AN: Sorry for the wait, but here I am back with another chapter.
Only as is becoming a habit now, I didn't cover as much as I wanted too. But that only means you're gonna get another chapter soon finishing things up. So that's kind of a bonus,
But anyway, hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.
Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there are tons of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too, including a growing number of MHA writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do to join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.
Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Avatar the Last Airbender.
( - )
(Last Time)
As the after-effects of the wave continued to radiate, vengeful, angry spirits who had long delighted in tormenting the weak, found cracks forming in their archaic prisons as seals that should never have been broken flickered as the wave of unfamiliar energy ghosted over them.
In the centre of the Spirit World, in a vast crater devoid of all life save for a single humongous tree. A creature born of chaos itself stirred from his prison in the trunk of the great trees.
His attention was once more fixed on the waking world.
For countless ages he had been imprisoned, trapped within the world tree by its equal and opposite, and for the first time in millennia it felt a stirring of hope.
Something new had appeared in the mortal realm.
Something dangerous.
Something chaotic.
No, someone had arrived.
Someone who had the potential to shatter the status quo and bring about true change in all its chaotic majesty.
( - )
Chapter 19
( - )
(With Suki)
Drawing back her bowstring for what felt the hundredth time, Suki tried to ignore the stinging pain coming from her fingertips, as she instead raised her bow and unleashed another bodkin-pointed arrow into the back of the Fire Nation's forces.
Now that the battle was well and truly joined, and the two opposing shield walls had merged into a single brutal melee, it was difficult to aim at specific targets.
Especially with soldiers from both sides jostling back and forth as they attempted to kill each other. Those unfortunate enough to fall were trampled to death underfoot. While others died standing, their ghostly white faces staring vacantly out of the scrum of bodies holding them up.
And above all of that was the noise. The roar of voices, the cacophony of screams and battle cries. The explosion of fire and the clash of blades.
It was almost deafening.
Nocking a new arrow, Suki saw that her fingers had started to bleed, even through the leather gloves Hana had given her.
Gritting her teeth, she drew her bow once more - her arms and shoulders were starting to ache - and unleashed another arrow, her eyes narrowing.
Dotted about within the Fire Nation's forces she could see the occasional burst of fire, signifying the presence of a firebender.
Where she could, she tried to aim for those spots.
Unfortunately in the chaos of battle, when everyone was constantly pushing and shoving it was difficult to aim with any real accuracy.
Wetting her lips, she drew another arrow, sighted down the shaft, and loosed it.
There were close to fifty other archers standing with her on the hill behind their main lines. At this point in the battle, each of them was unloosing at will as they tried to thin the Fire Nation numbers as best as they could.
From where she was standing, it didn't look like it was having much of an effect.
The Fire Nation were too well organised. Their armour was too well-made, and with the addition of crossbowmen, artillery and both veteran firebenders and traitorous earthbenders and waterbenders, they were driving back Omashu's forces. Whoever was leading the Fire Nation troops knew what they were doing.
Sighting down an arrow, she tried to aim for one of the Fire Bender's fancy, ornate helmets. It was the best way of identifying one of them from a distance.
The earthbenders of their side were doing what they could and were pelting the opposing force with rocks and creating caverns beneath their feet. But they were only having a limited impact, due to their fear of collateral damage, and their lack of experience.
After all, the Fire Nation army was probably filled with veteran, professional soldiers. While their own army was made up of a ragtag group of auxiliary levies, refugees, volunteers and city guards. Very few of them had proper battle experience, or at least not when compared to the Fire Nation invaders they were having to hold off.
In an ideal world, they would have stayed behind Omashu's formidable defences.
But with the Fire Nation resorting to starvation and poisoning the water supply, they had been left in an untenable position.
Loosing another arrow, she paused for a moment to watch it arc through the air, only for it to then get lost in the melee.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her next arrow from the bunch she had stuck in the ground at her feet.
Behind her, she could hear several earthbenders going about their craft. These benders were the ones that were too old, too crippled, or too injured to fight in the frontlines - like she currently was - but who still wanted to fight.
Chancing a glance behind her, she watched a grizzled old man rip a huge chunk of rock out of the ground and hurl it towards the back of the enemy lines.
As far as the battle went, he was more akin to a catapult than a man at this point.
Turning, she watched the chunk of rock arc up over the battle lines.
