Her body moved beyond her control. Skin suddenly burning to the touch, all limbs numb and tingling. She felt it, but it was also as if she stepped out of her own body and watched. The world was tinted blue and time slowed.
Ilah's arms curled forward, muscles tense, as she pulled her fingers tightly into fists. All her energy was projected at the Dragon, her hatred boiling over. Sharp jolts of energy left her as she bended the dragon to her will.
She wanted it to die in the most painful way she could imagine. With all the power of the universe flowing at her fingertips, she froze the blood of the serpent solid. Not instantly- she wanted it to suffer. Slowly it began to howl in pain, dropping Shiro from its jaws, it began to writhe in agony.
Its movements became jagged and then stopped completely, freezing like a statue. Ilah couldn't hear the screams of terror and of joy emanating from the people that witnessed what she had just done. All she heard was the echoing of thousands of voices, as if haunting her like a legion of ghosts.
She thought of nothing, only hatred. With one swift movement, she open her palms and flung her arms behind her back. The frozen dragon bended to her will, shattering into bendable pieces, sending mirror like chucks twirling into the sky.
Each sliver flew off into its own direction, targeting and attempting to penetrate skulls of other dragons.
Ilah felt no satisfaction, nor did she feel herself return to her body as her emotions began to soothe. Instead, her body slipped into a white void. Her consciousness returned to her, and she bolted upright from where she once laid.
She saw thousands of faces. Towering above her, all aligned in a circle around her, reaching so far into the heavens that she could never count them all. At her feet, was a man.
His presence felt... right. Compared to the walls of faces staring down at her kindly. Ilah felt this man was trustworthy, and somehow, perfect. A stern look in his face peaked through his meager facial hair. His garb was obviously from the water bending tribe.
He eased himself to one knee, to attempt to match Ilah's eye level.
"Ilah." he said curtly, placing one hand on her shoulder. Immediately Ilah's mind began racing with questions, but she was interrupted before she could choose one.
"I am Kai. The first avatar in existence" his grip tightened on her shoulder, hinting at his urgency.
"You are too weak to fight Xiang on your own." Kai said, standing up once more.
"I've never done so before... But I am to take control of your body and reveal my true form."
Ilah eased herself down from her elbows, beginning to soak in that she must be dreaming.
Taking a step back, Kai gave her one final concerned glance before looking o the heavens, spreading his arms.
"Please stay strong Ilah, we can't afford to lose you."
Light burst forth from both of them. All of Ilah's control slipped from her body. Muscles convulsed as she gasped for breath, suddenly unable to breathe.
In the mortal world, Ilah's body formed a cocoon of wind around herself as Kai took hold of her body. The corpses of dragons all around fell like birds dying in the sky.
As the cyclone dispersed around him, Kai stepped forward calmly. No panic or fear was in his gestures. Instead, he waited patiently for the great black figure above him to land. It collided with the earth carelessly.
It's black body was monstrously sized for a dragon, covered in bloodied barbs and spines, its white eyes flashing with rage.
"My old friend..." Xiang said, with mock fondness. He began to circle Kai hungrily.
Kai just barely poised himself to attack, carefully ensuring to show no anxiety. "The time of hunting the avatar is over, Xiang."
Xiang said nothing, but chuckled cruelly in a voice stolen from the spirit world. The dragon then tried to lung at Kai as he rounded around his back, but Kai launched himself into the air with a push of earth bending and then air bending to forward his climb.
Xiang shot up, twisting and spitting fire as he struggled to keep up with the Avatar's immaculate speed. The first avatar, the most purest avatar of them all, had more power than anyone could ever imagine.
Kai deflected all of the flames, shooting lightning and sharp gusts of air back at Xiang, but he weaved to dodge every attack.
As Kai reached the height of his jump, Xiang seized his opportunity to try to snatch him up in his teeth. Kai became furious at his attempt, exploding with a storm of lightning, growling angrily.
He threw a flame powered punch to the side of Xiang, causing him to spiral downwards.
