Übermächtig
Like many a young prince, my niece had her head in the clouds on her sixteenth birthday. Visions of glories won by conquest filled her thoughts, thus she found herself on campaign, hoping to add accolades to her name. It was the life her father had planned for her, pitiless combat for glory and favor against her older brother Zuko. Zuko's growing favor at court had unbalanced young Azula, and this is how she found herself under the command of one of Ozai's pets, the knavish and vain Zhao. She hid her doubts well, save only from her two closest friends. Rather, her only friends. You've already heard tales of Ty Lee, bravo of the sisterhood of Kyoshi Warriors, and Mai of the Smoke and Shadow. But have you heard tales of when they were barely older than you?
The sun hammered down hot and fierce. The steady pounding of the war drums flogged the column of weary soldiers on and on, down the dusty trail. Before them, the rolling hills of a far green country.
Azula rode at the head of the column, in the shadow of the great red banner of the regimental colors. They'd been on the march for two weeks now, breaking camp by first light and weathering the tropical sun. It left the princess exhausted and saddle sore, with calluses forming on her fingers.
As her komodo rhino mounted the hill, a thin smile formed on Azula's lips. The trail meandered down the hill into a lush valley. A thin line of blue water snaked across the valley floor, under a lone stone bridge. Across the valley, a treeless kurgan dominated the expanse, atop it a grand battalion of soldiers gathered, their pikes glistening in the sun. Jade banners fluttered above masses of stony-faced men dressed in tan and green. They clustered into columns of fifty behind their earthworks as sergeants pranced before the line.
Battle! Finally a real test, something more than the gilded cage of the palace. The men trudged onwards, as officers barked out their orders. Camp would be set up in short order. Azula waited upon the crest of the hill as the palisades were erected, watching the work parties comb out across the land for firewood and forage. Not taking her eyes from the valley, she said, "Draw a hot bath, and have my dress uniform ready."
"At once, princess." The droll voice of Kuza, her aide-de-camp, was a far cry from the fawning obedience she'd been accustomed to. Azula's nose wrinkled but she said nothing. Kuza's heels clicked, and she led their mounts away to be groomed.
The princess crossed her arms, surveying the ground. She noticed signs of a concealed guard on the bridge, and a beaten path diverging from the road to mount the kurgan directly.
Azula felt Mai's presence before she spoke, like a void drawing all the warmth out of the air. "If any of the palace servants were so unenthused, you'd have had them flogged." Mai clicked her tongue, "Maybe you've lost your touch."
Azula rolled her eyes. "We're not in the palace, Mai. We're on campaign. Certain indignities must be born stoically. Besides, Kuza is a soldier, not the pampered second daughter of a rich fop. Lowborn though she may be, she performs her role adequately."
Mai groaned. "Well I'm glad you're in high spirits at the thought of carnage. But this," Mai gestured out at the empty wilderness, "Is a major bore."
Azula knew from her studies that this expanse of territory North of the West Lake had changed hands multiple times in the hundred years since the Great Work began. The rewilding was impressive, but the scars of civilization could still be seen in old mounds where villages once stood. It would be made anew in victory. "Have patience, Mai," Azula said with a giggle, "when we return to the capital as conquering heroes, all the more glory for us. Though, I don't suppose it will help with how much little Zuzu gets tongue-tied when he's around you."
Mai's grumble was almost inaudible.
"Perhaps you should take what is yours rather than wait for him to get a clue," Azula said. It was probably a bad idea. Her spoiled older brother hated when women came on too strong, but watching the wreckage burn would certainly be delicious.
"Zhao is going to get a lot of men killed tomorrow, isn't he?" said Mai. It was good she was being more assertive, but Azula feared she might have to trim that before the girl got too many ideas.
"He is a buffoon and a social-climbing gloryhound, so yes. It won't be our fault, we'll just be there to watch the wildfire."
"Your uncle should be in command."
Azula gritted her teeth. "As much as I am loath to admit it, the old man would be a much better choice, disgraced though he may be. But his fire has gone out, and he has no wish to fulfill his princely duties. By the Daevas, he's not even sore about his own father disgracing him and passing him over for succession!"
"Shouldn't you be happy about that?"
"Yes. No." Azula growled. "He's still family, and his disgrace still reflects upon me. I don't know why father wanted him to chaperone me, or why he agreed. Like mother, he always liked Zuzu more." Azula ignored the whispering voices doubting her, wondering what she'd be willing to give to be alone in her own head for once in her life.
