Chapter 9

Behind Walls of Ice

Part 2

Knowledge and Fear

We continued through the grand palace, taking little detours so Arnook could show us something. He took us to the part of the palace where people would live. He showed us the bedrooms, which were enormous and had wonderful paintings on the walls and great views from the balconies. We also saw lounge rooms with many different activities to do in them. There were tea rooms wonderfully designed. One of the most interesting parts of the living areas were the bathrooms. They were very large and had wonderful designs in them. So wonderful that I wouldn't dare use the facilities, as it seemed something you would look at, but you would not touch.

Next, he showed us the different wings of the palace dedicated to the Four Nations. They had artwork from all of the nations as well as clothing, books, statues, and many other things from their different cultures. It was fascinating to see all of these things; however, to think that most of these cultures had been destroyed by the war was saddening.

We were walking through a Fire Nation section when I saw a painting and gasped.

"What is it Hyriu?" Wei asked.

I pointed to the painting, "This was in my vision. What did you call it Chief, the Azulan Gates?"

"The Great Gates of Azulan. Yes, this is what you described to me in your vision. You said you saw them being destroyed?" he asked.

"Yes, they were surrounded by clouds of black smoke," I said.

"Hmm, well I am not sure what to think about that," Arnook said,

"The gates were built by Firelord Azulan who was the father to Firelord Ozai, the current Firelord. If I remember correctly the gates protect the capital of the Fire Nation, so perhaps you saw a battle that would end the war."

"Maybe," I said, but in the vision it felt like a bad thing that the statue was being destroyed, not a good thing like winning the war.

I continued to stare at the painting for a few more minutes before moving on. The Air Nomad section was incredible and got everyone's attention. There were paintings of each air temple and paintings that showed the interior of each. Each temple had a slightly different style and design. There was a hall of statues in one, a group of sky bison in another. All around were pictures of what looked like happy carefree people that kept to themselves, bothered no one, and had very simple lives. I then grew sad and angry that someone would want to end their happiness. In one room, there was nothing but gliders and instructions on how they worked. I had not yet gotten a glider of my own. I had borrowed my friends to practice air bending with, but the air benders had yet to give me one. As I studied them, I decided that if I could choose I would want a Southern Temple style staff-glider. The Western Air Temple design was the most popular among the Shui Air Nomads as most of them are descended from them. Their style was like that of birds' wings, with triangles. The Northern style had primarily rectangles and squares. The Eastern had the same as the Western but it had jagged edges made by triangles on one side. The Southern style was a half circle design and it seemed the most practical to me. Lamara stayed in this section for as long as she could.

"Now," Chief Arnook said dramatically, "I will take you to the Gambing Library."

He led us down a long hallway, up some stairs, over a walkway, through a courtyard, and down another long hallway. Before we reached its end, I could see a door. It was very large and had breath-taking beauty. As we got closer, I could see more and more details, and I was quite literally speechless. On the door was a painting with so much detail, I didn't know where to focus.

Overall, a large oak tree took up most of the painting. Around it were a great many of things. I started at the roots of the tree: there were monkey-squirrels and bird-foxes and other rodent type creatures climbing on the roots with many scrolls and books lying about them. The rest of the tree was much the same with many animals, known and unknown, all around, reading, carrying, and even chasing scrolls and books. Behind the tree was a building of monstrous size. It looked to be made of sandstone or something similar. It did not have a style of architecture from any of the Four Nations. It had round towers with domed roofs and a large dome roof in the center with a tower at its peak. Above the building and the tree was a large black owl with his wings spread.

"On this door is a painting of the Great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong and his library," Chief Arnook explained. "He is the reason the symbol for knowledge and wisdom is an owl. It is said his library exists in this world hidden somewhere in the deserts of the Earth Kingdom though, no one has found it yet and lived, or anyone who has found it has kept it to himself. You may notice that the roof of the Gambing Library is inspired by Wan Shi Tong's own library. It also has a dome with a tower at its peak. Now shall we go and see what knowledge we might gain from the library?"

No one answered him as we were in awe of the painting, but the answer was obvious. He opened the door and we walked in.

If it was possible, I was even more awestruck by the library itself than the door. We were on a large balcony that overlooked the lower floors and was shadowed by the upper ones. There were five stories below us and five stories above.

"Behold!" Chief Arnook exclaimed, "The Gambing Library!"

I slowly walked to the edge of the balcony and grasped the railing. I became slightly dizzy at the sight, but I could not look away from the wonder and beauty of this place. I was overlooking a large open space in the middle of the library. Across the opening was a large waterfall that fell all the way from the top floor. As I looked up, I could see the ceiling, which was domed. On it was a painting that made my heart flutter. It was a painting of the night sky with many stars, a crescent moon, and the Northern Lights. I was amazed at the talent that someone must have had to create something so beautiful. I looked back down and saw that walkways crossed the large chasm, but only one every three floors so it did not crowd your sight. On the lower floors, I could see shelf after shelf of books and scrolls. Every now and then, there would be a statue or a painting.

"Children you may look around and see what the library will offer to you. But do not stray to far from our watch for there are always dark and unearthly things you would never wish to know. And always remember, you can never unlearn something."

On that note, we all explored the library, but always keeping each other in sight. I went from floor-to-floor reading and studying things. I went to the upper floors first and then worked my way down. I noticed that there seemed to be an opening behind the waterfall so I asked Wei about it.

