Bolin and Ling both roared as they pushed their open palms outwards. The moat of lava suddenly rose up, and attempted to wash over the Omashu soldiers. They all hastily retreated, erecting small walls to divert the flow. Two soldiers hid behind each wall, with three behind one, making nine in total. Nel covered Mako with a slanted rock as the firebender stayed unconscious. He then immediately erected a four-foot wall to protect the three of them fighting.
"None of them are lavabenders!" Ling realised, as he, Nel and Bolin pelted the walls with volleys of lava. "They're all metalbenders, by the looks of it! We've got the advantage!"
"Let's make these lowlifes pay!" Bolin declared, increasing the velocity of the lava volleys, but didn't spot a metal blade zooming out from the side. It impaled him in the shoulder.
"AGH!" he cried, immediately ripping it out and automatically holding and spot where it had been in. He would have been done for by the flurry of metal blades that were sent at the sound of his cry, but Ling tackled him to the ground. Fresh blood spurted out on impact.
"You good?" Ling asked urgently.
"I'm fine!" Bolin said, gritting his teeth, the adrenaline rush numbing the pain for the time being. He rotated his injured shoulder, which only moved a little stiffly, and got back into the fighting.
Nel slammed the sides of his fists on the ground. A line of blunt but large spikes travelled towards one wall, through the moat of lava, and exploded under their feet. The two Omashu soldiers were thrown high up into the air, landing hard on the shoulders. Even with all the ruckus, everyone could hear the sickening cracks from both of them. Nel had no time to appreciate his attack, as two dozen metal blades came right at him. He dropped harshly onto the ground, but the danger passed over his head harmlessly.
"I'd be wiping the floor with these bastards if I weren't so tired!" Ling commented as he belted the walls with volley after volley of lava. He was referring to the fact that he was already wrecked from the lesson earlier.
"They probably planned it like that!" Bolin replied as he narrowly dodged a blade to his abdomen. He replied with three quick volleys of lava.
"I've got these two!" Nel vouched as two soldiers vaulted themselves over the moat by the side of the wall. Nel created a spinning lava ninja star, as Bolin had taught him, in response to the metal swords they formed with all the separated blades on their uniforms. They started swiping at him, but Nel didn't dare let them get close as he parried their attacks with his lava shuriken. He barely made contact, though, as he had to also focus on keeping his positioning right so that the other Omashu soldiers couldn't get a clean shot on him, while his two didn't get a free shot at Bolin and Ling.
After a full minute of constant swiping, Nel slicing their swords in half, only for theirs to grow back with all the backup metal blades, he finally saw an opening. In their haste to get in close to him, one saw his chance when Nel had his lava shuriken dealing with the other guy to get a jab in. However, as he made the bolt, Nel sliced the second guy's sword for the seventh time, then punched at the first guy with his fist, no lava. The first guy was helpless to do anything as Nel smacked him right in the nose, the 6'5 man not holding back.
His other opponent saw his opportunity though, slicing in a dangerous arc upwards. Nel could only try and shimmy away from it, his arm still extended. The Omashu soldier missed his intended uppercut on the torso, but unfortunately for Nel, he wasn't done there. He kept going, the blade getting longer every second, and the tip dragged Nel's face.
"AGGGGH!" Nel howled as a centimetre-deep cut was sliced from his jaw line just to beside his eyebrow. He snarled, and whipped the lava upwards blindly in the same way his opponent did. It had no accuracy, but luckily for Nel, it caught the Omashu soldier's hand. The soldier bellowed as his hand was burnt away, but Nel wasn't satisfied with that. He smacked the soldier in the nose just like he did with the first one, then dived back to cover as twenty metal blades were sent flying his way. He landed with a grunt, breathing harshly.
"NEL!" Ling called as he took cover similarly.
"I'll be fine," he told Ling, grimacing, but their attention was caught by Bolin crying out again.
"FUCK!" Bolin shouted, falling down onto one knee and clutching the spot he'd been impaled in, as the same shoulder as before got whacked with a brick. Ling could only defend himself, still standing up, with no opportunity to counter, as countless bricks and metal blades flew at him. He tried to dodge most of them, but with the other two still down for a minute, he had to stay up and keep the enemy's attention. It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten hit yet.