Mai certainly knew how to bring down a mood. Azula tried to put it out of mind and instead looked forward to the comforts of her station. A hot bath was the perfect antidote to a day spent eating dust. She made her way back into the camp, to her pavilion. Mai followed soon after. Ty Lee was already waiting for her there, laying down on Azula's lounge and playfully kicking her feet as she chatted up Kuza. Azula smirked. Oh it certainly was a sight to see, this gruff career soldier squirming under the flirtations of a chatty teenager, like a mouse cornered by a cat.
Azula's entrance did grant her aide the perfect reprieve. Kuza bowed roughly, and presented the bathtub, already steaming. "Shall I attend to you, princess?" she said, eyes still low.
"No, leave us," Azula said. She turned her gaze to Ty Lee, who grinned innocently.
"Your highness," Kuza genuflected and left in haste.
When she was out of earshot, Azula tsked, "Oh Ty Lee, what would your father think?"
Ty Lee shrugged it off. "Can't say I care. Besides, Kuza's aura is such a lovely color when she's flustered."
"Come now, let's get cleaned up. We have to be civil with the old shits later, and I will not do so while caked with road dust."
Aside from the palace servants, Mai and Ty Lee were the only people Azula trusted with seeing the faded burns and scars she'd earn from intense training and discipline. After disrobing, the ladies washed from pans of steaming hot water. Rough army soap was a far cry from the rose-scented baths in the palace, but somehow it made this deprivation feel like an accomplishment. Father's favor was never given freely, it had to be earned, and if she was to upset the Crown Prince for the throne, quick baths on the campaign trail were a small price to pay.
After cleaning and shaving, Azula slipped into the tub for a soak. Unbidden, Ty Lee knelt behind Azula and undid her topknot. "You know," Ty Lee chirped, "this is a lot like when we went camping on Ember Island with Zuzu."
Azula rolled her eyes. "That was not a camping trip, Ty Lee. That was the Festival of the Great Hunt."
Mai was already redressing. "Rhino-boars might make for good sport, but they are terrible for eating."
Azula closed her eyes and went languid as Ty Lee brushed out her hair. "Oh? I would have thought that a girl of your breeding would appreciate such an aristocratic delicacy."
"It's too gamey."
Azula cooed under Ty Lee's ministrations, deciding not to further needle Mai. It would be a shame to ruin such a nice relaxation. She'd need every bit of this if she was going to survive another night amongst the Fire Nation's officer class.
When Ty Lee finished brushing out the Azula's hair, restoring it's immaculate silky-black sheen, she gathered it back up into the aristocratic top-knot, leaving only two symmetrical locks to frame her face. She patted Azula's shoulder. "All done!"
"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," said Azula. She rose from the tub, looking over her shoulder at Ty Lee. "If you wish, you could soak now, Ty Lee."
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose," Ty Lee said, a faint flush on her cheeks.
"Nonsense, I insist!" After stepping out, Azula took a deep, measured breath. As the chi flowed, the water clinging to her pale skin evaporated into a cloud of mist. "I'll even reheat it for you."
"Well, alright," Ty Lee smiled.
It took only a moment and a simple breathing cadence to rewarm the tub's contents. Azula then took the ivory handled brush from Ty Lee and ushered the girl into the tub. "You'll have to braid it yourself, I have no gift for it," Azula said as she undid the pleats in the girl's hair.
Ty Lee hummed some dreadful marching cadence as Azula brushed through her brown locks. It was one of the ones that men only sang out of earshot of officers, and Azula idly wondered if Ty Lee was getting too familiar with these soldiers. The hateful pang of jealousy that followed was so unbecoming of a princess. Azula trusted her judgment–for now–that the loyalty of her companions was absolute. The nagging feeling did not go no matter how hard Azula tamped it down.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ty Lee blurted, "Your uncle had a message for you. He said that he'd hoped you'd be more…observant…in council tonight."
"Oh did he?"
"Princess Azula," Ty Lee said, imitating Iroh's old-fashioned Vedic accent, once a mark of the aristocracy now only an affectation preserved by few, "You will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Azula giggled, "That old goat is probably right. But I do not suffer fools gladly." Azula gritted her teeth, remembering her father's orders. His word was absolute and she could only obey. "What am I to do, subordinated to that social climber?"
"You're the princess. Maybe one day, even Zhao's sovereign. Whatever your father said, Zhao should think twice before making enemies of you."
"Zhao may be a jumped-up peasant, but he has the patronage of my father. Father made it clear that I am to be Zhao's subordinate, and the man is canny enough to know which way the winds are blowing. Oh well, doesn't matter to me," Azula lied, easy as breathing. "If I can't learn from my own mistakes, I'll learn watching Zhao's."
