The Highest Bidder
Chapter Nineteen: The Fire Temple
I pressed a heated, wet washcloth to my forehead. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I sat against the edge of the bow, relaxed and calm. I glanced up at the smoke stack emitting from the damaged engines, and looked behind the stern. A good way behind us was Zhao, tailing us. I doubted that the commander knew that Zuko and Iroh were aware of his presence; however, as hot-tempered as the man was, Zhao was intelligent (how else would he have climbed through the ranks so quickly?) and I considered the certainties that Zhao knew exactly where we were going.
Zuko shared the same idea as well, for he was watching the smoke stack with narrowed eyes. He came to me with an outstretched arm; and although I didn't know what he was about to do, I took his offered hand. He led me to the back hatch of the ship, and I watched a smaller vessel lower into the ocean, shielded by the curtain of smoke. Zuko looked at me without saying anything; I did what he wanted me to do without him asking. I stepped onto the boat's foredeck; Zuko joined me. Iroh came to the edge of the bowsprit questionably.
"Uncle," explained Zuko, "keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover. Mura and I are going after the Avatar."
Iroh grunted, stroked his beard, and shook his head disapprovingly.
As our small ship deployed, it landed safely in the water and disappeared into the smoke. Zuko brought me to the helm.
"Thank you," he said gently.
"For what?" I asked casually.
"For not questioning me," he said clearly.
"What has that done for me so far?" I retorted. Zuko gave me a cold look; however, I was smiling, and his expression softened when he noticed that I meant it playfully. "I do have to say, Prince Zuko, that although I'm all for you catching the Avatar, but I'm not too excited to be in Zhao's line of fire…so to speak."
"I didn't want you aboard the ship in case he apprehended it," Zuko explained. "After I thought about a few things, I'm still not sure why you think that we are a wrong side, but I guess that I have to respect your opinion. I don't want you to get arrested."
"That's sweet," I muttered.
"I also want to tell you that," said Zuko hesitantly, "perhaps I asked too much of you when I told you to move one of Zhao's war ships. I know you've got some power, but you didn't really sleep last night, did you? That's where your powers come from, isn't it? Sleep?"
"Yes." I said gently. "You're not at fault, Zuko."
"Well, each fight is two-sided," he replied matter-of-factly.
I shrugged. He was right.
"Well, this is it, isn't it?" I asked. Zuko followed my gaze.
A crescent shaped island appeared before us. In the center of the island was a large, active volcano. Fire and steam belched from its cone, and flowing magma created a red and yellow river bank throughout the island. It was quite magnificent and beautiful. The Fire Temple that both the Avatar and Zuko had been seeking sat on a promontory directly below the volcano. As our ship headed for the island, I steered the wheel to pull the boat to shore. We landed gracefully on the shallow, molten beach. Zuko grabbed my hand and we walked off the empty ship.
"What exactly is your plan in order to get inside, Prince Zuko?"
"We're going to infiltrate it."
"But why would we have to do that?" I asked, indicating the barren island. "There is nobody here."
"The Fire Sages rest in the temple that was visited by Avatar Roku," Zuko explained as we headed up the mountain toward the Fire Temple. "If the Avatar is headed here today then Roku must have something important to tell him. Why else would he risk his life to get through the Fire Nation?"
"Not everything is as difficult as you make it out to be," I retorted. "If there are people on here, couldn't you just turn on the charm and persuade these people to let you by."
He halted mid-step and turned to me with a slightly disgusted look on his face.
"There is nothing about what you said that could possibly be true."
"What? It worked for me." I said, pointing to myself.
"I didn't even like you when we first met. The only reason why you were let on aboard my ship was because of my uncle."
"And after we fought for a while," I pressed on, "I was persuaded to stay. Zuko, just threaten great harm and you're in. That's what you always do, and it seems to work like a charm."
He looked at me, confused, then he frowned.
"You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"
I walked pass him,
"Yep."
Entering the Fire Temple, I stopped immediately. Zuko turned to me.
"You are right," I told him quietly. "There are people here."
As if on cue, four older men dressed in Fire Nation robes appeared from behind spiraling, red pillars. They looked quite agitated and distraught. However, they apparently weren't too tired for a fight, for they readied themselves for a battle. Each Firebender returned to a Firebending stance. Zuko glanced at me assuredly. He didn't attack them. He merely straightened, and said with an authoritative demand,
"I am Prince Zuko, crowned prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne. I'm here to capture the Avatar. He's come here to talk to Avatar Roku."
"We know," said the eldest of the old men. "He's here already. Who's the girl?"
"She's my commander," said Zuko, indicating me with the palm of his hand.
"We are the Fire Sages who guard the Fire Temple," said the chief. "Perhaps we could work together."
