Book 1: War
Chapter 1: Ascension
The sun rose brightly as it radiated through empty streets, pathways of the massive estates that rested in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. One estate, in particular, had patrolling guards that made rounds in and around the outside of the perimeters of the walls. These men wore yellow tabards over their lamellar armor the crest was of a lion bear, a ferocious and deadly beast native to the southwestern portion of the Duryaja province.
The siheyuan held four main houses with a large courtyard in the center, to the north was the main home where the Xinao family resided in. While to the west and east were the guest homes where often guests of the family stayed. To the south near the gates were the guard barracks where the guards rested in between rounds. Decorated pathways sheltered the family from the sunlight during the day and allowed them to get around without having to cross through the courtyard.
The courtyard had a garden maintained by hirelings and servants, a small pond was constructed where dwarf koi swam peacefully. Statues of lion bears stood frozen in time in front of the main house as they were known to ward off evil spirits or so the tales say.
Inside the kitchen of the home, a plump middle-aged woman and her middle-aged husband sat at a table while they waited for the servants to bring them breakfast. These two individuals have aged quite well the only differences added to them were wrinkles that developed over time from frequent squinting and smiling. The man maintained a bushy yet groomed an orange squash-colored mustache, he had several strands that deteriorated from his natural auburn color to a dim orange color.
Time hasn't been kind to the woman either while she looked young her hair also had streaks of gray, she had fewer wrinkles than her husband. The man fancied a golden attire which was more common in the Upper Ring within this day and age. The woman mostly wore light green attires with expensively crafted necklaces and jewelry that adorned her body. The man had a teacup in front of him, a servant arrived with a steaming kettle.
He placed the kettle on the table and grabbed the corners of his apron before he bowed to his superiors. He smiled and greeted them, "Lord Jifu, Lady Munaiyi, your tea is ready."
He clenched the handle and gently tilted the kettle so that the tea poured inside the teacup at a controlled pace. After he served his lord first, he served his lady last, he removed the kettle from the table and held it in his hands that asked, "What of Lord Gou-Gou and Lady Avani? Are they joining for the morning meal?"
Before Jifu could answer that question a twelve-year-old boy padded into the dining area of the home while he scratched his head. The boy's skin was pale like his father's, his hair black and light green eyes like his mother's and stylized in a top knot held together by a yellow-green hairband.
He wore a sleeveless teal tunic, with teal pantaloons and a dark green sash that held his pants at his waist. His shoes were also dark green, he was outfitted to run he eyed both of his parents and inquired, "Mom, Dad, have you seen Avani?"
His mother nodded and responded while his father remained silent, "Your sister is training with Master Taika this morning, I know you wanted to start exercising with her. She mentioned she wanted to get in some training before you woke up."
Gou-Gou slightly nodded then he headed out the door despite his parents had told the boy before that you should never skip the morning meal. His father while looking unsatisfied with the boy's choices his mother convinced her husband to ignore their son. As Gou-Gou left his father reminded him, "Don't forget to thank the gods for another day, and remember after breakfast we're going to start on business education!"
Meanwhile, a tall and wiry old man in black trousers with white exterior accents cartwheeled to the left. He avoided a spray of fire that flew to his right, the stream of fire exited the palms of a young woman in her mid-twenties. She was a brown-skinned noblewoman, with green eyes and brown hair fashioned with two buns. One on each side of her head, although with the dueling exercise between her and her firebending master, her hair is a bit messy and loose in some places. She wore a long-sleeve olive green tunic and trousers while she trained barefoot. She was damp in some areas of her body, her face dripped with sweat as her master kept her on her toes.
Her master also grew old he lost most of his hair, for the most part, the lower sections of the crown were bald while he had hair on the top part of his head. The sides above the ears also had gray hair, surprisingly as he trained with Avani his spectacles hadn't fallen off. His amber eyes weren't as good as they were twenty-two years ago. He had whiskers for facial hair, he trimmed them and so they never grew past the corners of his mouth.
He was focused and determined to knock her on her rear, a few blasts that Taika created were thrown at Avani. This caused her to take a few hits but she crossed her arms in an attempt to block the incoming blasts of fire. With a barrage of fire blasts she was pushed back, Taika came out with a stronger blast which broke the Avatar's defense and knocked her on her rear. He got her by surprise and he saw the mistake she made. She wasn't paying attention, she rubbed her backside while on the ground as she panted.
