Chapter 11: First Blood
General Jong looked up from his maps as one of his scouts entered the command tent. The man stopped in the entrance and saluted before the general beckoned him forward. "Report," Jong said. "What new of Iroh and the Fire Nation army?"
"I was patrolling along the river, sir, along with my company, as I had been ordered," the scout said, "and we noticed that there was quite a commotion on the other side, in the Fire Nation camp. We watched them for some time, until we were certain of what we were seeing, and then it was decided that I should return to report to you."
"And what did you see that was so important I needed to know at once?" Jong demanded, his patience beginning to wear thin. "Out with it, man!"
"The Fire Nation army appears to be… leaving, sir," the scout finally said.
"Leaving?" Jong demanded. That made little sense. If it had been another Fire Nation commander out there, a lesser one, he would have believed it, maybe, but not Iroh. From his meeting with the man almost a week and a half ago, he'd come away with the distinct impression that he was not one to abandon his duty idly. The Fire Lord's son was a man who would find a way to win in any situation. "It must be a trick. I will go and see this for myself."
Stepping out from behind his map table, Jong marched out of his tent and shouted for his ostrich-horse to be brought to him. A short while later he was mounted and riding through the camp and then the forest, accompanied only by a handful of bodyguards and the scout. Soon, they had reached the river.
Jong reined in his mount on the bank and waved for one of his bodyguards to hand him a spyglass. Raising it to his eye, he looked out over the Fire Nation encampment and studied it intently. Sure enough, it gave every indication that its inhabitants were packing up to leave- even the mighty war machines that had made crossing the river impossible for the Earth Kingdom troops were being disassembled.
"He must have found another crossing somewhere else along the river," Jong mused quietly, lowering the glass. "I would imagine that General Iroh thinks to outflank us. But we will not be caught so easily." He motioned across the river. "See there? The catapults are being taken down. We can make the crossing ourselves soon. I have had men working on making boats and rafts for us- when the Fire Nation forces are gone, we shall cross and pursue them- and then crush them when they are unprepared." He turned to the captain of his guards. "Go and tell my officers that I wish them to have the army readied for march as quickly as they can."
The captain saluted. "As you command, my General."
# # # # # # # # # # # #
Ursa reined in her lizard on a rise overlooking the river and tried to figure out what was going on. After more than a week of hard riding she'd made it to the location of Iroh's war camp, but while she could see it from her current position, it looked very much like the Fire Nation forces were merely packing up and leaving. That made little sense based on anything she knew of her Nation's military in general, or Iroh in particular. Why would he depart when battle hadn't even been engaged yet? Of course, maybe it had while Ursa had been on the move- but as she studied the terrain, she saw no sign of it. Only the bustling camp, and the occupied Earth Kingdom village beside it.
Slowly, her gaze crossed the river to the other side- and stopped. There stood a cluster of figures in green uniforms mounted on ostrich-horses, and though it was difficult for Ursa to make out specific features from such a distance, she thought that one of them was unusually large and his uniform was more ornate. Could it be Jong himself? And if it was, what could she do about it?
Trying to find a way to kill Jong from here- and by extension, avoid having to confront either his earthbending or his army- but Ursa quickly realized it wouldn't work. Perhaps one of the elite Yu Yan Archers could make a shot like that, but she'd only used a bow a handful of times in her life and didn't have anything close to their level of skill- and besides, she thought with a self-deprecating chuckle, she didn't even have bow or arrows with her anyway. Her knives were designed for fighting or stabbing, not throwing, but even if they were, she'd need to be a metalbender or something equally ridiculous in order to get them across the river and still be at all accurate. It looked like she was going to have to do this the hard way after all.
Ursa waited until Jong and his men had gone back into the forest, presumably towards their own camp, so there would be less risk of her being spotted. Then she guided her lizard a ways downstream, just to make sure, before kneeing it into its top speed. The creature raced across the water balancing on its slender hind legs, moving quickly enough that it could avoid sinking before finally reaching the other side. Once there, Ursa paused, squared herself, and then rode to meet her destiny.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
The Fire Nation camp had been completely uprooted, the army making its way back in the direction from which it came. Iroh rode at the head of the column, gaze fixed straight ahead and expression carefully neutral, as Lieutenant Azun approached him. "Sir, the scouts you left near the river have just reported in. Jong's forces, or at least a sizable portion of them, are preparing to make the crossing. They'll be after us soon." He gave a brief pause. "Shall I give the order to put your plan into action, then?"
Iroh didn't speak- but he did smile.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
General Jong's camp was in an uproar as Ursa approached, no doubt in response to Iroh's apparent departure. It looked like a large group of ostrich-horse cavalry had already moved out, and most of the rest of the army seemed to be organizing itself into formation to follow- presumably, Jong didn't have enough boats to take all his men across the river at once. In any case, the chaos would provide Ursa with the cover she needed.