"Why would we help you?" I asked, stepping forward. "You serve Avatar Roku. Why would you turn your back on this Avatar when he's returned?"
"We are members of the Fire Nation," said the chief impatiently, "and we serve Fire Lord Ozai. That is why we need to find the Avatar. If he contacts Roku, there is no telling of how powerful the boy may become."
I shrugged and turned to Zuko.
"Well, that's good enough for me. What about you?"
Zuko looked at the sages.
"Fine. What do you have in mind?"
Zuko and I separated in order to follow the slightly misguided plan. To be honest with you, I think only half of it had been improvised. The Fire Sages and I searched the rest of the temple and Zuko went to find the closed doors of the sanctuary. As the Sages and I searched the worship rooms, I heard a marvelous blast a few feet from us.
"What's that noise?" I asked them curiously.
They didn't answer me for a moment.
They didn't have to, for a fifth Sage came running toward us, calling out frantically,
"Hurry! The Avatar has entered the sanctuary!"
"How did he get in?" asked the chief.
"Come see, I'll show you!"
We ran through the corridors and found the magnificent doors to the sanctuary.
The doors could have only been opened by a fully realized Avatar or five firebenders. It wasn't opened by turning a door or unlocked it with a key. There were five holes lined up on the door, each in the shape of a dragon's mouth. It was actually very fine architecture for a Fire Temple.
There were scorch marks along the mouth of each dragon, and even if the Avatar hadn't entered, something was behind the door. I felt a presence moving behind it, pacing. Below the door, under the crack, a shadow paced close to us. The fifth sage indicated the marks on the door and the moving figure.
The chief commanded,
"He's inside! Open the door immediately before he contacts Avatar Roku!"
The five Fire Sages took the horse stance, and they shot five simultaneous blasts into the dragon heads on the face of the door. Smoke appeared around the door jambs. There was a sound of metal on metal, and the door began to creak and opened slowly. Light poured from the interior, and it temporarily blinded me.
I laughed slightly, more out of the irony than the situation itself, as the light dissipitated, and a lone lemur stood inside the sanctuary. It sneezed and looked at the Fire Sages quizzically.
"No offense," I said, turning to the Sages, "but that's not the Avatar."
I walked up to the chief and smacked his face, suddenly irritable.
"You idiot! The lemur must have crawled through the pipes! You've all been tricked!"
The Avatar's lemur leapt at the sage that I had been yelling at, and it knocked him down. From around us, the water tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka, jumped out from behind two columns and grabbed the two nearest Fire Sages. They pulled the Fire Sages' clothes over their heads. To my unique surprise, the fifth Sage that had warned us about the sanctuary grabbed my from behind and forced me to my knees, forcing my face hard into the marble floor.
I struggled under the man's weight, for he decided it was a great idea to sit on top of me. He grunted through his efforts.
"Now, Aang!" he called out with difficulty.
The Avatar didn't appear.
"Aang! Now's your chance!" Katara cried out.
I growled with irritation as the Sage named Shyu grappled my wrists painfully. Sokka stared at me for a moment.
"Shyu, watch out for the girl. She's Zuko's—"
Katara and Sokka froze with realization and turned their eyes to the pillar farthest away from the sanctuary. I looked up to see Prince Zuko appearing from behind the column, and he had taken Aang prisoner. He held the Avatar's arms tightly behind his back.
"The Avatar's coming with me!"
The tables turned on Katara, Sokka, and Shyu. As it happened in the past, it was like a cramp letting go as an invisible hand grabbed Shyu's cap and pulled it down over his face; I kicked him hard in his back, and he fell off me in surprise. Chains that hung on the walls came flying through the air on my word, and they lassoed around Katara and Sokka obediently. Shyu was apprehended by his fellow Fire Sages; the chief helped me to my feet.
Zuko pushed the struggling Avatar toward the opening of the floor that lead to Avatar Roku's secret tunnels,
"Close the doors! Quickly!"
The Avatar didn't go without a fight. He saw what happened to his friends; he disarmed Zuko and knocked him off balance. Aang kicked him down the flight of stairs.
"GO!" Katara cried out.
Aang banked left and jumped into the air to avoid the fire blast; he did several turns in mid-air; he used the heads of two of the Fire Sages as stepping stones on his way to the doors. I grabbed hold of his ankle—
WHOOSH!
He shot me with the most powerful gust of wind that I had ever felt. I was thrown all the way across the other side of the room, landing hard against the wall. Needless to say that my headache returned almost instantly. When I looked up, the Avatar slipped right through the door just in time.
A blast of bright white light came from behind the sanctuary doors. Zuko and the Fire Sages composed themselves, and they performed simultaneous fire blasts at the doors. This time, however, the mechanism that had opened the doors didn't response. I came up beside Zuko, rubbing my head in obvious agony. He was extremely aggravated.