She was shocked that even at Taika's older age her firebending master had the endurance of a young man. While in her small moment of defeat she felt rather frustrated and slammed the ground with one fist. This caused the ground to produce a small earth wave catching her master off-guard, the old man lost his balance and fell back onto the grass. She leaped into the air with cheerful glee even though she knew she broke the rules of the spar.
The old man was unhappy with his student his usual slight frown deepened further with anger. He stood up and brushed off the dirt that accumulated on his training attire. He expressed disapproval for her merriment, "Why are you celebrating? You broke the rules of the spar!"
"But I knocked you down!" she cheered.
"No you agreed to the terms of the spar, only firebending is allowed. You weren't paying attention and I took you down. You let your ego and anger get to you and decided to use earth instead of being resourceful and thinking things through!" scolded Taika.
"You need to understand that these things can get you killed!" he chided her further.
Master Taika was right Avani allowed her ego to get the best of her. At this point, she's allowed the entire Avatar thing go to her head. His lecture entered one ear and exited through the other during her firebending master's rant she rolled her eyes at him because she's heard it all before.
"The Avatar might be an almost unstoppable force but you need to understand that you are still human. If your enemy sees that you act before you think, you will be easily defeated!" Master Taika continued.
Avani cut off her master mid-rant and mentioned, "Master, I just glow my eyes, and it's over. Look at what happened to Chieftain Bakharkhal when he made an effort to invade Suzhou City in Duryaja. It didn't work out for him or his band of misfits."
"You barely survived that battle the Avatar State is not a toy, Avani," maintained Taika.
Avani gestured her hand at the old Nationalist when her little brother Gou-Gou showed up at the courtyard. Gou-Gou waved at his older sister as Avani greets him, "There you are, sleeping in from last night?"
At the same time, in the background Master Taika is flailing his arms as his endless rant resumed while Avani ignored everything he said because she was paying attention to Gou-Gou. After a while, he noticed he was being ignored, and in a fit, he waved his hand in her direction in anger and stormed out of the courtyard.
Gou-Gou answered, "Yes, father kept me busy with helping run the brewery we have here in the Upper Ring last night."
"The patrons stare at me because they find it odd a child is working at a brewery, the bouncers told me to ignore them though," mentioned the young boy. It was odd for a child to manage a business where alcohol was served. But Gou-Gou paid no attention to it, he's been learning the ropes of managing the brewery since he was seven-years-old. The Xinao family ran several breweries around the city of Ba Sing Se, which is where their fortune came from.
"What about you?" questioned his sister.
"Oh you know...just sparring with Master Taika," chuckled Avani.
Gou-Gou took a gander of the old man that left the courtyard with a bit of concern, "He didn't look very amused when I came," he commented.
"He's just angry because he got his butt kicked is all," grinned Avani, however, this was a lie because he was angry that she used earthbending instead of sticking to firebending like she agreed to.
"Anyways, we should start running around the courtyard," suggested the boy, Avani slightly nodded to her brother's suggestion.
They stood beside each other and performed light stretches then they began their exercise and jogged around the large courtyard in the center of the siheyuan.
Many of the denizens of the Duryajian capital city were content with the towering monorail that surrounded their massive city. The monorail was built during the reign of the previous dynasty, this helped the citizens immensely and it was easier to get around from ring to ring. The monorail reduced its speed as it neared the first monorail station of the Middle Ring. It was there to pick up more men returning to battle after the holidays.
Several soldiers were already crammed inside the train car, many other soldiers waited outside for the earthbender drivers to stop the train. As the train came to a full-stop one of the drivers yelled out, "All aboard the monorail heading toward the Outer Wall!"
One of the men called to battle was a mid-tricenarian nobleman, this man has been in and out of battle for over five years. It was abnormal for nobles to be in the military. By law, nobility was excluded from serving the Haijun military but if they chose to participate they weren't barred from it.
He was the only soldier with expensive armor that carried motifs of legendary and extinct creatures from times of old. His armor was lamellar plated, with a dark green cape, his pauldrons had the faces of a feline-like creature with tusks called a barong carved into them. His golden belt was studded and also had a belt buckle carving of a barong adorned with expensive jewels. His hair was black and styled in a half-up top knot the hairband on his head was golden with the insignia of the golden sun on it. His beard was a short-medium length and kept groomed, his mustache grew past the corners of his mouth. The battle-hardened soldier was short and stocky, shorter than the average man but he never let his height affect his life. Some of the others stared at him because of his strange height while others stared at him for other reasons.
