Book 2: Earth

Chapter 6- Heir to the World

Dawn had risen on this new day and a light summer breeze caressed the lush forests of the mountain ridge. Save for a few clouds above, the sky was clear. The land itself was empty and devoid of life as two men rode at the head of a small column of a hundred Yuyan Archers: elite marksmen who were feared and renowned for their skills from battlefields across the world.

The Fire Nation troops could have been alone for a thousand miles, with only the angry low growls of their fearsome Komodo Rhino mounts breaking the silence. But the soldiers knew it was far from the truth. These mountains were home to an ancient civilization, one that had dared defy the Fire Nation, and now, must be crushed.

General Ruon-Jian smiled at the thought; with the fall of the Earth Kingdom and the scattering of the Water Tribes, there were very few worthy opponents left with whom he could test his armies against. And to him, the greatest fear as a soldier was not defeat (that was unthinkable!), but merely running out of enemies to conquer and stomp into ashes, for what else was a soldier's purpose?

As the top General to Phoenix Lord Azula, he had only lost one minor battle to the Water Tribes at the Boiling Rock, but he and his friend Admiral Chan had made the Fire Nation's enemies pay dearly for the defeat, destroying the last bastions of resistance on Kyoshi Island as well as invading the Northern Water Tribe Capital.

To the General's right side rode Prince Zhenjin, the eldest son and heir of Phoenix Lord Azula. He was a young well-built man, only seventeen years old, who might one day lead the nation and most likely command him during times of war. The prince, like many of the elite Fire Nation army, wore the gold trimmed crimson armor of a cavalry officer, while his status was denoted by the top knot and three pointed crown that was reserved for Fire Nation royalty.

It had been weeks since they had set off from the barracks at the Fire Nation capital, without pause or rest, and Ruon-jian watched with quiet approval at how well the young prince carried himself; enduring the hardship with a regal authority that seemed to come so naturally to those of Azula's lineage.

The young prince had indeed come far in his training. For years, ever since Zhenjin was but a child, Ruon-Jian had been instructed by Azula to push her son to become a warrior incarnate, to show him the skills as well as the ruthlessness required of a great military leader and ruler. After all, war was not forgiving, and it was never too early to show a young man these lessons. To be royal in the Fire Nation, one had to be both hard and unforgiving, an example set all too well by Phoenix Lord Azula herself, who had subdued an entire kingdom almost singlehandedly when she was only just a youth.

Zhenjin sensed Ruon-Jian's scrutinizing stare over him, and found himself tensing up slightly. Growing up in the isolation of the Royal Family, he never really had a chance to meet his father before he passed on (in his mother's own words) and in a strange way, he had come to view Ruon-Jian as a mentor and a father figure of sorts. But even so, there was still a barrier between them that made it difficult to trust the general fully, even if his respect for him knew no bounds.

As Azula's right hand man, Ruon-Jian carried out the orders of Phoenix Lord with deadly efficiency, and he had a great gift for tactics and strategy to accompany that ruthlessness. Zhenjin had heard the stories growing up in his childhood, how Ruon-Jian had single-handedly crushed the final resistance of the Gan Jin and Zhang tribes in the Earth Kingdom, as well as engineer the great and final victory over the Northern Water Tribes with his best friend, Grand Admiral Chan. They were feats and victories that amazed Zhenjin, and he considered it a genuine privilege to be a pupil of such a great military hero. The men as well, worshipped Ruon-Jian like a father figure, for he had always won, despite the odds.

And they would do so again, in this valley.

"Zhenjin," Ruon-Jian said suddenly, in the usual stern tone of a teacher to a pupil. "What is the most important weapon as a warrior?"