- Third POV -
Team Avatar and the band of nomads are journeying to the tunnels along a wide street surrounded by the ruins of a temple.
"How far are we from the tunnel?" Asks Mizuki.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth!" Explains Chong.
"Labyrinth?!" Exclaims Sokka shocked.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll figure it out" Replies Chong casually.
"All you need to do is trust in love...according to the curse" Informs Lily.
"Curse?" Whines Sokka.
"Hey-hey! We're here!" Chong points at the entrance of the cave.
"What exactly is this curse?" Asks Katara.
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever" Explains Chong.
"And die" Upon hearing this, Team Avatar shares a horrified glance. And die? How can he say that so casually?!
"Oh yeah, and die" Chuckles Chong.
"Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song! And die~!" Exclaims Chong as he strums his lute.
"That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!" Protests Sokka.
"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!" Exclaims Moku as he notices gray smoke rising from the horizon.
"That's no campfire, Moku" States Mizuki as she glares at the smoke.
"It's Fire Nation. They're tracking us" Informs Sokka grimly.
"So all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?" Asks Aang.
"That is correct, master arrowhead" Nods Chong.
"We can make it" States Aang as he glances at Mizuki.
"Everyone into the hole!" Exclaims Sokka in a somewhat demanding tone as everyone rushes into the cave. Several Fire Nation tanks rumble across the terrain towards the entrance of the tunnel and pause once they reach the mouth of the cave.
"Hold on! It's too dangerous. Haven't you heard the song? Just close them in. The mountain will take care of the rest" Says the commander. The tanks fire rotating grappling hooks from canisters into the tunnel and release them after a few moments, unleashing a myriad of boulders. Meanwhile, Team Avatar and the nomads begin navigating their way through the tunnels, only to turn around and witness the entrance being closed off. Appa begins to frantically paw the walls of the tunnel.
"It's okay, Appa. We'll be fine. I hope" Katara pats Appa's head, in an attempt to comfort the flying bison.
"We will be fine. All we need is a plan. Chong, how long do those torches last?" Asks Sokka.
"Uh, about two hours each" Answers Chong.
"And we have five torches, so that's ten hours!" Lily lights the rest of the torches in her hand.
"It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" Exclaims Sokka annoyed as he grabs the torches and stomps out the fire.
"Oh, right" Mumbles Lily.
"I'm going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been. Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through" States Sokka while his friends look at each other with unsure expressions.
YOU ARE READING
The dualbender (atla) book 2
FantasyWarning: If you haven't read book 1 yet, please go read that one first. I mean, I won't stop you, but do yourself a favor and go read book 1 before reading this one. "you will suffer under the crushing weight of the loved ones you have lost. But don...