"Back there is the section for only the eyes of master water benders," he explained.

"Can we go in?" I asked excitedly.

"Well I can but since Chief Arnook has not granted you the rank of master yet, you are not allowed, even though you are technically at the level of master," he said regretfully, seeing my disappointment.

I eventually worked my way down to the bottom floor. We had surely been in the library for two hours or more. I was studying a statue next to the pool that the waterfall fell into when I heard a splash behind me. I whirled around, looking at the pool and the surrounding area. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I looked at the upper floors, but the only person I could see was Lina, and she looked to be deep into a scroll she was reading and did not even glance up. I then looked down into the pool, and fear filled me. At the bottom of the pool was a dark shape moving around. I used water bending to still the surface of the pool, and I almost cried out. There was a person at the bottom with a black cloak on and a hood over his head. It was the figure from my visions. I didn't move. I starred at him, and he starred at me. Then, he raised his hand and I saw a glint of red. Reacting quickly, I flipped over forwards landing in the middle of the pool. I made a little island of ice to stand on. I then lifted him up in a ball of water and threw him onto the floor with a thundering splash. He shot up from the floor and ran into the maze of bookshelves. I heard Lina call my name, but I ignored her and air bended myself from my island to the floor, a leap of about twenty feet. I chased after the man who had been tormenting me the whole day. I couldn't see him, but he left a trail of water for me to follow. Every corner I came around, I took a stance, ready to fight, but I was always met by another empty hallway. Eventually, there was less and less water to follow, as he was drying off. Then, the trail just stopped. I tried to search nearby corners but found no clues leading to where he went. I went back to the pool where I had first seen him and saw that Wei, Arnook, Yue, my friends and a few court members, including Sukotto, were running towards me.

"Hyriu what happened?" Wei demanded out of breath and with panic in his eyes.

"I-I think I had another vision only…this one was different. It felt…real," I managed to say.

"Wait," Lina said her voice filled with fear and dread, "did you see the robed man again?"

I nodded, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears of fright. I had never seen her like this.

"What? What is it Lina?" Arnook asked in a soothing voice.

"Did you see something?" Koluk asked when she didn't answer Arnook. She nodded. "Okay, what did you see Lina? Tell us."

Lina's voice was shaky. "I saw a person with a dark robe on and a hood run out from behind a book shelf and run down that hallway." She pointed to the hallway, and everyone looked. "Then, I saw Hyriu run out from the same bookshelf and chase after the robed man," she finished.

We walked to the area where she saw the chase, and I recognized it, as I did run through this area following the water trail, which was still on the floor. The adults studied the trail and talked amongst themselves while we stood off to the side. It was pointless though we all knew what was going on. I didn't have another vision. What I saw actually happened. The robed man was here, somewhere in the library.

"Chief," I asked looking around, "where is the rest of the court and Pakku?"

"Oh," he said looking at me, "They had pressing matters to attend to," he said plainly and with that, silence filled the library.

Just then Lamara gasped loudly. We all looked at her to find her looking at one of the upper floors. We followed her gaze. Lina and several court members cried out. Two floors up, looking down at us was the robed man. Before any of us could do anything, he dashed out of sight. Now everyone was certain of what happened. It wasn't another one of my visions or an over-imaginative Lina. The

robed man was real, and he was in the palace hiding.

We moved on to the Armory Wing. There were several rooms with large forges built of a light blue stone. Then, there were large anvils made of a dark grey stone. I could see where years of weapon making had weathered the stone. There was also a mine which Chief Arnook told us went very deep into the ground, but it caved in several times and is now very dangerous.

Next to the Armory were the displays of the actual armor and weapons made here, as well as equipment from other nations.

There was a long hallway with many rooms, and the whole place was dedicated to different types of weapons. Each room had a different type. There was an axe room, which was incredible, then a hammer room, and after that a spear room. One room was just weapons that involved chains, like a mace, a spiked chain, a knife with a chain on it, and other things of that sort. There was also an archery room, which I loved and would revisit. Then, there was a wooden weapon room, which had things like clubs, non-air bender staffs and num-chucks. The second to last room was filled with daggers from every nation and even some from remote tribal people. Finally, at the very end was the room I wanted to see the most - the sword room. It had every type of sword and even some types I did not know. There were so many different makes of just one sword. For instance, a katana from the Earth Kingdom looked different from one from the Southern Water Tribe. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long in the weapons rooms as we had spent too much time in the library and were behind schedule.

The last place we went to before Pakku's performance was a continuation of the Armory, except it was not weapons, but armor. It was designed just like the weapons section, a long hallway with many rooms, each with a different type of armor. I saw a room filled with many beautiful helmets from the nations. Another had battle robes of the most extraordinary sort. There were also rooms for breastplates, shields, and even more.

We went back to the main floor of the palace, and the Chief led us to the back. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see the robed man, but he didn't make an appearance since his performance in the library. I could only focus on one thing after the robed man - my water bending test. We walked out the back of the palace and saw a huge estate with ponds, waterfalls, and little buildings here and there, but what really commanded my attention was the raised rectangular platform. It looked like a place where big events once took place. Standing on it was my brother, Hiko, Master Sonam, and the rest of the Royal Court. Master Pakku was standing in the middle of the crowd with a smug smile on his face. My water bending test was about to begin.