Distracted by the chaos around me, I failed to notice the girl's movements beneath me. And I regretted it. A sharp pain pierced my right thigh, just above the knee. I immediately recognized what it was, having felt this sensation many times before.
The unprotected part of my leg had been struck with a knife. The mercenary beneath me grinned smugly and tried to twist the knife in the wound. A jet of flame shot from my fist straight at her face. She instantly dropped into the water, then managed to jerk her head slightly to the side.
A scream of pain sounded behind me. A cold shudder ran down my spine. Before I could figure out what was happening, I felt a blow of incredible force. The tree crowns, through which the light of the noon sun barely filtered, and the swamp water, which I repeatedly hit, began to alternate before my eyes with incredible speed. But it stopped just as quickly when my body slammed into the nearest tree.
My right arm was numb. Breathing was extremely difficult. My head spun. Unsteadily, I pulled off my helmet while on all fours; it had suddenly become tight. I saw a furrow from the mercenary's beast's claw on it. I touched my head. My fingers felt blood. At least my neck wasn't broken. Lucky. I took several deep breaths, trying to regain my senses. After a while, it helped.
I tossed aside the helmet, which was completely useless. My right arm shot with pain with every movement. The fracture was serious. My temple was also throbbing. But I tried to ignore it all. On an exhale, I pulled the knife from my thigh and hurled it at a bandit who was trying to escape, taking advantage of the panic in Zhao's ranks. The knife hit him directly in the eye. The bandit took a couple more steps and fell dead into the water. I cauterized the wound on my leg with fire and ran toward Zhao, who was fighting off the mercenary and her beast.
Screams and the sounds of battle were everywhere. It wasn't entirely clear who was fighting whom. It felt like a royal battle had unexpectedly begun, where it was every man for himself.
Several fighters with repainted masks charged at me—Jeong Jeong's men. Streams of flame nearly scorched my body, when I unexpectedly replied with several fireballs. They burst practically in front of my nose, but they prevented the enemy's flame from reaching my body. I passed through their fire like an ice pick and slammed my fist into the mask of the nearest enemy.
Immediately after, I launched another fireball. The enemy with a smoking head fell into the water. His partner tried to roast me at close range with a new stream of fire, but I countered with my own attack again. And I overpowered him with the sheer force of the emitted flame. The opponent's bare fist was caught by my hand, and then bending was used again. The bender didn't have time to scream in pain before I kicked him in the knee, breaking it and turning it inward, forcing him to crouch, and then I broke his elbow, using my leg as a lever. I let go of his arm, and the fighter fell face-first into the water.
One of Zhao's soldiers, who had somehow also lost his helmet, jumped at me with a scream, and I recognized his face. With a simple back-hand strike from my good arm, I knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling into the water.
"You idiot, go help Captain Zhao."
"Friendly?" The fighter, rubbing his cheek resentfully, asked me a rather stupid thing.
"Friendly."
"Then yeah…" He slowly started to get back on his feet, offering me his hand, and I instantly jumped aside. Water splashed. A jolt of pain shot through my leg, but that was infinitely better than being crushed by the swamp monster made of grass.
I tried to incinerate the monster's extended limb that had crushed the soldier, but it was practically impervious to fire. I, along with three other Firebenders circling the monster and continuously showering it with fire, failed completely. The monster swung its extended arm and knocked me off my feet. I tried to get up, but something landed on top of me, and then someone's hands began to choke me, holding me submerged in the water. I barely managed to raise my hand toward the bandit's head and shoot a jet of flame into him. It was weak, so the opponent didn't die instantly. He only received a slight burn. But at least he recoiled from me and let me stand up.
The mercenary dodged the fire projectiles I sent at him, but the Jeong Jeong soldier who tried to sneak up behind him failed to do so. The other opponent's shriek distracted the bandit and gave me the opportunity to kill him by quickly jumping up and striking him several times with a dagger of fire.
The water temperature in the area of the battle certainly rose. A thick steam rose from the evaporation of the liquid. The confusion grew even worse. Friendly fire occurred even more frequently now. It was impossible to tell where a sudden attack might come from. The swamp monster almost knocked me down twice. I managed to jump away at the very last moment by some miracle. Some of Zhao's fighters didn't believe I was one of them, so they continued to attack me. I had to badly injure one, and kill the other, who was very persistent, because he wouldn't stop trying to kill me.
I had long been lost in the swirl of the battle. Initially, I headed toward Zhao, who was constantly moving away from me in the fight with the mercenary and her beast, but now it was hard to say where he was at all. I could see two points in the fog that could be Zhao. In these areas, Firebending was being used the most, and it looked much more powerful than what ordinary benders used. I moved toward the nearest one. And I was wrong. Which made me happy.
A Zhao fighter flew out of the fog toward me with a cry of pain. There was a melted imprint of a fist on the chest of his armor. Concentrating, I could see General Jeong Jeong fighting multiple opponents at once a few meters from me. He executed a powerful strike in a wide stance. His fire-covered fist pierced the armor of the unlucky soldier who put himself forward, like a hot knife through butter. Only a moment passed, and fire erupted from the hole, knocking the fighter far back. A grin appeared on my face. There he was. The master.