Military councils were really just the world's most boring social club. An excuse for the officer class to drink watered-down wine and fluff each other's egos. As such, Azula really had nothing to gain from her attendance except the wine.
She sat herself at the end of the banquet table, furthest from Zhao and her uncle, amongst the most junior officers invited. They were young men barely older than her, who'd only just purchased their commissions, as desperate for glory as they were to turn their thin and wispy facial hair into proper military finery. And all it took was a single glare to stop their attempts at conversation and make it clear that they were not being graced by her presence.
Azula's nose wrinkled as she sipped from the pewter cup. This old red had been purchased at a discount and in a few weeks it would be vinegar. But at least right now its inebriating qualities were undiminished. By the time she finished her second glass, she was beginning to see why alcoholism was the vice of choice for old soldiers. It was the only tonic that made this boring club's jokes sound half-way funny.
She'd known some of the older officers at the head of the table for some time. Well, she knew their daughters from the Royal Academy. She'd rather not have been reminded of them, so she passed her time imagining what cruelties she'd visit upon their daughters at the next reunion. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the thought of these social climbing bitches begging and groveling at her feet…either way a warm glow had graced Azula's cheeks.
Zhao called the meeting to order after the first course, the customary rice and salt shared by all travelers, and Azula poured herself a third glass. She'd been to enough of these to know that with Zhao, it was all pro forma, and so Azula barely listened. Zhao was the kind of man who already made up his mind and would never seek counsel. The meeting was a courtesy expected of any commander, and for Zhao it was just a means of disseminating orders. Perhaps laudable, were this man not a poor imitation of the divine autocracy of the Burning Throne.
Nothing was learned from the scouting reports that Azula hadn't already seen with her own eyes. So Azula shifted in her lacquered armor as the reports were read. It was dreadfully dull, as were the debates about tactics that followed. Azula's mind wandered further, from merely humiliating her former classmates to physically beating them, and the glow on her cheeks spread through her body.
Maybe Azula had been too quiet, or maybe Zhao had taken note of her evil grin, but either way, Zhao suddenly smirked and brought all eyes on the princess. "Before I make my decision, I would like to hear from the Princess."
It was a trap, of course. Another tool to demonstrate his authority over who should be his social better. Well it looks like he really has cast his lot in with Zuzu, she said to herself. Jackals always prefer weak patrons. Azula tamped down the warm tingling in her belly as she set her cup down.
"Our orders were to clear the road to the West Lake Citadel. Given the relative correlation of forces, I would organize the regiment into three columns. After securing the approaches, we begin a concentric assault on the enemy works, at the hinge between their center and left wings where the slope is shallowest. We use shock power and bombardment to break the enemy line. Once the enemy begins a withdrawal to consolidate, the cavalry follows in pursuit."
"How timid!" Zhao barked. "I am surprised that such caution comes from the Princess, scion of her great father." His voice dripped with venom. "You would allow the enemy space to escape and regroup."
The room was silent. Gimlet eyes shifted between Zhao and Azula.
"I've made my decision," Zhao continued. "We will not allow the enemy to escape. Using our superior numbers and mobility, we shall surround the enemy and destroy him. That hill will be his tomb."
Zhao took great pleasure in explaining the intricacies of his battle plan. After investing the enemy in the hill, their forces would be too scattered to assault concentrically. Instead, a thin line would suffice, to bombard and contain, while the main body concentrated to attack up the center.
Iroh shook his head, eyes screwed shut. But he said nothing. Not for Zhao's vainglory, nor for his rebuke of his niece. So typical of the disgraced "Dragon of the West."
Azula silently seethed. While it was true that no battle is won without risk, Zhao would disperse his force instead of concentrating it, and play into the enemy's strength. If they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Sense would demand that Azula just let the man's ambitions ruin him, but the slight against her honor stung too much.
"Well Commander, if you think me not bold enough," Azula said, bowing but never taking her eyes off the man. She inhaled sharply, and the lanterns lighting the pavilion flared blue. "This one would be honored to accompany the Color Guard up the center, into the thickest fighting."
Iroh jumped up, spilling his half-empty cup. "Princess Azula! I do not think that this is wise."
Zhao cocked his eyebrow.
Iroh was right, of course. Leading a forlorn hope was something for subalterns with yearning for a quick promotion, not for royal princesses. She just didn't care. "I am sure that the Commander would not risk the life of a princess unnecessarily. Besides, it's like he said. Boldness is in my blood, and I would humbly serve the Fire Nation." Azula could have lied more convincingly. But Right now, she just didn't care. She grinned like a feral cat.