She was currently waiting behind a large tree that mostly concealed her; her lizard she'd left farther back in the woods, since it was an obviously Fire Nation animal that would give both her presence and her allegiance away if it was discovered. Now, she needed a disguise. This would have been easier in the Fire Nation, where the military, particularly those units stationed in the homeland, used a fair number of women soldiers; the Earth Kingdom army, by contrast, seemed almost entirely male-dominated. Suddenly, Ursa's gaze fell on a slender figure in green making her way towards the forest- a servant woman, by the looks of her, who'd probably been sent to fetch water for the animals. Adjusting her position, Ursa smiled and waited. Soon, the Earth Kingdom woman passed nearby, and Ursa was able to quickly tackle her and knock her unconscious, taking her plain green servant's robe.
Moments later, she entered General Jong's camp, disguised as one of his own. Now her eyes were the only possible giveaway, but while gold was an uncommon eye color outside of the Fire Nation it wasn't completely unheard of, and if she kept her face lowered she hopefully wouldn't have to deal with the issue at all. Now, she only had to find Jong's command tent- she prayed silently to Agni and all the lesser fire spirits she could think of he hadn't already crossed.
As Ursa made her way through the bustling camp, doing her best to ignore the soldiers around her- helped by the fact that they seemed to be doing the same to anyone not directly in their chain of command- she finally saw the elaborate command tent in the middle and breathed a sigh of relief. It still seemed in one piece, and there were officers going in and out- clearly Jong was still there, either because he wanted to oversee the last details of the coming attack himself, or because he intended to sit the whole thing out and leave it to his commanders. Either way, it worked in Ursa's favor.
The officers and guards ignored her as she made her way up to the tent's entrance, and Ursa reflected on what she felt was one of the truly amazing properties of this disguise- people tended to treat servants as if they were invisible, unless they wanted something, and as such she was able to move freely here in a way that a nobleman's daughter betrothed to a prince never could. Quickly she shook the thought out of her head- she was here because she had a job to do, not to indulge in fancy.
Ursa slipped through the tent flap and made a general bow to the officers present before scooting along the outer edges. In the middle of the tent there was a table on which was unrolled a map of the area, marked with small figures that represented Jong's and Iroh's armies and illuminated by a handful of candles near each corner. Several large men were gathered around in, talking low and fast, and one of them was head-and-shoulders taller than the rest- the general himself. Unconsciously, Ursa could feel her heartbeat quicken. This was it.
Slowly, the moved around behind Jong; he was still listening intently to his commanders, suspecting nothing. She began to approach, and let one of her daggers slide into a waiting hand. Closer- she was little more than a foot from him now. It was time. Drawing a deep breath, she raised the dagger to stab…
And was caught as Jong whirled around and seized her wrist in a grip like a vice. With tremendous strength he lifted her clean off the floor and into the air, so that her terrified face was inches from his furious, bearded one. "Nobody sneaks up on me," the general growled.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
The commander of General Jong's heavy cavalry rounded the last bend in the road and kicked his mount into full speed as he and his men charged the rear elements of the retreating Fire Nation army. They didn't have the numbers or the benders to defeat Iroh's forces on their own, but that didn't matter, because they didn't need to. Their job was simply to damage the enemy and hold them in position so that the rest of the Earth Kingdom army could join them. Then, the unready Fire Nation army would be destroyed.
The cavalry struck their enemy at full speed, and the Fire Nation forces broke before them. This was easier than the commander had expected- the enemy wasn't even putting up a fight at all; in fact, they were doing little more than running for cover among the nearby trees. That didn't fit with what the commander knew of the Fire Nation or of Iroh; he halted at held up a hand for his men to do the same, and surveyed the battlefield.
This wasn't an army, he quickly realized. There were only a few actual soldiers present; the bare minimum needed to move the war machines and handle the handful of rhinos, apparently. From a distance, it suggested the image of an army in march, but up close, it was barely a fraction of Iroh's strength.
Somehow, for some unknown purpose, the Earth Kingdom had been tricked.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
Ursa was slammed onto a rickety wooden stool in the rear of the command tent, her hands tightly bound behind her with rope. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see General Jong himself towering over her, arms crossed and expression cold. "So," he rumbled, "This is what the great Iroh is reduced to- when honorable war fails him, he sends an assassin after me, and not only an assassin, but a teenage girl! The Fire Nation must be more desperate- and pathetic- than I'd thought." He barked a short, bitter laugh.
"Iroh didn't send me here," Ursa said. "He had nothing to do with this!"