Only for it to get blasted to pieces by a rock from the Fire Nation lines before it could reach the other side and fall upon the hapless troops below.
"Bastard!" The old man snarled.
It was a sentiment she agreed with.
The Fire Nation had its own benders running interference, including a powerful earthbender and the subject of many of the loyalist earthbender's ire.
Every time an attack got close to their backlines, the traitorous earthbender intercepted it. Sometimes they stopped and redirected the projectile into the Earth Kingdom's troops. Forcing the loyalist earthbenders below onto the defensive. And sometimes they just deflected it.
Either way, they were causing a lot of aggravation.
Holding back a frown, Suki continued to scan the enemy backlines for the traitorous earthbender, only to once again see nothing but the standard red and back of the Fire Nation armour. They all wore the same colour scheme. The only difference was in the intricacy of the armour and the style of the helmet. And unfortunately, from her current distance, she couldn't pick out those details.
"Arrows!" Hana called out from her side.
"On it!" A nearby earthbender replied, as she and her team quickly stamped the ground and pulled up some earth to fend off a volley of arrows and bolts from the other side.
Just as they were bombarding the enemy backlines with projectiles, so too were the Fire Nation. Only they also had access to ballistas and catapults too, and were fighting from a more defensive position.
Taking a breath to collect herself, Suki ignored the ratatat of arrows and bolts bouncing off of their rocky defences and instead surveyed the Fire Nation's backlines again.
They were at an impasse.
The Fire Nation archers, crossbowmen and ballistae couldn't cause too much damage to the Earth Kingdom's backlines due to the interference of the loyalist earthbenders.
But the same was true for them.
If they had more archers, artillery and earthbenders then they could probably overwhelm both the firebenders and the treacherous earthbender and decimate the Fire Nation's backlines.
But that wasn't the case, which meant they were stuck in a stalemate, and only occasionally getting a lucky shot through the Fire Nation's defences.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the main battle, as the Fire Nation's superior training, equipment and the raw destructive power of their firebending was quickly starting to make an impact as the defensive wall of red and black continued shoving the green and brown clad attackers back.
Already, the Earth Kingdom's forces left flank had started to crumble under the pressure of the Fire Nation's counterattack as their right flank, led by a firebender that was throwing around strange blue fire, broke Earth Kingdom's shield wall to pieces with overwhelming firepower.
It was only a matter of time before the left flank broke.
And the right flank wasn't in better shape either.
Only the centre seemed to be holding.
"Watch out!" Someone behind her shouted.
Narrowing her eyes at the warning, Suki watched as a blast of fire struck the defences, with flame lapping around the edges of the floating boulders.
She could feel the heat on her face.
A moment later those same defences, now singed and scorching hot, were propelled towards the Fire Nation forces.
Drawing a new arrow, Suki tried to bite down the growing dread she could feel building up inside of her.
She wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to hold out.
Nor did she know if Percy was still even alive.
Her heart clenched painfully at that thought, and her throat felt dry.
She had long since lost sight of her lover in the chaos of battle.
"He'll be fine," Suki muttered to herself.
Unloosing a new arrow, Suki fumbled for yet another.
Percy was tough.
She had faith in him.
He would make it out of this battle alive, and then they would leave this accursed city together.
She exhaled loudly.
Not for the first time, she wished they had stayed on Kyoshi.
It was a selfish thought considering the good they had done. But she couldn't stop herself from thinking over what could have been. Right now, they could have been walking through the peaceful woods together, swimming in the bay, or maybe even relaxing around a firepit roasting the fish Percy had caught that day.
Instead, they were in a foreign land fighting and killing for people that they didn't know.
This wasn't the adventure she had longed for.
There was no excitement or joy in Omashu, just death, disease and hopelessness.
With a massive explosion of blue flames, the left flank finally collapsed.
From where she was standing, she could hear the screams of men as they immolated alive, and could see their bodies ragdolling across the ground from the sheer explosive force of that last attack.
A roar soon followed as the Fire Nation troops forward routing the Earth Kingdom troops as they started folding the left flank back on itself.
Her heart sank.
It was only a matter of time before the backlines were swarmed, and the remains of the Earth Kingdom's hastily assembled fighting force were surrounded and slaughtered.
And after that, Omashu and the surrounding region would fall next.
