Hey everyone.
Here we are with another chapter.
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And as usual, if you find the story to your liking please continue to do so.
The Masked Puppeteer – Chapter Eighty-Five
Back in the present at the sage's tree.
The four shaken women sat up on the floor of the tree gazing at one another as they struggled to take in the gravity of all that they just saw.
Before they all turned back to their still unconscious young friend leaning into the princess's royal armor with sympathy over all that the girl had been through.
Ty Lee once more found herself blinking back angry tears as she clenched her furious fist beside the mutually angered Mai.
The two noblewomen could only stare at their adopted sister with unconcealed sadness over all the pain that she endured.
And Zoi gazed at the younger girl with her golden eyes expressing unusual concern as she pushed herself up off the floor.
Azula still sat with Elle's passed out face resting against her royal armor.
As she found herself unable to fight the scowl that was pulling on her crimson lips after she noticed another tear streaming down her handmaid's cheek.
And just like that her smile gave way to a regal scowl as she held a protective arm around the smaller girl's back.
Her mind raced with countless questions regarding all of the events that she saw in her young girlfriend's mind.
"Old woman! When will she awaken from her meditative state?" Azula questioned in a cold voice as she turned to gaze over her armored shoulder with her callous amber golden eyes observing curiously to see the crone at work over her fire.
The three noblewomen had been pondering that very thought.
And they too turned to the hunched over old woman only to find themselves looking on in inquisitively when they saw her slam her staff down upon the floor.
"Soon but I am not certain when. Now be quiet! I must focus! A dangerous enemy is closing in upon us!" Mava exclaimed in a weathered voice while the four women gazed on with alarmed eyes.
"An enemy? Are speaking of the puppeteer?" Azula demanded in a voice of renewed wrath while she gently laid her unconscious handmaiden upon the floor.
Only for all four of them to spin around and gaze up at the ceiling of the ancient tree when a faint cracking sound resonated into the air.
Tiny bits of dust rained to the floor below as they leaped to their feet with their respective weapons in hand.
And then just like that a small hole was broken through the gigantic tree.
Just as they gazed up with wary looks in their eyes when they heard the same eerie clicking of a mechanical contraption that they heard the forest earlier today.
And that was all the confirmation that they needed to know that it was indeed the puppeteer.
Azula's fist lit up with azure fire as she glared up at the ceiling with a sliver of hidden paranoia in her eyes.
As she gritted her teeth while vowing to herself that the woman would not get her bending!
"So, it is her." Zoi stated in her trademark calm voice with her katana in hand as she gazed up with stony golden eyes.
"Ty Lee. Hold onto Elle and stay behind me." Mai commented with knives in hand while Ty Lee nodded gratefully as she pulled the sleeping girl into her arms.
"Right. Thanks Mai." Ty Lee remarked in a firm voice as she protectively held Elle's unconscious form against her chest.
Just as they all gazed up with widened eyes when fingers slipped through the opening.
Only for Team Azula to turn around with astonishment in their eyes when the old woman's staff emitted a bright light.
And then just like that the humanoid puppet was launched off the tree when the light took the shape of an energy shield that effectively blocked entry through the opening.
The feat of magical prowess had the highborn women staring at the sage's face in amazement.
'How did she do that?' Azula thought with her amber golden eyes conveying her fascination while the old sage held herself up by her staff.
"What sort of fool do you take me for? No one passes my barrier unless I want them to enter!" Mava declared in a stern voice while the group watched in awe as the barrier formed over the tree.
"Interesting. It appears Princess that you truly will not be able to enter without her permission." Zoi quipped with a margin of her usual sass while her princess glared at her through the corner of her eye.
As an army of puppets were sprinting in different directions as they ran down many forest pathways.
While the forest continued to take shape as the great tree was soon hidden from view once more.
Silah leaped down the winding pathway as her dark green eyes gazed out from beneath her bone mask with her painted lips transforming into a smile.
Just as she caught another glimpse of the tree once more before it vanished again not even seconds later.
And so, it went as it continued to appear and disappear throughout the forest with the old sage's magic repeatedly shielding the ancient tree from view.
Until…
Crack!
Team Azula gazed up in surprise when another crack appeared in the wall of the old tree while the sage yet again slammed down her staff.
"I said you will not pass!" Mava shouted in a graveled voice as the barrier swiftly sealed the fractured wall once more.
The four highborn women once more marveled over the old woman's power while they gazed up at the glowing barrier in unhidden awe.
Only to find themselves spinning around with their eyes widened when they heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps in the tree canopy above them.
Just as more cracks began to rapidly travel down the wall of the ancient tree while particles of wood fell down to the floor below.
Elle lay motionless in Ty Lee's arms while the unnerved woman stared up in shock as she watched the wall come down.
"Azula…" Ty Lee trailed off with a trace of fear in her voice that aggravated the scowling princess.
"Quit your cowering Ty Lee! She's a mere toymaker and nothing more!" Azula barked with her cold eyes glaring up at the collapsing wall while her fist gripped the hilt of her sword.
She paid no mind to the looks of disagreement that her two childhood friends were sending her way.
Only to quickly turn around when she heard the sound of more footsteps running up the outside of the massive tree stalk.
