Daughter of the Moon - Book Three: Fire

Chapter 18.3: It Was Not a Good Idea to Go to the Boiling Rock

- Elara -

Weirdly enough, it was rather simple breaking into the prison complex at the Boiling Rock. But what was even more surprising was that it was even simpler to find our way around the massive prison and slip into disguises without being caught or recognized. Apparently, stumbling around like a new recruit who had lost their way during their new transfer actually worked as a decent cover.

Unfortunately, however, the uniforms we had found were far from satisfactory—at least, they were in my opinion. While the boys got to slide into something that seemed to cover them appropriately, the uniforms for the female guards were a little more revealing. It made sense that the guards might want to limit the amount of clothing covering their skin while they worked—especially considering how the Boiling Rock was true to its name and was boiling hot—but for someone like me, it was just another little bit of torture. To keep it simple, it was hard to miss the way the boys seemed traumatized every time they saw my exposed skin, no matter how hard I tried to cover the dozens of fresh scars.

The three of us wiggled uncomfortably out of the changing rooms as we tried to adjust our uniforms, the armor fitting far from correctly. Some of the other guards had assured us that we would get a fitted set soon, but we knew better—we weren't going to be sticking around long enough for that to happen.

At least, that was the hope.

"I hope these disguises work," I heard Zuko mutter from beside me, although I tried not to pay him any attention.

"We just need to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible," Sokka said in reply as he tugged uncomfortably at his shoulder guards, and I quickly nodded in agreement.

"Agreed," I noted as I tugged on a fresh pair of gloves, which seemed to be the only logical piece of clothing in the entire complex. "The sooner we find your dad, the sooner we can get out of here and into some real clothes."

Before either of the boys could make some snarky remark about where my priorities seemed to lie, the connecting hallway was filled with the sounds of panic, and we noticed that dozens of guards seemed to be rushing towards the courtyard. Sokka, Zuko, and I attempted to turn in the other direction so as to not be seen (we weren't trying to push our luck, after all, even with disguises), but we didn't even have the opportunity to take one step before we were caught dead in our tracks by another guard.

"Guards!" The man hollered, making my hair stand on edge. "There's a scuffle in the yard. Come on!"

The three of us released a silent breath of relief before turning to follow after the commotion, sprinting into the courtyard to find a large mass of people—prisoners and guards alike. However, instead of finding a scuffle, as one of the guards had suggested, it seemed like we had run into something entirely different. It was more of a demonstration.

"I didn't do anything. I'm going back to my cell" I heard a large prisoner spit calmly as the guards pushed through to the front of the scene, forming a barricade around the prisoner to keep back the gathering crowd.

The prisoner then went to leave as he had announced, but he didn't even make it two steps before being intercepted by the barricade, and before long, the guard next to me emerged from the crowd bearing a fire whip. The heat radiating off the weapon sent an unconscious shiver through my body despite the broiling heat of the lake outside, but I tried my best to keep it concealed so as to avoid any suspicion that I didn't belong here. It wasn't the time to have an unreasonable meltdown because of a stupid whip. Not if I wanted to keep my cover.

"Stop right there, Chit Sang," the guard ordered with a flick of his wrist, sending up a small plume of dust as the concentrated flames snapped against the ground and shocked my system.