PROLOGUE

TARRLOK HAD A SPLITTING HEADACHE.

It was truly horrid, like someone was slowly and carefully sliding a dull knife into his temple. Sweat poured off of him in sheets, and he desperately wanted to go outside. Outside, it was nice and cold and fresh, a light, soft rain drifting down from the heavens upon the city of Omashu. In the room he was in, though, it was hot and stuffy, candles burning just bright enough to illuminate, but not bright enough to keep him from having to strain to see, and the stale, musky air was thick with swirling clouds of cigarette smoke. He hated cigarette smoke, always had, and now, more than ever; the military-issue cigarettes that everyone but himself and Mother were smoking reminded him uncomfortably of the rancid hand-rolled things Father used to smoke when he was in his cups.

Which was always…

He had an unpleasant waking memory, his father's face looming before his eyes, breath smelling of stale liquor and even more stale tobacco. His father screamed and beat him around the ears, calling him worthless and less than a dog.

Less than a dog…

He shook the memory away, pressing his fingers to his temples and desperately trying to rub the pain away. It didn't help, not one bit, but, at the very least, he supposed, it gave himself something to do.

Something other than listen to that horrid man talk to Mother…

The conversation seemed to have reached something of a climax. The man in the Fire Nation uniform, the man called Matsuura, was smiling, tapping the ash from his cigarette down onto the floor. Tarrlok's brother looked monstrously bored, as only Noatak could truly be, when there wasn't anything to do, but Mother…

Mother's eyes sparkled like a teenage girl's…

Tarrlok tore himself from his thoughts, and did his best to listen.

"So," the man called Matsuura was saying, a bizarre little smile creasing his lips as he leaned back in his chair, throwing an arm over the back, "let me get this straight: You agree to come work for me, become a part of my unit, do whatever I ask you to do, go into all kinds of danger, and in exchange, you ask for…nothing?"

Mother nodded, hands clasped one atop the other on the head of her walking stick. Tarrlok suspected that she was smiling, but he didn't look to make sure. He hated it when Mother smiled; nothing good ever followed.

"That's correct, my dear," she said, in her sweet old lady voice. "We'll do all of that, my sons and I, no conditions, no payment necessary."

Matsuura shook his head, chuckling low in the back of his throat. "That is…quite the offer, my lady. Still," he pursed his lips, tossing his spent cigarette to the ground, not bothering to acknowledge the soldier who materialized out of the shadows to stub it out with their boot, "as incredible of a deal as that is…well…"

Mother shrugged. Tarrlok and Noatak said not a word. They had long ago learned the price of speaking out of turn; Father had taught them, in ways that it would be difficult to describe.

Mother just reinforced the lesson, Tarrlok remembered, why, he didn't know.

"It is what it is," Mother said, smiling her sweet old lady smile and giving a resigned sort of shrug. "You can either take it or leave it, my sweet. No hide off my teeth."

Matsuura nodded, as if he was taking it all in. Popping an eyebrow, he leaned forward, resting clasped hands atop the table between them. When he spoke, Tarrlok found himself surprised, not for the first time, at how flawless the man's Inuktitut was.

"Understandable, and, to be honest, I'd be a fool to not take that deal. Still, though…" He made a strange face, as if he was chewing on a particularly stubborn piece of gristle. Tarrlok watched, fascinated, even as his headache sent the blood pounding through his ears. "You see…my mother didn't raise any fools, and, thing is…when a man like me, gets a deal like that, well…" He shrugged, spreading his hands, as if to say, You know how it is.

Mother laughed, which made Noatak chuckle and Tarrlok do not a thing. Mother's laugh used to make Tarrlok flinch and cry, but not anymore.

Didn't seem to be much of a point in reacting anymore.

"That's understandable," Mother said, sighing. "Why don't you ask me why?"

Matsuura smiled. "That was exactly what I was going to ask. Why, my lady Hama? Why are you so willing to do my bidding, in exchange for nothing?"

Mother laughed once more, and when she spoke, it was no longer in her sweet, kind, grandmotherly voice. No, it was in That Voice, her true voice, the one that sent children running away screaming and let their family's victims know that the time to get right with one's gods had finally come.

It was the voice she used, as she reached out her hand and waggled her fingers and made Father's heart burst in his chest. Noatak laughed. I didn't say a word.

Even then, there seemed no point.

"Well, my sweet," Mother said, leaning down onto her walking stick, "why don't you ask me why?"

Matsuura nodded. "You know…that's a good question. Pity I didn't think of it before. So," he said, leaning back once more and resuming his relaxed position, one arm flung over the back of his chair, "why are you willing to do so much in exchange for so little?"

Mother giggled, and Tarrlok watched several of the born killers lurking in the shadows of the room shift their weight and nervously tug at the collars of their uniforms.

"Because I'm going to get plenty out of this deal. You see, young man…do you know my story?"

Matsuura shrugged. "No, my lady, I do not." Even Tarrlok saw right through that one.

So did Mother, but Mother never tired of telling it, did she? "What a shame. You see…during the War, I fought. We don't keep our women away from battle in the South. Sure, they don't typically go out on the raids or march in the armies, but who do you think defends the village and the tribe while the warriors are away? We do. And one day, the Fire Nation came, and I was captured in the battle."