Iroh's disapproval she could deal with. It was Mai and Ty Lee's sullen looks that proved surprisingly painful. Mai did not say a word the rest of the night, silently changing into her nightclothes. When she laid down, she turned onto her side, facing away from Azula.
The brazier flared blue with Azula's petulance. The tea that Ty Lee was brewing flash boiled, and the poor girl had to pluck the brass kettle away . "Well, I don't think the tea is going to be ruined. Would you like a cup, Azula?" Ty Lee said with a sigh.
"Yes. Come sit with me." Azula sat down on the end of her chaise lounge, legs crossed. She'd taken her hair down after changing into her night robes. The chill in the autumn air was seeping into the tent. The sun had been chased from the sky hours ago, and by now the warmth of the wine had passed.
Azula hated to be touched, even by the people she trusted most. In rare moments like tonight, though, Ty Lee's attempts to cuddle up to her warm body were not resisted. She'd done something foolish, and at the time it had felt so delicious. But now doubts had seeped in.
Their fingers touched when Ty Lee passed her a porcelain cup. Azula wordlessly wrapped her other arm around Ty Lee's shoulders. The girl's shivering stopped. "You're warm, Azula. Let it be a happy warm, and not an angry one."
"It's in my nature, Ty Lee."
"Why'd you do it?"
"It's a simple trap. Either Zhao denies my request and loses face by tacitly admitting the unnecessary risks to his plan, or he grants it and loses face by putting me in actual danger."
"No, that's what you gain from it. I'm asking why. Why would you risk yourself over something so petty."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"I need to prove myself."
"To who?"
"That's a stupid question."
"The people who matter in your life already think the world of you. You don't need to prove anything to us."
Azula felt the itch in the training scars that covered her skin. "On the contrary, my father needs much convincing."
Ty Lee stared at her wordlessly, hiding her guilty face behind her teacup. Azula guessed what she wanted to say. It had already come out once before, when father graced Zuko with attendance at the War Cabinet and not her, the first time she'd felt her favor with father slipping. She was not about to revisit old wounds.
It wasn't like Mai and Ty Lee had been wrong. Father's favor was dispensed as a tool, and as Zuko began to grow into himself Ozai had elected to pit brother and sister against each other with increasing ferocity. But he was only doing what was best for the Fire Nation, right? The best should succeed him, and as sovereign he had every right to demand the best from his children. Right?
"I don't want to talk about this, Ty Lee. I'm tired, and there will be a battle tomorrow. I need to be at my best."
"You're not going alone." Ty Lee said, pulling Azula tighter. "We're worried about you, but we're not letting you go in without us."
"I'll buy that from you, but Mai is clearly in no mood."
"That's just how she shows she cares. It's written all over her aura."
Azula rolled her eyes. The tea and the warmth of Ty Lee's body were making her eyes feel heavy. So much so that she never bothered to shoo the girl back to her own bed before sleep claimed her.
It was late afternoon before the order went out to begin the attack. The breaking of camp and the taking of the bridge had taken too long, and too many casualties against so few enemies. The envelopment began with trouble at noon, with firebending cavalry torching the woods to the Earth Kingdom regiment's rear. But in the skirmishes, losses continued to mount, and the battalions stumbled into position.
It was, in all, even worse than Azula feared. As she gathered with the forlorn hope, she watched the baby faced soldiers in the column tremble with dread. They were no older than her, and their officers, aside from a salty old lieutenant raised from the ranks, had never led men in combat.
Her presence had stilled the grumbling. Azula looked every bit the warrior-prince in her onyx-black armor, gleaming with deadly purpose. The Fire Sages approached, burning incense from a piece of the Eternal Flame, and the company at once bowed at one knee. Azula cared very little for superstition; Ozai had instilled a resolute belief in the dynasty's divine descent from the Daevas, and that they were above such trivialities. But right now she knew better, and went through the motions.
To her left, a man in his mid thirties knelt and prayed under his breath. His face was scarred from years of service, and his armor was well worn from battle, chipped and pitted in a dozen places. "What's your name, Lieutenant?" she whispered.
"Li, same as thousands of others in the Army."
"You're awfully old to be a lieutenant."
"Came up from the ranks, my lady."
"The correct style is 'your highness'."
"A thousand apologies, your highness."
"If we live through this, you have my permission to call me 'my lady' from now until Frasagird."
"You honor me."
"I need someone reliable," she glanced over at him, sizing him up, "you'll do."
The Fire Sage moved through their ranks, blessing the soldiers with incense and anointing their foreheads with the name of Agni in red ochre. The sage went to pass by Azula, but she seized his robe and insisted.
