Yara ducked low and her body skated on the wrought iron, coming to the downed traveller's side with her short blades to what remained of his throat. He was in tears and gurgling blood, but she did not care.

"Any closer, I slit his throat. Damn, the consequences."

"Do it, and I let go of your daughter!" Jon Jon yelled. He stood at the head of the charge, leading the hypnotized, yet he spoke with a clarity that reminded her of Vulcan. Perhaps the memories were repressed in his case, or Samir had just gotten that good. Their last exchange was proof of that.

"Are you one of his thralls, or have you decided to side with this lunatic despite everything you've seen him do?" She asked to buy herself time to breathe but also out of respect for Jon. The Phantoms always considered him an ally, even though he'd chosen to remain neutral for so long.

"Everyone has a price, and mine was my Son," he said. "I would do anything for my child, including sending yours to the depths, now, LET.HIM.GO."

'So, he couldn't master jon jon?' Yara thought, her analytical mind whirring. 'He'd been barely able to hold me, either.' Samir, it would seem, was more limited than he'd like them to believe. It was still a mystery how he tamed the dragon, though.

Yara gnashed her teeth.

'Where's Harlan when you need him.'

Her brother was taking his sweet time. He'd always been unreliable, but being flippant at a moment like this took things too far. Her daughter was on the line. She was her everything. Despite all she'd said and done, she wasn't sure she could ever do it. She would save her, even if it meant breaking the world.

The blade rattled in her hand, but her face was granite. "You kill her, and you lose your only hope of recapturing your precious leader. My daughter dies, and I have no reason to keep him alive. I will slit his throat and be done with it, consequences be damned. I say we pull back our forces and renegotiate on neutral territory. Misha is to be fed and nursed back to health, and I'll make sure your so-called 'Avatar' of fire doesn't die during our exchange."

"And delay our attack on the northern water tribe?" Jon Jon scoffed. "I couldn't give that order even if I wanted to, and neither could he. You crushed his throat. The water tribe will fall today, if not by the 'avatar' of fire's hand, then by the Princess, Azula."

Yara narrowed her eyes. "For a trapped man, you seem awfully comfortable."

Jon Jon gave the briefest hint of a shrug, "We do what we must. I offer an exchange now and here, with no cease-fire. Let your skill and cunning decide your daughter's fate."

Yara rubbed her head, grateful for the respite of conversation. She was still reeling from the confrontation. Her mind was too fragile to deal with the mental strain of One-with-the-world, but she had enough Chi to fight back against most of them, except Jon Jon. She was unsure any modern master could beat him.

But she wasn't alone, and that was why she felt comfortable taking the deal, but first, some posturing.

"An exchange and a brief cease-fire," she insisted. "You might all be powerful benders, but fire is not known for its defensive qualities. None of you can stop me if I decide to put my shortsword through his neck the moment I have my daughter."

"From my recollection, the air is even more flimsy than fire. As weak as she is, your daughter will not survive should a fight break out," Jon Jon rebutted.

"So, a truce?"

"Only until he's in the war balloon."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Those things are easy to take down if you know where to attack."

"Only until the balloon and no longer."

"I suppose that's as good as I am going to get," Yara removed one of her blades from Samir's neck, not daring to let the man out of her sight for even a single moment, the damage he could inflict given the chance was still fresh in her mind.

Jon Jon floated down on the barge and laid her daughter in front of her, and she slowly shoved Samir forward, blade to his throat the entire time. Once clear, she flipped back, wrapped her daughter in an air ball and shot off into the sky.

A moment later, the battlefield below descended into utter chaos.

A dozen spears of wind flickered into existence and shredded through the war balloon before Samir's crew could rescue him.

Dozens and dozens of compressed airballs exploded against a wall of fire that suddenly rose up from the sea. A vortex of steam rose, burying the battlefield in mist, and below, Chi flowed, and screams rang out.

Yara's heart skipped a beat. She recognised the Chi embroiled in the flashes of the spear she saw.

Wang was back.

---

Harlan wove under another fire stream as he sent another 'air shot' hurtling towards the enemy at subsonic speeds. It was intercepted by a sudden explosion before it hit its target, widening into a dervish of wind and destruction. It was Harlan's own mini-technique. Wang had his stinger, and he had the cheaper, much more effective air shot. It was fast, and it packed a fucking punch.

A quick glance to the side confirmed the reason for his failed attack. The combustion bender stood tall and alert.

