly just sacrificial pawns. - I reported, watching carefully to see if any of the nobles were imposters. - I think they were only sent to distract us from the real enemy attack.

- We came quickly to the palace, this place is perfect for being the invaders' next target. - added Jeph.

Azula was astonished, but her face quickly became serious, angry that they had dared to attack her future husband, and she gave Jeph a discreet look, a little worried about the boy.

A soldier came running, he seemed to be having trouble breathing and managed to get the attention of everyone in the room, Jeph was ready to use his element if necessary.

- Firelord, it's been reported that General Kai has been attacked in the middle of the city! - said the panting soldier. 

- Everyone here already knows. - commented Jeph, catching the soldier's eye and pointing his finger at the albino.

The soldier observed Kai's exotic appearance, recognizing him from his physical description due to his hair and eyes.

- I'm glad you're all right, General Kai! - said the relieved soldier.

- Why are you so relieved about my safety? - I asked.

- Some generals and high-ranking officers reported that they had been attacked successively. 

The news took everyone by surprise, as they hadn't expected a coordinated attack against the Fire Nation's most powerful benders.

- Were there any casualties? - Azula asked seriously.

- As far as I know, all the generals managed to survive the ambushes, but other officers were seriously wounded or killed. - The soldier reported with regret in his voice. - Fortunately, we managed to capture most of the enemy, some of whom were firebenders.

Jeph looked at his father and realized that there was something wrong with this whole story. Without hesitation, the Fire Lord expelled all the nobles and took them to a room well protected by a dozen of the palace's best guards to watch over their actions.

Only Kai, Azula, Jefh and Ozai remained in the royal hall. The four of them silently absorbed the information in their minds.

After two hours, several reports arrived from Falcon's messengers who had come to report on the attacks.

I was only worried about a general in the capital, Tizo, who fortunately killed the traitors without suffering serious damage, but who may need a few weeks to recover from his injuries. Your report relieved me, I didn't want to lose a good friend so suddenly.

- It's obvious that this is far from over. - I commented, looking at each document on the table. - We can already see a pattern in these attacks.

- Many generals came to Azula's birthday and were attacked at the same time, but without being killed. - Ozai analyzed the reports and began to see the flaws in his opponent's plan. - Whoever is leading this attack would have us believe that it was a failed plan.

- When they ambushed me, they were attempting a confrontation from a distance, while the other generals were ambushed by firebenders.

- This means that whoever is behind the attack is aware of your ability to manipulate the flames of other Benders. - Azula said, standing next to Kai. - The problem is who these traitorous firebenders are.

- If they wanted to wipe out all the generals at once, couldn't they have used poison or something? - Jeph asked, confused. - Wouldn't that have been more discreet than a direct attack?

- The direct attack was their intention, if they used poison it would be a practically useless approach. - I replied. - First: Many of us develop resistance to various types of poison, so it would be easy to detect their presence in our drinks.

Culturally, many military families and Fire Nation royalty themselves are exposed to small amounts of poison at an early age in order to develop a certain resistance and discernment to possible poisonings. Azula and I have had days of training with this kind of method a few times, and it's obviously very unpleasant. 

Ozai stared at Kai in silence, not really agreeing with what he had said, since he knew of an ancient poison that was imperceptible even to him, but he preferred not to comment.

- Secondly, if the poison had been used, we could investigate and suspect infiltrators and intercept the real enemy. - I commented, looking at a map of the royal capital with the marks of today's attacks. - They could have tried to make us think that it was an attack from another nation, but it wouldn't have made sense. 

- These archers knew how to move very well, as if they had done it before. - Jeph continued. - So these traitors may have been born in the capital itself, or whoever ordered the attack wants us to waste time interrogating them.

- To carry out an attack like this, it can only be someone with influence. - Azula analyzed.

- So one of the nobles may have helped finance the attack.  Ozai commented. - It wouldn't be the first time I'd suffered a coup attempt.

- No! Think of the coincidences. - I said with concentration. - All the generals were attacked at the same time, but it could have been earlier.