Throwing her bow aside, Suki drew her shortsword and grabbed a hold of her small, round shield; looping it around her left arm.
If she was going to die, then she would die on her feet, fighting.
Moreover, she would fight through the enemy, find Percy and die fighting at his side.
Her smile widened, becoming almost manic at that thought, even as the archers and earthbenders at her side started to react. Some turned to flee, while others grabbed up arms and prepared to join her in fighting to the last.
"Stow your bows and prepare for close-quarters combat! Shieldbearers to the front, make sure to protect the earthbenders from enemy fire."
Raising, her shield, Suki muscled forward.
Her side ached from the injuries she had received the other day, but the pain was easily ignored as adrenaline flooded through her body.
In front of her, she could see the left flank continue to fracture and disintegrate.
This was it.
It wasn't exactly how she envisioned her death.
No, she had thought she would die in her bed many years in the future, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
"Move to reinforce the frontline, we can't let them surround us!"
But that was apparently not her fate.
Grinning wildly, she started jogging forward towards her inevitable doom.
She knew what she would do next. She'd find Percy, and then fight at his side and take down as many Fire Nation scum as she could before they finally overwhelmed her.
She would make them pay for her death in blood.
Keeping that morbid thought in mind, Suki was just about ready to consign her life away when she was distracted as the earth beneath her suddenly started shaking violently.
It was as if a ripple of force had just moved through the earth making all those who stood upon it stumble.
Behind her, she could see the trees collapse, and others start shaking, dislodging the few remaining birds in them from their roosts.
It was like the earth had suddenly taken a deep breath.
Stumbling a little, Suki managed to keep her balance as she looked up.
Only for her eyes to widen.
As if in slow motion she could see the air itself ripple with force as it exploded out from a single point near the front of the Earth Kingdom's lines.
The devastation that followed was hard to fathom as the centre of the Fire Nation's lines were completely obliterated, leaving behind only a dark gouge on the surface of the earth, and a smattering of broken bodies.
Eyes wide, Suki's gaze quickly locked onto a familiar dark-haired figure.
The source of all the carnage.
Percy.
Heart Pounding in her chest, she watched as he stumbled to one knee, before with a large axe in hand, he pushed himself up onto his feet once more.
"CHARGE!" His voice boomed out across the sudden unnerving silence that had enveloped the battlefield.
A mad grin spread across Suki's face as she heard others taking up his cry to battle and joining him in his mad dash.
"Charge!" She shouted, sword in hand as she rushed toward the disoriented Fire Nation soldiers.
At her back, she heard the others picking up the call, and felt the thunder of feet as the assembled militia, their hope renewed, rushed the field of battle once more.
Ignoring the stinging pain in her side, Suki kept her footwork under control as she darted across the field of the dead and struck the confused Fire Nation soldiers that had broken the left flank head-on.
Her blade felt light in her hand as she whipped it up, and slashed it across an exposed throat.
Hot blood splashed across her face.
At her side, she saw others join her as they smashed into the reeling and confused Fire Nation flank, including the tired survivors of their own left flank.
Drawing her sword back, she remained light on her feet as she danced back from a questing blade, and slashed at the wrist holding it.
She was nowhere near as strong as the men she was fighting.
In a contest of pure strength, she would lose to a full-grown man every time.
Her sword couldn't cut through metal plate, nor did it have the weight, nor her strength, needed to crush armour or break bones
What she did have, however, was speed, technique and surprise.
No armour was perfect, and there were always chinks in it that could be exploited.
There were also openings in the Fire Nation soldiers' helmets to allow them to see.
Gripping her short sword tightly in hand, she used her buckler to deflect a thrusting spear blade and shoved her blade through a helmet opening.
Twisting her wrist as it met resistance, and ignoring the scream of pain that followed, she ripped her sword out and shouldered the dead man backwards into a fellow soldier.
She could see boulders starting to fly overhead as the earthbenders started pressing their advantage.
Clamping down on her fear, and harnessing her anger, Suki continued to lash out with her blade.
Her shield wasn't large or thick enough to fend off an axe blow head-on, nor was she heavy or strong enough to absorb such a blow either.
But as they pushed forward, and the battle lines broke apart, she was able to leverage her small form and speed to her advantage. Knocking and deflecting aside wild swings with her buckle, she slashed and hacked at any opening or weak point she could see.