Just as the sound of the cracking wall tore into their as the group gazed up with alert eyes as they listened to the footsteps dart up the tree.
Only for their eyes to widen when a lifeless eye peered back down at them through the ruptured wall.
As a bead of sweat dripped down Mai's unnerved forehead as she took a cautious step backward.
The eye stared back in at them while the princess's amber golden eyes glared back in response.
And then not a moment later the sound of an explosion rang out into the air above them while dust rained down in their faces.
They all coughed while they covered their mouths only to find themselves gazing up with widened eyes to see that the roof had been completely blown open.
And yet to their shock they watched as the old sage's barrier rapidly spread throughout the ceiling above them.
And just like that the barrier loomed above them while the crone now held up her glowing staff above her head.
Both Azula and Zoi could only stare at the old woman with an impressed look in their eyes.
'She truly is a sage…' Zoi thought with her golden eyes studying the old woman in amazement before she returned her gaze upward.
They listened to the sound of Nako and Saro darting upstairs in alarm over the previous explosion.
"Damn you…Silah." Mava cursed with her wrinkled hands clutching her staff while the highborn women turned to her in surprise.
It was a name that they all had heard before.
It was the name of an infamous criminal that the Fire Nation had long since placed a bounty on for her brutal attacks against multiple military encampments.
And yet no matter how many bounty hunters were dispatched after her the military was unable to capture her.
And no one who has seen her face ever survived to tell the tale.
They had known that the mysterious puppeteer was a dangerous woman.
But they had never thought that she was Silah the Pale!
"The one with the bounty that is as big as the Avatar's? The one rumored to hunt people for sport? That Silah?" Mai asked in a shocked voice while Azula glowered up at the ruptured ceiling.
Ty Lee sat with Elle in her arms as she gazed up with unnerved eyes into the broken ceiling.
"The one and the same." Mava stated gravely with her glazed eyes staring up into the air while many silhouettes stood in the smoke above them.
"That would explain why they were never able to apprehend her…this is no ordinary opponent." Zoi spoke in a focused voice as she narrowed her golden eyes while she gazed up into the dispersing smoke.
"She is a fool if she thinks that she can flaunt her face before me and live to tell about it! I promise you that she will regret her arrogance!" Azula hissed with fire exuding from her nostrils while her callous amber golden eyes glared up into the passing smoke.
Just as the curtains to the room were suddenly pushed aside while they momentarily turned to face Saro and Nako's panicked faces.
"We heard an explosion Princess!" Nako exclaimed in her usual skittish voice while Azula turned away as she rolled her amber golden eyes.
"How astute of you to notice Nako." Azula snorted in a haughty voice that almost verged on fondness as her pilot rushed up behind her.
"Your orders Captain?" Saro pondered in a calmer voice while Zoi scowled as she stared up at the smoke covered barrier.
"Stay put…for now." Zoi declared in a cool-headed voice with her golden eyes watching the crimson barrier closely.
The group stood gazing up at the ceiling as the last of the smoke finally evaporated from the air.
Only for all of their eyes to widen in disbelief at what they saw.
Crouching above them upon the glowing barrier were several peculiar puppets.
Armed and ready as if they were warriors of the flesh.
And standing behind them was an ominously cloaked figure wearing an eerie white bone mask.
Her dark green eyes now gazed back down at them from beneath her mask as her gaze swept about the room.
Azula and Zoi glared up at her with a murderous look in their eyes that only increased when the puppeteer's eyes landed on the unconscious handmaid.
Ty Lee clutched Elle close to her chest while she directed a sisterly glare up at the foreboding figure.
"You! I am going to make you pay for burning our boats!" Azula snarled in a ruthless voice with lightning crackling over her fingertips while she glared up at the masked puppeteer.
Only for that same familiar mocking chuckle to flow into the air while Azula's eyes burned with even greater rage over the woman's mockery.
"I…have never seen such bizarre weaponry…" Saro muttered in a composed voice from beside his ever-level-headed captain.
Nako's blood ran cold as soon as her brown eyes laid on the puppeteer's terrifying mask.
'It's…her!' Nako thought with a sudden rush of fear flowing through her veins as her mouth dropped open in shock.
Mava lowered her staff with her glazed eyes still peering up in the proximity of the barrier.
And that was when Silah's chilling dark green eyes turned to stare down into Mava's own from underneath her mask.
And even though the sage could no longer see with her eyes she could feel the powerful gaze of her once beloved companion staring down at her.
Mava and Silah stared back at one another with profound intensity that signified that there had once been an unfathomable bond between them that has since been lost to the winds of time.
"Silah. We meet again." Mava spoke with a trace of anguish in her voice as the group turned to her in surprise while she still felt Silah's eyes peering down at her.
"So, we do Mava. It has been a long time. You look so much older than I remember you." Silah commented in a disguised voice with her heartless eyes staring down into her former companion's eyes.
As Azula gazed furiously between the two of them.
Only just now did the group realize that it was the first time that they heard the old woman's name.
In all the time that they had been there the sage had never told them her name.
Moreover, they couldn't help but find themselves curious why the two almost sounded like they knew each other.
"She's ignoring us." Ty Lee stated with her arm around Elle's side while Azula's fist lit up in blue fire.
