#day19

The explosion’s shock wave slammed them away, nearly crushing Rohan under their bodies.

While Kya checked on the boy, Lin sprang up, caught Tenzin’s eye, and started running, knowing he’d be right behind her.

She had time to be grateful for his ability to manipulate the smoke into a funnel leading upward, but that just meant they could see the threatening rain of debris hurtling back down.

She reached out with her own bending, but so much of what was falling was wood. Tenzin couldn’t fend it off and control the smoke at the same time, so she pulled up a slab of stone to give them at least some cover. They cowered against each other.

Kya barrelled into their sides, squeezing under the limited shelter.

None of them spoke. They hadn’t gotten close enough to learn anything. Tenzin needed to concentrate.

Lin and Kya peeked out, and could see the fire burning frighteningly high. With a glance at each other, they decided enough of the detritus had fallen that they could risk getting closer to whatever had exploded.

They ran, Tenzin’s steps louder than usual as he kept his focus on funneling the smoke away.

The screams for help spurred them to run faster, and Lin began to pull away from the siblings.

No other emergency personnel were in sight. She couldn’t see a sign for what the building was, so she skidded to a halt and slammed her foot to the ground as hard as she could.

There was a blur under one corner of the building.

Lava.

Someone was sabotaging the building.

Another explosion ripped from an upper floor. Lin ducked behind another slab, Kya and Tenzin nearly crushing her as they caught up to her.

“There has to be a lavabender around here.” She pointed to the corner where she had felt the disturbance. “I’m going to try to take them out. You two look for victims.”

Her gratitude for their cooperation was but a fleeting feeling as she bolted for the location she thought she had felt the ground weakening.

Thanks to Tenzin’s work, she saw the figure bending the lava, trying to extend the intrusion around the perimeter of the building. She could see when the figure noticed her, because their gestures sped up, as if they were trying to get the building melted before Lin could get there.

She didn’t need her bending to feel the lurch the foundation gave as its supporting bedrock began to melt.

Nearly in a panic, she reached out with her bending to hold the building upright. She glanced over her shoulder to see the smoke beginning to fall down the burning building again.

The assailant was shouting something, but Lin couldn’t hear through the blood roaring in her ears.

This time, she didn’t have four other benders helping her.

When the ground under her feet groaned and shifted, the story of her mother’s fight against Wan Shi Tong’s library flitted through her mind. The impossible choice she had to make between saving her human friends or Appa.

Tenzin and Kya were inside; she had to let them get out.

The figure laughed.

“Make your choice, Beifong! Those losers inside or me.” They laughed again and shook the ground under Lin’s feet, making the building jolt and sink further.