"I'm sure we treated you with the utmost courtesy," Matsuura said, in a voice that made clear he knew the truth, but didn't really care.

Somehow, Tarrlok found his honest face refreshing. He turned to his brother, tilted his head, and Noatak nodded, as if to say, Right? I like this guy, too.

Though Tarrlok didn't know if he liked the man. He'd stopped trying to think things through a long time before.

Mother continued. "Well, then you can see why I hate the Fire Nation so much. But, thing is, the Fire Nation wasn't alone in what was done to me! In the camps, the prisoners treated each other almost as badly as the guards did, and when I tried to use bloodbending to get us out, I was shunned and beaten as a spawn of demons. When our tribe came to terms, I was cast out, because of my…ahem…talents. And out in the world, I endured countless hardships, from people of all four nations. That's when I realized the truth: Humanity deserves to suffer. So, you see," she concluded, sitting back in her chair, a wisp of a smile on her face, "if anything, we're the ones getting the better deal here."

Matsuura nodded, looking vaguely impressed. "So, you hate the world, and will do anything to make it pay."

Mother shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Hmm…" Matsuura turned to Noatak. "What about you, boy? If I remember correctly, this…woman…showed up on your father's doorstep, seduced him, made him teach her everything he knew about bloodbending, and when she had surpassed him, quite brutally murdered him. Is that true?"

Noatak shrugged. "Eh, Father had it coming."

Which, Tarrlok had to admit, was true. He couldn't ever remember feeling sad when Mother crushed Father's heart in his chest, all while cackling like a loon.

In fact, I don't remember the last time I felt anything at all…

"So," Matsuura continued, "why go along with this? Why even call her Mother?"

Noatak shrugged once more, examining his fingernails. "Because, she's right. The world is evil, and has to pay, but, most of all, the Avatar has to pay, for letting it get this way. Anything that puts me in a position to get at the Avatar, well…" Another shrug. "Sounds good to me."

Tarrlok almost had a feeling then. He couldn't describe it, because it had been so long, and besides, he could barely think for the pain in his head. Still…

I'm pretty sure I almost laughed. We both know that's not why you follow Mother, Noatak. You've got mad dreams of revolution and blood and fire. You're nowhere near as heartless as you try to appear.

But then the feeling faded, and Tarrlok just slumped back into his chair, nursing the pain that was still slicing through his brain. What did it matter, after all?

It didn't.

Tarrlok had known this for a long time.

"And what about you, Tarrlok, right?"

Tarrlok looked up, surprised, right into Matsuura's eyes, the eyes that, for all the fire that sparkled in the golden depths, were lifeless and cold.

Not that it bothered Tarrlok.

Not that he cared.

Which, he supposed, was why he shrugged, because why bother to tell the truth? No one would care.

I follow, because I have nowhere else to go.

Who would give a shit about that? Not this man, that was for sure.

Matsuura seemed to approve. Nodding, he stood, performing a rather dramatic little stretch as he did so. "Well, in that case, it's settled. Though…hmm…" He tapped a finger to his chin, before his eyes brightened in a moment of epiphany. "You know…I could really use a demonstration…I never have seen bloodbending put into practice…"

Mother smiled, nodding at her sons. "My sons would be more than happy to oblige you."

Matsuura laughed. "I can imagine. Well, in that case…" He looked around at the men in the room, the three soldiers that were twitching nervously in the shadows. "You see…these three men? I have reasons not to trust them, reasons that I won't get into, because you don't care. So, do me a big favor, and kill them."

Mother giggled. "That, we can do. It's been too long since I watched Fire Nation die."

Matsuura smiled. "Well, then today is your lucky day, isn't it?"

Mother sighed with all the happiness that Tarrlok, when he was a boy, used to imagine his real mother felt, when she first held him in her arms.

"Yes," Mother said, "indeed it is. Boys? If you would be so kind…"

Noatak gave Tarrlok a look, and Tarrlok gave it back. In unison, they shrugged, raised their hands, and began to make their fingers dance.

Through it all, Tarrlok felt nothing. No matter how much Mother laughed, or how much Matsuura watched the proceedings, looking rather impressed, or how much Noatak smirked, or even how much the three soldiers screamed, Tarrlok felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...we're back! See? I told you you'd get the prologue today! Sure, it took a while, mostly because I completely forgot about it for most of the day, but, hey, I was typing up Book Three, so I'm sure you don't mind.

So...fair warning, I'm going to be, like, super needy with this book. Seriously, I'm both so excited I would squeal like a little girl who just got a pony, and so nervous that, if I was a fingernail chewer, well...that's exactly what I'd be doing. I'm pretty much terrified. I hope I don't disappoint you guys. It's going to be...

It's going to be cray-cray, you guys.

By the way, points to those who figured out who Hama's sons were! There are going to be a lot more random characters, both LOK and ATLA, popping up all over the place. Keep an eye out for them; they won't always be explicitly spelled out, but they'll be there.

Moving on! In the next chapter, which comes Monday, because that's just how I roll, I'm a drug dealer that way, a novice runs. Stay tuned!