"Really?" Jong laughed. "Assuming I believe you, girl, then who did send you? Was it Fire Lord Azulon himself? Has Iroh fallen so far that he needs his daddy to bail him out of tough situations? And to think I was almost respecting the man!"
"I'm not going to tell Fire Nation secrets to you, if that's what you're getting at," Ursa said. "I'm not a coward to betray my country just because I'm scared."
"You will, in the end," Jong said. "I would hope to be able to handle the matter civilly- I am a soldier, and I do not have the stomach for torture- but I am familiar with those who are more than willing to use such questionable methods. If you don't talk to me, you will talk to them- and you won't find their questioning nearly as pleasant."
"So you won't torture me yourself, but you'll let others do it?" Ursa asked. "Funny- from everything I'd heard about you, I didn't expect hypocrisy to be one of your flaws."
"Hypocrisy? Rich, coming from a puppet dancing on the Fire Lord's strings, bringing suffering to my kingdom in the name of peace and prosperity." Jong spat. "But no matter. Your feeble taunts cannot sting me." Behind him, a soldier entered the tent and approached the general; Jong turned towards him. "Now forgive me; I have a battle to run and there is news from the front."
As Jong turned away from her, Ursa saw that her dagger had been left lying on the edge of the table with the map; it was close enough that she could get to it quickly, if she were free. The young noblewoman allowed herself a smile at that- she'd deliberately left one tile unplayed when she'd been captured, as An Ying had instructed her to, so that she would be underestimated. Now was the time to use it. Flexing her fingers, she managed to touch them to the rope that bound her hands, and then drew a deep breath.
Without being able to move, she couldn't produce or control much fire- but in this case, she didn't need it. Small sparks ignited the ropes and burned clean through them, enabling Ursa to pull her hands free. Acting quickly, knowing she had seconds at most, she darted towards the table and seized her dagger from where it lay. Several of the Earth Kingdom officers shouted in surprise, and Jong spun towards her- just as she hurled her weapon with all her strength. Before her target could react, the blade sank deep into his throat.
Jong's eyes widened in surprise and hatred, and for a moment time seemed to stand still as he reached for her, garbled noises that were barely recognizable as words coming from his mouth. But mighty as the general was, death was mightier still; he fell too the ground before he could strike, twitched, and then fell still. Ursa stared down at his body as a mixture of awe, pity, and horror surged through her at the realization of what she'd wrought.
"He's dead!" one of the officers shouted, breaking the spell. "She killed the general! Kill her!" As one, the officers and guards- burly earthbenders to a man- surged forward, howling for blood and vengeance.
Ursa saw only one chance. Acting almost before she could think, she swept out one hand and knocked several of the candles on the map table aside, sending them sprawling. The flames coursed across the paper, greedily devouring it; Ursa took another deep breath and then flung her arms wide, filling the command tent with fire.
The Earth Kingdom soldiers fell to the ground, shielding themselves and attempting to bat out the flames that had managed to take hold of them. Ursa herself, the only one present who could bend both the heat and the flying sparks away from her body, was also the only one left unaffected. Quickly, she darted backwards until she came to the very edge of the tent, then pressed both her hands against the canvas. A quick fireburst blasted her an escape route, and she managed to duck through it and outside.
With the sudden eruption of flames from within the command tent, those soldiers who remained in camp were in chaos. Ursa managed to lose herself amidst all the activity, and once she was free of it she ran, and didn't stop until she'd made it into the forest. Turning to look behind her, she saw the fire spreading to the rest of the Earth Kingdom camp- that would slow pursuit for a while. She managed to make it a few steps more into the tress, and then let exhaustion claim her.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
The majority of the Earth Kingdom forces were across the river already when they received the news of their general's demise, and between that and the realization that the Fire Nation army they'd been chasing was a decoy, they were thrown into confusion. The resulting opportunity was the opening that Iroh had been waiting for.
Firebenders all along the road sprang out from where they had been concealing themselves and unleashed their power against the Earth Kingdom soldiers. Many died in that first instant, not even realizing completely what was happening. Some earthbenders, however, managed to raise walls of stone to protect themselves and their nearby comrades, and began pushing out towards the firebenders. The firebenders had them surrounded, however, and they had once advantage the Earth Kingdom could not counter- Iroh himself.
He entered the battle in the midst of a blaze, and those who saw him would later recall that he seemed almost like a spirit of fire himself, rather than a man. No single earthbender- or even a group of earthbenders- could withstand him, and he seemed to be everywhere on the battlefield at once, moving wherever he was needed to add more pressure to the enemy.
The Earth Kingdom forces fought ferociously, with all the strength and tenacity for which their element was famed, but in the end, it did them little good. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but before the day was over the Earth Kingdom lines had been broken, the survivors either scattered or in leaderless retreat.
General Jong's mighty army was no more.
