Avatar : Chapter 39

"It's good to see you again", Katara says, smiling warmly.

"That it is, young waterbender!" So polite. I suppose, being a King and all, he can be cordial if he wants to be.

...

I'm still waiting for Sokka to greet the King, too, when O-Ting stiffens beside me. "We are being surrounded", he mutters, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lovely. Thankfully, I have King Bumi, the Avatar, Katara, Sokka and O-Ting on my side of the metaphorical trench. It makes me feel a little more confident. That, and the mist I draw towards us. It will only be useful until Aang has used maybe two or three attacks, but I'm not too worried, since I'm already in the process of freezing the seams of Bumi's coffin for O-Ting or the man himself to break open.

Thankfully, neither of them has to be told what I want them to do, and I can turn my mind towards those lovely empty storage crates to line them with ice and fill them with water from the mist. I take care not to let any sloshing be heard over the sounds of metal tearing and groaning. It's always good to have options.

While the mist swallows up some of the noises, I can now hear twenty or so armoured soldiers approaching, blocking off our escape routes. Among them must be the lighter, unheard footsteps of Azula and her two friends, I'm sure of it.

Once I locate them properly, I think it would be best for me to engage Azula, baby strapped to my chest and all. Of course, she will hardly care, and usually I would judge Bumi or Aang to be best suited to take her on, but at this moment, while there is still mist impeding her sight, I can slide around most of her attacks and unbalance her.

After all, one moment is all I need to tear a hole in her guard and maybe her throat. Not, that I'm a fan of killing one of the main teenage antagonists Aang has. Sadly, her living could mean a great deal of horrible moments of regret for me. That is, difficulties that could have been avoided. Difficulties that could cause my death. Azula is just that kind of dangerous to deal with.

And she's insane. Let's not forget that she was raised to become a sociopath.

There isn't much to be done for me now, but to wait and listen for a time to strike. I am so glad the baby is still asleep.

As the others shift into positions they will use to their advantage, I get a better grasp on the mist surrounding us and try to spot Azula's exact position. She wears armour, doesn't she? And she's about of a height with Mai who is taller than Katara. As I make the mist brush up against the individual enemy ambushers, I find both Mai and the Circus Girl, their clothing making them easy to distinguish from the rest. They are closer to Bumi and Aang than any others. Azula could be one of two, either closest to Sokka or myself and O-Ting, who has remained close by my side.

I shift my stance into something of a grounded one, purposefully dragging my feet over the ground audibly. It creates the sound of gravel against stone and vaguely reminds me of what earthbending sounds like, if it's on a very small scale. It also makes the one Possibly-Azula only a few paces away hone in on my location. A few muttered words drift to my ears, but I can't make out the syllables.

Am I doing this Third-Jin-thing right? I'm not sure. But what I do know, is that I have goaded her into an attack.

Her initial blast of flames serves to confirm my position. I allow it and sidestep audibly. Then she moves as close as she dares. She kicks two rapid swaths of blue flames. One is at the height of my knees, the other comes level with my chest. Two equally quick slashes of water intercept and cancel out the attack.

Throughout our entire confrontation, the mist is a great asset to me. It allows me to 'see' her movements and intercept any attacks easily. Too easily. This is not Azula. The princess would have recognised this from the very beginning. She would not bother with bending until she is close enough to touch.

As I come to this conclusion, I concentrate, take hold of my opponent's ankles and bend an icy projectile to knock her out with a blow to the back of her head. She crumples to the ground. No one else has moved during out exchange. Suspicious. And how come the 'Fake' Azula also bended blue fire? It's something I might be able to ask Iroh when I meet him again.

No matter, we will find out soon enough. With another slash I attack Azula, who dodges deftly and hones in on my position. She charges. My heartbeat drums in my chest. She is fast. Spirits, is she fast. I have a new respect for Zuko now.

But the mist still gives me an advantage. Before she can reach me, I've frozen the ground beneath her feet, bended a slash of water at the height of her waist and gotten a grip on her spit to yank her head forward. The result is a truly impressive flail that produces just enough of a firebending attack to remove the slash of water. She skates closer. On flames.

Ah, I wish there weren't any other people around, so that I could lead her on a merry chase. As it happens, I've got a baby strapped to my chest and friends at my back.

She blasts right through the wall of ice I form in her path, but a simple slide to the side on my part has her skidding past me, even as hot flames attempt to lick at my face. While she is agile enough to use one of the buildings to flip herself around and charge again, I manage to bend a large tendril of water, hidden by the mist still cloaking most of the area. It slaps her to the ground with a splash.

