Here is the thirty-eighth chapter in Book 4 released on schedule. This is the third of four chapters in the current arc of the War as the war continues to rage on and one of the shortest in Book 4 but there is at least one more that will be shorter than this one. However, there isn't much else to say here so just sit back and enjoy the 38th chapter in the fourth installment of Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 4: Family.
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing related to these two great works of fiction.
Chapter 38
Ron stood at the south facing window in the radio room of the Northern Air Temple viewing the carnage of the battle taking place before his eyes. Normally Ron would be in the thick of the battle, leading from the front and fighting his enemies. However, Ron knew what his strengths were, and aerial combat was one field of battle that was not one of them.
Naturally, Ron was best with naval combat, but he was also serviceable on land given his skills with weapons. In addition, he was also a skilled tactician, leader, and the right hand to the Avatar. As such, when it came to defending the Northern Air Temple, it was best for him to be in the radio room.
That way he could view the battle from the tower, coordinate via the radio, and defend the Temple when James's forces broke through their defenses. When that happened, they would give the signal to retreat and Ron would head down to a specific courtyard and be picked up by Luna and Lysander so that he could flee the Temple.
It wasn't what Ron wanted to do but he knew that it was the best strategy given all the battle factors. That was why he had agreed to it and made sure that he would be ready when the battle came. Now it was here, and Ron was watching it unfold before him, a stern look on his face but turmoil in his mind at the sight.
Ron had seen battle before; he had fought in three of the four most significant battles in his lifetime. As such he was no stranger to death and destruction. He had caused his fair share of both over the years. Still, the aerial battle before him was something else.
There was no rhyme, no reason, no order, just carnage and destruction similar to an urban battle like the Battle of the Caldera only with a deadly drop and more machines. Ron could tell that they were suffering heavy losses while inflicting some in return but not enough to justify the defense of the Temple which would not be good for moral. As soon as he saw the bombs cripple one of their airships and it began a collision course for the Temple, Ron knew that it was time.
"Signal the retreat to all our forces." Ron ordered the radio officer, the only other person in the room with him as the other commanders of the battle were out in the air or waiting to face James in single combat, so it was just Ron in charge of coordinating the defense. "They have broken our lines and will breach the Temple soon. It's time to leave."
"Roger, Prince Ron." The officer said crisply before turning to the radio and sending an all-bands communication so that everyone heard it. "Retreat! I repeat. Retreat! The order has been given by Prince Ron. All forces retreat. The Temple is lost."
Ron nodded. It had been unclear as to what rank he held as he was no longer the Republic City Chief of Police or President of the United Republic, he was just a private citizen. He had been happily retired for 2 years when James launched his global coup and Ron had been forced by duty and loyalty to the Avatar to resume the mantle of a member of Team Avatar and serve the world once again.
However, with no official position, his rank was unknown, so they had deferred to his birth rank of Prince of the Southern Water Tribe. For the first time it was fitting to use it as he was now the acting heir apparent to the throne if something were to happen to Dominique. She had declared as much before she left and even if Dominique didn't realize it her declaration was official.
There wasn't time to dwell on this, however. Ron had to go and flee the Temple. He turned from the window to give the order to the officer to leave and follow him out as they evacuated the Temple. Before he could the ceiling caved in in a shower of rubble and a figure crashed into the stone floor, punching it with enough force to cause a shockwave and crack the base of the room.
Ron was only spared because of his battle reflexes honed from years of experience. He flipped back and landed on the windowsill he had been near in a crouch pulling a throwing knife from his belt in the process.
The radio officer was not so lucky. He had been thrown against the radio, destroying it and cutting off their communications. Then he had been eviscerated by several shards of glass that the figure sent at him before he could recover. His body slumped to the ground, blood pooling rapidly from the numerous lethal cuts.
Ron swore. He knew who the figure was before she stood, and the dust had settled around her. Pocklington, the Glass Unique had arrived. Clearly, she was leading the ground assault on the Temple to officially take it, or at least her for him. Either way, this was not good.
She was dressed as she had been when they'd met in the Battle of Cymru with the exception of all her armor was made of glass and not metal. Ron knew that there would be other Principate forces, likely commandos, arriving and had to get out now. Luna would have heard the retreat order and would come and meet him at his evacuation spot.
Throwing the knife instinctively at Pocklington, Ron backflipped and twisted in the air. Landing in a crouch on the slanted roof, Ron rose and ran, looking for a way down and into the Temple beneath him.
