I Am an Airbending Ice Queen

"You should let her be," Alya whispered.

Saree gritted her teeth to keep from shouting. She hated when people talked like she wasn’t there.

“The Fire nation is closing in," said Sora. "It’s only a matter of time before they find us again. I thought you of all people would understand my reasoning, Alya.”

Saree didn’t have to look at Alya to know her face had sunken in from hurt. Her little blue eyes would twinge as she tried to keep back the tears and her bottom lip would quiver ever so slightly. Even for Sora that was a low blow.

Sora opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted as Cirrus burst through the entryway. His eyes were dark with fear and his voice gave away how scared he was when he looked Saree in the eye and breathed, “Firebenders.”

Saree stopped breathing and she heard the other two women gasp. For a moment, all was still except for the baby in her arms who was starting to wake. Then, chaos erupted.

Panicked screams filled the small tent as everyone scrambled to get to safety. Saree was the only one who stayed calm enough to think straight, at least for the moment. She crawled over to the chest that was beside her pallet and began digging through it. “Saree, what are you doing?” Cirrus’s panicked voice traveled over to her. She would’ve missed it if the other women had stayed.

She kept digging, holding the baby on her hip with one hand. She grabbed a small, brown satchel from the chest and stood up quickly. Cirrus eyed it curiously but she made no acknowledgement to it. She tied it around her waist with her sash, working around the baby as she did it.

She heard a shout and looked up. Cirrus was gone. Her heart skipped a beat and she frantically looked around the tent, but he wasn’t there. He must have gone outside, she decided. He’s waiting for me. Saree took a step towards the door just as a Fire nation soldier stepped inside.

She didn’t have time to hide and where would she hide? There was nothing big enough in the tent to conceal her, not even the trunk by her pallet. The soldier stared at her through his mask, those black eyes boring into her soul. She was paralyzed with fear and the soldier seemed to sense his advantage.

Saree stumbled backwards. The baby flopped forwards onto her chest and cried out. The soldier advanced, taking slow deliberate steps. A few more steps and her back hit the canvas wall. Her eyes stung suddenly and she realized she was crying. A small smile made its way to the soldier’s face. He took another step. Saree closed her eyes.

A loud thud sounded throughout the tent and then a groan. Her eyes cracked open. The soldier was lying at her feet unconscious. “Are you alright?” Alya asked shakily, dropping a good size rock by her feet. It took almost all of Saree’s remaining strength to nod.

Alya grabbed one of her hands and pulled her outside, carefully stepping around the unconscious soldier. Once outside, Saree saw orange. It was everywhere; coating the ground, the trees above them, and the surrounding tents. She saw soldiers on all sides, fighting against her people. From the looks of the burned bodies near her, the soldiers were winning.

“Hurry, we have to go,” Alya shouted over the noise.

Saree almost went with her until a thought ran through her head. “Where’s Cirrus?”

“Don’t worry,” Alya said calmly. “He’s safe. We have to go.”

Saree nodded and they took off into the flames that licked at their feet. They were dodging everything from fireballs to their own people. Alya kicked a soldier with her boot that was in their way and he went sprawling onto the ground. They jumped over him but got stopped by another soldier. He caught hold of Alya’s arm and tugged her away from Saree.

“No!” she screamed. “Let her go!”

The soldier snickered and started to move. Saree kicked him in the shins and he howled, throwing Alya to the ground. He formed a ball of fire in his hand and flung it at Saree. She held out her hand to stop the ball. The flames burned her hand and sore spots sprung up on her skin. The soldier started to prepare another fireball but was kicked in the stomach. He doubled over and Alya elbowed him in eyes.

“Let’s go!”

They ran past the soldier continuing to dodge flying fire. Saree spotted an opening in the fire and beyond that a grassland untouched by the flames. Saree glanced at Alya and could tell that she spotted it too. They started towards it when suddenly a big burst of flame shot from behind them. They fell to the ground and Saree twisted around quickly, landing on her back with a grunt.

“The baby,” Saree gasped. “She can’t take much more of this.”

She expected Alya to answer but she heard nothing. “Alya?” Saree whispered. She turned towards her and gasped. Alya’s body was burned head to toe from the back. Her head was turned sideways towards Saree, a blank expression on her face. Saree let out a whimper as tears tracked down her face. Her sobs disturbed the baby who started wiggling in her arms, but she barely noticed it.

“Alya, please don’t be dead,” she whispered softly, nearly choking on the words. Alya didn’t respond. Saree reached out and touched her singed body. “Please.”

Saree wanted to curl up in a ball next to her, to stroke her soft brown hair and wait for the fire benders to finish her off, but she couldn’t. She had to keep her baby safe. Alya would have wanted her to. She sat up slowly, putting her hand out behind her to steady herself. She looked at the scene in front of her and almost broke down into hysterics. The fire benders were closing in on the few remaining nomads. They had pushed them into a wall and were taking them down one by one.

Saree got to her feet, stumbling a little before turning her back to them, facing the great firewall that she and Alya had tried to go through earlier. She looked left and right but there was no way around it. The only way out was to go through it. How she was going to do it and get out alive was something she couldn’t worry about right now.

She adjusted the baby in her arms, pulling at the cloth wrapped around her and pulling it over her head so she was protected. Saree took part of her dress and wrapped it tightly around her own head, keeping her hair safely tucked inside. She clutched the baby once more to her chest and took a deep breath before taking off.

Saree ran as fast as she possibly could without making the baby bounce too much. She neared the flames and put her head down. When she felt the first lick of flames brush against her legs she hugged the baby even tighter. It was over as soon as it began.

Saree wasn’t really sure what happened next. Maybe the flames had begun to spread out more than she anticipated. Maybe the cloth had slipped a little, but all that she knew was that as soon as she soared out of the flames, her daughter let out the most earsplitting scream she had ever heard.

She fell to her knees in the dirt, and stared in horror as her baby’s hair caught fire. She reacted instantly, patting her head with the cloth trying to smother the flames. Luckily, it was small and the embers were quickly put out, but Saree could see light burn marks on her head. She cradled the sobbing baby in her arms before she realized that she may be in danger herself. She patted the top of her head and felt the heat of embers on the cloth. She ripped the fabric off her head, wincing as the motion pulled her hair.

“Saree, is that you?” Saree looked up at the sound and saw Cirrus standing a few feet away. She smiled weakly and he helped her up, holding the baby gently between them. “We have to go,” he whispered gently before tugging her away from the destruction behind them.