Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Book 4 Air: The Storm ❯ The Blades of Air ( Chapter 3 )

The Blades of Air

Mathias and a group of his airbenders met outside the temple and discussed their plans. Among them, a mysterious monk removed his hood and revealed his face. It was Teo, the son of the mechanist. Monk Teo had never forgiven the Fire Nation for what they did to him. A short while after the war, Mathias personally kidnapped Teo from his home. After 4 years of living among the Air Nomads, Teo was convinced that his mother was killed by the Fire Nation not by a flood, and that his father still secretly worked for them, selling them war balloons, bombs, and other weapons. Nonetheless, there were times when Teo missed his father. Mathias and the rest of the monks treated him well and nurtured him as if he were their son, but nobody could replace his father. Nobody could invent like mechanist and the only one to come close was his son. All the while he was held captive, Teo's talent for working with machines remained unchanged. Eventually, his engineering skills blossomed to the point where he could help the “Blades of Air” develop advanced weaponry to help them with their war effort.

The Blades of Air - thought Mathias as he contemplated his years of struggle and hardship. His people were no longer the helpless bunch of monks that the Fire Nation could attack at will; they were now known as the Blades of Air, an organization that sought revenge for the sins of the Fire Nation on the Air Nomads, and the rest of the world. Mathias has invented a lethal form of airbending called storm bending, a form that differs from the largely defensive bending of the air nomads and focuses on using one's inner rage to unleash a torrent of violent air currents upon the enemy. Properly performed, a gust of razor sharp winds could dig deep into an enemy's flesh and powerful storm winds could be generated - winds so strong that they could hurl a person into a wall with such force that they were knocked out on impact. The world was certainly a different place, thought Mathias as he walked quietly with his followers.

Mathias emerged from the circle of monks and asked Monk Teo if the weapon is ready. For years, Mathias had waited for Teo to complete his construction of a devastating new weapon called the Weather Device, a rather unfitting name for a weapon of such destructive potential. Though its name was derived from its original use as a mere crop watering tool, its true destructive power could be imagined if one thought of the terrible storms that could be generated by the device. Teo thought about all the years of work he had put into the design and construction of the device. He thought about how he had modified a simple rain generator from his father's original schematics into a lethal killing machine.

“Well, Teo, is it ready?” inquired the elder monk.

“Yes, Monk Mathias, the device is indeed finished and all it needs for it to work is for all the airbenders to focus fire their most destructive storm bending powers into it.”

Mathias began to shout out loud, cursing the Fire Nation for what they did to his people. “You think this is peace?” he asked.

“No!” the monks shouted back.

“True peace can only be achieved when the Fire Nation is rightfully punished for its sins!”

“The rest of the world may have forgotten about what the Fire Nation did, but we survivors of the genocide know better: it is only a matter of time before the Fire Nation attacks the world again!”

“From this moment on, we will create our own justice if the avatar does not!”

“Peace through Justice!”

“Peace through Justice!”

While Mathias spoke, the rest of the monks unleashed a furious array of storms and winds onto the device. The Weather Device shimmered with a white light and Teo nodded in approval.

“A storm generated from power like this could wipe out an entire Fire Nation military camp” stated Teo.

“What about the royal palace?” asked Mathias.

For a moment, Teo's face showed a look of disbelief at the boldness of his master. He was about to question the merits of destroying the Fire Lord's home when he saw the anxious look on Mathias's face. This obviously meant a lot to his master and Teo was determined to not disappoint Mathias again.

“No, sir, it won't be powerful enough to take out the royal palace. Give me a bit more time. I can have it modified to suit your needs within the hour.”

******

Aang and Katara were both tied up in the dungeon and struggled against the ropes.

“Aang! You have to get yourself out of here and stop these people! Can't you see that they are threatening to undo all the good you did?”

A grim expression lined Aang's face as he sullenly replied, “Katara, I know that what they are doing is wrong.” It's just…”

Katara looked nervously at her boyfriend and could tell he was not himself. “Aang, whatever it is, you can tell me. This is what we agreed on, remember? We can always confess our problems, our feelings to each other.”

She moved in to plant a kiss on Aang's lips but Aang looked away.

“Katara, it's just that I've been thinking about what Mathias said. I know he is threatening to destroy the delicate balance that we have created but I really need time to sort my feelings out.”

“What are you saying, Aang?”

Aang looked towards the ground and let out a sigh - a sigh of grim things to come, not a sigh of relief. “I was thinking about what the fire nation did to my people, about what they did to your mother.”

“Katara, I'm not sure I have fully forgiven the Fire Nation.”

A few meters above, Mathias and his men moved out into the shadow of the night carrying an ominous, white, Weather Device. “Our attack will be swift, silent, and deadly,” Mathias said to the group. “We will fall upon our enemies like lightning from a cloudless sky.”

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Don't miss chapter 4 for the exciting conclusion to the weather device plot. There will be lots of action and it will set the tone for the rest of the story so stay tuned.