"Kani!" Without hesitation, Arlei grabbed the bladed staff and raced to the girl's room. She threw the door open and burst in. The first thing she saw was the stream of rocks jutting out of the ground towards her. She strafed to the side just as the rocks slammed into the doorway. So it was an earthbender attacking them.

There was only a second to take in the layout of the scene before her. The earthbender was standing by the window, holding Kani under his arm as she kicked and struggled. There was a collapsed opening of a tunnel in the ground next to them. That was what he used to sneak into the room while Arlei was at the door.

The second was over. The earthbender lashed out with another attack. Arlei jumped out of the way as an arm-like chunk of the wall shot out to hit her.

That was enough being defensive. She had gotten the lay of the land. Now it was time to take this guy out. "Put her down!" she demanded angrily through gritted teeth. She raised her staff—the weapon that had never let her down through the many years of war—and swung the bladed end towards him.

The earthbender picked up a rock to absorb the attack. As the blade sliced through the boulder and shattered it, he quickly used the largest piece and hit the staff out of her hands. Then, with the rest of the pieces, he formed rings around her wrists and slammed her against the wall. Arlei let out a strangled cry as the air was knocked out of her lungs from the impact. The pieces of rock quickly solidified, encasing her hands in little stone pockets on the wall.

"Arlei!" Kani shrieked tearfully.

Arlei saw the earthbender raise a large, pointed piece of earth from the ground. She leaned forward, pulling against the stone with all her might. There was a loud crack, and one of her arms flew forward. She flipped over to face the wall as the spike skewered the wall where she had been. With a grunt, she pressed a foot against the wall and broke out her other hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the ground next to her rise. In that split second, she duck and rolled out of the way of the rock that shot out of the ground. As she came up from her roll, she grabbed the staff and rose to her feet.

The earthbender shot another rock out at her. Arlei swung around and kicked it out of the way. With the end of her staff, she knocked his hands out of the next attack he was about to do. Then she brought her staff back down, the edge of the blade cutting through his arm. He growled with pain and dropped Kani.

"Kani, run!" Arlei ordered as the earthbender glared down at her. As he tried to grab her again, Arlei raised her leg and kicked him squarely in the stomach. The earthbender flew back and crashed into the wall, cracking the stone.

Kani scrambled to her feet, tears streaming down her face, and fled out the window. As she ran, she gave one last glance towards the house. She could still hear the sounds of the battle going on inside. Arlei was alone with that earthbender. Kani knew that without help, she wasn't going to last long.

Iroh looked up at the sky. He estimated that it must have been somewhere in the afternoon. "Should we be heading back?" he wondered aloud.

"Arlei usually lets me stay out a little longer," Koru said. "She always says that I should be back by sunset. Besides, I like being out here. It's nice. When I'm at home, I have to do chores." He stroked Sho's head. The cheetah wolf was lounging beside him.

"I see," Iroh said as he sat down next to the little boy. "But perhaps we should go back soon and spend a little more time with the others."

Koru wrinkled his nose. "But Arlei doesn't seem to like you very much," he noted. "She isn't as nice as Mama, but she takes care of us and makes sure we're safe. I don't know what you did to make her so mad." So apparently Koru assumed that it was his fault.

Suddenly, Sho lifted his head, ears perked. He turned his head and stared intently at the forest behind them. In a flash, he was on his paws. The cheetah wolf lifted his head and let out a loud howl before barreling back down the forest path. Both Iroh and Koru were startled by Sho's behavior.

"What was that?" Iroh asked, getting up. Koru jumped to his feet. "Is he ready to go home?"

"I've never seen him like that!" Koru cried. "I think he was scared! Did something happen with Kani?" He raced after Sho. Iroh followed.

They couldn't keep up with Sho. He was running too frantically. But as they rounded a winding part of the path, they saw Sho sniffing a bush. A pair of arms flew out and hugged the cheetah wolf's head tightly.

"Kani!" Koru called out, running over. "Why are you hiding out here?" As Iroh caught up, he saw that the little girl was in tears. When she saw Iroh, Kani scrambled out of the bush and clung to him tightly, sobbing.

A deep feeling of dread rose within Iroh. Kneeling down, he asked, "What happened?"

"T-t-th-there…" Kani stuttered between sobs. "Th-there w-was a man i-i-in my room! H-h-he attacked me and Arlei…"

Beside them, Sho let out another howl. He raced away. Kani wiped her face with her hands. "S-she's still back there! Hurry! H-he's going to h-hurt her!"