A younger soldier recognized him and whispered in the ear of an older veteran, "Do you know who that is?!"
The older gentleman shook his head the younger man beamed in excitement but tried his best to keep his voice down, "That's Lord Shengqi Airen, he has over eighty kills confirmed!"
The nobleman glared at the two soldiers only a few feet from him, the veteran remained quiet while the younger one backed off and turned his attention to something else. The soldier feared the nobleman, the men inside the train attempted to make more room for those who needed to board the monorail.
As the men being picked up filled the train cars further the station was slowly emptied of any men. Only to reveal the companions of these men, women of all ages, shapes, and sizes. The women cheered their husbands and boyfriends on, blew them kisses, and waved farewells. While the men laughed and fluttered their eyes at the pretty women. Airen seemed to be the only one who stared off into space and didn't engage in the activity.
One of the men saw this and mentioned the women to him, "Look at all those voluptuous and beautiful women, Airen. Which one do you like the most?" he wondered.
Airen was nervous and he tugged on his collar as his eyes darted from different women he found none of them to be appealing. His finger twitched with fear because someone picked on him so he randomly pointed at a woman as to not raise suspicion, "Uhh...the last one on the right."
The last woman to the right of the other women was a morbidly obese woman, with a massive hairy mole on her nose that looked like it spoke words. The soldier's face shrunk in disgust how could a man love someone like that? His eyes darted back and forth to both people then he felt he needed to compliment them, "She's one of a kind..."
The soldier gagged a bit then he turned away in disgust, Airen gave a blank stare out of the monorail, then it began to move again. As it moved Airen screamed inside his head without making any facial expression, "Oh gods, I was so awkward in that response! AHHH!"
Muchang Farm, Duryaja province, Haijun Kingdom
An old, short, and heavyset farmer tilled the soil on the field of his farm, his skin had been tanned by the long days out in the sun. His eyes were a dark brown color, and his unkempt bushy black mustache was the main feature of his face. The quinquagenarian had a button nose, and chubby cheeks, the crown of his head reflected light from the sun. He wore tattered linen clothing, a tunic with some holes in it, and a pair of britches that had one too many patches on it. He wore clogs that were stained by damp soil.
The farmer shouted behind him, "Zuqiu! Hurry it up! We need to fill these holes with seeds by nightfall!"
The farmhand behind him panted a bit, under the armpits of his tunic were visibly stained with sweat. His black hair was a bit of a mess but it was still held together by a light green hairband. His skin was pale and his eyes were a forest green color. His speed was slow and lazy, the older man continued to scream in the young man's face. His clothing was the same color as the old farmer an olive green color, the farmhand had cloth wrapped around his forearms to protect them from the sun.
Zuqiu sighed, "Yes papa..."
An ostrich horse pulled in onto the road where Zuqiu and his father lived, several smaller homes and farms were in the surrounding landscape. Fen's farm was situated on the outskirts of a town called Yafao. Two men rode in on the saddle of the animal, a soldier in his military man garb and a town official behind him in commoner robes. He held a wooden box that contained conscription scrolls for one man of every family.
Zuqiu stopped working when he saw the ostrich horse arrive he shouted to his father to get his attention, "Papa the soldiers are here!"
"Hmm?" uttered the old man, he dropped his hoe and wiped his hands of dirt and gunk. The other peasants approached the men on the ostrich horse. Both Zuqiu and his father were one of the last few to go toward the soldiers.
The soldier was handed a script by the town official and shouted off the family names of all the peasants who lived on this particular road. By alphabetical order, he called them one by one, "The Hu Family!"
A middle-aged man went near the ostrich horse and bowed before both men and then was handed a scroll.
"The Liu Family!" he called.
"The Long Family!" he resumed, more men came forward to receive their conscription scroll.
"The Muchang Family!" he named, Zuqiu's father stepped forward except Zuqiu lightly pushed his father away and took his place he bowed before the men and said, "I will take my father's place in the Haijun Kingdom army."
