Shadow Of The Avatar

Chapter 8: The Crash

He was injured pretty badly in the fight, not as bad as the earthbender of course, but still really bad.

"Who was that guy?" I ask, completely confused at his ability to bend two elements at will.

"Not sure." Heido says with a groan as he adjusts himself in Fang's saddle.

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone but you two able to bend more than one element." Ursu says while holding Fang's reign.

"Weird." I say. "I wonder if we'll ever see him again."

Then the memory hits me. The memory I've been blocking out for years, the one I can't bear to speak about. My killing of his parents.

I remember it like yesterday, somehow it, along with Katakan's death, are the only memories I can see in full view. Unchanged for almost a decade. As night rolls around, I can see the image of the killing in the stars, in the leather of Fang's saddle. Everything reminds me of that day, so much so that I can't help but embrace the memory instead of blocking it. Hoping the nightmares will end after this all happens.

"EVERYONE HERE HAS DONE SOME CRIME" I shout as I enter the village. "NO ONE HERE IS FREE FROM PUNISHMENT, YOU CAN COOPERATE AND DIE PEACEFULLY OR FIGHT AND DIE A GRUESOME DEATH"
I know everyone in the town heard me because of the silence that drops. Turning the town from a bustling place, filled with children and adults playing and shopping, to people running into their homes and locking their doors. No one will be safe though. About half the town's men accept their fate and walk up to me with a plea for a quick death. I deliver exactly that, a quick and painless death. The other half stays inside, not accepting their fate yet. The plan is to kill everyone except the children and elderly.

An old man walks out of his house, staring me directly in the eyes. "Kill me, I have no defense. But know that you'll have the blood of an innocent man on your hands." He says, blocking the door to the house where his son and grandson live.

"This is your final warning, move out of the way or die. Your death will not be remembered nor will it be necessary in protecting your son who's as good as dead now." I tell him with a blank stare and a rock hovering in front of me, ready to slam into him with enough force to break through the skin of a dragon.

He stands there, not moving a muscle. Not responding to my warning. After about thirty seconds, I decide enough is enough and slam the boulder straight at him, instantly killing him and leaving his corpse stained on the side of a building. A man comes out of the building, the one I'm ordered to kill. The father of the earthbender from today.

"Your death has been ordered." I say, walking towards him. "There is no point in resisting."

"No, I'm practically innocent." He yells. "I only committed tax fraud, I'll gladly go to jail but I will not die today."

"Your sin is not of matter right now. You have been ordered to be killed in the most gruesome way possible." I say, almost robotically.

"Very well." He says before shooting a boulder at my face that is blocked by a simple stone wall.

"You underestimate my power." I tell him before running at him at full speed, but my foot gets caught on something and I fall to the ground.
"Don't touch my dad!" I hear from an unrecognized voice. It sounds like a child, maybe five or six.

"What are you going to do about it? I ask, getting up. The child seems to not have expected this. He doesn't know what to do except run and guard his dad. He's brave, but I can't let him take away a glorious kill from me.

My hands feel the heat of the air pressing against them as I shoot a rock into the man's arm, completely decapitating it from his body. Just as I had intended, it's not a lethal blow.