And a second later, Jon stretched his hand, weaving a circle of flame that spun out, consuming all of the mist floating between them, allowing both sides to size up each other.

Two firebenders had already fallen, but four more still stood on Samir's side. Harlan grinned. The odds were not in their favour, but it was how he liked it.

Wang descended with a thud beside him, brandishing his spear on the half-sunken ship he stood. The water divided them and their enemies, both sides seemingly agreed to a temporary cease-fire.

"I can't believe you finally decided to show up," Harlan huffed. "You won't believe how much work my captains put into looking for you. You could've said something, you know, save me all the trouble and coin."

"I was…healing. I hate to admit it, but the boy took me entirely by surprise." He turned to Harlan. Half of his face was scarred and gnarled flesh, and Harlan had to fight the urge to wince. He had scars crisscrossing up and down his body, but this was something else.

He chuckled. "You don't know half of what these little runts are capable of. You should've seen Yara's face when he rode up on a fucking dragon. A dragon, Wang. Spirits, there's never a dull moment with these travellers, is there?" he said. "You won't believe what the other one's cooked up. He might've won the war for us, all in two weeks! Hah. Father should be spitting blood right now, but his pride won't allow it!"

"Travelers?" Wang raised a brow.

"Can't remember who started saying it, but it stuck, and I like it," Harlan shrugged.

"I think it's a rather mild description of what they truly are?"

Harlan raised a brow. "And that would be?"

"Plagues," Wang said simply, his scowling face looking absolutely monstrous with his new scars.

"I would ask if you were fine," Harlan said, "but you're clearly not. Chi circulation and a lot of rest should have fixed you up in weeks, yet you never reached out."

Wang blinked the singular eye he seemed to be able to control. "You should go back to the fleet?"

"What?"

"Your ships can barely keep up with the Fire Nation vessel, and I sense that the Princess and her Darkfire are advancing on your people. The ghosts are already stretched thin as is," he muttered. "They need you to turn the tide."

Harlan's looked at his brother with some surprise. Could he sense that far and remain sane? He was a true monster. However, Harlan saw through his ploy to force a distance.

"Yara needs me here," Harlan protested. "And that combustion bender is a real prick. It'll take a lot of effort to nail him down. With both of us working together--"

"I am more than enough. And I have a score to settle with the boy," Wang interrupted. Waves of Chi rolled off him as his eyes pinned down Samir, who was oddly still conscious despite everything he'd endured. Harlan couldn't decide if he was impressed or disturbed.

"Remember, we need him alive," Harlan said. "All the others you can slaughter."

Wang grunted.

Harlan gave his brother one last look before turning towards his ships. "Be careful," he said. "I wouldn't want you to come back with a matching scar covering the other half of your face."

Wang did not react.

Harlan took off in a wind geyser and chased down his fleet.

---

"He's leaving?" the combustion bender wandered out loud in his thick, rumbling voice.

"It would seem," Jon Jon hummed.

"Good then. It'll make my job even easier."

The combustion bender sucked in air as he readied his attack, but Jon Jon grabbed his metallic shoulder.

"Don't," he said. It was partly to ensure they didn't give their opponents an unintended opening, but it was also to drag out Samir's suffering a bit longer and side with the Phantom.

He'd planted the seed by telling them about his Son, and he was watering it by letting Harlan leave uncontested.

The Phantoms were ruthless but were of sound military mind. He had no doubt in his mind that they'd try to use his son to turn him the moment they found him.

Jon would gladly switch sides without a moment's thought.

"Do not underestimate our foes. They're every bit as deadly as their reputation suggests. Yara might be the fastest bender to have ever lived, and a thousand spear Wang killed over 400 men himself. You can't afford to be distracted for even a single moment."

The combustion bender huffed. "I've not met a man nor woman that survived me, and the Master insisted we kill every Phantom we laid our eyes on."

"Ah," Jon Jon said, casting a look over at the 'Master' who huddled in the corner, holding a bottle of strange liquid, with dozens more scattered about him. His eyes grew even more desperate as he chugged another bottle down his malformed throat. It'd bulged back to its original size thanks to the magical qualities of the elixir, but it could not repair his vocal cords or regrow his arm.

It took all of Jon Jon's strength not to bark out a laugh.

"Prepare yourself," he announced to the group of firebenders with him. Two of them were former pirates who were savants with the flame whip, another had mastered speed enhancement using fire bending, and the last was a hulking brute with a massive great sword. Jon hadn't seen him fight, but he looked to be dangerous.