I wish I could see her face.

Quickly, I take the opportunity to freeze her to the ground, covering her entire body. She will melt through it, but I have no time to worry about that, because there are soldiers closing in on me, as well as the Circus Girl.

They are as annoying as they are tenacious. Soon, instead of mist, the area is covered in steam. Just as well, it's still water. Hot water that burns the skin it touches. Screams of pain surround me. Lovely, just what I need to fuel my nightmares. Maybe Aang's too.

Only the Circus Girl is agile enough to avoid my attacks. I figure any spikes of ice I send her way will be easily dodged, since she's been friends with Mai and Azula since she was a little girl. And the icy ground doesn't work on her twice. She's a challenge.

My best bet against her are moving miniature icebergs that block her on every attempt to close in on me. It's funny hearing the 'thunk's as she slams against them again and again. The baby giggles. He must have woken up at some point. Spirits, this one's going to be a handful once he can run.

While I deal with Circus Girl and the annoying firebenders, Katara is in a vicious fight with Azula while O-Ting is taking on a very competent Mai. Bumi, Aang and Sokka are fighting the benders, as well as the normal soldiers. None of them aim to kill.

My remaining two firebenders blast one of the moving icebergs and while I take them down with hard yanks on their necks and consecutive choking, Circus Girl manages to use my distraction to her advantage. She vaults over the iceberg blocking her path, closes in on my right side and gets two hits in on my arm. It goes limp immediately, releasing one of the firebenders and making two of my ice constructs splash into water.

Even as she goes for a third hit, I kick her somewhere in her stomach area hard enough to smash her against my last iceberg. The firebender she managed to save attacks me from behind. I would dodge. I would. Spirits fucking damnit, Circus Girl is one of their own and their best bet against me with Azula now focussed on Bumi somewhere to the left. I know that intercepting that fireball is magnanimously stupid, even if my arm's already hanging limply from my shoulder. It's moronic on a level that should be a criminal offence.

Maybe it's that I know her to ultimately be one of the good guys. Maybe it's that she looks so much like a child with that wide-eyed, disbelieving look on her face.

All I know is that this is the last time I'm ever taking a hard blast of flames from a firebender at point-blank range for an enemy. It fucking hurts.

Even as I go to one knee to protect the baby and my throat from the other fireball coming my way, I am given another reason to regret this lapse in judgement: Aang goes into the Avatar State. A quick look around tells me that Azula has defeated Katara and Sokka is on his knees.

This has one positive side-effect. The soldiers around me need a moment to gather their bearings. Not only them, but also the Circus Girl recovers a little more slowly, so that I can struggle to my feet. But instead of resuming our fight, as I had anticipated, she spins away from me.

She spins away from me towards a slowly standing Sokka. His back is turned, eyes fixed on where his sister is being held to the ground by four Fire Nation soldiers. Her hands ball into fists, her intention to take him out is clear.

His unprotected back is suddenly my entire world. She will not harm him, the Firelord-worshipping, shit-throwing little cunt of a Circus Whore! She's going down!

A hard leap and she's on the ground, gasping. She desperately struggles to breathe, but I press my knee to her breastbone, all of my considerable weight bearing down on her lungs. Her already abnormally large eyes bug out of her skull. Her earlier so strong and precise hands flutter uselessly against my thigh.

With a grunt, I bare my teeth, a facial gesture that collects her saliva in her throat. Ineffective coughing adds to her struggle. I open my jaws, and clamp them shut to slice her neck open from the inside. The sound of my clacking teeth reverberates within my head.

"AANG!", Katara's desperate shout cuts off the noise as it is made. It breaks my concentration. There is now blood lining Circus Girl's lips. My eyes dart towards the Avatar.

The sound of bones snapping as I push off from her limp body registers. I ignore it.

I ignore it in favour of shoving all my strength behind a kick that shatters Azula's forearm. A forearm sparking with lightning.

Shit. But even as I go down, landing hard on my burnt shoulder to protect the baby, Azula howls with pain, so that has to be a good thing.

As I lie on the ground, my eyes seek out the prone form of the Circus Girl. She has curled in on herself, around her broken ribs, and is hacking out blood, which can't be helping. Damn. What a mess.

And we're not halfway done.

...

Don't forget to throw some power stones :)

...

If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.

you can join my p atreon :

p@treon.com/Numera