Reckoning

- Damn... this is really painful... I'll have to practice this technique. - Jefh said, a little disoriented by his own attack.

Jefh had used his most dangerous technique directly on the Avatar, a sonic boom capable of causing acoustic damage. This technique, or Sub Bender, was actually a weapon, a complete offensive of an element that was used as a tool of peace for 10 millennia. Jefh wasn't able to enjoy his elemental potential like Ty Lee, so it was logical to mirror his skills in other references to acquire something completely new for this world.

- Manipulating sound is still a double-edged sword, but it's enough to put an end to it. - Jefh watched as the Avatar, the supposed supreme warrior, was completely vulnerable at his feet.

Aang stood with both hands to his ears, his eyes watering from the pain he felt, a torturous buzzing jarring his senses, making it impossible for him to react. His pain, however, was shared by Zuko, who was also within range of the sonic boom and was suffering great pain, especially nausea in his head.

-Maybe I should find a way to reduce the efficiency of my technique. - Jefh looked around and noticed that all the fighters were on the ground in vulnerable positions, their ears covered with expressions of agony.

Jefh noticed that the wild beast Shirshu was practically unconscious, probably because he was blind and had a more sensitive hearing. June, on the other hand, tried to get up, but was obviously too disoriented to even fight.

Katara and Bato, luckily the furthest away from Jefh's attack area, as well as June, were able to react somewhat, but they were also weak and unable to fight.

- Damn... that's what you get for pissing people off, Avatar. - Jefh kicked Aang in the stomach with all his might, making him writhe in pain. - You shouldn't even be able to hear me. You'll be lucky if you can hear again, but it should still be impossible for your hearing to return without permanent damage.

Jefh massaged his head with the fingers of his hand. Since he had generated the sonic boom directly, he was also suffering from the ravages of the attack itself, but being aware of this, he had developed a way to redirect the sound waves away from his eardrums, but he still had a lot of room for improvement. With all of the fighters visibly incapacitated, Jefh took the opportunity to inspect their injuries caused by the earthbender.

- If I try to treat this wound, it might be problematic, I'd better find a doctor afterwards. - Jefh took a deep breath and looked at Aang. Your right hand began to be surrounded by a violent whirlwind that was accelerating by the second. - A blade of air might be able to cut through wood, maybe even rock with practice, but unfortunately for you, your flesh can't offer any resistance.

Jefh had created a sword of air, and though the air was invisible to the naked eye, the sand on the beach reacted to take the shape of the blade, making it visible. The blade spun violently and it was easy to imagine how deadly it was, but Jefh's easy victory was prevented by a large flying bison that appeared between the trees and tore them apart with its furious power.

Out of survival instinct, Jefh undid his blade and used a vortex of air to move away from the attack of the great mystical beast. The flying bison acted as a living wall for his companion, but that didn't mean he was surprised to see another airbender, but Appa, much as he doesn't show it, is still a mystical being, almost like a spirit in the world of mortals, it's the nature of his species and it gave him a sensitivity to the hostility emanating from Jefh. Sokka and Suki were under the Bison's back, but it was clear that the one who was really in control of the situation was Appa, who was roaring furiously at Jefh.

- Katara! - Sokka said, worried about his little sister.

Suki, who was unable to fight, still had a certain amount of stamina and quickly realized that the battle was over when she and Sokka heard a bang coming from the beach like an explosion. Even though there was no visible trail of destruction from an explosion, it was clear that all but the most dangerous person had been defeated.

Appa was ready to fight to defend his pack, it was natural for him, even though he was considered an airbender, he was still an animal and a spirit. The real problem for Appa was seeing Jefh's serious expression, his eyes reflected a strong fighting spirit, but that wasn't all, there was something more frightening. Only the bison saw it, but Jefh's eyes had a reflection of someone else, as if something was looking through his eyes.