"It's called aging Silah and it's something that you would have experienced had you not been so selfish." Mava scoffed while the princess stepped up behind her with her domineering amber golden eyes glaring at her back.
"Old hag! I demand that you explain yourself right now." Azula ordered in a commanding voice while looming over the old woman's hunched over back.
Just as she turned around when she heard the sound of someone taking a fearful step backwards.
They all turned their heads with confusion in their eyes to see Nako shaking in even greater terror than usual.
"Are you alright Nako?" Mai asked with a trace of concern in her voice while Nako gazed up at Silah with a pale countenance.
They listened to the unnerving sound of more puppets running up the tree while they gazed up in alarm.
"I-I've seen that mask before." Nako blurted out to the shock of her companions with her hands shaking at her hips while Azula rounded around to stare at her with demanding amber golden eyes.
"Unlike you Mava. I did not reject immortality. I do not rot and I do not wither. I…am eternal." Silah boasted with her emotionless dark green eyes staring down at the group while her puppets took position behind her.
"Where?" Azula hissed with fire escaping her lips while her pilot swallowed audibly.
"W-when I first joined the military, I was placed on a domestic squad of city guards. It…was supposed to be routine training and it was. Until one day our commanding officer gave us the order to apprehend a masked criminal…he set out to capture her and we chased her into the forest." Nako explained in a fearfully hushed voice while her friends listened with surprise in their eyes.
They gazed up at the cloaked puppeteer with a newfound understanding that she was even more dangerous than they first took her to be.
"And then what happened Nako?" Zoi queried as she gazed at her squeamish friend with a grimace already forming upon her lips.
"You saw her power before?" Azula inquired in a cold voice as she gazed out of the corner of her eye at her pilot's pitifully terrified face.
"If it is the young Component that you are after. You are wasting your time. She would make a poor fit for your patchwork. Put your needles into her and the power will transfer to a new holder. All that will remain is a powerless husk." Mava declared with her aged hand gripping her staff while the group bristled in alarm.
And the princess now directed a much colder stare up at the masked woman with her nostrils releasing puffs of blue fire.
Her two childhood friends protectively shielded the motionless teenager from the puppeteer's chilling gaze.
Just as the strange woman broke out into another mocking chuckle as she still gazed down at the sleeping girl.
"And you think I don't already know that? I don't want her dead. I want her alive." Silah declared with her robed sleeve pointing down through the barrier at Elle's unconscious face.
Her wicked eyes scanned the young girl's golden hair for a moment in intrigue.
The girl was the first and only person that she has ever seen in all her life with such a fascinating hair color.
But she wasn't after the girl for her hair color.
She was after something much more valuable than the color of her hair.
As soon as those words were uttered the highborn women glared up at her with murderous stares that could make even the best of warriors piss their pants.
"No Princess! I didn't see her power! I didn't see anything because I fled! I heard their screams and I took off on my steed!" Nako confessed in a shameful voice as she averted her eyes from the gazes of the astonished group.
Azula glared up at Silah with a frigid stare of her own.
She just knew that the woman was smiling underneath her mask!
"You…fled?" Saro asked in a taken aback voice that was shockingly devoid of judgement while Nako rapidly nodded her head.
"I-I never wanted to be in these life-or-death situations because I'm craven! That's why I applied to work on the princess's royal airship fleet! Because I thought that I would be safe from all of that if I was serving under the princess directly!" Nako exclaimed in an embarrassed voice while her friends gazed at her in a bewildered silence.
Both Mai and Ty Lee were gazing at Nako in pity.
And Zoi herself was just gazing at the younger woman with calm golden eyes.
And not a moment later the sound of Nako yelping in pain echoed into the air while Nako recoiled as she nursed the welt on her forehead.
"Stop being such a cry baby Nako!" Azula barked with her hand falling back to her hip while the humiliated pilot rapidly nodded her head.
"Y-yes Princess." Nako mumbled as she rubbed at her forehead while Azula just scowled down at her with annoyed amber golden eyes.
It was yet another baffling sight to the two noblewomen.
Normally they would expect Azula to cruelly berate a soldier for openly confessing that they fled the battlefield.
But Nako proved that she wasn't a coward when she saved the princess's life back on Shantu Island.
And Azula was showing that she recognized that.
"The time is drawing near." Mava stated in a mysterious voice as she leaned on her staff while the group turned to once in puzzlement once more.
"So, it has. All things have begun to align." Silah responded in a collected voice while Team Azula gazed between them in growing confusion.
"We once…. had something together you and I…. before you abandoned me and left me behind bleeding out in this tree." Mava muttered in something akin to a sorrowful voice while the group listened in growing disbelief.
"In another life. In another time. Back before you rejected my true self." Silah remarked in a dismissive voice as she sunk into a combat stance with her gloved fingers flexing before her masked face.
"I see…I thought that you might say that." Mava sighed as she raised her head with her staff clutched in hand.
"Enough talk! You came here to hunt us. Well, here we are." Zoi called out as she stepped forward with her katana in hand while she glared up at the masked puppeteer.
