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Battle of Serpent's Pass

Chapter 3

The Earth Kingdom camp was surprisingly basic. It was made of all earth, the tents, the walls, everything. After the first two days of training, Zuko's feet were extremely sore. After long marches in the hot sun, they were then trained in using a spear, which is the weapon of a common Earth Kingdom, non-bending soldier. Each soldier was fed three meals a day, the meals were better than living off the land, but not quite as good as living in Ba Sing Se.

Zuko had tried to stay exclusive from the rest of the army, even his own unit. But to his dismay he found that it was almost impossible to escape all the questions of his past the other soldiers began to ask. Zuko's unit consisted of himself, Lang and a few others. At first Zuko was suspicious that Lang was on the same ship as he was and now in the same unit, but he waved it off as a coincidence.

The leader of his unit was Captain Loam, Loam was a man with a grudge. He hated the Fire Nation with a passion and was excited about the news that he and his unit were being sent off to join the main army.

"Today is the day we are going to join the rest of the Earth Kingdom Army," Loam started. "We will be traveling through the Serpents Pass." He paused to see the rest of the unit's reaction, as they sat on the ground before him, listening intently. "I know what you must be thinking. 'That the Serpents Pass is a deadly route that very few have survived,' but the Fire Nation has control of the pass and they are closing in on Full Moon Bay. Our job is to clear out Serpents Pass before we reunite with the army. Any questions?" Loam paused. "No questions? Good we will be moving out at noon."

Later that day Zuko stood on a large Earth Kingdom ship. He could not believe it, they were being shipped out so soon? Zuko had noticed that they seemed to be the only unit moving out this early.

It must have been the work of the Dai Li. Zuko thought. I didn't even have time to find a way to escape, that is if there was a way.

Now he was on an Earth Kingdom battle ship on the way to take Serpents Pass and protect Full Moon Bay. Long Feng sure did not waste any time in getting rid of him.

The calm water rippled as the Earth Kingdom ship glided across the lake. It was silent, the silence before battle, it was unnerving. Zuko could see three Fire Navy ships ahead of them, not a bad number unless you counted the fact that they were only one Earth Kingdom ship, and there was the sea monster to worry about.

This was a suicide mission and Zuko knew it. There was no way they were going to be able to defeat three Fire Navy ships with only a single Earth Kingdom ship. The Fire Nation had a more powerful navy and better weapons. Having many factories in the his homeland made the Fire Nation the most technology advanced country in the world.

As Zuko stood on deck, the familiar scent of smoke filled the air as a fire ball was launched and flew towards the ship. The ball crashed through the floor boards of the deck. With cries and screams, men flew in every direction. Other men with buckets of water rushed forward and quickly doused the fire. Captain Loam shouted his orders as the ship was thrown into complete chaos.

More fire balls were launched as Zuko and the other men ran in every direction, trying to get to their posts. Then at the same time the order was given for the Earth Benders to return fire. Boulders that were placed on the sides of the ship were hurled across the bay. Not doing much to the metal ships, but it sent the Fire Navy soldiers into a state of panic as a shower of boulders landed on the deck, crushing anything or anyone that was in its way.

The Fire Navy ships continued to bombard the Earth Kingdom ship as the lead Fire ship advanced. The fire balls landed on both sides Earth ship, each one of them missing their mark as they crashed harmlessly into the bay. The ships kept advancing towards each other. Then with a jolt, Zuko was thrown off balance as they collided with a Fire Navy ship. Gripping his spear he stood up.

As the Fire Navy soldiers rushed aboard the Earth Kingdom ship, a fierce battle began. Zuko stabbed at a Fire Navy soldier who side stepped the spear and sent a fire blast towards the Banished Prince. Zuko easily ducked the blast and sent his spear into the soldier's shoulder. The man went down, wounded..

Prince Zuko looked up in time to see another soldier rush towards him. Zuko took that man out then turned his attention to the rest of the battle. Earth Benders sent the smaller boulders, which were place in piles around the ship towards the advancing Fire Navy soldiers. The other two Fire Navy ships stopped firing, for fear of hitting their own.