Unlike fire and water, the elements of air and earth didn't have a primordial being to represent their native element; the universe itself had created elemental representatives in the form of native animals in each era of the mortal and spiritual worlds as a result of the joint creation of the first dragon and the spirits of the ocean and the moon.

However, from Appa's point of view, Jefh had a strange connection with him, not like his connection with Aang, but a more complex, primitive connection in some ways. Jefh's eyes reflected the two scarlet eyes of a being shrouded in darkness, making Appa's hair stand on end as if he were facing a predator capable of killing him.

- Damn, I forgot about that Bison... I should have thought that it would obviously attack. - Jefh scolded himself, gritting his teeth in frustration. - Damn it... I could have just killed the Avatar, just one more second and I'd have won.

- Sokka, you have to help our friends. - Suki said, trying to position herself more comfortably on Appa's back.

- Suki... - Sokka looked at his romantic interest and nodded. - Appa, keep that face under control. - There was a small growl from Appa in response.

Sokka climbed down from the bison's back, meeting Aang in a fetal position due to his stunned ears. He looked at Aang for a few seconds, as if deciding if he was worth saving, then let out a sigh of disappointment and placed him on Appa's back.

Jefh could only remain silent, knowing that the moment the bison appeared, everything had gone to shit. Even if he could try to take on the flying bison, it was still an air bender, a real one if you considered it, and it wasn't impossible that the animal had certain secret hidden cards that had never been documented.

Jefh wasn't stupid, the Flying Bison had been around since the Air Nomads created their own nations in the four corners of the planet, and having one with over 30 tons of pure muscle staring at him angrily was enough to give him a simple warning: take one more step and die.

But it was Appa who was in the same position, for he could see that Jefh had a huge shadow over his feet, a great dragon that intimidated him to the roots of his cells. They were both unconsciously at a dead end, unaware of their opponent's position.

Sokka helped Haru to his feet, the only one able to stand after the sonic boom, still hearing a ringing in both ears that made it difficult to understand Sokka's words at first.

-Did you hear me? - Sokka said, a little annoyed that Haru was ignoring him.

- Sorry, speak again! - Haru yelled next to Sokka, startling him by repeating the gesture.

- You don't have to yell! - Sokka shouted, indignant at Haru.

- I'm not listening to you! - Haru shouted, not intending to irritate Sokka by repeating himself.

Sokka watched Haru, sighing angrily, but when he saw Haru mimicking Katara and Bato's gesture of putting his hands over his ears, he understood that it wasn't that simple, and that maybe the noise he heard was related.

-Go to Appa, let's get out of here. - Sokka spoke louder, without sounding like he was shouting, but loud enough for Haru to understand.

Haru nodded and walked over to Appa, not taking his eyes off Jefh, who was having a staring contest with the flying bison. Haru was dazed and a little nauseous, but he couldn't deny that he was frightened by that horrible sound that didn't even seem to affect the person who made it.

Sokka walked past June, who was clearly struggling to stand, and seeing how defeated the Gothic woman was, he decided it would be wise not to waste his time on her, and just focus on getting all of his allies out of this place.

- Katara, can you hear me? - Sokka looked worried, a facet he would never reveal to ordinary people.

- Yes... I'm fine... I think... - Katara heard a ringing in her ears that was quite annoying. - My ears... hurt.

- I don't know what that boy did, but this is some kind of weapon. - Bato said, struggling to get up from the sand on the beach. - It's wise to get out of here, I don't think the boy is unharmed by his own power, but that doesn't stop him from trying to use it against us again.

- I could try to kill him. - Sokka whispered.

-That's foolish, you'd just be restarting the battle and the consequences would be disastrous. - Bato suggested, trusting that Sokka wouldn't dare attack the new enemy.

Jefh never wavered in his serious gaze at the flying bison, a bead of sweat falling from his face from the strain he was under. The only things limiting him were his injuries and June and her pet. He knew that his technique was a weapon that couldn't be used at any time, a tool of circumstance, and it was reckless to use it with June in effective range.