- They attacked when they were sure you had returned to the capital. - Azula continued. - Even so, all the generals who were attacked are alive, which means...

- Whoever is in charge doesn't intend to cause widespread destruction in the capital, but to seize power without weakening the Fire Nation too much. 

Everyone seemed a little stunned, but the one who was deeply annoyed was Ozai himself, because he hated this kind of method against him.

- If the attack was carried out with the true intention of defeating the generals, it would effectively be a civil war that would destroy the royal capital and drastically weaken the Fire Nation as a whole.

- So our traitor deliberately wants everyone to be in one place to kill us. - Azula commented angrily. - They're going to use my birthday party to do it.

- The question is, how are they going to kill you all? - Jeph asked, thoughtful. - The three of you alone have more than enough power to defeat all the generals individually. 

They all thought that a direct attack would be pointless, until Azula changed his analytical expression to one of surprise, as if he had discovered a riddle.

- They can destroy us with a single move! - Azula looks at his father. - Wasn't there a renovation in the basement of the palace two years ago?

Ozai, understanding his daughter's question, decided to go down to the palace cellar. The group followed the Fire Lord with some guards standing by.

- I'm starting to smell something strange. - I commented, smelling an unpleasantly familiar odor.

- I don't smell anything. - Azula commented.

- Least of all me. - said Jeph, trying to smell something strange.

- Watch out! - I warned, making the whole group stop.

- What's going on? - Ozai asked in frustration.

- I want yous to leave the palace, I think I know exactly what that smell is. - I replied, concerned for Azula and Jefh's safety.

- Are you sure? - Azula was worried. 

- Yes, if this is what I think it is, you'd better leave the palace.

Most of the group were worried that they might be under the basement and decided to accept Kai's request. Leaving only the albino to investigate the palace's huge basement.

When I finally entered the basement, the smell was much stronger, almost completely assaulting my sense of smell. I wasn't sure where the smell was concentrated, because it was everywhere.

Investigating for a few minutes, I found several boxes sealed with wood, seeing a small green goo leaking from the object. I quickly opened the box and found an absurd amount of explosive jelly.

- This amount is enough to rival the destruction of my Solar Fusion. - I said angrily. - A small spark would be more than enough to destroy the palace.

Now I was sure that there were infiltrators in the palace itself, who could be the guards, the employees or the builders who were renovating this place. I looked deeper and saw more boxes like this, with some explosive jelly leaking out.

I quickly closed the box and left the palace to report what I had found. 

- Kai! - Azula shouted to get her fiancé's attention.

- What did you find in there? - Jeph asked.

- Tons of explosive jelly. - I replied. - More than enough to blow up the palace.

- Now we have to find out who the traitor is. - Azula commented thoughtfully.

- If the reform took place two years ago, that means that anyone who came to work during that time is suspect. - I commented, watching Ozai's reaction.

- What are we going to do? - Jefh asked.

- Let's stick to the original plans for this week so as not to reveal that we've already discovered the trap.  - Ozai ordered. - Kai, I want you to be in charge of getting rid of this trap as discreetly as possible. Azula, find out who the infiltrators are in the palace and bring them to me.

Kai and Azula seemed to agree with the plan, even if their real intentions were to stay together for the rest of the week, they needed to solve this problem urgently.

- I'm going to investigate who might benefit from my death. - Ozai continued. - Whoever is behind this must be someone who specializes in military tactics.

- I imagined the same thing. - I commented. - I have a strong suspicion that it might be an ex-military man. 

- An ex-military man? - Jeph asked.

- To rule the Fire Nation, you first have to be a powerful firebender, someone at least at the level of General and, of course, with a comparable status.

- That narrows down the list of suspects. - Azula commented a little excitedly. - But who in particular would try to do this? 

- Someone with a strong motive for revenge, somehow it all seems very personal.

- It's going to be a long week. - said Jeph.

- We have friends mixed with enemies, we're limited in who we can trust. - I'm serious. - Let's hunt this bastard down.

Next chapter: The Final Play