"I think it's dislocated!" Bolin gasped, the pain overwhelming. He took deep breaths to try and ignore it, but the searing sensation only grew as Bolin paid more attention to it.
"How do you know it's not broken?" Nel asked, clutching the side of his bloody face. His hand was dyed red, and he had the look of a zombie. Bolin might have found it kind of cool if there weren't the limbs of dead children scattered all around.
"I dislocated it a few years ago," Bolin answered, rubbing his eyes, "and the feeling is the exact same."
"Reach with your good arm over to your bad shoulder, behind your back!" Nel ordered, chucking a rock over the top to keep the Omashu soldiers from getting too brave.
"Why?" Bolin asked, resulting in a scowl from Nel.
"Guys, I need help!" Ling shouted, not looking down. He had several cuts, some nicks and others deeper, but he didn't pay any attention to them as he blocked and swerved from countless attacks.
"It'll get your shoulder back in shape, just trust me!" Nel emphasized, standing back up. He found new energy and started firing several volleys of lava at the Omashu soldiers.
"Shit!" Bolin cursed loudly, as he did as Nel told him, his shoulder popping back into place. It was sore as hell, but when he rotated it, it responded fine. Moving it wasn't without its fair share of pain, but it was bearable. He got back up and continued the fighting, albeit a little gingerly on his weaker shoulder.
After another few minutes, help still hadn't arrived. The three of them were exhausted, not able to keep their previous pace up any longer. The Omashu soldiers noticed this within a minute, and were getting especially bold with their attacks, staying up for an extra half-second than before. If they had been lavabenders, Nel, Ling and Bolin would've been dead long ago.
"They're running out of metal blades!" Ling noted, seeing a lot more bricks coming at him than before, bruised all over. "Just a little bit more, lads!"
"I don't think I can keep this up for much longer," Nel admitted, the worst off. He was a bigger target, so he got hit the most, obviously, although he didn't take it quietly. He'd been the most ferocious in fighting out of the three of them.
"Me neither!" Bolin exclaimed as a blade zipped just under his ear. "We don't know when help will arrive, we need to finish this soon or we're all done for!"
"Any suggestions?" Ling asked as he sluggishly hurled a block of earth.
"Melt their walls!" Nel said immediately, squinted with the blood that was covering his eyes. He kicked a block of earth into one of his designated men. "We'll be killed off one by one if we keep up with this! It'll take a bit of concentration, but we should be able to do it. If we're gonna launch a big attack, we need to do it now while we still have energy!"
"I'm with him!" Bolin vouched, panting hard.
"Me too!" Ling agreed. "Let's do it now! Two walls each, I'll get the wider one with three people! On my signal!" Seven Omashu soldiers had been knocked out or worse, including the one from the very beginning. That left thirteen.
The men all ducked down under their wall, taking a short breather. They got a feel for where their designated walls were, then placed their hands flat on the ground. Nel and Bolin both looked to Ling.
"Now!" Ling whispered, and they all exhaled slowly in unison. Three of the enemy walls started to melt, making the soldiers hop back, startled. The other three melted a few seconds later, leaving large puddles of lava in between the Omashu soldiers. They jumped about uncertainly, nearly knocking each other in, shouting.
Nel pounced on this uncertainty, shoving his palms against his wall. It flew towards two exposed soldiers at a high velocity, crashing into them, potentially killing them as they fell back stiffly.
Ling read Nel's thoughts, and punched the ground, resulting in another wall shooting up for protection. He saw four soldiers bunch together, as if that would give them more strength, but in fact, it just gave Ling a wider target. He jumped onto one knee, slamming the sides of his fists onto ground, pointing to his right with his hands still clenched, and dragged them to the left.
A curling lava line, the same technique as Nel's spike line, started making its way to the four men, bubbling menacingly. If there had only been one or two of them, the soldiers might've had enough room to create a temporary but strong enough wall, but there was no space with the four of them squeezed in between lava puddles. They recognised this instantly, and started scrambling to get out of the way. Ling thought he timed it so that it would catch them all, but three of the four got lucky, crawling out of the radius just in time. The fourth however, was not so fortunate.
