The Legend of Percy: Book 2 - Through Grief

17. Deconstructing Love (Also Another Concussion)

Azula landed, perfectly in form. Her feet firmly planted in the sand shoulder width apart, expertly balanced, her back facing her opponent. She felt bubbly. The little fight had done wonders for how she'd felt about her talk with Percy before.

That was until she was bulldozed by an overwhelmingly heavy ostrich horse.

Suddenly, the princess was terrified again. Although this time it wasn't anxiety, but the multiple inch long talons that dug into the sand dangerously close to her midriff and head.

Siosi sat on her chest, squawking aggressively and extending its plumage outwards. She knew the animal could speak but she couldn't understand it, and that somehow made it even more scary to her. That this animal held what were basically six daggers to her body and it was more than intelligent enough to use them effectively. Azula definitely didn't like the position she was in.

That being said, there wasn't much she could do to get out of it. Not without injuring the ostrich horse but that would only make her life more difficult. And she had also grown on the princess. Not just the fact that Percy and Siosi were close, but even without comprehending what the animal was saying, she enjoyed them both in her company.

So Azula lay frozen, as she was slowly suffocated with the ostrich horse screeching at her and clawing angrily at the sand to either side.

There was a brief pause and the firebender took the opportunity to look at what had made Siosi so aggressive. A few feet away from her lay the unconscious body of her sparring mate.

The princess had thought she'd connected cleanly with her strike at Percy, but she didn't realise she'd kicked him that well. The ostrich horse let out a mix between a snort and a hiss, that Azula didn't know quite how she managed, before thankfully pushing herself off of the princess.

The girl just lay in the sand, still slightly shocked at how fast all of that had happened, watching Siosi trot over to the boy. Then, quite unexpectedly, the ostrich horse grabbed at the bottom of Percy's odd pants and started dragging him towards the lake by her beak.

Azula popped up out of her momentary lapse and started walking towards the two of them.

"What are you doing?" She asked, slightly concerned.

To her immense surprise, she swore she saw the ostrich horse roll her eyes at her and snort once more as she continued on her way down to the shoreline.

I know he's a waterbender, but they can still drown!

She started moving faster towards the pair, getting more worried.

"Hey! Wait! You can't-"

Azula was interrupted as Siosi abruptly let go of Percy before charging at her with wings spread, intimidating her again. The princess stumbled backwards in the shifting ground as she came to a halt. The ostrich horse screeched at her some more, before turning around and pulling the boy faster towards the water.

The girl stood up worriedly but followed much slower. They all moved down until the ostrich horse stepped out into the water. Azula kept reminding herself that this animal was intelligent enough to do this for a reason, but as Percy's body began to bob up and down in the shallow water, her conviction faltered.

Still, Siosi kept pulling him out into the lake. Azula moved until she was knee deep in the water, when Percy's head dropped below the surface. She was a few feet away from them and started splashing out much faster. Once more, the ostrich horse moved into her way, blocking her path as she helplessly watched the guy she knocked unconscious move further under the water.

She tried to side step the animal between her and the sinking body but her shorter legs meant that she could barely move at half the speed of the much taller ostrich horse.