Book 1: AIR

CHAPTER 18:

THE FINAL PLAN

The gates were breached and the house being upturned. Maids ran screaming behind curtains and doors as the assassins stormed the governor's house. Guards tried fruitlessly to stop them but were quickly disposed of. "You have no right to invade my home!" The governor shouted as he ran up to one of the men in black hoods. "I am the governor. I have power here. Leave now or I will be forced to…"

He was seized by the throat and hoisted up to eye level with the assassin. "You have no more right then I do." He said in a raspy voice. "I'm on official business. Here."

"No seedy dealings of yours could possibly be legal here." The man clenched tighter on the windpipe of the old man.

"Only when I'm getting paid by the Master." He replied. He dropped the man to the floor. Another assassin ran into the dining room and began throwing the good china on the floor, pounding on the back of the china cabinet to see if there was a hidden entrance.\ "And you're going to tell me something." The man bent down to the governor, who was massaging his throat. The assassin grabbed his by the scruff of the neck and heaved him close to his pale face. He lowered his hood and two maids could be heard fainting in the doorway.

He was missing half of his face, covered with a thin layer of red burlap. His one eye was blood shot and he had only ten teeth in his gross cut of mouth. "You had a guest here. One that we were hunting. We've given you more then enough time to work him back to health."

"I don't know…what you're talking about." The governor blurted out.

"Yes, you do. Now, where is Kizu?"

Oma's door was broken off its hinges as the assassins swarmed the room, upturning all that was in there, searching the walls for any sign of a concealed entrance. Oma rose from her bed and ran to corner where the men over turned her table. "What are you doing?" Oma asked as she tried to catch her jewelry.

"Where is he?" the assassin asked. "Where is Kizu?"

"I do not know of whom you speak." Oma said. Some guards ran to her aide, blocking the assassin's path to her.

"Do not lie. It was you that dragged his body inside when we pawed at the gate for him. Where is he now?"

"I did not know that was the boy's name." Oma lied. "But I am afraid he is not here. He left some time ago."

"Impossible." One of the assassins shouted. "We've been watching this house for some time. The only one that ever comes here is that man. He's the only one you go to visit either."

Oma became cold as she wrapped a blanket around her tighter. One of the assassins shouted. "We've been watching this house for some time. The only one that ever comes here is that man. He's the only one you go to visit as well."

Oma became cold as she wrapped the blanket around her tighter. "I don't know what you speak of. The only thing I know for certain is that Kizu is no longer here."

They gave a shriek and left in a huff. They mounted their eel-hounds and tore through the streets of Pathigo, screeching and screaming for the boy.

Kizu was safely settled into a carriage, having traveled for two days on the road into the east. His carriage bumped over large pot -holes and shook in the heavy winds. He was equipped with some food for him and the coachman and whatever he had in his pack.

He was a good while away from Pathigo when the assassins had finally gone to get their prize.

It was also the final week of autumn. Winter was coming soon.

Zhong stood on the bow of the ship, one arm wrapped firmly around the railing as he leaned almost sleepily over the edge. "I'm telling you, he won't last much longer under these conditions." The Captain said as he noted Zhong's quickly dissolving mentality. He now walked the deck in an almost slumber like walk. His eyes were blank and hands gloved in weird soft, grey fabric. His feet were always bound in tight boots and he had a blanket wrapped around his shoulder in place of a cape. His armor was dingy, with smudge marks on it from when he would toss them randomly around the room.

"You have to admit, the Master is taking his won sweet time in writing back to Zhong." The first mate said. "I think he's trying to punish Zhong."

Zhong had now slipped onto the deck, tears starting to fall from his face as he raised his shaking hands to his face. He began to count the fingers on his right hand. "One…two…three…four…five bad little fingers. You spread evil you do. You are responsible. You killed mommy and dad. You…" Zhong grabbed a broom and made to cut the fingers off, forgetting a broom cannot cut in his delusions.

"And now he's gone almost suicidal." The Captain said as he stared own at the General who was now rolling on the deck in a mass of tears. "How the mighty have fallen."

That's when the message finally came.

The hawk did not even stop for payment as it dropped the note and took back to the skies. Zhong rolled over it in his desperation. He sniffled and stopped the floodgates. He grabbed the parchment and sat up. The tears continued to fall from his puffy eyes as he peered over the text. He gave a small wail and fall backwards and resumed rolling around on the deck, tears flooding the deck. He stopped and closed his eyes in the pain. His laughs were side splitting, causing a chill to pass through his men whom were strangers to the noise.

The Captain rushed to Zhong as he got up and the tears continued to stream down his face. He looked over the note again and then turned to the Captain, a smile stretched across his face. "Set course back to the mainland. I have my army."

Mizu walked down the long stretch of beach, reaching the end of the mainland within a couple of minutes. She made sure her pack was safely secured as she made a large motion with her arms and jumped into the water. She hovered over it for a moment and was quickly gliding along the surface, causing a ripple to follow behind her flight path. When she grew tired of her flight she formed a small platform of ice and set about resting on it. She was safe that was certain. No ships were in sight and that monster with the strange eyelid could not swim. She closed her eyes and went to sleep, drifting off into fate.