"MY FOOT!" he screamed as the lava burst flopped out onto his trailing left boot. He tried to claw away from it, digging his fingers in and crawling away, but there was no saving his foot as the flesh was burnt away first, then followed by the bone.
This isn't what lavabending is meant to be about! Ling cursed mentally. Although he didn't feel any remorse for the man, he definitely didn't enjoy the man's cries, even if he was in on the plot to blow up Ling's students. Just the gritty desire to make them pay was found in Ling's heart.
"We need to get them now, before they get reorganised!" Bolin stated, breathing even heavier than before. "Nel, you stay back and protect Mako, Ling and I will go in for close combat. We've got the upper hand that way, you're too awkward for jabbing and weaving!"
"You don't need to remind me!" Nel snarled, grimacing as his cut from a few minutes ago still bled freely. "Start from the very right, so they can only come at you from one angle! Now! I'll give you cover!"
"Ready, Ling?" Bolin asked, looking at his best friend.
"Let's let them know what we're fuckin' made of!" Ling declared, and they bumped fists.
Bolin and Ling sprung out over the wall, Nel erecting another spike line just alongside them as they ran, blocking all the shots from those who were steady on their feet. Ling threw a heavy hook, and block of earth followed, cracking into a soldier's skull. He fell down, but neither of them even gave it a moment of appreciation. Bolin parted the shallow amount of lava remaining in the moat, and Ling didn't break pace as he strode through the gap.
Ling brought his open hand around in wide arc, lava following it. He finished the arc with a slapping motion, catching the first of two men with it full on the chest. He wailed, stumbling away and bumping into his friend. As Ling stepped up close to the second man, who was still unbalanced, he prepared to kick a rock right into the man's crotch, but Bolin was faster than Ling. The stocky, black haired lavabender exited the moat right after Ling, and pelted a block into the stomach of the man Ling was going for.
The remaining soldiers sent a flurry of metal blades the way of Bolin and Ling. They both stomped on the ground, creating thin but wide enough walls, protecting themselves. Ling and Bolin spun, planting their heels into the walls and launching them at the next two in line. One of the walls was dealt with easily, but Ling's wall knocked a soldier onto his back, making him lie beside the plenty others that were on the floor. The only other one that was conscious down with him was the man who Ling had burnt the foot off of, and he was struggling to hold in the pain. He could barely keep his eyelids open, seemingly.
"They're coming!" Nel exclaimed to himself, as he saw six police wagons coming from the distance, where all the students had run. He didn't say it too loudly though, as he didn't want to distract Bolin and Ling. He mustered the last dregs of energy, growling, and continued with his bombardment of lava.
"Remember that ninja star move I taught you a while back?" Bolin asked Ling desperately as four soldiers charged up on them. He formed one himself, the speed of the rotations increasing very quickly.
"The one that Nel used earlier?" Ling asked, as the four soldiers grew swords from the small amount of metal blades they had left. "Yeah, do you want me make one?"
"Take mine!" Bolin urged, passing it to his blond-haired friend. "Don't let them get close, wait for an opening!" Ling controlled the lava shuriken naturally in between both of his hands as they were charged at. Bolin created his own, and they both roared as the four soldiers ran up to them and started swiping.
Ling jiggled furiously as he struggled to keep up with the tempo that the Omashu soldiers were setting. He parried every shot they sent at him, including the jabs, but he couldn't get one in himself as his lava shuriken didn't have nearly enough reach for Ling to strike without opening his body out. He was separated from Bolin's shoulder as the four Omashu soldiers went back to back. Ling wobbled dangerously as they tried to force him backwards into the moat. Bolin was getting further and further away, having to back up himself.
Ling managed to turn neatly to avoid having his back to the moat, heading back to where all the enemies had originally charged from. He got a deep gash up the side of his ribs as he let up temporarily, nearly dropping the shuriken, but kept his concentrations levels just above the surface. He kept on backing away to give himself more room.