Kai used his air bending to force himself flying back down to the earth. He collided violently with the earth, seething with rage. Ground at his feet shattered into bits, causing an enormous shock wave to erupt across the ground. People howled in terror as mountains erupted from almost nothing, peaks and canyons suddenly springing to life.
The avatar stood, slightly hunched over, panting, but also grinning manically at Xiang who landed on the ground, watching the destruction in amazement.
"So, will you kill me then?" he asked playfully. "I've been waiting so long for this day."
Kai gritted his teeth, enraged such an insolent spirit mocked him. With a moment to spare, he mentally checked on Ilah's state.
She was cradled in the arms of another spirit. The spirit was alarmed at Kai's return, but didn't hesitate to speak.
"If you deprive her body of her soul any longer she'll die." her voice quivered with fear. "Please, hurry! Or she'll die in the avatar state and we will cease to exist!"
Kai felt her concern, and immediately returned to the mortal world, guilt stricken from the sight of Ilah's gasping form.
He was running out of time. He wouldn't even have enough time to kill Xiang. He gathered all of his power, feeling heat churning underneath his feet. The most strenuous feat he would ever preform.
Xiang lunged at him once more, making quick of the 20 meters that separated them. But Kai reacted with perfect timing.
With all the power he could summon, He ripped magma directly from the underbelly of the earth, hundreds of miles below the surface. Magma was a terribly difficult thing to work with- but dragons loathed the stuff.
Kai leapt over Xiang, propelling himself with air bending, and encasing him in a wave of lava. Not enough to kill a spirit, he thought while biting on his cheek. With a quick clasp of his hands, he froze the tomb of magma solid.
Hopefully, it would at least buy Ilah some time to escape. From the spirit world, a panicked voice rang.
"Shes slipping away, Kai!"
His heart began to drop, as he looked up to the remaining dragons twirling in the sky, charring the earth with their fire. Even if Xiang was imprisoned for a short amount of time, his followers would still make quick work of Ilah.
He had to be swift if he wanted her to survive. He threw himself into the air with a powerful push of earth bending, sending him skyrocketing into the fray of dragon.
As he reached the height of his jump again, he then span and air bended with all his might. With great effort, he formed a swirling whirlwind of overpowering currents, causing the dragons to churn, no longer able to move on their own.
"Shes... gone..."
Kai took one final push, even more impressive than his last feat, sending the dragons flying in all directions wildly like a tornado that refused to touch the earth. Some would hopefully be killed by the fall, but some others would likely just be scattered miles away...
Kai threw himself to the ground, careful not to injure himself. He stood on the mound which Xiang was trapped and attempted to return to his own world. Was he too late? Did he just cause the line of avatars to cease to exist by suffocating Ilah's spirit?
Careless.
With one final breath, he felt his form slip back into the white void of the spirit world. The rush of mortality and power flowed out of his body, and he collapsed onto the white misty ground.
Ilah was sure she had died. She felt imprisoned in her body, but somehow her skin vibrated in a way that made her believe none of this was real. Her brain was screaming for oxygen, but her lungs had long given up at that point.
Darkness began to creep in...
Ilah's body returned, but fell to the ground, dormant and glowing atop the swell of hardened magma, eyes glowing, hair flowing.
Fire sages approached her in panicked states.
"Shes not breathing" Shouted one, as he grasped at her wrist trying to find her pulse.
One announced what they all were too afraid to address with a grim tone. "She is still in the avatar state."
Surely she was dead, and the avatar spirit was about to disappear forever.
Ilah was welcoming death, her pain was never ceasing as breath refused to return to her. She began closing her eyes as the energy slowly slipped from her body.
But a voice reached her ears. Suddenly, all her fear and dread was gone, and she was filled with happiness. A light in the far off distance shone like a star, breaking the penetrating emptiness of black.
Energy slowly trickled back into her arm, so she lifted her fingers, reaching weakly to the beacon.
And then all she knew was blackness.
Shiro huddled over his Sister's body, bleeding profusely, hands attempting to stem the blood flow. Tears gathered in his eyes as he weakly uttered her name over and over again in her ear. She had begun to breathe again, but he couldn't stop saying her name.
He was so sure he lost her.
