Chapter 55: Chapter 55
Once he had an idea, it wasn't difficult to build what he needed. True, the general condition of my body and the leg that could break at any moment did not add to the pleasure. But what wouldn't he do to save himself? Crouch down gently. Impulse from my hand. And a chair forms in front of me. I sit there. I concentrate. I visualize what I want. Impulse. And I was in a stone ball.
One more and the ball split horizontally in two and the top half flew off to the side. Another and I'm back in the ball. Only I couldn't see anything. I had to think. A pulse. And a small strip of floor, vertically centered, flew off in different directions.
I've never complained about my imagination, but I have no idea what to call this Frankenstein-like thing. Really, there was no time to think. I rode it up to Azula, opened the outer circle and threw her inside. And off I went.
The very technique that helped me move was remotely similar to the same one from the water magic school when I levitated my car. Especially when moving forward. The turns were harder. But even those are no comparison to going down a volcano.
Suffice it to say, I had no brakes at all. And I had to go down a 400 meter drop. In a balloon two meters in diameter, maybe two and a half. I almost went gray there.
But I made it down alive. Not only that, but I was still in one piece. I won't speak for Azula, as she needs to be examined, but if I'm alive, she should be too.
As I rolled to shore, I realized I was a little late. The submarines were nowhere to be found, but the airships had taken off and were heading my way, which didn't make me happy.
After smashing my machine, I quickly made the last one. The one for water. Only this time I made it small and compact. Throwing Azula into it, I carefully sat down myself and impulsively lowered the vessel into the water. Now that I was in more familiar surroundings, I made a sharp start towards the gate we had passed through.
In order not to erase my own, I had to make a floor of ice. On which Azula lay, freezing as she had no magic at the moment. I had to turn her on her back. And for her own safety, to make a point.
«Azula», I told her, «I want you to know that you will have no magic for a little less than twenty-four hours. Therefore, even if you knock me out, you will not escape, for without me, the ship will sink. So if you want to live, wait until we land. Okay?»
I don't think she would have answered me. Still, you can't talk much with a metal plate on your mouth. But she stopped squirming. If she gets free, which is unlikely, I'll figure out what to do with her.
I had to concentrate on driving my machine. The smaller size of the car meant less weight. This in turn increased the speed, but at every opportunity the car tended to fly upwards.
There was no time to fix anything, and there was nothing to fix, so I had to be as alert as possible. And even though the car wanted to fly away all the time, the speed was brutal. Only a few minutes and I'm already near the gate. I slowed down a bit and dived, just whizzing through the newly created passage. When I came out, I saw the submarines, which were already quite far away. I swam up a bit to get some air and dived towards them.
There was no paper to write anything on, but water magic came in handy. Making the question «Where to next?» out of ice was a bit tricky, but nothing is impossible. Air was scarce, so I had to surface. Once I got some air, I went back down. The same ice was waiting for me. At the rendezvous point,' it said.
I nodded and surfaced, running the other way. All because of the damn airships, damn it. It took me an hour to get them off Ash Island, and another six hours to make the detour and stay hidden.
After a full seven hours, I returned to the island where we had begun our attack. And there were only a few person there. I flew to the island, slowed down, and quietly climbed out. My leg was a little sore, but I'd managed to heal it a bit during the race, so it wouldn't fall apart with any careless movement.
«Hey everyone!» I said with a smile, dodging Toph's rock, «And it's good to see you. Where's everyone else?»
«Gone», Aang shrugged, «We were only waiting for you because Toph threatened to jump off Appa. So thank her.»
And Toph was already in my arms. What a little girl. I ruffled her hair, making her pout.
«I thought you'd left me again», she said resentfully.
«Couldn't have helped it», I shrugged, «Where are you going now?»
«To the Western Air Temple», Soka said. Avatar and Katara gave him an unfriendly look, «What? He saved my mom from prison.»
«Heh, can you take two more? I'm really tired of running from the fire fleet», I asked tiredly.
«Two?» asked Katara. I nodded and walked over to the machine and pulled Azula out by her hair. All of a sudden everyone tensed up, «Relax, she's bound and without magic. She's not dangerous right now.»
«Maybe not now, but then what?» asked Aang menacingly.
«Calm down, my powers are enough to control her completely. She's safe», I have blood magic for emergencies, but I kept quiet about it.
«That's good then», Toph said. Strangely enough, everyone relaxed a little after she said that. Knowing that she could sense the truth? Good.
«So will you take us?» I asked pro forma.
«Just because you saved Mom», Katara said.
«Great», I said, glad not to have to play tag with the fire fleet, «Then let's eat and be on our way.»
«Uh», Soka hesitated, and with him the rest of the group, «The thing is, we're low on supplies.»
«No problem», I waved my hand and walked towards the ocean. My blood sense made it clear that there were some big fish near the shore. Catching them and pulling them out of the water with water magic wasn't a problem. «Wait», I said as I approached everyone, «Can you even find firewood?»
«Just a second», Aang said, launching himself into the interior of the island at room one. Even the dust kicked up.
While the Avatar ran to get firewood, I quickly slaughtered the fish with Water Magic. You should have seen the looks on Katara and Sookie's faces. But they were as silent as I was. Aang came back with a big pile of firewood. It took a moment to build the fire. I was strong enough to do it. The group's eyes grew wider, but they were silent again.
Using magic, the fish was soon ready. There was plenty of it, so everyone had enough. Even Azula ate. No one would spoon feed her, so we had to untie her and sit her down with us.
Needless to say, the royal lady in question was against it? I don't think that's necessary. But when I threatened to make her an invalid, both physically and magically, she calmed down and sat down to eat with us. But the funniest part was when everyone went to the bathroom before the trip. Boys to the left, girls to the right, and Azula and I went a third way.
Despite her protests to turn around, I was adamant. She didn't want to pee on the flight, and I didn't want to give her a chance to escape. Even though she was screaming and struggling, she had to do it.
After saying that, she reluctantly agreed. For the sake of such a thing, I even untied her. After that, we flew away, and let's face it, flying is much cooler than just swimming or walking. And that was the end of our attack.