The leader of the sages chanted, "Agni, preserver of the world! Preserve thy children's sacred fire from the wind and rain. Let it be a refining fire, to purify the impure. Let their fire consume the wicked. Take unto thy care these children. Let their ashes bring a new bounty."
They rose as one. The young still trembled, but they would not run. Not yet. The regimental Colors flapped in the dry wind. The smell of ash was already thick in the air. As the kettle drums pounded and the horns blared, Azula's mouth ran dry and a chill set in her blood. As confident as she remained, a little voice in her head told her how little she knew of war.
Azula had bested men far better than any soldier the enemy could possibly field. But she'd done it in single-combat, in the pristine arenas and training courts of the palace. The grim quiet that settled over the few veterans of this company chilled her. But at the same time, the fires in her heart seethed in anticipation. Finally, finally…she'd know what substance she was made of.
The old lieutenant strode in front of his company. He drew his sword, pointing the flashing steel at the enemy. "The enemy is on that hill, all full of piss and vinegar," said Li. His voice was low and conversational, a remembrance of when he'd been a fresh-faced young private. He did not command, he led, and Azula knew at once that she'd found a diamond in the rough. "But do you know what else is up there? Glory. Because when you're back home in the years to come, a plump wife by your side, children crawling at your feet, you'll be able to tell your sons and daughters that on this day, you fought beside your princess!"
Li stuck his sword in the dirt. Some of the world-weariness fell from his old bones. He looked at her like a boy watching a shooting star in the night sky. "Azula, tell me, are the rumors true? Does your flame burn hot enough to melt steel?"
All eyes were on her. She smiled as she held up two fingers. At their tips a blue jet blazed brighter than the sun.
"The gleam in the eye of Agni himself!" Li cried. "See soldiers, there is nothing to fear. Just don't embarrass yourself in front of the princess, remember your training and victory shall be ours. Your highness, I'd be grateful if you would give the word."
The catapults began their bombardment. The burning rocks painted the blue sky with oily-black smoke. Azula strode up to the lieutenant, amber eyes ablaze with fury. She spun on her heel to face the column. The boyish faces of the 8th Calderan Regiment of Foot hung on her every word. "Soldiers! You're young, but the enemy up there hasn't forgotten: you are the sons of lions! Firebending draws its power from the breath. So let them hear you roar!"
Between the pounding drumbeat and the shrill horns, the boys did manage a good roar. Blood pumping, the fire blazed in the chests of bender and non-bender alike. When Azula finally did give the word, they began their march without hesitation. The princess took her place at the front alongside Li, but not before giving a lingering look at Mai, who'd managed to slip herself into the back of the column.
The march towards the enemy is the steady building of tension, like a bow string being drawn back. Tempo is everything. Too slow, and the attack will lose its momentum, men will falter and be overtaken by cowardice as the enemy lays down its barrage. Too fast, and the attack expends its strength before the decisive moment. It was a lesson a long line of great generals had impressed into Azula since the moment she could walk. Control. Not wild, reckless acts of violence. Like her searing blue flames, military command required a tempering of the spirit.
"You're a natural," Li remarked, just loud enough for her to hear. His eyes never waved from the enemy, sword drawn ahead to point the way.
"I've been groomed since birth for war and conquest."
"Good. Just don't get my men killed unnecessarily."
Azula giggled. "Making demands of your princess already? It's alright, I have no intention of seeing resources wasted. Even if they are so very…inexperienced."
"I'm going to let you in on a secret–" his words were cut off by the crash of a boulder in front of him. The column startled, but Li marched on unwavering, and picked up as soon as the dust cleared. "The war is going very badly for the Fire Nation."
"Tch!"
"Far worse than is generally known. When I was their age, they wouldn't even let someone volunteer that young. These boys aren't even the youngest I've seen conscripted. And your father just lowered the conscription age by another year."
"War requires harsh measures, Li. You of all people should–" another crash of Earthbender artillery came, "-should know that."
"Well they've drafted too many farmers and farmers' sons. Before this expedition, I spent my time confiscating rice from Earth Kingdom peasants just to keep the homeland fed."
"You're suddenly very bold."
"I saw that look in your eye, your highness. I may be low born and barely able to write my own name. But I know a predator when I see one. You aim to make me an instrument in your rise to glory. A princess bedecked with martial glory, and the lowborn officer she's shepherded through the ranks, a veritable lady of the people. And I'll bite, it's a better deal than any I've gotten. But I suppose if this is to work, there needs to be trust."
Azula laughed as the rocks continued to fall. "I guess I did choose well. Now, if you'll hold that thought, I'm going to do something about that pest throwing rocks."
