THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(VI) Earth

"I seriously hate being captured," I complain, as we are held back by guards. All of a sudden, the earth wall in front of us slides away, revealing both Aang and the King on the other side.

"Aang!" Katara cries. The guard holding me back then places a crystal ring on my finger without any explanation. I watch as the other two guards do the same to Sokka and Katara.

"Woah, dude, don't get me wrong, I love myself some bling but..."

"Those delightful rings are made of pure jennamite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast," the King quickly explains. "By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible thing, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

"Don't listen to him, Aang!" I warn him. "He's bluffing."

"Don't listen to Alya! Do as the crazy king tells you!" Sokka retorts in a panic. The blue ring on Sokka's hand suddenly glows and more crystal appears, completely surrounding his hand. "Ah! It's already creeping!"

I widen my eyes, as I half-expect the purple crystal on my finger to grow, too. Aang meets my eyes, and I can tell that he already knows how terrified I feel. There's no point in pretending.

He frowns and looks back at the king. "I'll do what you want."

We are all then escorted to a cave within the castle, covered in spiky stalagmites the size of three Sokkas. In the middle of the cave, there's a raging waterfall, and I can distinguish a ladder located right underneath it, with a key tied to a hanging chain.

"It seems I've lost my lunch box key and I'm hungry. Ooh, there it is!" the King points at the chain inside the waterfall. "Would you mind fetching it for me?"

Aang gives him an annoyed look before launching himself into the waterfall. He tries to climb up the ladder, which proves to be harder than he initially thought, given the strength of the current.

The king rolls his eyes impatiently. "Ooh, climbing the ladder. No one's ever done that before."

"Why are you doing all this?" I ask the king. He briefly glances back at me, and gives me a strange but gentle smile.

"Well, you tell me."

"How could I? I don't even know you."

"Don't you?" the King replies simply, making me raise an eyebrow.

What is he talking about? I probably shouldn't think too much of it. He's already proven to be rather crazy.

His attention falls on Aang once again, who is now attempting to lunge towards the waterfall from the stalactites above. It obviously doesn't work out, and he ends up crashing hard onto the rocks. "That's right. Keep diving head in. I'm sure it'll work eventually."

Suddenly, I know he gets an idea from the confident look on his face. He cuts a stalagmite with his airbending and then throws it directly at the waterfall like a spear, accelerating it with another air blast. He manages to pin the chain to the wall above us, right in front of the King.

"There! Enjoy your lunch! I want my friends back now!" Aang demands angrily.

"Ah, not yet. I need help with another matter. It seems I've lost my pet, Flopsie," the King says in a sad tone.

***

By now, I'm half-way covered in purple jennamite. Katara and Sokka aren't doing much better. We've spent the past hour watching Aang run behind a lop-eared creature. He finally manages to catch it off guard, and I am seriously hoping that this is the end of the challenge.