The Temple of Minah rested on a crag inside a grove of silver firs. Snow-tipped peaks draped the valley in constant shadow and formed a natural crossroad with gates leading into each country. On the way down, Leera had seen the formations of the four armies, locked in a permanent tug-of-war.

The red and black banners of Ignis flapped proudly on top of the hulking coal-guzzling war machines. Scantily clad fire-benders took cover behind a wall of shields carried by knights in black plate armor. Every so often, these flame-haired marauders peeked out to launch a ball of fire at a nearby formation of Humus troops.

The green and brown plumes of the earth folk, shuddered from the updraft as fiery explosions erupted all around. A tower of rock plowed through the thick mud like an oddly shaped battleship. On the deck, Leera noticed a fierce melee between earth- and air-benders.

Wherever she looked, the chaotic battle was raging. She saw a battalion of water folk, with their coral standards and turquoise shell armor, being shredded by the swooping blades of the Caeli Sky Knights. She saw fire-benders drowning in a flood that surged across the battlefield. She heard screams in her own tongue before a roaring avalanche silenced them, burying their owners in the depths.

Tears filled Leera’s eyes. Why, she thought, why this endless bloodshed? Quick put a hand on her shoulder.

“The Eternal Battlefield is a daunting sight,” he said solemnly. “It is said that whoever witnesses the Bonewaste will be forever changed.”

“This is… so wrong,” Leera said. “It needs to stop.”

She wiggled out of Quick’s hands, and before anyone could protest she dove off Andromeda’s stern.

The bashing of shields and screams of pain and triumph echoed between the mountainsides. Leera landed on a field of gray ashes littered with skulls and bones. A wild skirmish whirled around her.

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“Stop!” she screamed as loud as she could. “No more killing! No more death!”

With gusts of wind, she desperately tore the combatants away from each other, but they just charged right back in as soon as she let go. She didn’t even know which sides the soldiers were on, all she cared about was breaking up the fight.

Leera closed their helmets over their eyes and bent their swords out of shape, but they kept swinging blindly at each other. Despite her best efforts, they were dying around her. As soon as one fell, someone else took their place.

What could she do against such unquenchable hatred? Even with the ability to bend all the elements, she was powerless to sway the hearts of these men. With a sigh, she sank to her knees. What was the point of being an Iso-bender if she couldn’t stop the bloodshed? Wasn’t this her responsibility?

She let out a sob, which instantly drowned in the screams nearby. A banner landed in the ashes in front of her – the white eagle had smears of blood in its feathers and was no longer a symbol of hope and freedom, but one of death and suffering.

The world spun slowly around her. The skirmish was reaching its end. A body landed with a thud and a puff of ashes. The warriors around her looked toward the sky before turning to the new body and started hacking away at it.

Leera slowly lifted her hand, and with tears rolling down her cheeks, she pushed the warriors away and raised a barrier of stone to block them off. She crouched over the fallen body. His face was slick with blood, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. Without the disfiguring bruises and cuts, his face would’ve been proud and strong. His shoulder-length hair had been colored in deep maroon from all the blood.

Leera melted the armor off his body and placed her ear on his chest. There was a faint rasping gurgle. If he weren't dead already, he would be soon. It felt like a pointless undertaking, but she still put her hand on one of his bruises and rubbed it gently – just like she had done to her own scrapes and cuts all those years ago. She closed her eyes and tried to mend his ruptured skin and his shattered insides. The man groaned as Leera bent his skin to close the wounds and stop the bleeding. Piecing together his broken bones only seemed to make it worse.

Leera wasn’t sure if she was helping him or not. Determined to save his life, she turned his armor into a stretcher and made it float in front of her toward the grove. Maybe Quick could teach her how to heal properly.

As Leera passed Andromeda, Bryne gave her a concerned look.

“Where is Quick?” she said. “Please, where is he?”

“He went inside,” Bryne said and hurried after her toward the temple. “Who is that?”

“I don’t know, but he’s dying.”