He couldn't leave these two all alone. "I can't leave you here," he insisted. Koru gently pulled Kani away and held her close.

"Yes you can! Help Arlei!" he pleaded.

Kani looked up at Iroh with desperate eyes. "He's an earthbender!" she added. "And he almost killed her!"

An earthbender? Arlei had spent her entire life training to fight against firebenders, but never earthbenders. Maybe she really was in danger. "Stay together, and stay out of sight," Iroh instructed. Koru nodded and began leading his sister away. Iroh hurried back down the path.

He knew he was getting close when he heard the sounds of fighting. As he exited the forest, he saw someone fly through the wall of the cottage. A tall, burly man hit the ground, pieces of rubble raining around him. Then, through the cloud of dust, Arlei came flying out with the bladed staff held above her head. The man rolled away and the blade sunk into empty ground. As the man rose back up, Iroh noticed how his arms and shoulders were covered in blood, deep cuts, and bite marks.

Something whimpered close by. There was a rapid scratching noise coming from the large, triangular structure near Iroh. Sho was trapped inside. Iroh rushed over and sent a ball of fire towards the structure. A corner broke off. One of Sho's paws stuck out through the hole, scrabbling at the rock with its claws. When the paw retreated, Iroh broke off a bigger chunk. Sho pushed his head through and peered over towards his master. Suddenly, he let out an anguished howl. Iroh looked back at Arlei.

It was clear she was taking a toll from the battle. As another boulder flew at her, she barely managed to dodge it. But it clipped her on the shoulder and sent her tumbling onto the ground. As she struggled to get back up, the earthbender sent a much larger boulder at her. This time, she couldn't get out of the way. It hit her, pushed her back, and smashed her against the wall of the cottage. To Iroh's horror, he saw blood fly out of her mouth. Then another mouthful was coughed out, dribbling down her chin.

A stream of fire shot through the air. The earthbender noticed it at the last second and covered himself with a shield of rock. As rock and fire collided, the shield shattered. Another fireball flew at him. It grazed the earthbender's leg as he tried to get out of the way. He cried out in pain and scowled ferociously.

"Where are they?" the earthbender demanded. He pulled up a block of rock and kicked it at Iroh. Iroh didn't answer as he dodged and returned with another blast of fire. The earthbender pulled up two walls of rock on either side and clapped them together. As Iroh backed away quickly, he felt a gust of wind as the walls of rock slammed together inches from him.

Behind them, Arlei pushed the boulder away and collapsed onto her hands and knees. A thin trickle of blood fell from the corner of her mouth and coated the grass. Raising her head, she wiped her chin with the back of her hand and painfully rose to her feet. She took the staff in her hands. At the end of the staff, the hidden blade shot out. She flipped the staff over in her hands so that the hidden blade was pointed towards her target. Then she drew her arm back and launched it with all her strength. The force of her throw caused her to stumble and fall back onto her knees. There was in a sharp pain in her stomach, or what was left of it. A shriek of agony nearly escaped her mouth, but she bit her lip to seal it in. She felt more blood collecting in the back of her throat as she tried to stand.

The staff shot through the air and found its target. The hidden blade sunk deep into the earthbender's shoulder. He screamed with pain and rage as he ripped the blade out of his shoulder and whirled around. Arlei stared defiantly at him as she swayed on her feet. With a hand clenched in a claw-like state, he thrust an arm towards her. In that split second, Iroh saw true fear in Arlei's eyes.

All of a sudden, a large spike erupted from the ground in front of Arlei. It stabbed her through the stomach. Iroh could see the reddened tip jutting out from her back. Arlei froze, her whole body tense. Sho let out a series of howls as he strained against his rocky cage. The earthbender rushed by them and disappeared into the forest.

Iroh knew that he should have gone after the earthbender before he found the children. But at that moment, all he could think about was the stalagmite that was holding Arlei where she stood, and how she grabbed desperately at the rock and tried pushing herself off. He ran over to her.

"Don't!" he said. "You'll bleed out!"

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but no words came out. Instead, there were only strangled gasps. More blood trailed out of her mouth. With a focused line of fire, Iroh cut through the spike a few inches from her wound and caught her before she could hit the ground.

As he knelt in the grass, he kept trying to remind himself that he had been a general, and that casualties were normal. But this was different. She was dying and all he could do was watch.

Then a shadow passed overhead. Iroh looked up and saw the bison.

As we leave the comfort of your ground

With your angels we will fly

Well you carried us in broken dreams

Like a mother does her sons

We were scattered 'cross your dirty streets

We were dying one by one

"Angeles" by Peter Bradley Adams