Balance | Old Version

Chapter 22

Elua's POV.

I quickly jump in front of Aang and deflect the fire with airbending, they stagger back.
"I'll hold them off, run!" I tell the others as I take a bending stance. I stoop low and swipe my leg in an arc, sending a blast of air promptly at the feet of the Fire Sages. All five of the Fire Sages are knocked to the floor, face first. They grunt as they land and I run after Sokka, Katara, and Aang.
"Follow me!" I shout to them as I begin to run down the halls.
"Do you know where you're going?" Sokka asks as they follow me.

"Nope!" I say as I turn around a corner, only to come face to face with another Fire Sage, I quickly turn back around and start running again, the Fire Sage is hot on my heels. "Wrong way!" I shout as we start running away.
"Come back!" We hear the Fire Sage shout to us. We continue to speed around corner after corner trying to lose the pursuing Fire Sage. Finally, we run into a corridor that turns out to be a dead end. Seeing as we have no escape, we turn around and face the Fire Sage.

"I don't want to fight you. My name is Shyu, I am a friend." He tells us as we take battle positions.
"Firebenders aren't our friends," Sokka tells him as he glares. He moves carefully towards us and he drops to his knees in front of Aang.
"I know why you're here, Avatar." He says as he looks up at Aang.
"You do?" Aang asks him as he relaxes.
"Yes. You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. I can take you to him." He tells Aang as he stands up.

"How?" Aang asks. Shyu reaches towards the wall and turns the light fixture. Behind the fixture is a small hole in the wall. He takes a deep breath and shoots fire through the hole and a secret passage is revealed. A long staircase carved into the rock of the mountain disappears into the dark below.
"This way," Shyu tells us. We all look at each other unsure if we should trust him or not, but the sound of the other Fire Sages shouting near us makes us choice quickly. "Time is running out. Quickly!" He shouts to us.

We all nod in agreement and walk into the secret passage, Shyu follows us into the passage. He touches a lever and closes the door behind us.
"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home. He formed these secret passages out of the magma." Shyu tells us as we walk down a staircase.
"Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asks.
"No. But my grandfather knew him." Shyu states. "Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place." He tells us.

"Is that how you knew I was coming?" Aang asks curiously, Shyu shakes his head.
"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred," Shyu says. "The statue of Avatar Roku, its eyes...began to glow!" He explains.
"That's when we were at the Air Temple. Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too!" Katara tells him.
"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world," Shyu tells Aang.
"If this is the Avatar's temple, why did the Sages attack me?" Aang asks confused.

"Things have changed. In the past, the Sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the Sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But, he never came." He explains, Aang stops walking as he looks away sadly.
"They were waiting for me," Aang says as he leans on the wall.
"Hey, don't feel bad. You're only a hundred years late." Sokka says. I glare at him as I smack the back of his head, he puts his hand to his head.
"Ow!" He exclaims as he looks over to me annoyed.

"You're not helping!" I whisper-shout to him.
"They lost hope the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other Sages were forced to follow him," Shyu states. "I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other Sages." He tells us, I smile at him gratefully.
"Thank you for helping me," Aang says bowing.

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him," Shyu explains to Aang as we walk up the final steps into the temple and we see two big doors in front of us.
"NO!" Shyu suddenly shouts.
"Shyu, what's wrong?" Aang asks confused.
"The sanctuary doors, they're closed," Shyu tells us, we look at the doors and see they are in fact closed. But, we could just open them...right?
"Can't you just open them with firebending? Like you opened that other door?" Katara asks confused as to why he's so upset.

"No. Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the Sages must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts." Shyu explains.
"Five fire blasts, huh? I think I can help you out." Sokka says smiling. A little while later Sokka is sitting on the floor, Momo on his knee, as he fills small sacks.
"This is a little trick I picked up from my father," Sokka states.
"I seal the lamp oil inside an animal skin casing, Shyu lights the oil-soaked twine and tada! Fake firebending!" He says smiling at all of us. I smile down at him impressed.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Sokka," I tell him, he grins.
"This might actually work," Shyu says nodding. Sokka stuffs the animal skin sacks into the mouths of the five lion heads safeguarding the door to the sanctuary. Sokka runs away from the doors. He joins Katara, Aang, Momo and I behind the nearest columns for protection from the blasts.
"The Sages will hear the explosions, so as soon as they go off, you rush in," Shyu tells Aang.

"It's almost sunset. Are you ready?" I ask Aang with a small smile.
"Definitely," Aang says a little nervously. We hide behind a column as Shyu sends a small stream of fire past the five lion heads. The twine ignites and Shyu joins us behind the column. Sokka crouches and holds tightly onto Katara as the small bombs go off and smoke fills the chamber.
Aang runs towards the doors and pulls on the handles, but the doors will not budge.
"They're still locked," Aang says gloomily.
"It didn't work," I say sadly as Aang sinks to the floor, a look of defeat on his face.