Sound Waves (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Book 2

Chapter 4 - Comrade

Himoko's POV (7 minutes after lift off)

"We are in the general area of it, I will let you know when I spot it." I nodded, lowering ourselves more towards the ground, just above the treeline, looking ahead and around for the abundance of branch cover Sadem told me about.

Sadem for the most part was quiet, like the other Dai Li agents, but attentive to his surroundings, never faltering with his guard being up, he made sure no one was under us on the ground from all sides at all times.

I could feel my strength lessening, despite the boy being relatively light but more dense than I was- I wasn't used to carrying someone on my glider, it was only a matter of time before we had to get on the ground again.

My right hand dropped down from the glider, going behind us and with a flick of my wrist, I gave us an extra boost before I gripped ahold of my glider again.

"How's your ankle doing?" He asked me after a few moments of silence from him. I glanced down at the ankle in question, slowly moving it from side to side, rolling it a bit. There was a twinge of pain but it wasn't as bad as before.

"It's okay, not as bad as before." I answered him. I could faintly see a small smile edge up his lips, despite the angle I was looking down at him and his hat blocking my view.

"There's the tunnel." He stated looking off to the right. I followed his gaze, letting go of my glider again momentarily to point at it, "That?" He nodded his head.

We descended down to the ground as we neared it before I felt the small stutter of his feet touching the ground. I closed my glider above my head, placing it onto my back. He glanced up at me, see if I was good to go. I gave him a stiff nod, silence befalling us as he began running again, his feet hitting the ground lightly, diverting his path in a zigzag motion around trees, stumps, and bushes.

I listened for any sounds, no voices, tumbling of weeds or shifting of air- No one was around us.

Then I heard the echoing of the wind bouncing off of cave walls, and the shifting of stone against rock, we were near the entrance.

I watched Sadem slow down, his head slightly tilting left and right, glancing behind us before continuing forward into the brush.

He leant against a moss covered wall of a tall black oak tree, letting go of my right leg, knocking his fist softly against the rock that you could barely hear it. He knocked a total of 17 times, leaving two seconds in between each knock.

He backed away from the wall, looking under us as the forest floor suddenly lowered into a ramp.

"Watch your head." He told me softly as we began our descent down the ramp. I ducked, resting my head just above his shoulder, watching him instinctively duck at the corner of my eye as well.

I heard the shifting of the earth returning to its regular form as he stepped off the last bit of ramp. The top closing, not leaving the light that did manage to get through the leaves shine down on us any longer.

Torches lined up against the dirt walls, well I think it was dirt, it seemed much softer but more put together than dirt, maybe it was clay?

We walked for a bit, Sadem not speaking anymore to me than I was to him, his footsteps seemed to bounce off of the clay walls and echo down the tunnel, I could only guess our voices would do the exact same.

We came upon a staircase that descended us lower, Sadem carelessly walking down it despite it seeming steep from my point of view, he must have used this tunnel many times since becoming a Dai Like Agent.