He didn't care to know what had happened to Pocklington, he just knew that he had to get out and do so right away. If Pocklington found him, she would try to kill him, and Ron was not sure he could win in a place where she had a huge advantage. Better to flee and hope to live. Alas, Ron knew that it would be no good as he heard the Unique's yell at him as he fled.
"You can run coward, but I will chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to." Pocklington screamed. "We end our fight today. Today you will die by my hand and I will finally have justice for my parents."
Ron heard her land on the roof but didn't look behind him. He had to flee and get to where he had a chance against and earth and glassbender. There was one place where he had it, it was why it was chosen as his evacuation spot, and if he could lead her there and survive the pursuit then he had a could beat her. The problem was that he had to survive and the cunt behind him would do everything she could to kill him before he reached it.
Ron fell into a combat trance, allowing his experience and training take over, as the first shards of glass shattered on the roof around him. Only one of them would survive today, Ron fully intended that it would be him.
Pocklington grinned as she viewed the feed on the closed circuit VV in the hull of the troop transport she and a unit of the best commandos the Principate had were in. They were not the first troop transport to head into battle, that one had been destroyed by the traitors they were about to crush, but they would be the first to breach the Temple.
Their target was the radio tower. This was for 2 reasons, the first was that it was their communications hub and it needed to be taken out before a retreat order could be given, the second was much more personal to Pocklington. Prince Ron, the man who had taken away her parents and ensured that they were executed, would be almost certainly be there. She had permission from the Princeps to kill him and that was exactly what she intended to do.
"Get ready, we will breach the Temple soon." Pocklington called out to her squad as the VV showed that they were almost at their destination. "You know your orders. Breach were possible, kill anyone who puts up resistance, capture any who surrender and take the Temple. For the Principate!"
"For the Principate!" The soldiers bellowed, all saluting her.
Pocklington nodded and slammed a button that opened the cargo hull beneath them. The soldiers were standing on either side, all earth and metalbenders, stone faced and ready for the battle to come.
"Remember, Ron is mine, everyone else is yours." Pocklington bellowed over the wind. "Make the Princeps proud. Go! Go! Go!"
With that the soldiers jumped. They were over the Temple and now they were breaching it with their bending. The soldiers would all land in various places around the Temple, sowing chaos and ensuring that few if any escaped the justice of the Principate. Pocklington was more than happy to kill all that opposed them, but she knew that the Princeps wouldn't want that, so she was content with just killing the man who had caused her to grow up without parents.
They were under orders to ensure that they only killed those who resisted them. James did not want to be seen as a ruthless tyrant who slaughtered his enemies when they had surrendered. If they did then their enemies could spin that and sow dissent in the Principate and they didn't want that. Pocklington would follow her orders and spin this victory to make them look like the heroes she knew they were. Still, she was going to kill Ron, that was going to happen.
It didn't take long for Pocklington to see her target. The conical spire of the tower that housed the radio room came into view beneath her. Without any hesitation Pocklington leapt from her position and towards the tower, hoping to find Ron there.
Since her last battle, Pocklington had altered her armor to better suit her needs. As a Unique she could requisition anything she wanted, and she had done just that with her armor. While she was recovering from her injuries, she had sought out the best glass blowers in the Principate, ordered them to make her an armor out of impure glass and gave them her measurements and the designs for her armor.
The results were a breastplate, bracers and greaves made out of thick but unrefined glass that she could easily bend. It served a 2-fold purpose, the first to protect her and the second to ensure that she had the material she needed to bend without having to take the glass around with her making it similar to the typical armor a metalbender wore. Now she would finally get to test it as she breached the Temple.
The roof was made of baked earth tiles, something Pocklington's bending could easily handle. With ease she punched through the roof and kept up her bending as she hit the earth floor of the room though she spread it out more then usual. The resulting force of the bending cracking it and the lower portion of the tower. Pocklington rose and instinctively launched a series of sharp shards of glass at the radio as she was rising in the dust she'd created.
Pocklington's goal had been to take out the radio, or at least to ensure that it was destroyed after her landing. She had not expected someone to still be there, but she didn't care that he had taken several deadly shards that almost cut him to ribbons. He was an enemy of the Principate and Pocklington was a killer, she wasn't going to lose sleep over his death.
She turned to survey the room just in time to see the knife thrown at her. She reacted instinctively and dodged it, but in the small room she wasn't fast enough. The blade whistled by her head and cut a small but deep line into her just below her left earlobe and took a chunk of hair with it. Growling and ignoring the blood now dribbling down her neck, Pocklington ran to the window to see who had thrown it at her.
From her vantage point she could see a figure in dark blue Southern Water Tribe garb with a machete and water skin at his waist running away along the rooftop. His hair was light, but she could still make it out as the near blonde that red hair went in later years. It had to be Ron. There was no doubt in her mind.
