Chapter 10: Escape
This is it, Sho thought, this is the day Bokku kills me. The Waterbender had him strung up and stripped bare. Sho sweated and clenched his jaw to keep from crying out. Today's session with Bokku was the worst yet. His body felt like the skin on a tightly taut drum and his heart hammered to its beat. Whatever Bokku was doing to him it was tearing Sho apart. His muscles ripped at their seams, his bones creaked and his blood boiled. And even deeper in him, Sho felt fundamental changes to his body.
Sho was dying. Bokku, pushing his strange poisons into him, had reached Sho's core and was killing him from the inside out. Sho could no longer hold it in. He screamed and pulled at his chains till he felt the metal cut into his flesh. But that pain was nothing to what he felt inside of him. I'm sorry mother, father. I'm a weak and useless son. His pain reached its crescendo and rose higher still. If it went any higher he would break. He would die.
And he was breaking.
He was-.
The pain disappeared; gone, like a flame blown out. Sho blinked, grimaced as sweat stung his eyes and blinked again. His body ached but it felt different somehow. It was a familiar ache, like exhaustion or over-exertion. Sho didn't understand; he should have been dead. He looked at Bokku.
The Waterbender was smiling. He had dark rings under his eyes and was perspiring badly, but his smile looked...satisfied? Achieved? It was hard to say.
One of Bokku's lackeys handed him a towel and the physician wiped his face. As he passed the towel back he took a moment to send a gloating look Sho's way.
"You'll be happy to know, Lieutenant, that this was our last session together," Bokku said.
Sho found his voice. "You're killing me?"
Bokku's laughter seemed genuinely amused. "Kill you? After all that hard work? I don't think so."
The Waterbender began to pack his things. Sho stirred and rattled his chains. "What, then? What happens now? What did you do to me?"
Bokku opened the cell door.
"Bokku!" Sho yelled hoarsely, "What did you do to me!"
The door thudded heavily as the healer left.
Sho wanted to scream in frustration. He had had enough of this, enough of being left in the dark. He hated that smile on Bokku's face; it was pure smug satisfaction. Sho wanted to punch it off of him. What had these "sessions" been about if not to break him?
The two men that had been guarding the healer now approached Sho. One took a set of keys off his belt and began to unlock Sho's fetters. Sho's fists clenched and his breathing quickened. He was angry and tired. He was a lieutenant of the Imperial Fire Nation, a soldier and fighter, and by Agni he wasn't going to be used as someone's plaything anymore. He couldn't bend more than a tongue of flame - the sessions with Bokku had robbed him of much of his strength - but he didn't care. He would escape or he would die trying.
The lock on his chains clicked and before the guard could step away Sho's hands darted out. He grabbed the man's shirt, yanked him forward and head-butted him. The guard reeled backward and fell. Sho turned to the other guard but exhaustion made him slow. The other guard socked him one in the jaw. Sho stumbled on weak legs before another fist connected again to his face. He thumped to the floor. His head came up in time to see the guard pull back his leg for a kick. Well, Sho thought, that's it then.
The cell wall exploded. Dust clogged the air and rubble pelted Sho and the guard. The latter turned to the now collapsed wall, coughing into his hand.
"What was-?"
A jutting spire of rock erupted from the floor and took off the man's head. Sho watched dumbstruck as the body staggered backwards for a few seconds before it collapsed to the ground. Blood and jagged flesh decorated the floor and remaining walls. Sho touched his face with a shaky hand. His cheeks were wet with second-hand blood. He swallowed and turned to the destroyed wall. The dust began to settle and he could make out the figure standing at the threshold.
Khan still had one arm extended, his fist visibly trembling. His robe hung stiffly with dirt and grime. He looked thin and pale, his cheeks hollow and his eyes were positively cavernous. He looked like death warmed up. He looked terrifying.
Khan latched those hard eyes on sho and relaxed his extension. "I thought this was the right room," he said finally. "A lucky thing you scream so loudly lieutenant. It made finding you that much easier."
Sho felt his cheeks heat up but held his tongue. He didn't think he was capable of finding a comeback at that moment.
Khan raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming?"
The lieutenant sprang to his feet and stepped gingerly over the blood and rubble. As he drew closer to the General he noticed the older man was still shaking.
"Are you alright?" Sho asked. "You look horrible."
Khan laughed bitterly. "You look about the same."
Sho grimaced at thoughts of what Bokku did to him. "How did you escape?"
Khan's smile was vicious. "Trust me, Lieutenant; you wouldn't want to know."
Shouts echoed down the hewn stone corridors. Khan turned his head to the sound. "Enough talk. Let's get out of here."
They didn't run as so much as hobble down the passages. The way was lit with lurid green lanterns and fitfully smoking torches. They passed doors and intersections but Khan didn't slow to inspect any of them.
"How do you know where we're going?" Sho asked.
Khan stopped, inhaled sharply and hit his fist against the wall. He closed his eyes in concentration. The sound of running feet echoed nearby.
"Khan?" Sho asked insistently.
"Shh!" the General muttered. The feet sounded closer. Finally Khan opened his eyes. "This way," he said and took off again.
"But how do you know?" Sho asked.
"The vibrations," Khan answered curtly. "We're in some kind of tunnel system."
They moved along as quickly as either of them could, stopping every now and then so Khan could check the way. They finally arrived at a steel door.
"Beyond this the vibrations open up and out," Khan said heavily. He was breathing hard and looked unsteady on his feet. "That should be our exit."
"Is there anyone inside?" Sho asked.
Khan nodded; his face grim. Sho exhaled, steeled himself and took hold of the door handle.
"Go," Khan said.
