- Third POV -
The wall of the chamber opens. Aang wakes up from the sound of a guard earthbending. He quickly raises his head and looks around.
"Sokka? Mizuki? Katara? Where are my friends?!" Says Aang alarmed as he turns to face the guard.
"The king will free them if you complete your challenges" Answers the guard.
"And if I fail?" Asks Aang unsure.
"He didn't say. Your staff, please" Replies the guard in a stern voice. Aang lifts his staff with his foot and spins it around, placing it upright next to him before tossing it to the guard. The guard takes Aang's staff and guides him to the large throne room.
"First, Avatar. What do you think of my new outfit? I want your honest opinion...I'm waiting" Says the king as he spreads his arms, showing off his purple outfit. Aang blankly stares at the king.
"I guess it's fine" Answers Aang while scratching his head.
"Excellent! You passed the first test" Exclaims the king.
"Really?" Asks Aang happily.
"Well, not one of the deadly tests. The real challenges are much more, uh, challenging" Explains the king as he makes gestures with his hands to emphasize his words. Aang dashes towards the king to the surprise of two guards. Aang uses his airbending to encrease his speed and halts in front of the king.
"I don't have time for your crazy games! Give me my friends back, we're leaving" Threatens Aang aggressively as he glares at the king.
"Oh, I thought you might refuse, so I will give your friends some special souvenirs" Replies the king as an earthen wall opens, revealing Mizuki, Katara and Sokka struggling in the grasp of a few guards. Mizuki is being held by two guards and glares at them. Katara looks frightened at the guard who's holding her as he puts a green ring over her finger. The moment the guard retracts his hand, the ring glows and tightens around her finger. The other guards do the same to Mizuki and Sokka. Sokka tries to frantically remove the ring from finger while Mizuki just stares at her ring. Katara tries to pull it off as well but fails.
"Those delightful rings are made of pure jennamite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible thing, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate" Continues the king as he glances at the teenagers. Suddenly, Sokka's ring glows and expands towards his hand.
"Ah! It's already creeping!" Panics Sokka.
"I'll do what you want" Says Aang in a serious tone, the king starts to grin. Aang's standing on a flat rock with a waterfall in front of him. In the waterfall there is a ladder and above the ladder hangs a rope. Katara, Sokka, Mizuki and the king are on a balcony cut into the wall to the left of the waterfall. The king is laughing as he looks at Aang. Then he glances back at Mizuki and the water tribe siblings with a grin on his face.
"Don't worry Mizuki, I haven't forgotten about the three riddles you have to solve" Says the king while Mizuki raises a brow at him, not understanding why the king is making them do all those challenges and riddles. The jennamite rings have already expanded quite a lot.
"It seems I've lost my lunch box key and I'm hungry. Ooh, there it is! Would you mind fetching it for me?" Asks the king as he points to the inside of the waterfall. There's a key hanging from a chain above the ladder that's located in the waterfall. Aang airbends himself to the base of the waterfall and plunges into the waterfall. He manages to climb up to the rock face to the base of the ladder and grasps it with one hand. Before he can get any further, the torrent of water pushes him away.
YOU ARE READING
The dualbender (atla) book 1
Fantasy[completed] [currently under editing] Mizuki is a girl who lost her parents to the Fire Nation when she was twelve. After two years of hiding, escaping and trying to survive she found the Avatar with some help of the two Water Tribe siblings. She de...
