Black Dragon

[POV: Amon]

He floats amongst the stars
reflected on the ocean of time
He extends his arms, drifting
shores growing further apart

Oh, to have never tasted the fire
or smelt the fragrance of murder

Regrets now silenced

So slowly he fades
transcending, surpassing
heeding to the voices inside him

The realms had not yet aligned.
I was pulled out of meditation by what seemed to me then like the rumbling of thunder. The earth beneath me trembled, the temple shuddered. Standing up, I looked at my hands, examined my skin. I was no different from the day before.
I had been in prayer all night, and had expected the morning to bring my mortal body destruction.

But instead, it had brought destruction to the city.

Desperate cries arose outside. I walked out into the courtyard, and saw that part of the wall surrounding it was obliterated. My eyes met the blind monk's. Two white orbs, forever stunned and riveted upon me.
Transfixed, I observed him. He held a teapot in his hand, as though he's been about to offer it to me. There was such elegance in his posture. Such horror in its motionlessness. A single moment in time, a fragment. Shattered as the monk coughed.

Black blood flowed out of his mouth, lingered on his chin, stained the bright orange robe. I walked towards him as he sank. Reaching out, I let him fall into my arms. His back was riddled by shrapnel. How humid my palms were; I was smeared in his blood. It was on my fingers, on my hands, on my chest.
"Death is not to be feared by someone who has lived wisely," I declared, patiently waiting for his last breath.
I held him against me, until life withdrew from his body and his spirit entered the state of trance. Placing him on the ground, I begged him to forgive me for not being able to remain and chant him through the beginning of his voyage.

The heat of the fire on the street was vicious. People ran in circles, utterly incapable of finding an appropriate response to what had just happened. I covered my head with my scarf, then made my way through the ruins unseen. Radio transmissions emerged from every shop, every home, and filled the air with frantic noise.

"...Equalists launching an elaborate assault..."
"...simultaneously hitting multiple targets, some apparently random, others..."
"...while citizens are encouraged to-to-to evacuate and remain calm as the police..."
"...moment, benders are discouraged to intervene, as it could lead to more widespread panic..."
"...yes, yes, I was told, I was told that commercial streets were hit as well, not just..."
"...reports remain unconfirmed, but it seems the Council was..."
"...leveled, all of it, gone, a gaping hole in the middle of the city..."

I breathed in the smoke that lined the boulevards.
Oh, what have you done, Lieutenant?
What have I done?

"...Councilman Tarrlok reported dead..."
"...how dare they spread these lies, he is alive, he was not..."
"...reports remain unconfirmed as to Councilman Tarrlok's death..."
"...this is sensationalism, there is no proof, no valid..."
"...dead, he is dead, along with all the other council members..."
"...no, no, Councilman Tenzin remains at Air Temple..."

Above, in the sky, air ships cast their large shadows on the ground. I stopped to observe them as they passed over my head like vultures. A man shoved me aside.
"Get out of the way, monk!" he barked, disappearing into the crowd.

"...Avatar Korra will surely..."
"...false idols whom we believe to be the solution to all our..."
"...it was inevitable, inevitable given the fact that..."
"...Equality for all, the dream many have..."
"...because Amon has always..."
"...Amon, what of Amon? Amon has not spoken, he..."
"...awaiting some kind of-of declaration from the Equalist leader..."
"...movement is severed, interneal conflict..."
"...Equalists must unite..."
"...Benders must unite..."

Metalbenders marched into the streets in a belated effort to defend the city. They were everywhere, swarming like rats. Weaving and unweaving steel wires, climbing and descending every wall. How little they had expected non-benders to pose such a threat. How fatally they had underestimated the despair of the persecuted.
In the distance, a new salvo of explosions made the earth resonate. Bombs fell like hot rain. I took shelter inside a herbalist shop, shut the door behind me.

Why are you afraid?
You shouldn't be afraid.

I turned around. A man and his wife, who had both been hiding behind the counter, emerged. The woman exclaimed at the sight of me.

"My leader, is that you?" she cried.
Equalists.
Before I could react, she threw herself on the ground before me. Her husband followed her.
"Lead us!" they howled.
Death is not to be feared by someone who has lived wisely.
You have not lived wisely.
"What is happening, my leader?"
Silence.
"How can we serve the Revolution? Do you want our lives?"
"No," I finally blurted out.
They noticed the monk's blood on my robe and hands.
"You are hurt," the woman said, almost in disappointment.
Why do mortals put so much faith in men?
Can they not see their own flaws?
"I must leave," I replied, scrambling to open the door.
"My leader, do not abandon us!"
I held still. Faced them once again.
"Stand up," I said. "No more kneeling."
They obeyed, longing for my guidance.
"Hold your heads up high before your oppressors," I said. "Do not abandon yourselves."
It was all I could offer them before heading back onto the street.

Outside, a siren blared in my ears. The city was in an uproar. In its panic, the city was imploding upon itself, picking at its own wounds, tearing its own heart out, digging its eyes out with its nails.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the skies. The animalistic cries of the wounded almost subsided, as though pain had been chased away by curiosity.

"Non-benders of Republic City, the time has come to end the reign of benders once and for all."

The deep, cavernous tone of the Lieutenant. I recognized it immediately. Airships diffused his words throughout the streets, made them ubiquitous.