"You can run coward, but I will chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to." Pocklington screamed as she vaulted over the windowsill and began to run after Ron, her bending cracking the tiles beneath her feet. "We end our fight today. Today you will die by my hand and I will finally have justice for my parents."
As she ran, knowing that she had speed and youth on the older warrior, Pocklington began sending shards of glass from her bracers at Ron. He was ducking and weaving, and her aim wasn't perfect while running but at least one scored a cut along Ron's arm and another clearly hit him in the leg as he flipped over the side and onto an outdoor balcony.
Growling and leaping off the roof to follow him, again using her bending to absorb her landing, Pocklington continued her chase. As she landed, she sent a quake through the stone at Ron causing him to stumble as he dove into the Temple. The chase was on and Pocklington was going to get him. It was only a matter of time before he was hers.
Everything else about the battle raging around them was lost on the Glass Unique. She had a goal, and she was going to complete it. She didn't care about her troops or the impending fall of the Northern Air Temple to the Principate, she had a singular goal that she was going to reach no matter what. Pocklington had Ron in her sights, and this time she was going to kill him.
She had the advantage, and she knew it. Ron was limited by the confines of the Temple and the lack of his element. The Temple was mainly rock and stone so Pocklington had the edge, and she would use it. That coupled with sending shard after shard at Ron would help her and hinder him. At least a few of the shards hit Ron but nothing was serious enough to make him stop running.
"Turn and face me you fucking coward!" Pocklington yelled as Ron leapt down some stairs and through another door on their endless chase through the Temple. "Face me like a man and warrior. I thought you were both you fucking cocksucker."
Ron didn't respond, he just kept running. Pocklington was tired of this and decided that it was best to force him to face her. She leapt through the doorway, taking the top of it with in her haste to kill the waterbender before her, and punched the floor of the corridor they were on. Instead of creating a wave of rock as most earthbenders would, Pocklington caused a surface level shift that forced Ron to turn and face her.
As he spun around and saw her in the corridor behind him, Pocklington grinned knowing that she had him. Instantly she began sending shards of glass at him using a variant of the Northern Waterbending style to attack.
Ron was instantly on the defensive as he backed down the corridor, a dead-end Pocklington noted with satisfaction, as he tried to dodge her shards but didn't use his water or weapons. He was still agile and skilled in his 60s, but he couldn't avoid her attacks for long. He dodged most of them, but several found their marks as he backed up, looking for a way out. That was when he and Pocklington noticed the doorway.
"Go on, I'll give you a push." Pocklington cackled as she neared her goal. "You look like you need it bastard."
Ron was injured and, on the defense, she had him right where she needed him. With a swiped from her right hand, Pocklington yanked out a section of wall and slammed it into Ron's side with as much force as she could muster. Given the sudden gust, Pocklington realized that the corridor faced the edge of the mountain on one side. That was immaterial to her however, she had a traitor to kill with extreme prejudice, for him at least as the kill would give her a pleasure no man could ever give her.
Pocklington was going to savor this. Given the force of the strike and the splatters of blood that dotted the hallway she knew that Ron was injured and had no hope of winning this. That was why she sauntered calmly as she made two glass swords from her bracers.
She was going to kill Ron and she was going to do it slowly and make sure that he suffered the entire time she was killing him so that he suffered like she had when he took away her parents. The very thought turned her on, and she knew that her cunt was sopping wet at the moment. Pocklington would be masturbating to the memory of killing Ron tonight. She couldn't wait.
Stepping over the rubble and keeping her back to the open hole in the wall, Pocklington turned to stand tall and proud in the doorway she'd thrown Ron through. She already had a line ready to say and was getting ready to begin killing her helpless foe lying broken and bloody on the floor.
That was not the sight that greeted Pocklington as she looked into what appeared to be an open-air courtyard, one of a few she'd heard was in the Temple. What Pocklington saw made her realize that Ron had outthought her this entire time and led her into a trap that had only one outcome, it would be the last thing she ever realized. There was only one word she could say.
"Fuck."
Ron gasped in pain as a glass shard nicked his arm deep enough to draw blood. He had not expected Pocklington to be so quick to reach the roof, but she had, and she had begun attacking immediately. Ron had been forced to try and dodge by weaving but there was only so much he could do on the slanted roof.
As soon as he was nicked, he needed to get off the roof and he did just that, flipping over the side, feeling a stabbing pain in his leg as he flipped. Ron ignored it as he fell down onto one of the many outdoor walkways around the Temple and began running along it.
