Chapter 46: Disappointment (3)

Just before the lightning launches, the guy from the Avatar's group sees Azula freeze for a second and hurls his boomerang at her. A moment later, the princess unleashes her superior bending. The lightning melts the boomerang, turning it into a scorching, liquid mass, but it can no longer continue its flight. Azula immediately gives chase to the Avatar's group, who have already disappeared behind the trees and are heading toward where the Sky Bison is located.

Casting a glance at Iroh, who was helping Prince Zuko stand, I decided I would deal with them later. Right now, I had a different goal. Not all was lost yet. The Avatar could still be caught.

Streams of flame erupt from my palms and the soles of my feet, propelling me faster than any runner, sweeping past both my own soldiers and the numerous adversaries. Suddenly, two Kyoshi Warriors slide into a low sweep, attempting to knock me down. I jump, searing them with jets of fire. Upon landing, I continue my pursuit of the Avatar.

A minute later, exhausted and heavily winded, I arrived at the location where they had been keeping the Sky Bison. There were visible signs of a battle. Azula had definitely been here. The small building that served as the Avatar’s bison’s stall was fully ablaze. And I could sense the princess's chi. Recently, my control, and subsequently my sensitivity, had improved slightly. I had begun to recognize the princess’s strength due to prolonged contact with her. I couldn't easily identify the chi of any other bender, excluding myself.

Lying on the ground near the burning house were the bound lieutenant and the members of his squad. I pulled the gag from his mouth and immediately asked, “Where is the princess?”

“She ran toward the port, shooting lightning into the sky, trying to hit the Avatar!” The rag was shoved back into the lieutenant's mouth, and I sprinted in the indicated direction.

At the port, I found Princess Azula. Sweat was trickling down her face, and her hair was disheveled. She looked rough. Judging by the mud on her uniform, she’d had to roll around on the ground a couple of times. Resting her palms on her knees, Azula watched with hatred as the Master of All Elements plunged into the water from a considerable height.

“Did he decide to kill himself?”

The actions of the bender of all four elements surprised me a little, but I wouldn't say I was taken aback. I know more extravagant ways to end a tiresome life.

A few seconds later, a ripple moved across the water. A moment after that, the body of Unagi breached the surface. If you looked closely, you could see the small figure of the Master of All Elements perched on its head. The sea serpent, which towered several dozen meters above us, turned its head toward the settlement and opened its jaws. A bluish sphere began to form in Unagi’s mouth, which a second later transformed into a seemingly endless torrent of water, washing over the entire village that was burning due to our actions. The only thing I managed to do before the water engulfed us was to tightly hug the princess.

Unagi’s action swept us both into the sea. Not very far, true, but that didn’t negate the fact that we nearly drowned. Thankfully, neither the Koi Fish nor Unagi itself perceived us as food this time. Tired, angry, and soaked, the princess and I struggled ashore. We immediately collapsed onto the ground to recover some strength.

“Thank you,” Azula said after about a minute. She was a much worse swimmer than me. At one point, she simply couldn't handle the current. I had to help her.

“Let's go,” the princess said, standing up with an emotionless expression and heading toward the center of the village. It wasn't even anger or fury, but a cold rage. If Zuko is somehow still alive, I’m not sure he will remain so after Azula arrives…

Our soldiers and Prince Zuko's men were bandaging their wounds, occasionally exchanging disgruntled glances. Not far from the group of soldiers were the Kyoshi Warriors in an extremely pathetic state. They were alive, but their ribs had clearly taken a severe beating. They were bound hand and foot and then literally piled into a heap.

It looked like, after being washed over by Unagi's flood, the Fire Nation forces had decided to unite. Perhaps under the command of Iroh, who was now smiling and joking as he helped bandage someone from our group. Standing next to him was Prince Zuko, arms crossed over his chest, his face sulking.

Azula covered the distance to the prince in a few lightning-fast, long strides. Before he could even realize who had approached him, he took a hook to the jaw and tumbled to the ground. Credit to him, he quickly shook off the blow and rose to his feet. But immediately after that, he missed another strike from the princess. Grabbing elements of his armor, she bent her brother over and head-butted him right in the nose. Zuko stumbled backward a few steps in a daze, nearly falling onto his backside again. Azula wanted to continue beating her older brother, but a grim-faced Iroh stepped between them, raising his hands with open palms near his head.

“That’s enough, Azula. There has been a small misunderstanding.”

He seemed to be trying to smooth things over, but nothing good came of it.

“Enough, Uncle? Enough?! Zuko took it upon himself to attack me and my squad when I was this close to capturing the Avatar! Because of him, the Avatar escaped!”

“Yes! You were this close! But you didn't do it for the sake of the Fire Nation, but just to spite me! I immediately understood your devious scheme when I learned the Fire Nation princess was on the island. You have always been an incredibly malicious and cruel sister who only thought of how to play tricks on me or ruin my mood!”