Alpha was growing tired as they soared through the air. No one had spoken in the few days since the knowledge spirit's visit. Aer was again at the head of the bison and Kan sat in the back, away from everyone else. Jip was snuggled uncomfortably between Ran-Fo and Long-hin. Bakiko kept his pessimistic nature as always and refused to believe that their situation would improve. "How can an airhead like you lose them?" Bakiko exclaimed at Aer.

"Well, They aren't within range and I cannot hear them if I don't know exactly where they are." Aer stated as she tried to reason how they had lost contact with the fleet below.

"Maybe they've decided to give up the chase and are going to leave us alone." Jip said happily.

"And then we'll all sit down and have tea." Bakiko said. He made a fart noise and rolled his eyes.

"I agree with sour puss." Long-hin said. He and Aer refused to look at each other.

"Either way, we have to go somewhere." Aer pointed out. Alpha groaned in reply. "We need to rest."

"There's an island up ahead." Kan said as he made a small reference to his energy bending abilities.

"Thanks for that." Aer responded.

"You're going to thank your boyfriend for common knowledge." Long-hin quipped, his humor subsiding.

"Long-hin, can we talk about this later?" Aer asked desperately. She turned to him. The humor was dying in his eyes. He knew that his chances had been officially thwarted that night. He knew Kan had won her. They soared through the air towards the mysterious mountain island where they hoped to find shelter.

Kizu's carriage reached the end of the road, literally. The road stopped at the end of a small hill, which descended to a beach. "I'm sorry, master Kizu, but this is as far as I dare go." The coachman said as he divided the food among them and gave some to Kizu along with his pack.

"Thank you, sir." Kizu said as he accepted his pack and walked down to the beach. The ostrich-horse gave a squawk and turned around, dragging the bouncing coach behind it. Kizu made his way down to a small pile of drift wood and made sure the coachman was out of sight before he bent it into a sea worthy vessel. He pushed it into the water and jumped aboard, splashing water onto his pack. He shook it dry and set about shifting the rudder towards the northeast. He would find someplace to hide from the assassins. He would be safe.

Zhong's armor had been shined to perfection and his boots covered over with the best green tinted, gold armor there could be found. His cape had new embroidery to it, a dragon now delicately sown onto the flowing fabric. He marched through the lines of men with a new swagger that his men had not seen in the past weeks. He had fallen into the deepest depression and had now emerged a shining star. He took his podium in front of his new recruits.

"Soldiers. Comrades-in-arms. I salute you. But I also commend you for your selfless duty to the pursuit of peace. I do not wish to give you a false sense of security. These kids are monsters, against all that you have heard said. They are powerful and vicious. Do not give them a chance. Do not give them any hint that you may back down. I want you to kill them at the first chance you get. I want you to use as much force as to cause them to go crying home to their mothers. I want this world to be pure of all the freaks like them. I want this world to be pure! I want these demi-gods to know their place! I want a new world to come out of this chaos. If you even have the smallest doubt about whether you can follow my commands, I suggest you leave now, because I will not hesitate to cut you down if you get in my way.

The Master has filled your heads with the idea that we are merely here to trap them, make sure they cannot do any more damage while they work out how to use this power. I say no. We attack head on. I demand justice. I demand the end of these benders. I demand safety for the young women and children that sleep in their beds at night. I stand on the lines to protect them from monsters like them! Walk out now if you cannot stand on that line with me! This is war and these are enemy. Tomorrow, we attack and leave such a scar upon this world that no one shall ever bend or question my power again!"

A large shout came up from the 20,000 troops that stood at attention in the hall. Zhong lifted his arms in his delusions of ultimate power. His men turned to each other.

Zhong was back.

Zhong strode proudly down the aisle, new recruits saluting him and his aides were busy around him. "Apparently the kids were still flying westward when we left them. They may be near the border of the continent by now."

"Sir, there was a weird current reported near the eastern coast. It was said to be heading eastwards towards the island there. The girl was also sighted near the area by some fishermen."

"We have caught Oma's coachman in a trap someway off. He said he dropped Kizu near the shore. He will be heading east as well."

Zhong reached the large map that took up the large wall of the complex. It was a 3-d map, mountains sticking right up out of the page. Zhong pulled a lever and the map began to curl. It made a large grinding noise and rolled onto the floor beneath his feet. Zhong jumped over the edge and began to pace around the eastern coast. He stopped over a large island with mountains engulfing most of it.

"There is where they will meet." Zhong said as he pointed to it. He withdrew his sword and began to map out where Mizu's current would head. The bison would surely want to rest there after his long flight. And Kizu would be stupid to even miss it. "There on the eastern islands."

"We will ready the ships for departure." His aides said as they scurried away, scribbling fiercely on their pads.

"One last thing before we leave though." Zhong said.

"What is that, General?"

The metal door opened with an ominous creak. The prison wailed with pain as the men screamed for release from their torment. The door to Tirji's cell closed with a loud thunk.

"Hello, Tirji." Zhong said quietly. He slipped of his gloves and gave a large smile. "Miss me?"