Avatar: The Legend of Anzen Hyriu, Book 1: The Legend of Beifen

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Back in Hydronia

We got to Hydronia in the evening. I greeted my friends and hung out for a bit. Then, I took it upon myself to go to Heiwa Valley. My usual group of friends accompanied me. We arrived at the end of the tunnel through the mountain. Master Sonam, Monk Dadao, and a few other monks, such as Monk Seng and Monk Meiso, were waiting for us.

"Ah, Hyriu, I am glad you came," Sonam said. "Arnook told us that he would leave your training up to you. He thought you'd have better motivation if you came on your own, not because you were ordered."

"Hmm, not bad, Arnook," I said. "So what first?"

"First, you will show me how good your bending is. Follow me," he instructed.

We went to one of the stone fields. A stream flowed next to it. Sonam stood next to me along with my friends.

"Now when I say, you will show me your best bending," he said.

I waited for his signal.

"Water," he instructed.

I swirled some water around and formed a ball of ice. I threw the ice forward, then evaporated it.

"Earth."

I took a strong stance and did the pebble launch.

"Fire."

I kicked a few arcs of fire.

"Air."

I made a ball of air and blew it in all directions.

"Good. Well, I think that when you come here, our prime focus will not be on bending but on developing other skills," Sonam said.

"So what will we start with?" I asked eagerly.

He glanced at Lamara like they had already decided, "Flying."

'Flying' didn't quite cover what happened. I had to stay in the air for fifteen minutes. I thought that sounded easy until almost every air bender in Heiwa Valley tried to knock me out of the sky. Daminao especially enjoyed ramming me with his glider at the last minute. I went home tired and raw from the wind, my hair and clothes horribly messed up.

I went back to Heiwa Valley early the next morning. Lina came with me, as she traveled to the valley whenever she could. Master Desu, Wei, Otoko, and Torikku, who were on the Hydronia Court, also accompanied us. I hadn't ever ventured to the valley at this time of day, and it was eerily beautiful. A heavy fog covered the valley floor. The top part of the Greenwall rose above the sea of mist. We went to an air ball field that was surrounded by fog. I noticed a large stream or small river encircled the field. Sonam, Lamara, and Daminao were waiting for us.

"Today," Sonam began, "we will work with stealth. You along with your fellow water bending masters will all go in the field. All you have to do, Hyriu, is to stay hidden and secret. You must also take out each master however you can. You must expel them from the circle the stream creates as quietly as you can. You can not fight face to face or let them see you."

"Am I supposed to stay in the fog?" I asked.

"You are supposed to stay in the circle, but yes, the fog is your one and only ally when you are trying to be stealthy. Be careful though, as the sun rises, the fog dissipates," Sonam said, motioning to the already gray sky. "Oh, but, masters, you are permitted to create small pockets of air in order to clear away the fog, but if it gets too big, so a large portion of the field is cleared, I will intervene."

I walked to the center of the field and let the fog surround me. I heard Sonam instruct the masters to enter the fog. I started to silently jump across the wooden poles, making the fog thicker and thicker. I jumped from pole to pole, keeping an eye out for anyone. I landed on one pole and was about to jump again when I saw Wei. He had his back to me. I nearly lost my balance and wheeled my arms to steady myself. I lifted up a wall of fog just as Wei turned. I began moving again, hoping he didn't see me. A little ways away, I saw Torikku standing in an open space. He had cleared the fog away from him, and he was very close to the edge of the circle.