"I couldn't have said it better myself. Now seems like a fine time to pry that mask off and burn your face to ashes!" Azula snapped as she clenched a burning fist before her face only for the rage in her eyes to grow when Silah chuckled tauntingly once more.
"I don't quite think you two quite understand. We are not equals. You are prey." Silah announced in a sanguine voice with her robed hands raising into the air while the two mighty firebenders glared daggers up at her.
"It doesn't matter what you do Silah. You cannot get past the barrier of the Sentinel Tree." Mava retorted with her staff held above her head while the group listened to her in fascination.
'The Sentinel Tree? So, that's what this is…some kind of mystical tree…' Azula thought with her cold amber golden eyes gazing around her at the luminescent barrier.
Only for the sound of rocks breaking to rupture into the air as the group spun around to gaze up at the masked woman.
Just as all of their eyes widened as they watched rocks levitate into the air above the puppeteer's head as they began rapidly forming into a gigantic boulder.
"She's an earthbender…" Zoi stated with her cold eyes gazing upward while Azula scoffed from where she stood beside her.
"I don't care what she is. I am going to kill her." Azula hissed as she stepped forward with lightning churning at her fingertips.
Only to pause in her tracks as she turned around to glare down at the old woman when her staff intercepted her path.
"Stay inside the barrier! As you stand now neither one of you can defeat her in open combat." Mava advised curtly as the others gazed on warily while the princess spewed fire from her lips in offense.
"You underestimate your Crown Princess once again old woman. I am more than capable of defeating her." Azula snapped with venom in her voice while her captain gazed on curiously beside her.
"Azula…maybe you should listen to her." Ty Lee spoke up from behind her friend while her fellow noblewoman scoffed at the suggestion of Azula listening to anyone.
"No, you cannot! It is impossible to defeat Silah if one does not possess the secrets of her power!" Mava exclaimed as she turned away from the princess's glacial gaze.
"What is the secret to her power?" Zoi pondered in a more respectful voice only to gaze on in disbelief when the old woman shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know." Mava admitted bluntly while her audience nearly fell over in surprise as they stared at her in surprise.
"You don't know?" Azula repeated in a snide voice while she stared hard at the sage's weathered face.
"No, I do not! Not even I know all of the secrets to the workings of Silah's power. All I know is that she is using the dark arts to bind the power of the dead to her will." Mava barked in a harsh voice while the princess stared at her with irate amber golden eyes.
Only for Nako's voice to snap them all back to reality.
"Uh. Is anyone else seeing how big that rock is?" Nako asked in a frightened voice as the others turned to gaze high in the air.
Only for all of their eyes to widen once more as they watched chunks of rock merge into the rapidly enlarging boulder.
Just as another cloaked figure leaped down beside the puppeteer while the enormous chunk of earth continued to expand at an alarming rate.
Until….
The mammoth rock floated into the air above the ancient tree while the puppeteer now gazed down at their shocked faces with malicious dark green eyes.
"It's…huge!" Mai exclaimed in an unnerved voice as she stood protectively over the slumbering Elle while Ty Lee's mouth also dropped open in awe.
The princess and her strongest soldier gazed up with their eyes narrowing as they watched dust rain down upon them.
"Are…we going to survive that?" Nako queried in a fearful voice as she swallowed while her princess rolled her amber golden eyes.
"Please. It's just a big rock! I can shoot that down with ease!" Azula scoffed with lightning sparking at her two fingertips.
She turned to regard her handmaiden's slumbering face through the corner of her eye as she clenched her jaw together.
'No one is going to take my Elle from me! She's mine and mine alone!' Azula thought with her domineering eyes narrowing into murderous slits as her boots slid on the floor.
Only for her attention to be quickly regained by sage when the old woman's staff lit up with great power once more.
The great light shone into the chamber while Azula's forces regarded the crone in awe.
As Silah's mocking chuckles resonated into the air.
"No matter what you do you cannot breach this barrier!" Mava announced with her wrinkled hands holding her staff high above her.
A rush of wind swept into the air as the others covered their mouths in surprise.
"We shall see Mava. We shall see." Silah remarked in an eerie voice before she nimbly leaped away with her cloak flowing in the winds.
Her cloaked puppet jumped along beside her as they landed high above on a tree branch.
As the stone monolith plummeted through the skies at an astonishing rate towards the destroyed room.
Just as Jiao came bursting into the room only for her blue eyes to widen in fright as the earthen behemoth plummeted towards the barrier.
"Zoi-" Jiao began only to be cut off when the captain's strong hand seized her by the arm.
"Quickly! We need to get downstairs! If that breaches the barrier the weakest among us may not survive!" Zoi shouted in an urgent voice as she slung the surprised younger woman over her back while her fellow noblewomen hurried nodded in agreement.
And just like that Ty Lee lifted the handmaid over her shoulder while Mai grasped onto her wrist.
Mai broke out into a run with her adopted sister's backpack over her shoulder while she pulled the two after her.
"Curse this infernal puppeteer!" Azula yelled out in a furious voice as her lightning dispersed while she broke out in a sprint beside her childhood friends.
As they took off running towards the staircase while large rocks pelted the barrier from above.
Saro and Nako followed suit as they gazed over their shoulder in unhidden awe of the old woman's power.
