Eye of the Storm

Page Twenty-Two

The fight continued on, and they were just about to make it past the tower and up the volcano. The full eclipse was about to commence. The earthbenders in the caterpillar tanks were launching rocks at the firebenders. The tanks had formed a defensive semicircle that was useful as they gathered supplies as needed, and advanced on the defending Fire Nation soldiers. Quila was quickly bandaging a small burn on her arm when she heard Sokka call, "Dad! You're on your feet again." Katara was walking the injured Water Tribe chief out and Quila walked over to greet them as well, Gopan walked up beside her and she smiled at him, glad to see he was okay in all of this. "Thanks to your sister. I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help."

"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet."

"Let's hope our luck holds out." He paused when he noticed his daughter looking out in the distance. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah... Is that... Is that Aang?"

"What?" They all looked out, and noticed that it was in fact the Avatar on his new glider. He landed in front of them, frowning. "Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't need the eclipse to take him down."

"He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned." Sokka's face fell. "They knew."

"It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it." Toph spoke up, pointing to herself proudly. Sokka pulled a device out of his pocket and examined it. "The Mechanist gave me this device. It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."

"We can still do this. We can still win the day."

"Wait. If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it."

"What do you think? You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." Sokka turned to Aang. "I've got to try."

"You all be careful. Good luck." Quila nodded to them as Aang, Sokka, and Toph mounted Appa and flew off towards the volcano.

Gopan turned to Quila and pointed to her bandages. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Some ratty firebender singed me, I'll be fine. Some water after this battle is over and I'll be back to normal." He nodded. "Good. I can't go losing my partner." He smiled and they both ran back out into battle.

The invasion force made it past the table and were now climbing the cliffs to get into the Fire Nation capital. They did their best to shield themselves from falling fire balls coming at them, and the earthbenders crumbled the cliffs to send the battlements falling. The moon was crawling further in front of the sun, and it was gradually getting darker. The Fire Nation soldiers started retreating as they noticed the eclipse progressing. "The eclipse is only minutes away. We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!" Bato shouted to them and everyone cheered, firing themselves up once more. Quila turned to check on how Hakoda and Katara were doing. They were trailing a little bit, but she smiled when she saw they were still going strong.