Dragon At Heart

Chapter 4

4. The Assassin

Two years ago

Zuko was holding his breath. It was a bad habit and he knew it.

Uncle had lectured him a hundred times on how it was never advisable for a firebender to let himself get out of breath. Controlling one's breathing could save a firebender's life if he suddenly came under attack, and in Fire Nation culture, it was both customary and wise to always presume an attempt on one's life was underway.

Still, when someone was passing only a few meters under Zuko on a narrow corridor, he couldn't help but hold his breath. The tenseness in his mind and body was not eased by the fact that he was the intruder here.

An elderly man Zuko presumed was a monk of sorts walked the corridor at a leisurely pace. He did not look around himself. The man didn't appear to suspect anything was out of place.

Zuko watched the monk while hanging in his hiding spot near the ceiling, hoping the many shadows of the poorly lit passage rendered him invisible.

Stealth was the reason Zuko had chosen to wear a simple, dark blue battle outfit tonight. Although he didn't plan on getting in a fight, he had also brought his Dao swords along for this little ninja mission.

Zuko regretted that he hadn't brought with him anything that would completely cover his face. In the unlikely scenario that the man passing under him decided that today was a good day to admire the passage's few decorations, Zuko's pale skin might give away his position.

The outfit is good, but not complete. I'll need to work on it.

The man disappeared behind a corner and Zuko released his breath. The Prince listened for sounds indicating more company was on the way. Nothing. It was safe for him to land.

Zuko continued to advance deeper into the monastery's depths.

Nothing so far indicated that the place had something to hide. No signs of a secret Air Nomad cell or, better yet, the Avatar himself, but Zuko had not expected finding such signs to be easy.

Zuko had already searched all the Air Temples, so he had an idea on just how unlikely it was that he would ever find an airbender, let alone the one he actually needed to find. That was already presuming that there even were any left to be found.

The Northern Air Temple had been the closest the young Prince had had to a sighting. Too bad the people on the gliders had turned out to be Earth Kingdom citizens. Despite their flashy way of moving, they weren't airbenders. Zuko had been getting his hopes up too soon.

Now the Prince was running out of obvious hiding places to check. The world was vast and the Avatar could be hiding anywhere, and 'anywhere' was a bad place to start his search from.

This monastery, on the other hand, was like designed for hiding things. It was secluded, small, located in high and harsh climate: everything an airbender would want. It was almost too good to be true, and therefore Zuko presumed it wasn't.

Most likely these people are just a bunch of old fools who have decided to retire up here to have more time to write poetry or play Pai Sho or whatever else useless they do with their time.

Still, the place was definitely suspicious enough to warrant looking into. Zuko's ship had stopped at a nearby port for supplies, and Zuko had done some asking around about this place.

The monastery was located in a small valley at the root of three mountains, and was built like a fortress. It had high walls, as was customary for Earth Kingdom settlements, and an easily defensible position; backed from three sides against steep cliffs, the only direction it could be attacked from was lower ground.