Ron knew where he had to get to, he just had to survive until then. As he reached the door to get back into the Temple, he felt the stone shift and he dove through it just in time as the shockwave from whatever Pocklington had done hit him from behind. Ron rolled on landing, got up and kept running. He knew that adrenaline was keeping him going and that he would feel a lot of pain later, but he didn't care. He had to get to where he needed to be.
What followed was a game of chase as Ron used his knowledge of the Temple to flee and stay one step ahead of his rage filled pursuer, a rage he was using to keep her focused on him. There were other fights going on in the Temple and the air around it, but Ron couldn't focus on the fighting, he had to focus on his own predicament. He was constantly avoiding attacks but at least a few got through as he felt the slices, but nothing seemed fatal or crippling, so he kept going.
Finally, he came to the stairwell he needed. It would take him down to the right level and into a hallway that faced the mountain on one side but also had access to the courtyard he needed to be in and where Luna was supposed to meet him. Still, he had to get down and avoid Pocklington who was gaining on him by the second.
"Turn and face me you fucking coward!" Pocklington yelled as Ron leapt down the last few stairs and through the doorway into the corridor, rolling and leaving a smear of blood on the floor as he did. "Face me like a man and warrior. I thought you were both you fucking cocksucker."
He didn't look back or rise to her bait. He was almost there. Of course, that was when his luck decided to run out. He had barely made it a quarter of the length down the hallway when there was a crashing sound behind him as Pocklington crashed through part of the doorway to reach him.
Ron expected a wave of stone to throw him forward and into the far wall to stun him so that she could come in for the kill. Instead, he felt the floor shift as he ran and he was spun around to face her, his eyes going wide in shock at the impressive level of skill and control that was needed to pull off such a bending feet. She was glaring at him, her red hair loose around her face and a cut bleeding freely just below her ear. Otherwise, she looked the same as the last time they had fought.
Pocklington didn't even pause to speak, she just attacked. She sent a series of shards of glass from her bracers right at Ron. In a tight corridor this would be fatal, but Pocklington had made an error in her attack. She had used a style of Northern waterbending that had been adapted for her glassbending, a style that Ron knew and could predict thanks to years of practice both using and fighting against it.
Instinct and muscle memory took over as Ron began to flip and dodge all the while backtracking from the attack. The shards cut him from time to time, but he knew the pattern of the attack's moves and was able to just about avoid the worst of them as he backed up to the doorway. He glanced at it as he pulled level with it and that was when Pocklington must have noticed it as well.
"Go on, I'll give you a push." Pocklington cackled as she calmly walked down the hallway towards him. "You look like you need it bastard."
Ron didn't know what she meant until she swiped her right arm. All Ron could do was brace himself as a slab of rock taken directly from the wall slammed into him and sent him flying through the doorway and right into the fountain that was still spewing water in the courtyard.
With a grimace at the pain that he was in, he had at least a few cracked bones from the latest hit, Ron stood in the water and willed it into being with his bending. There was more water than he thought so his blood didn't stain it as the form took effect and lifted him off the ground, facing the door that Pocklington would soon walkthrough.
The octopus form was not an easy one to create and even harder to maintain, especially when it was lifting the bender off the ground in the process. It took great control and skill in waterbending to do it and even more while injured but Ron wasn't considered one of the best waterbenders in the world for nothing. It was time to show it once again.
He knew the fountain was here, it had always been here and replace when the Temple was rebuilt. It was why this was his rendezvous with Luna, it was where he could hold off an attack long enough for her to arrive. It was also why he had led Pocklington here using her thirst for revenge on him to blind her to his plan. It was the best source of water and now he had turned the tables on her. It was time to end this once and for all.
Pocklington slowly turned into the doorway a look of glee on her face at her victory, her arms to her sides with glass swords formed out of her bracers and ready to strike. However, that look of triumph turned to horror and she managed to get out one word before Ron struck.
"Fuck."
Ron didn't say anything, he just attacked. It was a 2-pronged attack. First, he punched forward and sent a series of ice shards and spikes from the roiling tentacles of water around him right at Pocklington.
She didn't have any chance to dodge them. They slammed home with devastating effect. Most shattered on her armor or missed but what did hit, hit her in her upper arms, legs, and exposed neck. Pocklington staggered backwards as she was cut up, blood turning the ice red, a spike of ice in the dead center of her throat that was almost certainly fatal.
Then Ron brought home the second prong of his attack. He clapped his arms together and used the remaining strength he had to send all 8 tentacles at a staggering Pocklington. They converged into one twisting, powerful blast of water that slammed into Pocklington's chest with such force that her breastplate cracked, and she was sent flying backwards.