"Very well," nodded the town official, he then handed the tall and lanky young man his conscription scroll. The town official continued as more surnames were called forth.
Meanwhile, in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, there was a long line of younger men signing themselves for war. Most of them between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, the odd man out stood third in line. It was quite rare to find an Air Nomad in line to join the military. They have mostly exiled monks from the temples.
The airbender waited patiently to meet the recruiters at the table, he was tall, abdominous, and heavy. He wore an orange sash that covered the right part of his torso, his leggings were baggy, and his boots were custom-fit. His neck had creases and he had a double chin, his cheeks were round and jolly, his eyes were silver, and like many airbenders, he was marked head to toe in arrow tattoos. The most unique marking however was above his left eyebrow written in Nomadic language was "Exiled by Nam". He was one of the few exiled Air Nomads from the temples.
The line moved forward as each recruit signed their life away to the military, the recruiter finished off the papers of the previous recruit when he called forth the next, "Next!"
A shadow grew over the recruiter the sun was completely blocked off from him, when he looked up he jumped in fright at the potential recruit in front of him. He didn't expect an enormous-sized Air Nomad in front of him.
"Er...can I help you?" he questioned the Air Nomad.
"Is this the line for recruitment into the Haijun Kingdom Army?" inquired the airbender.
The recruiter steadily nodded as he stared blankly at the monk, "Yes...but it's not very often we get a foreigner wanting to enlist."
"What are your intentions?" the recruiter asked the monk.
"I want to help end the war in any way I can, I want the Oma Kingdom to pay," the Air Nomad answered.
"Fill out this form," said the recruiter.
The monk grabbed the quill and dipped it into the ink well beside the table, there he filled out the form with his information in Kingsmen. After he filled everything out he extended his hand in gratitude and shook the recruiter's hand. He wondered, "When is my ship date?"
"We'll come for you in the morning, Fangzhu," smiled the recruiter.
Somewhere in the Middle Ring, a young man fought with two men in black-colored hanfu, their boots were unseen under the robes they wore, one of them had a jian on his side, and both men wore black hats that shielded their faces from the sun's rays. He clawed at the ground crying out for help but no one came to his rescue. The men who dragged the poor young man were the Yanzhao, the Earth King's secret police. He was being pulled toward the wooden platform known as the gallows where they hung the accused.
The wooden platform had five trap doors each with a noose, an executioner stood by the lever. Two more Yanzhao agents chased another young man around as they fought with him. The accused man threw rocks in their direction but the agents dodged every hit. The earthbender created a slab of earth that he controlled for the swordsman who danced around the suspect and sliced at one of his ankles. The runaway hit the ground in pain and began to cry he too was dragged to the gallows while his mother screamed and was being held back by other citizens.
She sobbed and mumbled that her son was innocent but it was clear that when the Yanzhao arrived after you've been incriminated with a high crime. The crowd's size increased as more saw that the nooses were being prepared.
The young man screamed at a close friend, "We trusted you, Chun!"
Their close friend closed his eyes and ignored the cries of both of his former friends, one of the citizens placed his arms on his shoulders and whispered in his ear, "You did the right thing, Chun. The Tianzi will bless you with good fortune."
Both of the young men had a noose fastened around their necks and tightened, a few bystanders held back the mother of one of the men. His ankle still bled from the wound sliced open by the jian, the crowd chanted "Death to the Daozhi! Death to the Daozhi!"
A daozhi was one who slept with the same-sex whether a man or woman. It was a derogatory slur the citizens of the Haijun Kingdom called those who committed these acts. Once you were accused of being a daozhi you didn't live long enough. The assistant of the executioner gave the executioner a thumbs up. The hangman nodded then slammed the lever down, this opened the trap doors underneath the daozhi.
Both of them dropped below the gallows and hung the first young man's neck snapped with the drop and he spun around while the second teenager swung left to right as he asphyxiated. The first didn't move but the second one clawed at the noose around his neck as he attempted to break free. However, his attempts to escape resulted to no avail. Everyone cheered for their strangulation and death it was a nightmare for those poor men. A few minutes later, the man who struggled stopped twitching, the hangman's assistance swiped at each rope with a hudie dao sword and severed the ropes. The bodies collided with the ground.