Around her, her fellow militia did the same.
Their formation had broken apart, and most of them were woefully under-equipped to be fighting trained soldiers like they were.
But at the moment, they still had the momentum.
And with their earthbenders keeping up their barrage they were able to retain that momentum, even as more defeated and previously routed Earth Kingdom's troops joined them in pushing forward.
Letting out a panicked laugh, Suki ducked under a wild swing from a warhammer and thrust her short sword up and into the wielder's crotch.
Sawing her blade back and forth, she shoved it under his armour and attempted to eviscerate the man's guts.
Blood soaked her gloved hand, and dripped down her arm. It made it hard to keep a grip on her sword.
With a howl of pain, the giant man collapsed to one knee and dragged her down with her.
Trying to shove him away, she felt his rank breath roll over her.
Gripping her blade tighter she attempted to pull it out so she could continue fighting. Only to be stopped as her victim, in a moment of rage-fuelled strength and clarity grabbed her throat with a dirty, gauntleted hand and squeezed.
Gasping, she tried to slam her buckler into his head to no avail.
"Bitch," the man snarled, his dark eyes, maddened with pain and terror boring into her own.
Releasing her sword, she clawed at his face and eyes with her free hand, even as he forced her down to the ground with him and started to choke her.
Black spots appeared in her vision, and pain flared in her chest.
Even dying, he was too strong and too heavy to fight off.
She couldn't breathe, and nothing she did seemed to faze her attacker as he continued to choke the life out of her.
Darkness began to claw at her vision.
This was it, she was going to die to some faceless Fire Nation soldier on a nameless battlefield many miles from home,
A wet thunk sounded a moment later, and yet more blood splashed onto her helmet, before dripping down into her face.
Blinking her eyes she felt the hands around her throat release her.
Looking up, Suki saw a large axe blade lodged in the side of the man's head.
The blade had split his helmet in two.
"The fucker nearly got you," an unfamiliar voice said tiredly as the speaker ripped his axe out of the man's head. "Probably best if you retreat for now." He continued blithely, apparently dismissing her now as he turned and viciously swung his axe into a fresh enemy.
Gasping for breath, Suki stumbled to her feet and ripped her sword out of her would-be killer's crotch.
Her throat was raw and bruised and she could barely breathe.
Her vision was also still fuzzy.
Taking ragged breaths, she stumbled back and tried to centre herself.
Fresh battle lines had started to form as the Fire Nation forces recovered, and the Earth Kingdom troops regained their discipline.
Drawing in some air through her bruised and raw throat, Suki allowed herself to be dragged back through the Earth Kingdom's shield wall.
The fight wasn't over just yet, but for now, hers was.
( - )
(With Azula)
The battlefield had been plunged into complete chaos.
Any semblance of order had been cast aside, as panic took root in the hearts of her soldiers.
Extending her hands like spear blades, Azula desperately attempted to maintain her discipline as she lashed out with ferocity born of fear.
Around her men screamed as their loose clothing and hair caught on fire, or as they were cooked alive in their armour.
Her arms ached, and a vein in her temple was pulsing.
She was scared by what had just happened, which only made her angry.
The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation did not get scared.
Fear was for the weak.
Like Zuko.
She didn't feel fear, as she was strong.
She was a predator, while most others were just her prey.
Gritting her teeth, she threw all sense of caution to the wind as she lashed out with blasts of blue fire.
Men screamed and shouted and died.
It was horrific, and would likely give her nightmares later that night when she calmed down some.
But in that moment, the sounds of anguish were like music to her ears.
It proved that she was still strong, and was still in control.
She had not lost.
No, what had happened was only a setback.
Taking a deep breath, she focused on that thought.
Just a setback.
She was still in complete control of the situation.
Dancing forward, she took a deep breath and drew forth lightning.
Her skin tingled, and her breath hitched.
Pushing her leg forward, her eyes flashed as she looked up and directed her lightning into the enemy ranks.
A chorus of screams and shouts followed as soldiers, some her own, but most, Earth Kingdom peasants, collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.
Stepping over several smoking corpses, her elite firebenders at her back, Azula blasted anyone foolish enough to come between her and her prey out of the way.
Her captains and commanders had quickly started to regain control.
Already they had started reforming their lines and pushing the Earth Kingdom reserves back, even as they formed a second front against the Earth Kingdom forces that had broken through their decimated centre and were now attempting to flank them.