Had she not used the wall to push Ron through the doorway she would have just slammed into it and slumped to the ground to lie in a dead heap. However, she had done that so instead her body flew out of the open hole in the wall on a torrent of water and disappeared as it fell to the base of the mountain.
With the water gone, Ron had no more support and crashed to the ground. His legs gave way and a loud crack indicated he'd broken his ankle as he fell to the cold stone floor. He was out of the fountain which was good but otherwise he wasn't in great shape. The stones were splattered with water and blood. He was soaking wet and in a lot of pain. Still, Ron was alive, and he knew what to do.
Taking what water, he could, he doused himself in it and infused it with his mediocre healing abilities. For a moment he glowed bright blue and then it stopped as his bending gave out. He knew that he had healed several of the wounds that littered his body and face, but they weren't well healed and would likely scar.
There was also the problem of the shards of glass that were still in him, shards he couldn't remove as they were plugging up the holes they'd created. There was one in his shoulder that had hit him as he fled and was stuck there. There was also one, one that he only just noticed but he recalled when he'd felt the pain, that had gone through his right calf and was sticking out the other end. He would need professional help to deal with it and his broken ankle, but he could only get that if he was rescued.
Fortunately, only a few moments later a bison came into view and landed in the courtyard with a groan. It was Pandora which meant that Luna and Lysander where here. Still, Ron wasn't able to stand from the pain he was in thanks to his injuries.
"Lysander, grab your father." Luna ordered when Ron didn't get up. "We need to get out of here."
Ron just watched as his youngest son leapt out of the saddle, looked around carefully, and then put Ron's arm around him. Ron grunted in pain, but he knew that he was secure and wouldn't do more damage, Lysander may be an airbender, but he was built like Ron and could easily support his weight.
"This is going to hurt dad." Lysander said and Ron just nodded at him to get on with it.
Lysander didn't hesitate. He jumped, using his airbending to haul himself and Ron up and into the saddle in a graceless arc due to their combined weight. They landed in a heap and Ron grunted in pain.
"Yip, yip." Luna yelled and Pandora groaned as she took flight and headed north, the direction the courtyard faced.
Ron carefully dragged himself to the edge of the saddle, leaving a trail of blood from his leg on the leather, and looked back at the carnage behind him. The Temple was on fire and cratered in places while a whole side was missing from where an airship had hit it. The air battle still raged but it was clear that they had lost the fight. Planes, airships, and bison were already fleeing, heading for the safety of the north. Thankfully, it looked like James was not ordering a pursuit.
"Update." Ron said pushing back to lie on his front in the saddle due to his wounds as Lysander joined him. "What has happened since the retreat order was given?"
"The order to retreat was heard and being obeyed before you gave it as Teddy had also given it." Lysander said. "Lorcan and Davies confirmed that they are already heading North. Louis had already told us he was in retreat; his bison was wounded early, and he had to fall back to a safe spot nearby to care for her, so he won't be retreating to the North for a few days. No word from Inglebee however."
"He probably died or is sacrificing himself if we haven't heard from him." Ron said glad to hear that his other airbending son was safe as well. "What about Teddy and Victoire?"
"Teddy reported that he is on his way to get Dominique, hopefully she is still alive." Lorcan said. "But Victoire is injured, badly. She's unconscious with a head wound and has several lacerations and impalements from shrapnel so she will need a professional healer. Teddy didn't say more so I don't know what we can do about them."
"Nothing, we can do nothing." Ron said with a sigh. "We just have to hope that they get to Dominique before James kills her and escape. So long as she can bend, she can begin treating Victoire and stabilize her for Ginny. We have done what we could and at least one more Unique is dead but the Northern Air Temple has fallen. All that is left for James to conquer is the Northern Water Tribe. The final battle is coming. We must prepare."
That was all Ron could get out and even that was painful. The adrenaline dump had worn off and his pain and exhaustion had overtaken him. As soon as he was done speaking Ron passed out where he was. He didn't know what was going to happen, only that he was alive and there was still one more battle left in the war. Hopefully, they would be ready for it when it came.
The Norther Air Temple has fallen and the war is almost at its climax. All that is left in this arc is Dominique's duel with James which y'all know is coming next. After that we are in the home stretch of Book 4 and the final, epic, battle will be almost upon us. That is all I have for this short chapter so as always, please follow and favorite both this and myself so that you can stay up to date with new releases (chapters and stories) and please keep the reviews coming as I do love to hear from y'all regarding my work, it means a lot to me. Until next time.
Stringdog