"I already told you that you will not enter!" Mava called out in a forceful voice with her energy firing into the air.
Azula glanced over her shoulder with her amber golden eyes widening marginally as she watched the energies begin to clash.
She darted down the staircase with her cold eyes never leaving her serving girl's position upon Ty Lee's back.
They all ran rapidly down the shuddering staircase as they listened to the tree rumble above them.
And just like that the gigantic monolith slammed into the sparking barrier while the cloaked puppeteer observed from above with a confident smile on her lips.
As Mava's determined shouts split the air as the old sage howled at the top of her lungs.
While their energies sparked dangerously as the two engaged in a deadly standoff.
And then not a moment later a thunderous explosion shook the forest.
The princess's forces turned to gaze over their shoulders in alarm to find themselves watching the floor exploding above them.
And soon after that an endless sea of debris rained down upon them.
Mere minutes later…
The group pushed themselves out of the rubble as they coughed with dust and smoke filling the air.
Only to gaze up in shock to see that the upper staircase was completely destroyed.
And the upper portion of the tree was gone.
And the barrier…
The reddened energy barrier crackled as it began to slowly break apart while they gazed up in disbelief.
"The old sage…" Zoi trailed off in a quiet voice as she stood up with Jiao coughing behind her.
Her princess pushed herself up from beneath a rock as she glared up with enraged amber golden eyes.
"Is she…dead?" Saro questioned in a confused voice as Nako shakily stood behind him.
Ty Lee knelt on her good foot with Elle asleep over her shoulder as she swallowed in concern.
As Mai brushed her arms off as she gazed up with worried tawny eyes.
"That damned puppeteer! If the old hag is dead, I will have her torn apart limb by limb!" Azula bellowed with rage in her voice as she clencher her fists in her fury.
There were so many things that she still needed to ask the sage.
And if the old woman was truly gone…
Then she may never find the answers to the questions that they seek!
That was when all of them gazed up with narrowed eyes to find a masked face gazing down at them through the smoke.
"How unfortunate Mava…you truly have grown weak from all these years that you have spent withering away. It truly is a shame." Silah muttered in an almost disappointed voice with her heartless eyes scanning the ruptured staircase below.
Her gaze settled on the passed-out teenager once more while Team Azula stood protectively over the unconscious handmaiden.
The weaker members of the group nervously stepped back just as the captain stepped forward with her icy golden eyes glaring upward.
"I have had enough of this shit. No more games! If you want to fight then let's go!" Zoi exclaimed as she drew her sword while her princess scowled in agreement.
"Indeed. My sentiments exactly." Azula snarled with her hand upon the hilt of her sword while the others gazed on warily behind her.
"She's going to pay for what she did to Togan." Saro stated darkly with his fists lit a fire.
"Azula. We'll look after Elle." Mai informed as she clutched her knives while Azula nodded before her turned her vengeful gaze up to the masked woman.
Only for all of Azula's forces to listen closely when they heard the same eerie scuttling of puppets scampering up the side of the damaged tree.
They stared up at the ominous woman trying to decipher how she was able to control so many puppets.
Just as the many puppets leaped down onto the broken staircase while the group's eyes grew wide as they watched the army pour in.
"There's so many!" Ty Lee yelled out as she backed away with Elle in her arms while she listened to the sound of the puppets scuttling down the walls.
Azula's lips pursed into a beautiful scowl as she stared up at the puppets with her amber golden eyes narrowed into a murderous glare.
"I have been following you two for weeks now." Silah stated as her voice echoed throughout the ancient tree while the group backed into a circle.
"We know." Zoi spoke with an edge to her voice with a muscular arm shielding Jiao's smaller frame while she stood before the seductress.
"But what you don't know…is why. I was hired to assassinate the both of you on Shantu Island." Silah remarked with her voice flowing all around the inside of the tree while the two powerful firebenders eyes flashed in growing rage.
"So…my fat uncle hired you to kill me, did he?" Azula demanded in a frozen voice with her burning fists clenching in her rage while her childhood friends shivered behind her.
Only for her fury to grow by tenfold when the woman's echoing voice laughed in response.
"No. Your uncle is much too righteous to ever openly consent to assassination. But the nobles who hired me on the other hand…" Silah trailed off in a cruel voice while Azula's entire body now trembled in boiling fury.
Her boots slid upon the floor as she exhaled fire from her furious nostrils.
As her subordinates barring her captain backed away in fear of her explosive temper.
"It would seem as if our suspicions were right after all…this means that at least one noble family has turned traitor." Zoi commented in a composed voice with her sword in hand while her princess's eyes shook in fury.
"Nobles hired you! I demand that you tell me who! I'll burn each and every one of them at the stake! Right after I am finished making an example of you!" Azula roared with fire streaming forth from her mighty fists.
Her callous eyes watched the puppets take position on the walls above them just as the hunter laughed once more.
"Who knows? Maybe it's someone standing beside you. Perhaps it's the person you trusted the most." Silah called out in demented laughter while the princess's amber golden eyes darted around in renewed paranoia while her glare landed on her fearful childhood friends.
"Don't listen to her Azula! We wouldn't do that!" Ty Lee shouted as she reached out to touch her friend's seething shoulder while amber golden eyes still glared back at her.