I took off running and plunged into the battle without hesitation. Jeong Jeong looked at me in surprise, parrying a strike and redirecting the flame I launched. They tried to box him in on the sides, but he jumped up, shot a jet of flame from his feet, and landed behind my back. I barely managed to turn sideways at the very last moment. But my back was still scorched by the passing Firebending attack, which instantly killed one of the fighters who had been attacking Jeong Jeong.
I dropped into the water and tried to trip the former Fire Nation General. It almost ended in injury, as Jeong Jeong jumped up again and nearly landed on my knee. A stream of fire from one of the fighters managed to knock him off balance. Jeong Jeong directed fire under his feet, kicking up water with the impact. Several fireballs immediately erupted from under the small wave. The only remaining fighter was hit directly in the head and would not get back up.
I set up a block and shattered the fireball against my forearms. Despite my own fire, which should have protected my body from the enemy's, I still received a new burn. I ripped off my burning uniform and intently watched Jeong Jeong, who was observing me with curiosity. We were alone.
"I do not like to kill. Especially someone so young. Get out of here!" Jeong Jeong commanded with a stern look, waving his hand at me.
"It's clear from Captain Zhao's fighters how much you dislike killing," I noted, just as one of the corpses floated up belly-first right between us.
"They were not so young," Jeong Jeong replied, frowning.
I interrupted our dialogue by launching a stream of flame at the former General. To my surprise, he easily deflected it to the side. In the next second, Jeong Jeong sped up, shooting fire from his hands. Before reaching me, he swung his arm in a wide arc. I didn't even think to block the whip of fire or counter with my own bending, trying to overpower it. I simply ducked. In that very second, the extended limb of the swamp monster appeared next to me, which the whip easily severed.
Creating a dagger of fire in each hand, I rushed toward Jeong Jeong. In close combat, he realized an unpleasant truth: my skills at this range were much better than his. Jeong Jeong tried to hastily widen the distance, but I continued to press him, pushing him back. Scorched marks appeared on his armor from my fire daggers. He lost his breath and, uncharacteristic for Firebenders, abruptly inhaled air.
It was a trap. But I had already seen this kind of fire technique executed, so I ducked when Jeong Jeong unexpectedly opened his mouth and tried to exhale fire. My fists simultaneously struck his stomach. Jeong Jeong choked, burned his throat, and involuntarily stepped back a few paces.
The former General looked at his stomach, at the fire daggers blazing in my hands, and frowned:
"You spared me. Though you could have killed me with that last strike."
"If I brought your head to the Fire Lord, I would likely be rewarded, but right now, you interest me more as a sparring partner whose outstanding skills I can adopt during a fight."
"Don't regret this, boy," the former General snorted, stroking his mustache. And in the very next moment, he made my eyes widen in surprise. A whole wave of flame was rushing at me. The only option was to dive into the water and hope the burns wouldn't be too severe…
"Did I incinerate him?" Jeong Jeong asked himself, sounding somewhat disappointed, feeling how his last attack had boiled the swamp water.
I surfaced from the water, my face red and steaming, and stood up. For a moment, a flicker of joy seemed to pass across Jeong Jeong's face that I had managed to survive. He immediately took a stance and invited me to continue the duel.
Streams of flame, fireballs, and entire waves of fire suddenly appeared around us, preventing anyone from interfering in our battle. Jeong Jeong was truly a powerful and skilled bender. Compared to him, Zhao didn't even dare to call himself a Firebender. He wasn't worthy of it.
The former General understood that he couldn't allow me to fight him at close range, and from then on, he constantly prevented my closing the distance. At mid-range and long-range, I didn't stand a chance against Jeong Jeong. My body was becoming covered in more and more burns. My armor was gradually turning into scrap, which I eventually ripped completely off my body, leaving me only in my scorched trousers.
The fight was difficult. I was losing, but I was also learning. To Jeong Jeong's surprise, I soon copied one of his tricks, creating a sphere of my own flame around myself, which delayed the General's attack and reduced its power. Then, when he exhaled fire from his mouth again, I was able to use the same technique a short time later. But our duel couldn't last forever. I was simply exhausted. And the wounds I had sustained were taking their toll. My bending was coming out weaker and weaker. The available chi was likely running out.
At one point, I simply exhaled and stopped attacking the former General.
"Thank you for the Firebending lesson, General Jeong Jeong," I bowed slightly to my opponent and spread my arms, as if inviting him to deliver the finishing blow. Surprise flashed in Jeong Jeong's eyes.
I didn't want to run. I had no strength to continue the duel. I chose to die honorably. By the hand of a strong enemy, a true master of Firebending.
Jeong Jeong hesitantly raised his fist to strike. His entire demeanor showed that he did not want to deliver the final attack.
Just as Jeong Jeong's hand moved forward, the mercenary on her beast unexpectedly leaped out of the cloud of steam and knocked the former General down, breaking several of his bones in the process…
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