Chapter 29.4- And so the Dragons Danced

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It was different, taking part in a battle from this angle. That of the commander. Instead of being at the very front, taking the brunt of the enemy attention and cutting a clean swathe through them, I was instead relegated to the centre of the formation, giving orders for men to swap out over time as I noticed frustration or tiredness begin to build. For both sides, the fight had turned into something of a a slog. They pushed on us from all sides and we pushed back. But annoyingly enough, from my vantage point, I could tell that they were yet to fully commit.

This General Jinpei was smart. He had a healthy reserve with him that she kept back from the messy meatgrinder that was our hedgehog formation. His earthbenders were also with him, I knew. This was one thing I was quickly coming to learn about pitched combat in this world. Benders were a minority. In every nation other than the fire Nation, less than 1 in 10 people was lucky to be born a bender. It was why you could have entire villages with only a single bender to speak of. In the Fire Nation, things were different. We were blessed by Agni.

For every 10 men, 3 were blessed with the spark. That meant we had more benders in our army than the others. It was also what probably forced this Jinpei to keep his men in reserve.

“Hedgehog advance” I barked at the top of my voice, and watched in pride as my men executed the manoeuvre flawlessly. Those with the shields suddenly pulled in before pushing out with their shields while the spears lashed out and impaled the men who had been previously pushing in on the shields in whatever vulnerable areas they could find. Those men fell dead and the hedgehog suddenly advanced in all directions by one step. Men near the centre with me pushed out to plug whatever holes had opened in the formation smoothly. There was a lot that could be said about fire nation discipline, and from my perspective, all of it was positive.

Sure, the training to become an Infantryman was more gruelling than it had any right to be. But it did make it easier than I’d imagined to beat complicated positions like this one into their heads. The synchronicity, the organisation, the sheer tactical awareness. It was almost…Roman 

“Advance Again” I ordered, and the next set of earth kingdom soldiers fell to same fate as their colleagues had just had. I watched Jinpei’s position. He had two choices now. Retreat or commit. I watched as he seemed to consider his options, but his choice had already been made for him. His men rushed across the space that separated them and the hedgehog. The earthbenders, with their iron hats, seemed to glide along the ground.

I stared at the sky for a second and took one breath. In another, I had my fingers pointed straight up, and my lightning cleaved the clouds asunder, casting the entire field in the day’s harsh light. One foot after the other, I moved from sitting on my ostrich-horse to standing on her back. “Hedgehog hold” I commanded, and then pushed off the horse in a jump that carried me right over much of the space, and landing right on top of one of the layers of my hedgehog.

“As you were, good man”, I told the surprised fellow as I used him as a stepping stone to jump over those pressing against him and land well outside the horde of pressing men. Outside the first group that is. The reserve were running right at me, it seemed. I took a deep breath and took my stance while keeping an eye on the earthbenders towards the back.

The first man that reached me died before he could even lift his weapon. The second managed to swing the Warhammer at me but was confused as my fire dagger cut his weapon at the head and suddenly left him wielding a stick with the metal weight gone. His shocked look would be frozen for eternity as I caved in his chest with a tap of my fingers. The more I experimented with it, the more I found I could channel strength through my body by simply manipulating heat. The heat within me, the heat around me. All of it.

I pulled the heat around me into myself and it was like the world slowed down all around me even if it didn’t. The next group of four became dozens as I formed my fire whips in my hands and waved through like I was a performer. They were cut to pieces without even feeling a thing.

I lifted my head at a sudden abundance of noise and noted both Maki’s and Toji’s squads appearing out of nowhere to run down the earthkingdom soldiers. They hadn’t come from all directions, only the east and the west. That left the enemy two options to retreat towards. Uphill towards Gaoling, or Downhill and away.

Uphill was going to be another slaughter as I’d left a healthy garrison under Shin’s command and downhill…. Well, I wouldn’t want to be one of those who retreated downhill. I looked into the mayhem that had once been a surprisingly organised battle and found myself drawn to the fight that was presently unfolding between Toph and three of the Earthbenders. They exchanged attacks at pace but it was easy to tell that she was beyond their level. Every move they made, she countered with ease, while taunting them to see more. I turned away from the fight to search out my target.

As expected, he’d somehow managed to gather close to a dozen men and they were beginning to quickly make it downhill.

“Toji” I shouted to draw my friend’s attention even as I began to run them down.

A/N; First time writing a pitched battle. I probably fucked this up a lot but I’ll get better with time.