Jefh's ears caught the sound of footsteps, he felt a pressure similar to his father's when he got a little angry, and he couldn't help but smile nervously when he knew who was behind him.

- Have you already recovered? Iroh. - Jefh asked, already knowing that it was the veteran firebender.

- The poison is strong, I admit, but there's nothing you can do about it now. - Iroh spread his fingers in a familiar position for Jefh, who looked over his shoulder.

- Lightning stance... Damn. - Jefh was practically Iroh's hostage now. He knew that it was impossible to dodge a lightning bolt when the user had his finger on the trigger in his direction.

- You are cunning and extraordinary, but I can't allow you to endanger Zuko's life. - Iroh didn't hesitate to show his more paternal side, as he was very concerned about Zuko's health since he was very close when Jefh used his technique.

- If you kill me, you're giving yourself and Zuko an ultimatum, I don't think you'll survive long. - Jefh remained in the same position, not daring to move to provoke Iroh.

- The Fire Nation always has replacements who can take your place, my brother Ozai doesn't mind changing the pieces on his board to achieve his goals. - Iroh explained, observing Zuko's position as he lay unconscious, dangerously close to the Avatar's friends.

- Who said I was talking about Ozai? - Jefh looked seriously at Iroh, making the old Firebender feel a shiver run through his body.

Before anything happened, everyone felt a pressure in their bodies that prevented them from moving, even breathing was difficult.

No one said a word about the oppressive feeling that fell upon their bodies. Iroh and Jefh were tense, feeling as if they had lost control of their own bodies, and this unpleasant feeling was shared with the Avatar team, but one in particular felt familiar with this event.

Haru, who was tired from the battle and only a few steps away from climbing onto Appa's back, suddenly felt his body not responding to his desire. A small sharp pain shot through his chest and quickly escalated into a pain like a thousand razors slicing through his organs.

- AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHH! - Haru screamed as he felt his body slowly contort into almost inhuman positions.

- HARU!!! AAAAAARRRRRGGHH!!! - Katara screamed in pain as she felt her arms being twisted against her will.

- AHHHHGGRR! WHAT... IS GOING ON? - Sokka asked, feeling indescribable pain.

Iroh, who was pointing his fingers in Jefh's direction, ready to fire his lightning bolt and kill the Airbender, felt his arm being forced into a different position, his fingers twitching and almost breaking by an unseen, supernatural force.

- What... is that? - Iroh asked, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer because everyone was visibly suffering from this supernatural force. Iroh noticed that all of the Avatar's friends were suffering, even the flying bison, but what really surprised him was that Jefh was paralyzed, but not subjected to this physical torture that they all shared.

-WHAT'S HAPPENING.... - Haru groaned, feeling as if his joints were about to break.

-What is happening is just me keeping my promise. - Said a soft female voice with a hint of menace that was heard by everyone.

The temperature on the beach where everyone was standing suddenly dropped, and the seawater slowly began to freeze on the surface, creating a thick mist. Slowly, Haru's body rose from the ground, his arms and legs completely stretched in the air. Some footsteps were heard in the direction of the sea, and a figure appeared in the mist, walking on the ice. 

Haru's eyes widened as he saw the face of a woman he would never forget, not because of her beauty, but because of who was responsible for taking his father's life.

- How are you alive? - Haru said, a little startled as he thought he was in the presence of some kind of ghostly creature.

- You shouldn't be surprised, Haru. - Said Yoshie as she walked under the thin layer of ice toward the beach, revealing her appearance to all who could see.

Yoshie was wearing her classic military outfit, although it was obviously completely damaged, but what was most noticeable was her arm and leg made of water and ice, like artificial prostheses of her real body.

-So Haru... do you know what it's like to feel your body being dismembered by a vengeful person? - Yoshie asked quietly with a hint of mischief in her eyes. - You don't have to answer because I will teach you.

Next chapter: The End Written in Blood