Chapter 24.4- And so the Dragons Danced

Regardless of whether I was in it or not, I still ran down the length of the root and jumped onto another and then another in quick succession as I worked to close the distance between the water benders and I. Large, sweeping attacks would not work if we were in their midst, I calculated. I spun into a backflip that took me right over a cutting scythe of water. The rush of water aimed at my midsection was met with the hottest flames I could muster on short notice that evaporated the whole thing into steam before it could hit. And then I was among them. What I’d realised in the first few seconds of this fight proved true. The way they’d frozen with the death of their chief. The way they, even now, hesitated as they tried to figure out what to do next. These people, they weren’t fighters. Not truly.

That was why I felt no pleasure as I leaned out of the way of a sloppy punch and retaliated with another that sent my opponent flying into the distance with a crushed ribcage. It was why I heard no drums in my ears as I forced myself into a split to dodge two attacks from opposite directions and retaliated with a wide sweeping arc of flame that cut two down at the knees and forced the others backwards. Their lack of experience was why they turned all their attention to me, who was among them, and paid no attention to Toji until he’d landed with a spear right in the neck of one of the older looking women. It was why their ice shields were too brittle to stave off the knives that tore through them and bit into their necks.

It was why, with one blast, Maki had torn their entire group asunder, and given Shin the space to jump in with his own powerful sweeping arcs. It was why in the face of organised resistance, the quality of which they’d never expected, they began to surrender. The first one to raise their hands in that motion had done it too late and I’d stabbed a hand through the left side of his chest before I even recognised the motion for what it was. The next, made sure to accompany their actions with the right words. In one fell swoop, whatever resistance they’d sought to muster was dead and buried and they’d surrendered. It was a victory. Undoubtedly so. The kind of victory that could earn me a commendation. Uprooting a secret water tribe and defeating and capturing them all in one fell swoop was a victory worthy of a tapestry. Then why did it taste like ash in my mouth. Maybe it was because I’d heard nothing since this fight began apart from the wails of the woman that had stood by the Chief’s side after his body had fallen over right in front oft her.