Leaving the command of her force to her very able commanders, Azula headed for the centre.
The explosion she had felt before. She wasn't sure exactly what it was. But she had a good idea of who the source of the commotion had been.
Only the Avatar was capable of wielding that much raw power.
Pushing a stray bang of ebony black hair out of her face, her face contorted anger as she leapt forward and used her other hand to unleash a five-metre tall wave of raging blue fire onto the Earth Kingdom soldiers in front of her. Sweeping her hand to the side, she completed the flames around her with ease and brushed aside anyone foolish enough to place themselves between her and her quarry.
The other elites in her army would be converging on the centre too.
Which was fine as her battlefield commanders and soldiers would be able to crush the remaining Earth Kingdom's forces.
Omashu's forlorn hope had failed.
Even with the Avatar unleashing his full might, they still had the advantage.
Against the iron discipline of the Fire Nation legions, and their superior equipment, training and experience. The farm levies, and feckless guardsmen that King Bummi had sent to drive them off didn't stand a chance.
Most of Omashu's professional soldiers had been sent to the front, leaving only behind the weak, the cowardly and the crippled. Those that hadn't were probably either fighting them now or were still spread throughout the region dealing with all the fires she had had her men set.
Firming her resolve, Azula shoved both hands out in front of her and unleashed a concentrated blast of fire at the hastily forming wall of soldiers in front of her.
The concussive force of the blast blew multiple Earth Kingdom soldiers off their feet, creating an opening for her and her men to take advantage of, even as yet more Fire Nation infantry streamed in behind her.
Narrowing her golden eyes as she reached the place where her strong centre had once been, Azula looked across the devastated centre of her formation with a frown.
The earth was a churned-up swamp of blood and filth.
Broken bodies lay everywhere and the cloying stench of blood and burning blesh stung her senses.
From what she could see the Earth Kingdom peasants had already started pushing forward, and were using the momentum the Avatar had given them to their full advantage as they attempted to cause as much damage to the reeling Fire Nation lines as possible.
The vein on her forehead started to pulse with anger.
The Avatar had caused far more damage than she had first thought.
Their defences were pretty much gone, and already Earth Kingdom militia were storming up the centre and engaging with the backlines.
From her periphery, she could see Temujin was currently fighting with one of the vanguards of the Earth Kingdom's assault, an armoured black-haired soldier.
Hopefully, he would stop messing around and would finish his opponent off promptly, After which he could put his earthbending to good use against his countrymen.
Taking a moment to survey the scene in front of her, her sharp gaze spotted her pet waterbenders were currently fighting against the earthbenders, even as her backlines threw down their bows and crossbows and moved to form a new defensive line.
Shifting her gaze away, she saw the other flank of her force had started to push into the centre too.
She couldn't spot Mai or Ty Lee among the mass of soldiers.
Exhaling a breath of steam, Azula centred herself.
They were in worse shape than she had first thought, but they were recovering. Which meant there was still a chance at seizing victory out of the jaws of defeat.
But first, before anything, she needed to find the Avatar.
He was the lynchpin of the Earth Kingdom's new resolve.
If she killed him, she would kill their hope and crush their morale.
She wet her lips in anticipation.
Kicking forward, she released a blast of fire from beneath her feet and using the propulsion she twisted in the air with her leg raised, Only for her to then bring her foot down like a warhammer, and unleash another explosive wave of fire across the ground.
Behind her, her firebenders quickly got to work too, their own footwork steady and their technique polished as they formed up and started blasting the Earth Kingdom force back.
Shifting her body to the side, she dodged a wave of summoned earth.
Kicking up off the ground, her golden eyes pinpointed the source.
It was a barrel-chested, bearded Earth Kingdom bumpkin.
Holding back a snarl, she twisted in the air again and unleashed another blast of fire.
The flames hit him head-on and consumed him.
There was too much noise for her to hear him scream.
All she could hear was the sound of battle and the echo of the battlehorn repositioning her men.
They had probably lost about a third of their forces to the Avatar's savagery, and possibly another eighth on top of that in the aftermath.
But the Earth Kingdom had also sustained massive losses.
So long as they could protect the backline and rout the Earth Kingdom soldiers in the centre, they still had a good chance of seizing victory.