Azula dashed ahead of the column. She dropped low, and with absolute stillness of breath she pulled apart the poles of yin and yang, arcs of crackling lightning wreathing her hands. She traced the fluid, circular pattern of the circuit, like Vishnu's multi-armed form heralding the impermanence of all things. When the arc completed, the crash of thunder stilled the whole battlefield. The bolt crashed through the earthen battlements, arcing acrossing the gleaming tips of the Earth Kingdom ji polearms.
With Li's roar, the quicktime march broke into a pell-mell charge at the Earth Kingdom battlements, red and gold Colors blazing like the sun. The column crashed into the Earth Kingdom line like a hammer through a stain-glass window. The devastation was oh so sweetly satisfying to Azula as lept atop the battlements. With feral glee, her flames burned an arc across the wall, sending men scurrying away like rats. The braver men cannibalized the walls to form barriers to the flames, only to break under the searing heat of blue fire. Her fire was a blast furnace. Steel began to wither and melt under it. No one wanted to stay long enough to find what it would do to flesh.
The sages had long surmised that in addition to their hardier constitutions than the animals of the world, all humans had a degree of natural elemental resistance. It was perhaps what kept talented benders from ruling over the kingdoms of men as gods commanding the elements at their fingertips. But the primordial fear of the flames took years to train out of Firebenders. The greatest weapon of the Firebender was terror. It was terror that broke the ranks of the battlements in the initial charge.
Fire blazes and consumes, leaving behind charred corpses of those who could not pull from the inferno. But the earth stubbornly endures, digs its heels in, and resists. The rock may melt into lava with enough heat, but it remains rock.
The initial clash lasted only a few minutes. The soldiers on the battlements were the greenest of the Earth Kingdom regiment. Or what they'd supposed was a regiment. Standing atop the crenelations, a scorched Earth Kingdom flag in hand, Azula watched as the banners of three more regiments emerged from dugouts, and with them more soldiers. What had seemed at the distance like a single regiment had proved to be the remnants of four regiments. Depleted from years of harsh fighting, sure, but the skeleton that remained had been hardened.
This is the part where you're supposed to do what you always do, Azula thought bitterly, you pull back, conserve your strength, trade space for time while we nip at your heels. But that idiot has caught the tiger by the tail.
Hemmed in by a numerically superior foe, the enemy has two choices: surrender or fight to the death. The counterattack came as swift as the charge, and when fighting Earthbenders the very ground you stand on is a weapon against you. Azula lept from crenelation to crenelation, as the ground beneath her shot up like grabbing hands. Others were not so lucky.
The walls became quick sand, swallowing up men whole. The hail of stones pelted off armor, pushing men behind their shields, hunkered close. Until the bigger stones came and now there was no chance to dodge. The screams of dying men rent the air, and the momentum of the whole column came to a sudden halt.
Li took charge of the vanguard as best he could, fire blazing in great arcs before him. But the column could not dislodge the enemy. Amidst the clang of steel and the great clouds of dust and soot, Azula could barely tell friend from foe. And with each blast of flame, more of the enemy's camp caught fire. Tents, supply carts, uniforms, human flesh. It filled the air with the most wretched smoke, til she had to fight the bile rising in her throat.
She kept close to Li as best she could, guarding his back while he guarded hers. When an Earth Kingdom captain leapt from his foxhole, dao sword glinting red, she subdued the alarm in her heart and once again separated yin from yang. The flash of thunder nearly grazed Li. But as the air stilled, Azula' fingers now pointed at a dead man, collapsed in a boneless heap. She had no time to reflect on the inescapable truth that she'd looked a man in the eye and killed him.
She pulled closer to Li, shielding their bodies with a curtain of rising blue fire. Li was bruised and battered, but still fighting with the tenacity of a wild komodo-rhino. Which made his next actions stick into her heart like ice.
He pulled a horn to his lips and blew three sharp notes. "Sound the retreat. Fall back under fire!" he shouted.
Azula cast a withering glare at him, "Are you mad? We're so close!" She tore the horn from his hand and shot a roiling wave of fire up the center. "To me! Rally to me!" she shouted. But as she drew the horn to her lips, Li grabbed her pauldron and pulled her back.
"Are you mad!? We've already lost half the company. Probably more. The rest of the column is already turning back. If we stay, they'll overrun us."
Azula growled, remembering her mother's constant bleating that princesses are not supposed to growl. She saw the looming silhouettes in the smoke advancing steadily, a cascade of flying rocks serving as their vanguard. Her heart pounded with the joy of battle, but her head was starting to listen to him.