Nel glanced back at the wagons, which were still a fair distance away, and cursed. That slip up in attention was all his opponent needed though, because when Nel looked back, he briefly saw a metal blade flying through the air. He tried to move his forearms to take the blow, but knew instantly that he was never going to make it. The blade pierced itself right under Nel's ribcage, sticking in four inches deep. Nel spluttered as he helplessly fell back, grasping clumsily at the blade, then coughed up blood. He landed with a thump, smacking his head sorely off the ground as he failed miserably to pull it out.
I don't think it hit a vital point, were his last, doubtful thoughts. He thought he heard Mo yelling his name as his vision got darker, the orange streaks across the evening sky potentially the last thing he would ever see. Nel blacked out, unconscious, or worse.
Bolin thought he saw Nel collapse out of the corner of his eye, but couldn't give it any consideration as he kept on stepping back, looking for an opening. They were both extremely wary of his spinning lava ninja star. The one thing that left any type of opening was how one of them leaned forward a bit with his head when going for a heavy swipe, but he was careful never to let the shuriken get anywhere near him. The man didn't need to either, Bolin's shuriken went only as far as his hands, while his sword was at least a foot long.
I've got it! Bolin thought, thinking of an idea, and waited for the next time the man leant his head forward. When he did, Bolin pretended to be about to back away, but at the last moment, he stomped his foot on the ground. A rock the size of a head shot up and crashed into the man's chin. He let out a strange type of gurgle as his jaw bone was cracked permanently. He fell back, whimpering, out of the fight.
"You bastard!" the other soldier shouted as he swiped violently without real direction at Bolin.
"You're the only ones who deserve that name!" Bolin snapped, then changed his shuriken into something long and thin. He held out his lava whip for the man to see, then lashed it at him. The man tried to cut it in half, stupidly, and was helpless to do anything as the top half of the lava whip splattered onto his face, scarring him forever. He screamed, but Bolin didn't stop there though, and curled a rock into his gut. The man toppled, unconscious.
Bolin turned to face the rest of the action. He saw Ling barely managing to hold off the other two, and in the distance, saw police wagons. His enraged heart, that burned with the thought of his murdered students, lifted a tiny bit.
But it suddenly skipped a beat as Bolin saw the man without a foot slowly get up onto a knee behind Ling, a blade lengthening. It elongated to a metre, and Bolin knew that Ling was in trouble. Bolin was twenty metres away. He started sprinting, shouting.
Ling didn't hear him. He was too busy dealing with the two in front of him to pay any attention. Bolin started to take longer strides, but then, the worst possible thing happened.
Bolin tripped, landing face first in the dirt. He spat the dust out, and tried to call for Ling's attention. But his voice was mute, his body shutting down as the horror scene slowly unfolded in front of him. He swung his right arm wildly, hoping for something, any type of connection as a rock was hurled at the man with one foot, who taking his sweet time to get his angles right as Ling unintentionally backed up towards him. The soldiers Ling was fighting knew what was going on, purposely making Ling step up even more, as they played with him.
The rock took eons to travel the small distance in between Bolin and the man with one foot. Bolin felt he could've crawled faster as he lay there, his hand reaching out for any type of divine intervention. He could've written a biography in that time. He could've raised a family. But the one thing he couldn't do was intervene any more as the rock honed in on its target.
Please! Bolin prayed, desperately, shaking.
The rock tore the wide hat that the man had on off of his head, flipping it into the moat. The man halted, turning his head mechanically, and stared at Bolin in the eye. Bolin pleaded mentally with all his might for the man to stop, to reconsider, but all he got in return was an evil, crooked grin.
"NOOOO!!!" Bolin screamed.
The metre-long sword plunged through Ling's upper backside, travelling all the way through, to come out stained at the other end. Ling's jerking movements stopped suddenly, his lava shuriken falling into the moat. He tried to keep it up, but failed, without so much as a drop staying up. He gazed blankly at the two men in front of him, then his head drooped down. Realisation dawned on his face as he saw the metal sticking out. He tried to form words, but couldn't, just coughing up blood instead. He tried one last swipe at the soldiers of Omashu, but his hand stopped taking orders halfway, falling down limply. He fell to his knees as his murderer pulled his weapon out calmly.