Omashu, Oma Kingdom
The once green fields that surrounded the outskirts of the grand city of Omashu were now dead and barren. Smaller camps filled the outside of the city's limits, here is where barbarian clans that held allegiance to the Kuiwu Dynasty protected the surroundings of the city. Hundreds patrolled the area from enemy soldiers that wished to assault the city.
One bridge led to the city's walls which was often removed via earthbending to prevent those who passed the patrols from entering. The chasm below housed the new naval forces of the barbaric Oma Kingdom. While inside the city walls citizens lived freely and sometimes safe, although they weren't always safe. Saying, doing, or looking the wrong way made blood flow down the rills and outside the city. Bloodshed was a common form a practice here, the homes were commonly smaller as most barbarians preferred smaller homes.
The self-proclaimed noble barbarians however preferred bigger homes, they even owned slaves for their plantations most of the enemy soldiers captured or criminals who needed to serve their time for the crimes they've committed. Those were the lucky ones, some prisoners hung from under the mailing system where citizens could pelt them with stones. The city had guards, although every citizen minus the children wielded a weapon it'd be impossible for the Haijun Kingdom to lay siege and succeed.
Tarps filled the lower parts of all three mountains that blocked out the rain, fences were made of sharpened wooden pikes. The bazaar was filled with merchants of all kinds, those who manipulated metal found themselves employed under blacksmiths. The higher you went up the mountain the less grimy it looked the aesthetic of the place, however, remained even around the palace. The once beautiful city was transformed into something unrecognizable.
Atop the palace ground was a large altar, near it a stone statue of Fung Jin, the unquenchable for blood god of war. Here the royal family offered sacrifices to receive a blessing before a battle, this ensured their victories against the Haijun Kingdom. The altar was stained with blood dried from days past, a long pipe drained the blood down toward the rills.
Inside the palace corridors walked two men, a bald, beefy vicenarian man, and a quinquagenarian chubby man. The vicenarian was short, beefy, bald, his skin was tanned, his eyes were a light brown color, to compensate for hair he had a brown unibrow and manchu mustache with one braid on each side. The armor on his back was lamellar plated, rare animal pelts were fastened together into a cloak on his back. Around his waist was the insignia of the Oma Kingdom, on his back was a massive war hammer.
Next to him was another this quinquagenarian was slightly taller yet average in height, plump, his eyes were green, he was light tan, he was nearly bald like the younger man but his long hair flowed from the back of his cranium to his mid-back, his hair was colored gray, his facial hair was mostly kept in a medium stubble, with a small manchu stache invaded by gray hairs. He too wore lamellar armor and furs, on his back he carried a bow and a claymore.
The older barbarian rested his hand on his nephew's shoulder and assured him, "Everything will be alright without your father I will be with you every step of the way, Yeman."
Just last week, Crowned Prince Yeman's father King Gun passed away due to illness. His funeral was in preparation for this long as was the coronation ceremony for Yeman to take the throne as successor.
Something that both had confidence for and uneasiness, the King's court would likely usurp the throne if Yeman did not come to the same level of ruthlessness that his father Gun had. To avoid being usurped Gun had to be one of the most merciless Earth Kings to hold the throne since Li Wei of the Southern Han Dynasty.
When they exited the corridor of the palace they reached the courtyard there in the middle was a giant bonfire. A crowd of barbaric nobility surrounded it everyone wore expensive cloaks and wielded larger weapons like halberds, battleaxes, war hammers, and claymores on their backs.
The royal berserkers lined up around the courtyard while a smaller group carried a coffin. Inside the box were the remains of the former Earth King Kuiwu Gun, within were also possessions the Oma Kingdom believed Gun could find use in the afterlife. His uncle Cai Dao took a gander at one of the royal berserkers and snapped his fingers repeatedly. The royal guard minced off to retrieve and bring forth the crown.
A few minutes later, the crown was brought forth to Cai Dao, the crown was made of spider silk and obsidian. Gold accents bordered the crown's point, the pin's top held a seraphinite gem, the bottom was wrapped in dyed black furs that kept the king's ears warm in times of cold.
Cai Dao stepped forward and announced, "Gun, the 56th Earth King of our kingdom for fifty-three years, our fearless and brutal leader who conquered most of the Haijun Kingdom before his untimely death. You were husband to Queen Consort Dai Hau, father to Crowned Prince Yeman and Princess Chu Zi, brother to Cai Dao and Xun now passed. Here we lay you this morning to rest."