She didn't have time to reflect, because the ground rent apart between them, showering them both with dust and splinters. The danger of any retreat was that it could turn into a rout. Anticipating that these green troops would break, a company of Earth Kingdom cavalry broke through the smoke, lances already running red with blood.
Even with the blasts of fire Azula and Li shot off in rapid succession, they scythed into the flanks of the beleaguered forlorn hope. Between the cavalry to the rear, and the surging infantry in front, they were now pinned. Another bolt of lightning parted the air in a vicious thunderclap, spilling the ostrich-horse and its mount into a charred heap. But the charge continued undeterred.
Calamity settled in like an old friend. Azula did not give into it. She continued to fight, sending out wave after wave of fire, breathing as steady as the war drums, while lesser benders would have already collapsed from the strain. One step back at a time, stemming the tide.
Azula locked eyes with the boy carrying the Colors. No more than fourteen, the son of an officer being groomed into the life of command by his hard-nosed father, his top-knot had already come loose in the fighting. He looked so very much like Zuko when he'd been younger and hadn't grown hard from spite. The boy fought so hard to parry the Earth Kingdom trooper's lance with the flag pole. But as the mount reared, the lance found purchase in the boy's throat, and the flag tumbled to the ground.
Azula froze for an instant 'til she reminded herself it wasn't Zuzu she'd seen cut down. She briefly thought about letting the enemy have the Colors, if only because that idiot Zhao would be honor-bound to self-immolate. But then again, so would Li, and she was starting to like him. Maybe it was sentiment, maybe it was calculation, but either way Azula bounded over Li's head, and charged the closing ranks of Earth Kingdom troopers. She weaved through their hail of stones and parted their ranks with a searing blast.
She certainly wasn't above beating these men to death with her bare hands if it came to that, but fire daggers were a bit more elegant. Like many Earth Benders, they did not do so well at close-quarters. Their techniques required too much wind-up and tended to break formation when pressed. It was what allowed a whirling dervish of smoke and fire to scythe through them and immolate the man who'd stooped to grab the flag.
Shouting till her lungs felt like they'd burst, she cried for the remaining soldiers to close ranks on her. Slowly they gathered their courage, as Azula pulled the flag from the dirt. That's when she saw it: a rock the size of a house shooting towards her like a meteor. Time slowed down to a crawl. No time to dodge, no way to stop it. She heard at last Li's shouts of warning all too late. I guess I went overboard on ruining Zhao's career, she thought.
Then time stopped entirely. The embers hung in the air, the great rock that was going to end her life was as still as the transfixed soldiers. They looked like toy soldiers in a diorama. Ty Lee, frozen in mid-stride, a wordless cry on her lips. Mai had chased after, and was now transfixed with a rictus of fear on her face. The thought of dying in front of them hurt in a way that Azula could not understand.
A single figure moved through the still air. Azula stood motionless, gripping the flag, but her eyes followed this young man in saffron orange robes. He was tall and quite willowy, but his features were sharply defined. A thin line of unshorn hair traced along the edge of his jaw, but otherwise he was entirely hairless. Blue arrow tattoos traced up his arms and the crown of his head. He approached unbothered by the spectacle of war and carnage. When he spoke, the voice she'd never heard before in her life was as familiar as her own.
"I've been trying to reach you for so long. So proud, so resolute." The man laughed under his breath. "Now you really don't have a choice." He patted her shoulders and circled behind her. The warm presence lingered, and she felt his touch even through her armor. He was behind her now, looking over her shoulder at the onrushing doom.
Who are you?
"Now now, that would be telling."
I'm going to die, and you won't even tell me your name.
"Yes, the old Azula is going to die. It's up to you if you rise from the ashes, Princess. Shhh, don't be frightened."
I'm not.
"You can lie to anyone except me. Call that another clue." The man casually flicked an ember out of the air. "All your life, you've craved power and control. And in my past lives, you'd have been the last person I'd have given it to. But I guess, in a way, I chose this. To be someone I could not be, to be what the times demanded."
You're not making any sense.
"Try to keep up dear. You're so close to getting it, I can feel it. What I'm offering you is all the power you've ever wanted and more. It will even save the life of this body. All you have to do is reach out and take it–"
Enough, just give it to me!
"Tsk tsk. That's the thing. You'll never be the same. You'll be the pariah, the outcast, untouchable among your people. You will leave your old life and your nation behind and become one with Eternity. And until you do, all thousand generations of me cannot foresee what will become of it." The man let out a deep laugh, "Maybe there is some of you in me. Don't you just find that idea exhilarating?"
What must I do?
"Your spirit already knows even if you do not. You just have to reach out." The man dropped into a low horse stance, as steady as the mountains themselves. "Don't be frightened."