Not… not Ling too… It can't be… Bolin thought hopelessly as he stayed on the ground, paralysed. Ling fell onto his back, blood seeping out in countless parts of his body in addition to the hole in his chest.
"Let's get out of here, the cops are coming!" the man who… who stabbed Ling said. "We'll be dead meat if we stick around here any longer!"
"What about Bolin and Mohamed?" one of the guys asked. "They're still alive!"
"We got two out of the four, along with plenty of their students!" the man stated. "Let's go!"
His two comrades agreed with a curt nod, and both helped him up, putting an arm each around their shoulders. He hobbled away with them, back into a van. Three other soldiers followed, the other fourteen from the beginning all incapable of moving. They piled into one van and sped off, but Bolin didn't take any note. He stayed lying there, staring at his friend, a hand out, unable to move for fear of reality moving forward.
Then, Ling's head rolled to his left, and made eye contact with Bolin, his eyelids shuddering. Bolin finally found his limbs responsive again, and sprinted towards his stricken friend.
"LING!" Bolin howled desperately, crying uncontrollably as he ran to Ling's side. He knee-slid down to be by his best friend. "Ling! Don't move! We'll get you patched you immediately, but you have to-" Bolin stopped talking suddenly as Ling brought one finger to his sobbing friend's mouth.
"Shush," Ling whispered, somehow smiling despite the immense pain he was clearly going through. His hand dropped down to his side. "Don't cry. Think of all the good times we had."
"Bu-bu-bu-but," Bolin stuttered, sniffling. "Ling, you're…" he trailed off, not wanting to say the word.
"It's fine, honestly," Ling reassured Bolin weakly, somehow still finding the energy to be gentle. "I guess you were the better fighter in the end, huh?"
"I never meant to prove you wrong like this!" Bolin cried, shaking. He clutched the blood-stained shirt of his best friend.
"I don't have much time left," Ling stated, his breathing ragged. "I need you to remember everything I tell you now. Please, as my last favour."
"I will!" Bolin swore, staring painfully at his friend's mouth.
"First of all," Ling started, "I want you to tell my mum and dad that I love them… and I always have, no matter how bad… things seemed when we last spoke."
"Got that!" Bolin gasped, short of breath himself.
"Next…" Ling rasped. "I want all my money to go to my little sister. She's going to need it very soon for life… in general. I love her dearly, even if we haven't agreed… on a lot of points. I will… watch over her in death too, I promise."
"Take your time!" Bolin urged, his salty tears splashing onto Ling's chest. His heartache grew and grew as the inevitable approached.
"Tell Mo that he can be the best engineer in the world if he puts his mind to-" He was cut off by his vomit spewing out of his mouth. It splashed on Bolin's face, but the former probender didn't even take note. "-if he puts his mind to it," Ling finished, drooling uncontrollably. "Tell Nel that if he wants to do ballet, he can do ballet, and that no-one will judge him for it."
"Nel wAnTs tO Do bAllEt?" Bolin repeated, his voice cracking several tones.
"Yep," Ling confirmed, one eye slowly shutting of its own accord. "And this is for Mako; Never…" Ling retched horribly, struggling to keep on breathing as he slowly bled out. "Never give up on Kalla! I need him to swear that on my deathbed!"
"He will!" Bolin promised, taking in short, sharp breaths. He felt like fainting, but forced his blurry eyes to stay open.
"And for you, bro," Ling began to finish, breathing in his last few breaths, "you've been the best friend I've ever had. Even if we didn't even… have two years together… they were a great time. I wouldn't take back one minute of it, even all the time you were latched… onto Opal…" Ling smiled toothily, still managing to look at the bright side of things even on his deathbed. Bolin saw the last dregs of life slipping away from Ling's body.
"LING!!!" Bolin screamed, trying to return the smile, but it only broke into a whimper. He'd only felt this type of trauma once before, as a small child. When his parents had died as an eight-year-old boy.
Ling flashed his trademark, confident smile, then shut his one open eye. Bolin wailed as the young, frail body breathed its last breath, and then slumped.
Ling Fernandez was dead.