Chapter 16: No longer Gods

John flew through the vast, empty sky, the wind roaring in his ears as he soared above the endless stretch of wilderness below. It had been days since he left the library, days of ceaseless travel, his mind racing through possibilities.

The first thing he had seen upon arriving at the old campsite was emptiness. The firepits had been snuffed out in a hurry, and the shelters abandoned with little care.

Not a battle. A retreat.

John scanned the ground, crouching as he ran his fingers over the disturbed dirt. Boot prints… heavy, disciplined. Fire Nation soldiers had been here. But there was no blood, no bodies. That was the only good sign. His people had seen them coming.

They had run.

He exhaled, letting tension ease slightly from his shoulders. He had taught them well enough to know when to fight and when to flee. The Fire Nation's numbers were too large; staying would have been suicide.

His mind quickly pieced together the only logical path they could have taken. They would have stuck to the safest route, hiding in valleys, traveling only at night to avoid detection. They would be heading west, toward the mountain passes leading into deeper Earth Kingdom territory.

Without hesitation, John took to the skies once again, flying high enough to be invisible, scanning the world below for any sign of them. The journey was agonizing. Days passed as he cut through the wind, his eyes always searching.

Below him, the world was dying.

Villages burned, thick smoke curling into the sky like fingers clawing at the heavens. Earth Kingdom soldiers clashed desperately against Fire Nation battalions, their defences crumbling like sand before an unstoppable tide. Towns were reduced to charred skeletons, the bodies of their people lying in the streets.

Fire.

Fire everywhere.

And then… he found them. Nestled in a valley, the sky bison hovered low to the ground, their enormous forms shifting restlessly. The airbenders were trying desperately to load the non-combatants onto the bison, their movements frantic, desperate.

And then, flames erupted around them.

'Firebenders,' John's heart froze for an instant before his sharp gaze took in the battlefield.

It was an ambush. The Fire Nation soldiers had positioned themselves in a crescent formation, cutting off escape. It had to have been a trap set from the night before; one of the bison must have been spotted.

The firebenders had waited until morning, knowing the airbenders would be forced to land to rest. They were helpless on the ground. John's blood ran cold as he saw a smouldering pile of flesh and bone; an elder, already dead. A child lay beside them, unmoving, charred beyond recognition.

His expression crumbled into one of stoic anger.

John dived. The wind screamed around him as he descended like a falling star, body cutting through the air like a bullet. The Fire Nation soldiers barely had time to look up.

*Boom*

John slammed into the ground, and the world exploded. A shockwave tore through the battlefield, a hurricane of raw force that sent soldiers flying like broken dolls. The earth cracked beneath his feet.

For a single, frozen heartbeat; silence.

Then, chaos.

The Fire Nation soldiers turned, their eyes wide in shock, in horror. But John moved. The firebenders were slower. Their attacks weaker. He did not need to dodge them all, just redirecting the fire with air also worked.

The comet was gone.

They weren't gods anymore.

John's fingers curled, air compressing into a tight, invisible sphere, denser than steel.

He fired.

A bullet of wind ripped through the first firebender's chest, punching a clean hole straight through his armour. The soldier barely had time to gasp before collapsing in a heap, lifeless.

Another step. Another shot.

The next firebender's skull shattered, his head whipping back as he crumpled. They weren't ready for this. They had trained against airbenders; monks, pacifists.

Not John.

A firebender screamed, launching a wild, desperate blast of flame. John twisted his wrist. The oxygen in the air vanished. The fire died mid-air, fizzling into nothing.

John fired again. A compressed air bullet punched through the firebender's throat, sending him choking on his own blood.

The remaining soldiers began to panic. They had numbers, but it didn't matter. John wasn't an airbender anymore. He was a storm.

One soldier broke ranks, turning to run. John's fingers flicked. A wind bullet blasted through the back of his knee, sending him screaming into the dirt.

Two firebenders charged together, their flames roaring. John dashed forward, faster than their eyes could follow. A kick to the ribs. A gust of air. The first soldier folded in half as his body was crushed inward, his spine snapping like a twig. The second barely had time to register his death before John pressed his palm against his chest.

A shockwave… his ribs shattered and heart ruptured.

The firebender collapsed instantly, dead before he hit the ground. The final firebender fell to his knees, trembling, "P-please-"

John didn't hesitate. His fingers twitched. The last wind bullet fired. A sickening crack. The firebender slumped over, unmoving.

The battlefield fell silent. The air was thick with smoke, with the scent of burnt flesh. Bodies littered the ground, motionless.

The fire was gone. The firebenders were dead. John turned to face the airbender survivors. Their eyes were wide, shocked and terrified. But they were alive. And that was all that mattered.

For now.