"If it is our lives that you are after…then what caused you to stay your hand? Why didn't you kill us on Shantu Island?" Zoi inquired in a hardened voice with her focused golden eyes gazing up while Azula snarled beside her.
"You were all supposed to quietly die on Shantu Island and the news of your deaths was to be delivered to my employer. And if your noble uncle didn't ask what was to befall then it couldn't have possibly stained his honor. And I almost went through with it." Silah spoke from all around in a sadistic voice while all but Zoi and Azula shuddered as her voice traveled down their spines.
Azula's eyes shone with a newfound rage toward her uncle while she ground her teeth together.
'I am going to make Iroh pay for this! I'll make sure of it!' Azula thought with her fist crushing the hilt of her sword while she spun around glaring around her.
"But then I never expected that you would be in possession of the Component. I do apologize about the run in with Hoshin. It was never my intention for the girl to be harmed. I was hoping to trigger her power a second time but it seems that things didn't quite work out the way I had intended." Silah announced while her echoing words provoked a deep sense of rage from the highborn women below.
The confession echoed all throughout the inside of the ancient tree while each of their expressions flashed with boiling fury.
But none more so than Azula herself.
Azula gazed upward with her amber golden eyes brimming wide in bloodthirsty anger while her childhood friends shook in rage beside her.
And Nako shivered as she trembled in fear behind her princess.
Saro stared up with a composed countenance with Jiao now gazing around with increasingly frightened eyes.
And Zoi too stared up at the towering tree with her golden eyes narrowing in wrath.
"I am going to tear out your tongue and burn it to ashes! I'll kill you!" Azula bellowed with hot lightning shooting into the inner core of the tree while her companions covered their faces.
Only for all of them to spin around as they gazed around in alarm when they heard the ground rumble all around them.
And then all of the sudden they slid back as they watched in shock as the entire tree began to plunge underground at a terrifying rate.
"She's earthbending the tree into the depths of the earth!" Saro shouted in a stunned voice as Zoi gazed up with marginally widened eyes.
"How is her earthbending so strong!" Mai blurted out in a shocked voice as she held onto Ty Lee's arm while Elle still slept motionless over Ty Lee's shoulder.
"Azula! What do we do!" Ty Lee cried out as she turned to the princess's seething face while Azula's amber golden eyes grew wide in murderous wrath.
"Incredible…I haven't seen earthbending this powerful since…" Zoi muttered with her strong hand tightly gripping her partner's own while the younger woman hid behind her tall back.
As the puppeteer's chilling laughter continued to ring in their ears.
"Azula...Zoi...I knew that I had to have the both of you from the moment I first saw you. Your powers are just simply phenomenal! I was going to take them after your battle with the Avatar! That is the one and only reason why I accepted the assassination order in the first place!" Silah exclaimed in a perverse voice with her dark green eyes widening in blood lust beneath her bone mask.
The terrifying declaration prompted the benders and nonbenders below alike to stare up in a horrified silence.
Never before have they ever encountered anyone with the power to steal another person's bending!
As the princess's proud amber golden eyes sparked with paranoia as she clenched her jaw in bubbling rage.
"You will not take my bending! It belongs to me and me alone!" Azula snarled in a vicious voice as she spewed fire from her nostrils like a vengeful dragon.
"She truly is after our bending." Zoi stated in a rigid voice with her golden eyes hardening in determination while Jiao swallowed in fear behind her.
"Of all of the tens of thousands of firebenders that I have come across! I have never seen one capable of wielding a blue flame or one that was in possession of such tremendous physical might! I haven't witnessed such power since the days of Jaran. But to answer your question Zoi…the reason why I stayed my hand…" Silah called out in an eerily unhinged voice with her voice flowing into her increasingly unnerved opponents' ears.
The ground shook on all directions as their feet slid across the wooden flooring.
Azula and Zoi shared a momentary look before the captain fired her grappling line into the tree above them.
With Saro following suit soon afterward only for his eyes to widen in alarm when the psychotic hunter's voice echoed down upon them once more.
"Is because your bending is not ripe yet!" Silah shouted in a voice of unfathomable depravity while the princess's forces stared up in uncharacteristic disbelief.
The seven stood there upon the rumbling ground with their speechless eyes contemplating the monstrous hunter's words.
"Ripe?" Nako breathed from beside her enraged princess while Azula's callous eyes grew wide in soaring paranoia.
"Azula…I was astounded when I saw your innovative firebending defense and your mastery of lightning generation is without flaw! And you Zoi…words can't even begin to describe your revolutionary retroactive firebending technique!" Silah stated in a deranged voice with her masked face gazing down into their bewildered eyes.
Zoi's eyes widened in unmistakable rage as all but Saro turned to cast her a puzzled glance.
Never mistaking the questioning glare that Azula was now sending her way.
"Retroactive firebending Zoi?" Azula demanded with both anger and curiosity in her cold voice while she stared harshly at her two subordinates unusually quiet faces.
Only for her fury to increase by tenfold when her strongest soldier ignored her query.
"How the fuck…do you know about that?" Zoi hissed with her golden eyes taking on a more ruthless gleam while she tightly held onto her lover's wrist.