"I am Amon's former Lieutenant. I have seized the reins of the Revolution, for our leader has failed us all. He has betrayed us. He became weak when we needed him to be unflinching. I am now the carrier of the flame, and I seek your help, my brothers and sisters, so that together, we may keep the fire alive. Right now, I am hovering above the ruins of what used to be the greatest symbol of oppression in the city. From my airship, I can see the fragments of an era that is soon to become history. Join us, my brothers and sisters, and unite against the tyranny of benders. Those of you who still choose to blindly follow Amon are merely pawns on the chessboard. Do not follow out of obedience, but open your eyes and take arms against our enemies."

I began to head for the Council.

"Benders of Republic City, today, we claim what is rightfully ours. Your only option is to flee. We will drive you out, rip you out of this city. There is no place in the world for you anymore. Leave, or you will be killed. We are prepared to die for our cause. We will not back down. We will not stop until you are all gone. If we have to destroy the entire city, then so be it. But know that you shall no longer live in it. Too long have you poisoned its streets and filled it with your corruption."

Amidst the fire, an Earthbender chased a man by hurling rocks at him.
"Die, Equalist scum!" he screamed, stumbling.
I stepped forward.
"Stop it," I ordered him.
He glared at me, full of ferocity, then the rocks came flying towards me.
I eluded them, treading softly and spiraling around them.
Above, the speech continued.

"Fight your oppressors, my brothers and sisters. Do not show them any mercy, for they have never show us any. We will attack again, and again, and again. Victory is at hand. Today we are all warriors!"

I closed in on the bender, grabbed him by the back of the neck and equalized him. I gently released him, then kept going.

There was nothing left of the Council. Only rubble, fire, and black smoke billowing from the ground beneath it. I saw the Lieutenant's airship, suspended above the ruins like a red sun.

Now that I had reached my destination, I did not know what to do. Why was I there?

A familiar face looked down upon me. Amidst the flames, my dark figure stood out to him. The Lieutenant held out his arms in a pompous gesture, then spoke into the microphone to address me directly:

"Are you not proud of me, my leader? I am completing your life's work."

The wind filled my robes as it had filled Tenzin's. Embers quivered around me as I contemplated my life's work in silence.
You have not lived wisely.
I gasped for air. I could not breathe.
But you will not die.
It was as though my body had been set ablaze from the inside. A rapid succession of voices reverberated through me. I crouched, put my hands over my head, kneeled to the ground, moaned.
The temple of chaos would be empty no more.

At last, the realms aligned.

A rush, like a white river streaming through me.
My skin blackened, turned to coal. It smoldered, parts of it glowing like magma.
I rose. Small fires covered me, consuming my robe with unnatural slowness.
A current twisted my scarf away, unveiling my head.
The straps of my mask disintegrated, but the mask itself remained in place, floating before my face.
Vhan lekhtal tem askat, Amon.
We are bound together now, Amon.
Zekh tet, zekh tet.
Hold still, hold still.
Six beings, trapped in a body of eternal fire.

Oh, their thoughts became mine.
I watched all these mortals struggling to stay alive.
I want them to devour each other, these wretched insects.
How dare that man disobey me? How dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he?
I see them, I see them all, crawling all over this realm, their threatening shadows.
Their blood, I long for it every second of every mortal hour. Let them drown in their own blood.
There will be no end to their suffering, no end to my suffering, which is their suffering, which is my suffering!

I cast a shock wave before me. Every object and body in its path soared, then rushed back down again.
The sky darkened as I slowly levitated, my charred feet leaving the ground. There was a blackness around me, shadows shrieking and stirring in an endless cycle.

I had never felt such power before. It was inebriating.
I could crush the world with my bare hands.
Crush the oppressors, and crush the oppressed.
Yet I wanted to see them do it for me.

"Servants," I proclaimed, "I am the night."

Masses gathered below. They gawked at me, terrified by what they did not understand.
Those who had always thought me a god bowed to me.

"Your true leader."
There was an echo to my voice, the echo of six beings speaking at once.
"Non-benders, I summon you. Get rid of this bending plague."
The hypocrisy. It bore through me like long, rusted nails.
How dare you exploit my cause?
Finally, I am the monster I was born to be.

My eyes swept over the land, and spread Chaos into the hearts of men.
I took what was already there, and expanded it.
Hatred.
People damning and cursing each other.
Anger.
Non-benders, attacking benders, stabbing, biting, beating.
Fear.
Benders, trampling their own kind.
Bloodlust.
Murder on the streets.
Insanity.
Absolute loss of control.

Benders climbed over each other, used their bending to reach the Lieutenant's air ship. I watched them set it on fire, and it pleased me. It pleased me. It crumbled as it came crashing down. A paper lantern, drowning in debris.

I drew in the chaos. Absorbed it. Shivered. Black opium, filling my lungs. It eased my pain, steadily relieved me of all my guilt.
Let yourself go.
I wondered if the Lieutenant was dead. Remembered a time when he was still pure. The day he had stopped on the side of the road to help a tired farmer carry water back home. The modesty, the compassion in his eyes. He had asked for nothing in return for his kindness. And I had corrupted him.
Let yourself go.
A new wave of euphoria surged through me. Those memories did not matter. Dead, I wished him dead. I hoped that they had torn him apart. Nothing could stop me. This realm was mine, and I would feed upon its anguish forever.

Ah, but there was one mortal who would challenge me.

I finally felt her presence.
Her spirit was set alight, but was trapped deep within her.
This being is no threat to us.
No threat to us.
She wasted no time and sent a tower of fire up towards me. Then, she appeared in front of me on a pillar of stone.

The Avatar had arrived.