The battle continued as Zuko continued to fight his way through, with only a spear. He knew very little about using the weapon, but he could defend against one in at least six different ways. Lang and the other men seemed to be doing just fine with their spears, but Zuko still would have preferred his duel swords.

He took out one Fire Soldier, but his spear was sliced in half by an incoming blade. Now unarmed, Zuko dodged anther swing of the sword then grabbed it's wielder and tossed him over board. Picking up the fallen soldier's sword, Zuko blocked another swordsmen's attack and quickly disarmed him.

Then something caught the Banished Prince's eye. Out in the bay, a large snake like body wrapped itself around one of the two Fire Navy ships, crushing it and then sent it down to the bottom of the bay. A large green serpent rose out of the water, the other Fire Navy ship sent a fire ball towards the creature only to share the same fate as the first ship a few moments later .

The battle around Zuko seemed to pause for a moment as the soldiers noticed the horror that happened only a few yards away from them. The serpent disappeared beneath the water. The men aboard the two remaining ships waited in silence, momentarily forgetting their differences. The Serpent brushed up against the side of the Earth Kingdom ship, making it rock back and forth. Zuko grabbed hold of the railing, catching himself.

The serpent rose out of the bay and crashed its massive body onto both the ships. A few spears and rocks were hurled at the serpent, harmlessly bouncing off the creature's hard scaly skin. With one squeezing motion from the serpent's body, the Fire ship was sunk, while the Earth Kingdom ship was reduced to splinters.

When Zuko emerged from the water, he saw that the ships were gone. All that remained were a few boards which floated on top of the water. There were some survivors who quickly swam to a piece of floating wood.

The serpent's attack seemed to be over, and Zuko hoped it would not return. As he swam towards a nearby board something slimy brushed past his exposed foot. The Banished Prince gripped the sword, he realized he still held in his hand.

The serpent was still here and Zuko hoped that it was not hungry for men. Then as if on cue the giant serpent burst out of the sea. Water sprayed everywhere as the creature let out a loud screech. The men in the water, Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom alike shuddered in fear at the sound. The serpent dove head first into the water, just missing Zuko, but the momentum of the dive caused him to sink beneath the surface. Now far beneath the bay, Zuko held his breath and opened his eyes.

He gasped for air, Zuko was under the water way to long. He could see the serpent pass just in front of him, the massive body clearly visible in the clear water. The Banished Fire prince closed his eyes, feeling the heat of the sun through the surface of the bay. Using Fire Bending, he gathered enough heat until his sword began to glow red. Then when the serpent was close enough Zuko swung the sword, cutting a large gash through the serpent's hard scaly body.

Prince Zuko hurried to the top of the water as dark red blood began to seep slowly out of the serpent. The creature sunk deeper into the bay as the Banished Prince surfaced. The blood from the serpent made the water dark and hard to swim. Zuko had to struggled to stay on top. Soon exhaustion over took him and he began to sink back under the water.

When it seemed that all hope was lost, a strong hand grabbed Zuko and pulled him up out of the water. Captain Loam and Lang struggled to pull the exhausted prince onto their wooden raft made from part of the ship.

"Are you ok?" Lang asked worried.

Zuko was breathing hard, he had been under the water more than his lungs could take. Even more than the time at the North Pole.

"Yeah," he managed to gasp. "I think so."

"Good," Loam said approvingly. "We will need a good man like you to defeat the Fire Nation."

Great, Zuko thought sarcastically

"What happened down there?" Lang asked, while peering over the raft at the dark bloodied water.

"I killed the serpent." Zuko answered, now trying to sit up.

Lang rolled his eyes. "I know that, what I want to know is how you killed it."

The Banished Prince looked over at the sword he held in his hand. "With this," he said, holding it up. "The serpent had a soft underbelly."

"Lucky for us," Lang said, dryly. Then turning to the captain he asked. "What are our orders now, Captain?"

"We will follow through with our original orders and meet up with the main army, but first we must get out of this bay of blood and see if any of the other recruits survived the battle."

After long paddling in the water they soon reached the sandy shores. Zuko lay down in the sand, glad that one nightmare was over but knowing more were sure to come.

To be continued…