"Princess Azula," one of her guards shouted. "Captain Temujin has fallen."
Not even sparing the speaker a glance, Azula's sharp golden eyes shifted back to where she had last seen the hulking earthbender.
She spotted him at once.
Temujin was on one knee with his head bowed.
From where she was standing she could see an axe lodged in his shoulder.
Gritting her teeth with barely restrained fury, her gaze centred on the dark-haired man standing in front of her pet earthbender.
He had green eyes, the tanned skin she would expect from a farmer or a fisherman, and dark black hair.
He fitted the description of her brother's killer.
Of the Avatar.
Her hands tightened into fists.
Is this how Zuko had died?
On his knees in front of the Avatar?
The anger she had long bottled up inside her exploded through her being in a rush of righteous fury.
Letting loose a soundless snarl, she forced down her fear and embraced her anger.
The Avatar died today.
With that thought in mind, she threw all other thoughts out of her mind and rocketed towards her quarry.
( - )
(With Percy)
His arms felt heavy. His head was a little fuzzy. And he could feel his heart pounding away in his chest. It was beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode.
But despite that, he also felt alive.
Gripping his axe tightly in hand, Percy led the charge with reckless abandon.
Ahead of him, he could see the remaining Fire Nation soldiers in the centre were still reeling.
Their previously organised battlelines were in complete shambles.
Keeping his head down as he charged, Percy knew what they had to do. If they moved quickly and made the most of the opening he had inadvertently created, then victory was a distinct possibility.
As he ran headlong at the enemy, he could hear the others at his back. Dozens of men, both benders and non-benders alike had joined him in his mad dash across the no man's land he had created between the two armies. They were right on his tail. Only a few steps behind him, and had formed almost a wedge of sorts, with himself as the tip.
Lifting his axe aloft as he finally came into contact with the Fire Nation backlines, Percy brought his borrowed weapon down with brutal finality.
Blood spattered into the air as the heavy blade cut into and then through an armoured Fire Nation soldier. Going from his shoulder, through his armour and biting deep into his chest.
Forcing his way past, Percy ripped the axe out of the dead man's chest and ducked under a wild thrust of a spear from one of the man's friends, before he rushed in close. Knocking the spread away with his free hand, he swung the axe up again and all but cleaved the man's face in two.
Setting his feet, Percy barged the dead man aside and twisted and cleaved down several other infantrymen. His weapon was a blur of death as he bulled forward and into the panicking enemy formation.
Around him, he heard the crash of weapons and the thud of bodies as dozens of howling, vengeful Earth Kingdom soldiers followed his lead and fell upon their disorganised foe with savage fury.
No quarter was given.
The men around him had seen their friends cut down, had their land burned, and had been forced to watch as their friends and family suffered.
They were angry, and now they finally had a chance to vent their rage.
Holding his poleaxe with his remaining hand, Percy continued to cut great swathes through the enemy lines, relying more on brute strength and pure ferocity than technique.
He'd long since lost his helmet and his borrowed armour was in tatters.
The underclothing he wore beneath his armour was soaked through with blood and sweat.
But he didn't care, in fact, he used the water in the sweat and blood to empower himself.
It wasn't the same as using seawater, but it still gave him the boost he needed to fight through his exhaustion and ignore his aches and pains.
For just a short time he felt like a god of war as he laid waste to all in his path.
He felt strong in a way he hadn't in far too long.
Grinning, Percy continued to push deep into the enemy ranks, leaving only ruin in his wake.
The frustration, fear and anger he had felt before was bleeding into his fighting style.
Releasing his axe during a lull in the fight. He clenched his hand into a fist and wrenched some water out of the ground, before then solidifying and hardening the water into a javelin. Twisting on his heel he hurled his new projectile at a firebender that was rushing to reinforce the flagging Fire Nation forces. The javelin struck him plumb in the chest and impaled him.
Grabbing his axe again, Percy dragged water from the air and the spilt blood around him and created a new arm at the end of his stump. Only unlike before, his newly conjured armour was tinged red from the blood of his fallen enemies.
Looking around, he gritted his teeth in frustration.
The other side was starting to recover.
Sparing a glance back at his own troops, Percy saw they had fully broken formation. They were fighting more like individual warriors than as a part of a cohesive unit.