Azula closed her eyes, and reached out. She was frightened, but reached out and grabbed ahold of something. Her will reached out in imitation of the man's kata. The body would soon follow. Whatever she grabbed, it resisted her, like a shovel biting into a rock. Azula reached out, grabbed tight and pulled.
The world began to inch forward. The man began to fade. "Until we meet again, Princess. I knew you had it in you."
Her body followed the instincts of a half-remembered dream. As the ground before her began to erupt, Azula realized with fright what it was she'd been grabbing, and almost let go. But it was her life on the line, so her heels dug deeper as a pike-shaped glacis of hardened stone shot up in front of her.
The boulder crashed against the wall and shattered. Her body followed through the never-remembered dream, sending lines of rippling earth back towards the enemy. The shock stilled the enemy. It could not be. It should not be.
Wailing, tears streaming from her eyes, Azula sent back waves of stone at the enemy, knocking them over. The clash of steel stopped at once, as hundreds of men on both sides watched a young girl send ripples of stone and blasts of fire out, one after the other.
The Avatar, the ancient enemy of the Materium, the archfoe of the Fire Nation, had returned in the body of a Fire Nation princess. As Earth Kingdom soldiers fled, awestruck in deep religious terror, Azula realized the man had been right. She could never be the same again.
The battle had only just been won, and already Commander Zhao was plotting his next move. He kept Iroh's council because, disgraced or not, the man was perhaps the finest commander to have ever graced the Fire Nation. He just lacked a certain…vision.
Zhao served the old man tea to calm his nerves. It did little to help. It was quite a sight, seeing the apathetic old man suddenly find the fire in his heart. Very pointedly, Iroh set his teacup down without drinking. "Zhao, you cannot be serious. The princess just saved your life. Who cares what our orders are about the Avatar, she is one of us. She is–"
"She is your family, Prince Iroh," Zhao said. "With all due respect–"
"Cut the smug entreaties and say what you mean. You nearly lost the Colors on your first major command due to your foolhardiness. The Fire Lord's own Colors, touched by his own hand. If my niece had not been there, right now I'd be telling you to write your jisei and find a quiet place to fall on your sword."
The pen snapped in Zhao's hand. But there was little he could do. Iroh may have left active service, but he was still a General and a prince to boot. So Zhao just dampened the fire in his heart, and plotted. A little prod here, and a little prod there, and little nudge there, and the old man would think it's his idea. "Fine then. She's your blood, of course you care. But you must understand that whatever her appearances are, whoever sired and birthed her, she's not your niece. Not really. The Avatar is a Spirit in human form, the yoke that keeps the Materium bound to the Spirit World."
Iroh finally took a sip of his tea, and did nothing to hide his grimace at the taste. "You see, Zhao, the problem with the 'noble lie' is that when it's repeated enough, soon enough it's not just the commoners who start to believe it. Sozin's dogma was a tool to keep the nation behind the war effort. My father certainly did not believe it. When he captured the last known Avatar, the Airbender known as Aang, he spent great effort to woo the man to his cause."
"Yes, and it was a miserable failure. Clearly our anti-bending operations have been effective, because the cycle has circled all the way back around to fire."
"And why throw away this gift?" Iroh pleaded, "I had my doubts in the Great Work after my son's death, but this might be the sign. Not just the one I was waiting for, but for all of us."
"The Law is the Law, Iroh. But you are right, there are extenuating circumstances. This does affect the Fire Lord most directly. Perhaps you could deliver a message to him personally. It would be best if family could vouch for its contents. Then, then perhaps we could get his guidance."
"I was just about to suggest that."
Zhao hid his smirk behind his teacup. The old man would be out of the way soon enough. "See, I'm not so unreasonable."
"I will leave presently, if I might borrow your fastest mount."
"Take two, this is of the utmost urgency."
"Thank you, thank you." Iroh rose, and bowed deeply. "I will send a messenger hawk as soon as the Fire Lord makes his decision. Until then–"
"Azula is a princess and Ozai's own blood. She will be cared for with the grace demanded of her station. She just won't be at liberty to leave."
Zhao quickly drafted a letter to the Fire Lord and wrote orders for the quartermasters to lend Iroh two eel-hounds and sufficient supplies for this journey to the nearest Fire Navy base. After Iroh stopped to thank him again, Zhao rushed him out of his tent.
Once Iroh retreated from sight, Zhao laughed heartily and returned to his desk. He drafted another sealed letter, marked the utmost urgent priority. The sealed scroll was given then to Zhao's personal messenger hawk, and dispatched straight to the Palace.