"Today we follow the first half of our former monarch Kuiwu Gun's dying wish, he asked to be cremated and have his ashes spread in the gardens of the inner palace where he will live in eternity," he resumed.
As the royal berserkers tossed the coffin onto the bonfire everyone lowered their heads in silence and respect for the former King. In this time of silence Yeman's uncle slightly nodded to him as part of the signal to kneel in front of the bonfire. The Queen Consort and the Princess watched as their husband and father respectively burned, in a few seconds a new king will be crowned.
Cai Dao hovered the crown over Yeman's spotless head he finished the coronation, "As the second part of your dying wish. You will now be succeeded by your firstborn son. All hail the fifty-seventh Earth King Kuiwu Yeman! Long may he reign!"
The crown was rested on Yeman's head for the first time in his life the crowd around the bonfire roared, they punched the air at least twice as Yeman rose to his feet. The royal berserkers knelt before their new king while everyone else kowtowed before Yeman.
"You may all rise, bring forth the offering to Tian Fu!" commanded Yeman.
A wether-swine had a roped fastened around its neck one of the berserkers walked it over to the altar where the statue of the god of war was erected. The medium-sized creature was a swine with wool fur and big curled horns that curved around its ears. The animal had been prepared bathed in blood and painted with Kuiwu clan markings, it had been castrated as well. Yeman was handed a ceremonial knife by the Princess. She placed the knife into his right hand and she wrapped his fingers around, for a second they gazed into each other's eyes quietly. They both shared a mutual nod and Yeman padded over to the creature that was tied to the altar.
The Queen Mother walked forward while she poured purple spirits into a golden chalice, everyone knelt and prayed, "I have received the crown Lord Tian Fu, I will do what your previous Xie Erzi did when he lived. You have my word, my lord, I will end the Haijun Kingdom as you have foreseen in your vision you've gifted me. I will rule with an iron fist, and lead destruction in my wake for we shall conquer the Kingdom of Old."
He rose the ceremonial knife into the air and then jammed it into the throat of the wether-swine, it slit open its throat and drained it of its blood. The Queen Mother handed him the chalice he rose it in the air and drank the spirits. Yeman placed the empty chalice on the altar and watched the blood of the animal pour down the chute.
Meanwhile, Jifu, approached his children Gou-Gou and Avani, his hands hidden inside his sleeves when they saw their father had appeared they both stopped in their tracks after they ran three laps around the estate. Jifu notified Avani, "Avani you've been summoned to the palace by our Tianzi, he seeks your presence as soon as you are able. A carriage is waiting by the gates to escort you there."
Avani bowed to her father and waved goodbye to her little brother as she ran off. Several minutes later, the carriage that escorted her to the palace passed inspection at the palace ring gates. The carriage with Avani in it was handed over to Haijun Kingdom royal guards that guided her to the palace.
Inside the throne room, Earth King Shuicheng and Crowned Princess Hailiu enjoyed themselves a cup of tea. When the throne room doors opened Hailiu's head darted to the doors where Avani appeared, she rose to her feet while she held her cup of tea. She called to the Earth King, "Father she's here."
Shuicheng's tea was being poured by a servant, the Avatar stepped forward and knelt before the Earth King to kowtow. She greeted him while her forehead touched the floor, "I am at your service, Wanggoudexin."
"Ahh Avani, there you are I'm glad you're here I've got an important task for you," smiled Shuicheng he was glad the Avatar arrived on time. His daughter the crowned princess bowed before the Avatar and greeted her, "Avatar Avani, it is great to see you again within our palace's walls. I hope you are doing well."
Avani smiled and bowed to Hailiu, "Thank you, Your Highness, it's a pleasure seeing you as well."
She turned her attention to Shuicheng who brought up the latest news in the inner politics and war, "My Yanzhao have reported that our enemies in the South have employed a rather nasty bunch of men. I'm sure you remember dealing with a few of them. This Meng clan is rumored to be far nastier than the clan that corrupts Queen Oma's seat of power."
"Tianzi I will destroy them if that is what you wish," implied Avani.
"No, I want you to meet with a company of men outside the Outer Wall. They're stationed in a camp near the border with northern Pingyao. I already notified Captain Qishi that you'll be at the camp soon, he's looking forward to working with you," disagreed Shuicheng then he informed her about her next assignment.