In contrast, the Fire Nation infantry had started to overlap their shields and form a shield wall. Already he could see spears jabbing out of the gaps in the formation, even as the shield bearers started pushing forward down the hill and towards the main ongoing melee.
As the realisation of what was happening struck him, Percy felt panic flare up within him.
He had underestimated the Fire Nation's resolve and discipline and had allowed him to be overcome in the moment as he led his soldiers into what could potentially become a slaughter.
At the sides, he could see the right and left flank of the Fire Nation forces were starting to recover from the shock of his assault and were converging on the collapsed centre.
Blasts of fire were already erupting out of their ranks, forcing the earthbenders to switch from offence to defence.
"Hold the line!" A loud voice bellowed ahead of him.
Following the voice to its source, Percy spotted a giant, long-haired man in ornate Fire Nation armour. He could see soldiers clad in red and black armour were gathering around him. The man was acting as a linchpin for the recovering Fire Nation army.
"Get back into formation!" Percy shouted at the men behind him.
Others within his group took up the call.
The battle was still joined in the no man's land his previous devastating attack had created.
Shifting the form of his watery arm into a serrated blade, Percy gripped the haft of his axe tighter.
Narrowing his eyes, Percy locked gazes with the man who he assumed was a Fire Nation officer.
He couldn't allow the enemy to fully recover, because if they did then winning the battle would become a far harder task.
Tightening his grip on his poleaxe, he no longer pushed forward and instead lashed out at the oncoming soldiers.
The axe blade bit deep with every blow he landed as he cracked armour, broke bones and drank the blood of his enemies.
Behind him, the earthbenders started throwing up walls of earth and hurling them at the advancing Fire Nation troops.
They were trying to buy time for the non-benders to get back into formation, which is what many of them were now doing as a new shield wall started to form.
Unfortunately, before the walls of earth could reach the Fire Nation's defensive line and decimate them, they were reduced to rubble by the same armoured officer as before.
The man had taken his position in the front row of the opposing force. And, judging by how easily he shattered the earth-based attacks, the man was also an earthbender. Especially since after blocking the loyalist earthbender's attacks, he responded in kind by slamming his barefoot into the ground and summoning up a giant wave of sharp rocky spire that hurtled towards the recovering Earth Kingdom's lines.
"Stay strong!" Percy shouted as the men behind him scrambled to react, even as the still-living firebenders in the Fire Nation's ranks started throwing out their own elemental attacks.
Locking eyes with the sneering earthbender, Percy once again called upon the well of power inside of him.
It hurt.
It felt like trying to run on a pulled muscle.
Thankfully, he had long since become inured to pain.
Swinging his poleaxe through the air, Percy forced as much geokinetic energy as he could muster into the head of his weapon as he slammed it into the earth.
The ground shook again in response, and the pulse of energy that shifted through it shattered the traitorous earthbender's attack, before creating a large, several-metre-deep fissure in front of Percy. The fissure quickly swallowed up close to a dozen Fire Nation soldiers.
Holding back a snarl of pain, Percy pushed forward again. The muscles in his legs burnt. But he didn't care right now, as he leapt across the chasm he had created, his axe held above his head as he prepared to bring it down on the traitorous earthbender.
He needed to finish the man and quick.
Because if he didn't, then Fire Nation would fully rally and a lot of good men would die
As he leapt, some of the firebenders on the other side spotted what he was doing, as did some of the archers.
A blast of fire hit him head-on, singing his hair and burning his flesh.
It hurt, but thankfully his minor fire resistance protected him from the brunt of it.
What his fire resistance didn't protect him from, however, was the two crossbow bolts that struck him.
One hit him in the shoulder, only to bounce off some of his remaining armour, leaving behind only a flesh wound. The other meanwhile, hit him in the gut and dug deep.
Growling in pain and surprise, Percy landed and brought his axe down on the traitorous earthbender.
He had been fast.
But the earthbender was fast too, as he quickly recovered his footing and then attempted to throw himself back and away from Percy.
The earthbender was only semi-successful.
He had managed to avoid a fatal blow. But his natural instinct to throw his arm up in defence had allowed Percy to hit his forearm, cracking the armour and breaking the bone beneath.
Landing on his feet, Percy rammed his knee up and into the injured earthbender's metalclad gut.
The force of the blow sent him staggering back and gave Percy the room he needed to return his conjured arm to a fluid whip-like state, which he then used to lash out at the troops around him.