"You've never told me about this retroactive firebending Zoi. I mean I get not telling the princess but me? I'm hurt." Jiao commented in a voice of feigned sadness as she shivered when Azula turned to glare at her through the corner of her domineering eye.
"That's because you would sell the information if you ever met someone with more coin!" Saro accused with his words causing all but his captain to stare incredulously at the seductress's pouting face.
"No, I would not." Jiao sniffed with her arms latching onto the noblewoman's toned bicep.
Sweat dripped down her forehead as she felt the princess's terrifying eyes stare through the back of her head.
Only for the lunatic hunter to inadvertently save her from the princess's wrath.
"Any other firebender would have died in that mine field. But not you…you used your ingenious technique to escape." Silah answered in a perverse voice with a growing smile beneath her mask while the others still gazed at the captain's pissed off face bewilderment.
Zoi ignored Azula's glacial death stare as she glared at Mai's grimacing face through the corner of her narrowed eye.
As she recalled her near death experience in the explosion.
The captain dropped through the depths of the earth with land mines exploding all around her while her hair blew in her widened golden eyes.
Her armor crumbled away under the force of the detonating explosives.
Just as a bright light began to emanate from her body while she plunged through combusting rocks.
Tiny embers radiated from her hair while her eyes grew wide in indescribable rage.
And then not even a moment later a powerful explosion of firebending burst forth from her entire being while her grappling line fired high into the air.
And soon after that she was soaring high into the air with an unspeakably hot flame consuming her entire body.
She swung with astonishing grace through the detonating mine field with her heavy combat boots propelling her out of reach of the lethal explosion.
And just like that the mighty captain just barely managed to out jump landmine after landmine with her enraged voice echoing throughout the depths of the earth.
"I am going to kill you Saolin!" Zoi roared in a seething voice with her eyes wide in fury like never before while she soared out of reach of the explosion.
Before she finally burst free from the pit with her injured body barreling through scores of jagged rocks.
As panted for air with her bloodstained face gazing up into the distance with her teeth grinding together in her rage.
She barely made it out alive.
Had it not been for that she would have almost certainly perished in that explosion.
The captain's lips creased into a scowl while she paid no mind to the questioning stares from her companions.
She turned away from her fellow noblewoman's flinching faces as she forced herself to take a calming breath.
Just before she raised her razor-sharp eyes to glare up at the crumbling staircase while the puppeteer's laughter echoed into their ears once more.
"If I take your bending now then I will never be able to take full advantage of your incomplete techniques. To that end…my prey. I will only take you at your strongest." Silah declared in a cruel voice with her arrogant voices stunning the group below.
The shear arrogance of the hunter's words had all seven gazing up at the masked woman in disbelief.
Azula and Zoi's eyes were now boiling over in boundless rage over the puppeteer's belief that their bending was hers to claim.
"You are a fool…Silah. You should has taken our bending when you had the chance." Zoi spoke in a frigid voice as she hardened her golden gaze while her princess snarled in agreement.
"Indeed. Because that chance that chance was the only one that you were ever going to get!" Azula bellowed with hot lightning exploding from her fingertips while her friends fearfully backed away.
The ground rumbled all around them as they watched in alarm as the tree continued to sink into the earth below.
"I…don't believe it…so t-that's what she meant by ripe." Ty Lee breathed in a terrified voice with her little sister's face buried in her shoulder while her fellow noble held onto her wrist.
Mai's tawny eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she saw a second horde of puppets burst into the ruptured roof.
All of their eyes widened collectively as they watched the bizarre contraptions descend upon them.
Just as the hunter's twisted voice echoed all throughout the depths of the ancient tree while a chill traveled down their spines.
"You two are not just my opponents…" Silah remarked in a heartless voice with her boots pushing up off the wall.
Just as she leaped into the air with her dark green eyes wide in malicious bloodlust as she fell upon her corned opponents with her puppets surrounding her on all sides.
"You are my prey!" Silah roared with her depraved words bounding off the walls of the ancient Sentinel Tree and down into the ears of her targets below.
The group stood upon the eroding floor with all of their eyes agape in shock over both their attacker's words and her ominous power.
All the word as the word 'prey' rang out into their speechless minds.
Even the princess and the captain were stunned by the hunter's monstrous words.
Just as Nako's frightened voice tore the princess back to reality.
"W-what are we going to do Princess!" Nako cried out in terror with her feet buckling upon the rumbling floor.
Only for an explosion of brilliant lightning to explode before their blinded eyes.
Boom!
Azula slid back with her teeth gritted together as she glared high into the air while dust rained down upon them.
Only for her callous amber golden eyes to widen in shock when the puppets plunged through the sparking electricity.
Just as they felt the tree sunk underground at a rate so terrifying that they were sent reeling over backwards.
And not even a second later they plunged through the crumbling floor below!
"Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed in a fearful voice as Mai now hung from a knife that was buried in the side of the tree.
As it continued to plummet at a terrifying rate with debris raining down into their widened eyes.
And Azula now hung from the wall with Nako hanging from her palm while her shocked subordinate gazed up into her callous amber golden eyes.
"Princess…" Nako gasped out in a voice of endless admiration while Azula regarded her with frigid amber golden eyes.