"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!"
"It must have been the light," said the chief Fire Sage. "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."
I sighed irritably.
Zuko turned to me.
"Can you move it with your mind?"
"No," I said.
"You didn't even try it."
"I don't have to," I told him in quiet defeat. "I can't work against the Spirits."
"This is no time for your search of your moral values!" Zuko said angrily, confronting me.
"It's not about me!" I said furiously. "I can't work against the Spirits because they're also mind over matter as well! Firebenders can't destroy the Li and Lo, and I can't disrupt the meetings of the Avatar. It's balance, Zuko."
"Then do it because I told you to!"
"It's not a choice, Prince Zuko," I snapped at him angrily. "It's the rule. The door was sealed shut by a spirit: Avatar Roku. Even if I gave it my all, it wouldn't budge."
Zuko growled angrily.
The Fire Sages forced their traitorous companion, Shyu, to his knees, and he knelt on the floor in front of Prince Zuko. His hands were tied behind his back. The four Fire Sages stood behind him.
"Why did you help the Avatar?" Prince Zuko demanded.
"Because it was once the Sages' duty. It is still our duty."
I felt an ominous presence elsewhere in the room, and I was certain that it wasn't Avatar Roku. Before I could warn Zuko about the possible danger of staying in one place to long, there was a sound of one pair of hands clapping. I turned expectantly.
Zhao approached us with a band of Fire Nation troops. Admittedly, I cowered behind Prince Zuko as Commander Zhao came closer.
"What a moving and heartfelt performance," said Zhao. "I'm certain that the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him.
The Fire Sage chief bowed respectively,
"Commander Zhao."
Zhao turned to eye Zuko and me.
"And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort; but your little smoke screen didn't work."
A Fire Nation soldier pushed me out from behind Zuko and arrested the banished prince. Zuko struggled; Zhao set his face in front of mine, only inches away, and he smirked.
"And you also brought your pretty witch as well," he drawled.
He grabbed my hands swiftly.
"You know," he said to me with a curious gaze, "you really are quite a girl, but if you're so talented—and I know you are—why do you still waste your talents on a prince who doesn't even want you? You should consider your value to the Fire Nation. It certainly should bode for you to be my captain than to be his little witch."
I pulled my hands away from him; a Fire Nation shoulder arrested me as well.
"I'd rather see you jump into the ocean," I snapped coldly.
He shrugged.
"Three traitors caught in a day. The Fire Lord will be pleased."
"You're too late, Zhao," said Zuko. "The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed."
"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out."
The Fire Nation soldiers tied Zuko and me to a pillar mass. I fought them; the chains struggled against the soldiers as they tried to wrap the links of metal around us. Zhao watched in amusement as the troops surrounded the pillar. Each took a piece of a chain and together they forced it around Zuko and me.
"Mura," said Zhao, "the more you try to fight"—a soldier pulled hard on the chains that were wrapped diligently around my forehead—the tighter they're going to make your bonds."
He turned to the troop behind him were assumed the Firebending stance.
"When those doors open," he ordered, "unleash all your fire power."
Several minutes passed.
Suddenly, a blinding white light came from inside the sanctuary. Smoke billowed out of the entry way from the bottom of the door; the Fire Sages looked upon it with shock and fear; Sokka and Katara turned their heads to shield their eyes; Zhao and his troops stepped one pace back in astonishment. Zuko turned his head away from the light.
"It's beautiful…" I heard myself gasp as the light penetrated the darkest corners of the room.
The light faded, and the doors began to fully open. Two large glowing eyes beamed from the dark of the sanctuary, and smoke emanated from the darkness—
Zhao and his troops blasted the Avatar with a volley; but the blasts didn't enter the sanctuary. They were held off at the door and manipulated into a gigantic ball of swirling fire. I felt my stomach sicken with surprise, excitement, and fear, as the ball opened to reveal the heart of the fires.
"Avatar Roku…" said Shyu in shock.
Roku's fire ball drew in and he shot it out into the room. Zhao and his soldiers were knocked to the floor. The heat of the blast melted the chains that held Sokka and Katara; the chains that held Zuko and me fell apart as well. Zuko took my hand and we raced down the flight of stairs that led from outside.
Magma flew around us as we raced through the cavern.
"He's going to destroy the temple!" Zuko called out in dismay as the swirling magma around us boiled and tossed furiously.
"We'll make it!" I cried out. "Just don't stop running!"
We made it in time onto our ship—I turned back to see molten lava pouring down the sides of the volcano. Smoke billowed from the bottom of the temple, which began to sink. It exploded several times in the hot mess.
Aboard the ship, I sighed in relief.
"Well," I said cheerfully, "at least we got away."
"Yeah." Zuko muttered unhappily. "I suppose."