"I will follow your words, Tianzi," Avani approved her orders and bowed before Shuicheng.
"We wish you luck in your travels, Avani. We hope you can vanquish those men the Meng clan are infamous for being not only destructive but also deceptive. They're not your average dense barbarians," the Crowned Princess wished Avani well.
Eastern Zhoukou province, Haijun Kingdom
A group of barbarians laid waste to a town in the eastern Zhoukou region, for the past few months this area has been known to be contested territory between the barbaric Oma Kingdom and the civilized Haijun Kingdom. They're part of an effort to lay siege to Guandi and assassinate its governor before they head off to their main mission. Except the army hadn't shown up to take back the town there had merely been a few survivors left in the town.
One of the final benders standing was an earthbender who wished to challenge all the men despite being outnumbered. The barbarians rose their weapons but their leader a tall, and fit build quinquagenarian with light pale skin mixed with a tinge of a fleshy gray color. His eyes were a dark green color, due to age his head had a ton of hairless spots and thinning in some areas. His hair started a bit above his hairs and ended on his upper back, on the top of his head he had a whiff of hair as well. His locks still miraculously maintained the black color from his youth, he wore a thick black mustache above his upper lip that ran inside his nostrils too. His eyebrows were bushy and he developed wrinkles on his forehead from furrowing his brow frequently. Both his ears were emblazoned with gold-dipped feather earrings.
He wore lamellar mixed with bronze for armor, the shawl over the upper portion of his torso was made of thick leather. The shawl was buttoned together by a pin with the Oma Kingdom insignia carved on it. He wore a leather kilt under a skirt made of lamellar plates, his boots were also made of a mixture of leathers and furs sewn together. Their leader spread his arms wide and barked at his men to stand down, "No he's mine!"
The earthbender was bruised up from the previous confrontations he's had while he defended the town. However, he was aching to fight the winners until his last breath, the man peered just below the bender's feet when he saw caltrops. He remained without emotion and quiet as to not give away the traps that were placed earlier.
The middle-aged barbarian gestured the earthbender to come forth and attack, he maintained himself and ran forward. He slammed his foot down on the ground and ripped a boulder out of the ground, he forced it forward with both palms while he broke a sweat. The boulder came toward the barbarian who side rolled to dodge the projectile. He was quickly met with a tremor, his left foot connected with the end of the earth tremor. He used this as a boost to launch himself in the air and perform a backflip. As soon as he landed the men spread out and encircled their leader and his challenger.
He created distance between himself and his challenger, the bender stepped forward but as his foot came down he was met with immense pain that knocked him on his rear. The earthbender yelped in pain a caltrop was buried deep into his foot. His foot bled while he screamed in winced as he attempted to tear the cat deer's head out of the pad of his foot.
The lead barbarian laughed, "I love earthbenders...they prove themselves with their sheer strength but are too dumb not to spot caltrops!"
"You're free to go, bender," he told the defeated earthbender.
A recruit whispered to another barbarian, "Why is he letting the enemy go?"
"Just watch, Gan doesn't disappoint," the soldier responded in a hushed tone.
Gan turned to face his men while he rested his hand on the pommel of his mace, the entirety of the mace was made of fine and thick wood. While its head was crafted from iron, it was in the shape of a ball and possibly weighed a few pounds. Gan lied about letting the bender go, he pivoted around with his mace held up high then he brought it down on the defeated bender's head.
Blood poured from the gash on the man's head he muttered, "Coward, I'd rather die a warrior's death that Lord Qin is willing to give me!"
Gan shrugged and slammed the mace on the bender's cranium again this time it cracked the bender's skull. His forehead caved in and exposed his brain, another smash to the skull this time the victim breathed rapidly. His jaw and teeth were shattered when he clenched his mouth shut, blood cascaded from his mouth.
One of his eyes protruded from his skull slightly, Gan continued the torture as he continued to slam his mace on the earthbender's head. Until nothing but a bloody pulp was left behind, he panted and stood up a sprinkle of blood rested on his face. Gan wiped his face of the victim's blood, his men and the newest recruit remained silent.
"Onwards to Guandi, Gun has made the order clear we're to kill Shuicheng and conquer the Haijun Kingdom!" yelled Gan as he rose his bloodied mace all of his soldiers roared.