There was no doubt in her mind that she and her Crown Princess truly were friends!
Only for princess to turn her eyes upward with more lightning churning from her two fingertips while her enraged roars echoed throughout the hollow tree.
Zoi and Saro swung from their rope lines only for their eyes to widen when they saw the puppets release a round of explosives from their mouths!
And then just like that the princess's forces watched in disbelief when a volley of bombs was rained down upon them.
"Zoi!" Jiao screamed in a frantic voice as she hung from the noblewoman's neckline while Zoi held onto her with a muscular arm.
"I've got you Jiao! It's going to be okay!" Zoi assured in a protective voice as she swiftly crushed the smaller woman in her mighty arms as they swung in the air.
As the seductress hid face first into her armored bust.
And then the bombs exploded high above them while their distressed shouts rung out into the air.
Just as Azula hurled a gigantic ball of lightning into the skies above as she fell with the terrified pilot in hand.
While multiple rounds of blue and yellow firebending went off in unison with the detonating bombs.
Just as they were all sent free falling into the hidden depths of the Forgetful Valley.
As Silah's psychotic laughter echoed into their ears.
And then all that remained was an unsettling silence.
AN:
Alright, so we learned quite a bit in this chapter. And I hope everyone enjoyed how quickly Silah went from quietly stalking to full out monster in a matter of minutes.
After a long time since her initial debut. We are finally going to see Silah fight Team Azula. This is the second big battle of book one, the first being against Team Avatar.
There will be several big battles with Silah over the course of the series, as she will be a major enemy in many arcs to come.
If anyone is wondering why Elle is still asleep, that is because Silah interrupted Mava before she could finish the ritual. As a result, Elle is still unconsciously awakening her chi while Team Azula fight for their lives and hers.
We also learned that Silah was hired to kill Azula by Fire Nation nobles that were working directly with Iroh to overthrow Azula and Ozai.
However, the nobles didn't know that they were hiring someone even more monstrous than their Crown Princess. And they also knew nothing of Silah's powers. They didn't realize that she was simply toying with them, and that she had a greater agenda than getting paid.
Additionally, we learned that Nako is the sole survivor of a group of Fire Nation recruits that Silah slaughtered. Which explains why Nako wanted to work on Azula's personal airship, because she felt like it was the safest place to be.
And despite her efforts, she is still finding herself in the exact sort of terrifying situations that she wanted to avoid in the first place. But even though Nako may have cowardly tendencies. We have also seen that she can be incredibly brave and we will see that again in the big fight against Silah.
We also saw another glimpse of how Azula is growing as a person when she saved Nako at the end of the chapter.
And also, we discovered that Silah and Mava were once friends. This means that as horrible as Silah is, she wasn't always a monster. We'll touch more on Silah and Mava's former friendship as the story goes on.
And we also learned why Silah let Azula go on the island. It wasn't because she was incapable of fighting Team Azula. It was because in her eyes Azula and Zoe are a harvest.
To her, benders are like produce growing in a garden. Sure, you can plug a half ripe tomato and eat it as is. But it won't taste as good, as if it was harvested in its prime.
This serves as a helpful hint about the way Silah's powers work. It tells us that maybe once she takes someone's bending it cannot be refined any further. And that she prefers to kill her victims when they have reached their peak.
And it also shows how arrogant Silah is to think that she will always win, no matter how strong Azula and Zoe become.
And that brings me to Zoe's technique. I previously stated that Zoe's hidden technique was something that we would touch on later. And eventually I will explain Zoe's ability in greater detail.
But for the time being, I will just state that Zoe's 'retroactive' firebending is much like a tank of fuel that Zoe can tap into whenever the need should arise. It is also the precise reason why Zoe has such monstrous stamina.
And her ability is also something that we will see in action in the big battle.
In this fight we'll get to all of Team Azula in action. And we'll also get to see Azula use her strategic mind as she tries to decipher the nature of Silah's powers.
Silah is going to be a huge enemy for both Azula and Zoe. And this battle will serve to cement what will become an ongoing struggle between Azula and Zoe, and Silah.
I also want to state that Silah is going to play a significant role in Azula's eventual mental collapse that will come later on in book one.
And in some ways, her actions will be just as great as Ozai and Ursa's. In their own way, they both abandoned Azula and never showed her the love that she truly needed when she was growing up.
And while Azula struggles to overcome her inner turmoil and find her place in the world. Here comes Silah, a person even more monstrous than herself that is capable of bypassing her defenses.
Silah flips Azula's world upside down. Azula has always seen herself as the predator, as a princess with the divine right to rule. And yet despite Azula's immense power and high status, she still finds herself with her back pushed against the wall when it comes to Silah.
And on top of all of that, Silah's power is something that Azula has never encountered before. And even though Azula would never admit it out loud. Somewhere deep inside of Azula she finds the concept of someone taking her bending unnerving.
And ultimately, Silah is someone that will make Azula feel doubt.
None of the enemies that Azula has met so far are capable of terrorizing her in ways that she never expected to be subjected to. And that will present us with a unique opportunity to watch and see how Azula reacts to being on the defense.
Anyhow, with that said. That will be it for now.
Stay tuned for next time.
For chapter eighty-six! Below!