Sho pushed the door open and immediately peppered the room with fire; hoping surprise would be enough to counter his bending. There were five men in the room sitting at a table. One of Sho's tiny jets of flame caught onto the sleeve of one of the men. He jumped up out of his chair and started squatting at his clothes. Sho ignored him and made for the others. His chi had emptied with his first surprise attack, effectively neutering his bending. But that didn't stop him. Sho swung his fist at one man, knocking him into the back of another. The two tangled into each other before a hurtling rock knocked them both out. Sho turned to Khan and nodded thanks. Khan, hunched over, smiled back.
A moustached man swung his leg out and knocked the General off his feet. Sho made to help him when he felt a sharp pain arc up his back. He staggered forward, pressing a hand to his wound. Blood began to seep under his fingers. He turned and a thin man stood before him wielding a long, bloody knife. The man lunged ungainly at him. Sho picked up on the poor form, grabbed the man's knife arm and twisted the weapon into his own hands. He stabbed the man with a quick thrust to the throat. The thin man fell to the floor as Sho turned to help Khan.
General Khan sagged against the wall, his opponent lay face down across the table. The man Sho had first burned was nowhere to be seen.
"Khan!" Sho ran and crouched beside him. "Khan, are you okay?"
Khan's eyes fluttered open. "I'm fine dammit. Just need..." and he drifted off again.
"Khan!" Sho shook the man but he didn't come to again.
He heard the distant shouts of alarm; closer still were the sounds of running feet. Sho could feel his own strength fade now that the fight was over. Draining his reserves still was the wound in his back. But he couldn't stop, not now that they were so close to escape.
Sho positioned Khan's arm over his shoulder and, with the last of his strength, hoisted him up. He staggered and almost collapsed under the General's weight, but at the last minute held on. Together, Sho dragged himself and Khan toward the far door.
When Sho reached it he almost screamed in dismay. It was a thick slab of rock, no lock, no handle. The only way to open it was Earthbending.
"Khan." It was even a struggle to speak. "Khan, you need to open the door."
Khan was still.
"Khan, please, the door."
Again, no response. Sho could hear the running feet come closer. They were loud enough for him to start to make our voices.
"General, open this door!" he yelled. Sho pushed his shoulder against the slab of rock. His body shook under the weight of the older man, his feet wavering and slipping. But he had to keep going.
"Open, damn you," Sho cursed, pushing with all his might against the door, "open! Open!"
Sho felt something shift.
The door grated open. He almost fell over when it suddenly slid away from him. Sho looked down at Khan, blinking in surprise. The General seemed as motionless as ever. Sho shook his head and didn't push the thought further. The door was open and that was enough for him.
The way ahead was an inclining tunnel. There were no torches here, but there was a dim light further up and Sho made his way toward that. As he began to walk up and out relief washed over him. This was his escape; once he got to that light he would be free.
But that relief died away as he exited the tunnel. It was night and Sho blinked at the unfamiliar lights of the town beneath him. He turned behind and stared. The tunnel was cleverly hidden on the side of a hill, one of many skirting the fringes of a huge mountain. Even in the dark its cloud-wreathed shape was familiar. Kawayama. At the base of the mountain, framed in torchlight, Sho could see the underpass. And beyond that he knew lay Yamamachi.
He began to panic. They were still so close to the enemy, an enemy that nested under an entire mountain. He had to get away. He still had to escape.
With Khan on his shoulder, Sho turned back to the town and began to make his way down the hill. The hill was dotted with clumps of grass amidst gravel and scree. The stones cut his bare feet making his footing even more slippery. He went inch by inch down the hill. But it wouldn't be enough. The scree finally slipped him up and he lost his footing all together. Sho lost Khan as he tumbled and rolled down the hill. A hard stone cracked against his back and his arm smacked into another. At last his terrifying ride was finished. But so was he.
Bruised, battered and bleeding Sho no longer had the strength to stand, let alone walk again. This is really it, he thought, I'm dead. Strangely he felt no shame at his realisation. He had tried his best; better still than what he thought himself capable. There was no dishonour in a death like that.
The sound of turning wheels caught in his ears. He raised his head with more effort than he had ever expelled during the night. His tumble down the mountain had left him skirting the road. There was a wagon coming from the mountain. It was slowing. The rider jumped down from it and, carrying a torch, ran over to Sho. Sho's energy left him and he dropped his head. He heard the rider gasp.
"By all the spirits...! How did you...?"
The voice was familiar.
There was silence for a few seconds as the rider seem to make up their mind. And then hands wrapped around Sho and he was being dragged. He groaned in pain.
"Quiet," the rider said in a hushed voice. "Not a word."
And then Sho was lifted into what had to be the wagon bed. A sheet was thrown over him. There was silence again as the rider went away. Sho lay still, not quite knowing what to expect. Was he saved? Why was the rider's voice so familiar? The wagon bed heaved again and the rider grunted with effort. There was the sound of another blanket being thrown.
"Now quiet," the rider said. "Both of you."
"Hey!" a voice called further away. "Hey!"
"Oh no..." Sho heard the rider mutter.
"Sai Lin!" the voice called.
Sho stiffened. He could not breathe. Sai Lin.
"What's wrong, Sai Lin?" the voice - a man - asked.
"Nothing, Techi," Sai Lin said confidently. "Just one of the ostrichorses got spooked and I dropped a bit of my load." Her hand patted down on Sho. "All good now."
"Ah, I see," Techi said. "I'll let you get to it then."
"Thank you, Techi," Sai Lin replied.
Footsteps grounded down the road as the watchman, Techi, left. Sai Lin's hand still rested on Sho.
"Do not make me regret this," she said finally, in a low voice.
She left and the wagon started rolling again. Sho still had trouble breathing. Sai Lin had helped them. Sai Lin had saved them. The world had just turned on its head and danced a jig. The world was mad.