"Fucker!" The treacherous earthbender snarled as he cradled his broken arm.
"Deal with it!" Percy spat, his axe a blur as he whipped around and hacked down any man foolish enough to come close to him, all while using his water whip to swat away further projectiles.
He still had a crossbow bolt lodged in his gut, but thankfully he had been able to use his accumulated sweat to clot it and stop the worst of the bleeding.
Spitting out yet more curses, the earthbender stamped on the ground and created a jaw-like construct of earth that attempted to crush Percy.
Lashing out with his poleaxe, Percy once again drew on his flagging resources and used a wave of geokinetic energy to shatter the earthen jaw before they could fully close on him.
Wetting his lips, he rushed forward.
In response, the earthbender attempted to retreat into the enemy ranks.
Now he was closer he could see that many of the Fire Nation troops gathered were either injured or were archers or crossbowmen who had taken up spears and shields to bolster the collapsed centre position.
Taking solace in the realisation that all was not yet lost, Percy kept up his pursuit. He couldn't let the earthbender sneak away.
Lunging forward yet again and brought his axe down on the officer once more. Forcing him to turn and defend himself.
Around him, he could feel the Fire Nation troops surrounding him.
Fortunately, however, he could also hear the Earth Kingdom soldiers, once again working as a unit, start to push forward again as they caught up with him, and once again engaged with the enemy.
"Why won't you die!" The earthbender snarled, lashing out with the single-handed warhammer he had previously had swinging off his hip.
Taking a step back to avoid one of the man's more desperate attacks, Percy soon found himself backed up by other earthbenders, even as his own troops stormed past his position and funnelled in through the gap he had created.
Relying on the men with him to protect his back and sides, Percy remained focused on the earthbender as the two duked it out.
Without the treacherous earthbender interfering, the loyalist earthbenders were now finally able to leverage the environment around them to their advantage as they bombarded the Fire Nation backline with boulders, walls of stone and giant spikes of granite.
Dodging yet another vicious attack, Percy flung a handful of blood water into the injured eartbender's face, distracting him long enough for him to rush forward and slam his axe blade in the juncture between the man's neck and shoulder.
A gasp of shock left the hulking man's lips as he collapsed to one knee.
Standing above him as the battle raged on around him, Percy yanked the axe out of his shoulder and rammed the vicious spike at the end of his poleaxe into and through the man's face, piercing his brain and pulverising one of his eyes.
The man was dead before he hit the floor.
And as he fell, so too did the morale of the remaining Fire Nation soldiers around him.
It started off slow at first, but the panic soon spread like wildfire as men turned and ran, only to be cut down by the remaining Earth Kingdom soldiers.
The remains of the Fire Nation centre and a good chunk of their backline had been routed.
So long as the two flanks had held up relatively well, then it should only be a matter of time before the rest of the Fire Nation army was put to flight.
Letting out a heavy breath as the main bulk of fighting surged past him, he unfortunately didn't have long to rest before he was attacked again.
Only this time he was struck in the back by an intense blast of blue flames.
( - )
AN: So first off I want to thank everyone for their kind words on the last chapter. Writing large scale battle-scenes isn't something I have much experience with. The actions scenes I usually write are quite small and contained, and usually only involve a couple of characters. Which is why I wasn't fully confident about my ability to pull off larger scale fights. Thankfully a lot of you seem to enjoy it, and hopefully you liked this chapter too.
I'll be honest, I had been hoping to finish the battle this chapter, but I got district with writing other things. Still, that just means things will carry on a little bit more into the next chapter, which will also explore the aftermath and move things along a bit, and probably pick up with the Gaang too. so next chapter will be a mix of high octane action as an exhausted Percy starts to duke it out with a very angry Azula. It's gonna be pretty exciting.
That said, the next chapter will wrap up the Omashu arc, and will shed a bit more light on what happened, and add context that is still probably missing at the moment.
Either way, let me know what you think.
I've run this through grammarly as I don't have a beta for this story, so if you find any major errors please let me know so I can fix them.
Also, I am on discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to PM me or find me on Discord.
Also, if you enjoy PJO/ATLA stories, I believe two new ones have come out, will soon be getting published by Manke and Maroon, two of the writers on the same Discord server as me. So look out for them.
Thanks for reading.
Catch you later.
Greed720.