Chapter 35.2- And so the Dragons Danced

Azula’s entrance to the fight was marked by an arc of blue flames. I had wondered whether Long Feng would remain content to hold her in reserve while he watched his men get slaughtered around him. That would have suited my purposes perfectly. As I cut through her flames and prepared myself to face one of the strongest firebenders of this generation, I cursed myself for not learning how to redirect lightning. It was a failing that could bite me in the back here. The only thing I had going for me was that I knew I would be able to use the lightning faster than she could. So if I saw her preparing an attack, I would be able to strike first even if I started later.

That would surely kill her so it was a last resort. Losing a Princess would be a bad look but it was preferable to losing my life. I dodged another arc of flames and shot at her like a cannonball from a canon. She barely managed to roll out of the way in time, and I took the chance to call up my fire whips and dice the men that had been behind her into pieces. She took her stance and kicked a lance of flames in my direction before her foot returned to the ground and advanced forward as she sent smaller lances from her fingers. I almost chuckled as I took a deep breath and cleaved the first lance in two, allowing either side to pass me by, and then I called on my inner flame and met each of her smaller lances with fire blasts of my own.

She pushed both her hands forward, sending a massive swathe of blue fire in my direction but she was not even close enough to catching me with such a slow attack. I jetted around the room, taking a longer path to approach her from the side. She spotted me coming and cut off her massive blast to turn around and face me. She lifted her leg to send a blast my way, but I rolled underneath it and then I was in her space. I held back on the punch I landed on her face, but it was still so satisfying. To her credit, she remained conscious and still continued the fight. She stepped back, dazed for a second and then tried to punch at me with fire in her fists. My head flashed backward, moving out of the way and in the same movement, my left leg flashed outward to kick her in the shin. She almost tripped over herself in her stumbling to regain her footing and I slapped her in the face twice. A forehand followed by a backhand in quick succession.

There were tears in her eyes but she still couldn’t recognise me so I kneed her in the midsection and then knocked her unconscious with an elbow to the back of her head. Thankfully, she was a Princess of the Fire Nation. Even if she remembered this, she would be the one in the wrong for allowing herself to fall so low as to be a tool of the enemy.