“Zuko, the world doesn't revolve around you! I was acting on the Fire Lord’s orders!”

“You're lying! Father assigned me the task of catching the Avatar! I was supposed to bring the captured bender to his feet to earn my redemption!”

Azula curled her lip in contempt at Zuko’s words.

“And what now? Are you going to run back to Mommy and complain again about how awful Azula is?”

The reminder of their mother angered Zuko even more. It seemed to be a sore spot for the prince. He tossed aside his helmet and practically lunged at Azula. Iroh managed to catch him.

“You’re behaving like some kind of animal… A stupid, growling thing…” The princess sneered. “Everything can be resolved in a much more civilized manner.” A smirk appeared on Azula’s face, one that promised nothing good for Zuko. “An Agni Kai. Here and now!”

If the soldiers around them had not dared to loudly discuss the conflict before, they now fell completely silent. The whispers vanished. A deathly quiet settled over the scene.

Honestly, while walking back to the village center with Azula, I had calmed down and thought that we shouldn't engage in a conflict with members of the royal family. Zuko might be the banished prince three times over, but he was still Ozai's son. And Iroh, though a retired general, is respected by many. Besides, I was quite exhausted. I would certainly harbor resentment over the Avatar's escape and would exact revenge for it someday, but I didn't want to act here and now. I still hadn't decided if I would remain on the Fire Nation's side. I had developed doubts about the Avatar, and the Wan Shi Tong’s Library had still not been found by us... The knowledge I needed remained with the Fire Sages and Ozai.

However, an option where members of the royal family conflicted without my participation was now acceptable.

“Very well,” Iroh replied quite calmly instead of Zuko. “An Agni Kai. But not between you and your brother, Azula, but between you and me.”

“Uncle, you’re interfering again!” Azula expressed, irritated.

I stepped a little closer to Azula, ready to offer support if necessary. I stood opposite her left shoulder. If Iroh takes part in the conflict, I’m not sure of the princess’s victory.

“As if I could allow you to injure my nephew!” Iroh also raised his voice, standing opposite Azula.

“You forget that I’m not just Zuko’s kin, but yours too! I am also your niece. And if you hope that Zuko will one day replace the dead Lu Ten for you, you are deeply mistaken. That self-absorbed fool is incapable of loving anyone but himself!”

At the mention of Lu Ten, Iroh clutched his heart and involuntarily took a step back. Azula immediately began to act. She was utterly disappointed in her brother. She was furious at him for failing to catch the Avatar. The air smelled of ozone.

The looks on Iroh's and Zuko's faces became extremely surprised. Everything happened quite fast, but due to the adrenaline rush, I could discern every movement of the people standing opposite each other. Azula points her hand, upon which electrical discharges are dancing, at Zuko. The lightning was about to leap from the princess's fingers when Iroh intercepted them, then thrust out his other arm to redirect the bending. He directed it straight toward me. His eyes grew even wider in surprise. He clearly did not want to injure anyone, much less kill them with lightning. Azula also quickly realized who the target might be.

The lightning blinds, and the clap of thunder briefly deafens the ordinary soldiers. Blinking, they see Azula, by striking the back of Iroh’s hand, redirect the intercepted lightning strike into the sky. The princess's worried gaze fixes on me. The retired general sees this.

“You have changed, Azula…” he mused aloud, then performed a slight bow in my direction. “I apologize, Long. I did not mean to harm you.”

The royal soldiers relaxed slightly, but the weapons they had drawn when Azula first attacked were not put away. The two groups eyed each other very tensely. Some even hostilely.

Azula swayed and nearly fell. I caught her by the waist, and then she herself held onto my shoulder. She had used too much chi and was suffering from exhaustion. The lieutenant had said she had been continuously shooting lightning at the Avatar’s Sky Bison. While her chi capacity is large, it’s not infinite.

Estimating that about half of our forces remained, since the Komodo Rhino-Cavalry charge had been very effective, I commanded them to lower their swords. In addition to a numerical advantage, the opposition had Iroh. A Firebending master at full chi. If a fight were to break out, our chance of victory was extremely low. I myself was barely standing. We needed rest. A confrontation was out of the question.

“We are retreating,” I said, looking into Iroh’s eyes.

Azula didn't even have the strength left to object to me. Though I knew she desperately wanted to. I could tell by her incinerating glare.

“A wise decision,” the former general nodded and bowed once more. This time, the bow was addressed to our entire group.

“But I want to warn you, Prince Iroh. I now serve Princess Azula. You foiled her plan to capture the Avatar. The mission the Fire Lord himself commanded her to execute has been left unfulfilled. If we cross paths again and a similar situation occurs, there will be no retreat. I will not care that you and Prince Zuko have royal blood.”

“I understand you, Long,” Iroh said with a grim expression and turned, ordering his own soldiers to retreat as well.