With my spherical vortex void of air, despite the soldier's relentless efforts, their flames couldn't reach me, though I'd be lying to myself if I had said fear didn't course through my body every time I saw a wall of fire head directly for me. There was a massive gap in strength, technique, and experience between the soldiers and Sozin himself, but it didn't matter whether the flames came from the soldiers or not; they were still plenty strong enough to take my life away. I've already experienced the pain of being burnt; the sensation still clearly felt from the stinging pain in my leg, and I didn't wish to experience it ever again.
I was no coward, though I was no fighter either.
The soldiers continued to force their way through the breach in the wall, and with each new soldier, I noticed their combined efforts were starting to make a difference. I had understated these soldiers, despite not being the biggest threat right now, they were not soldiers for nothing; instead of attacking all willy-nilly, they were combining their attacks into one, creating a wave of flames that even surpassed what Sozin was capable of.
I was hoping I'd be able to stall them for longer, but if things continued like this, the sheer strength of their flames would eventually push through the void of air and reach me. Every second that passed, the flame further encroached upon me until, eventually, it was only a mere foot away; at this distance, I could vividly feel the intense heat wafting off the powerful flames, causing me to profusely sweat whatever liquids I still had in my body.
'They're going to reach.' Thought Aang with an ugly expression as he stared at the fiery wisps that were only inches away from touching his body, yet before they could, the flames were suddenly pushed a few feet backward.
"F-Focus Aang!" Stated Tashi sternly as he stood beside Aang, clasping his palms together and using his masterful air-bending skills to further enlarge the void of air.
Glancing at Monk Tashi to my left, I gave him a nod and did as he said, yet he wasn't the only one who joined in my efforts to stave off the soldiers' advancement.
"We mustn't let them pass!" Remarked Pasang solemnly as he clasped his hands while standing to the left of Tashi, causing the void of air to grow even larger.
"Too many have perished for us to lose now!" Said Jun as he stood to the far right of Aang, his presence continuing to enlarge the void of air.
"I will not allow our kind to perish." Muttered Gyatso softly with conviction as he stood to the right of Aang, giving the largest boost in size to the void of air among the four elders.
The four elders weren't the only ones. Nine more elders joined in, forming a united stand as we forced back the raging flames of the Fire Nation soldiers. I didn't know where the other three elders were and thought the worst, but I dashed those thoughts as quickly as they came; even if that did happen, I must remain focused.
With the combined might of the fourteen of us, we were able to persist for some time as we fought off the numerous soldiers who had merged their flames into one large one, seemingly without effort. Even though Sozin joined the fray, greatly increasing the distance the flames covered, they were still multiple feet away from reaching us.
Although I was happy at this development, I was still acutely aware of the huge weakness our little united front held, and my fears were correct since, out of nowhere, an arrow suddenly pierced the skull of an Elder from the Western Air-Temple. Watching her lifeless body collapse onto the ground so close to me was a surreal feeling; I've seen countless of my fellow brothers and sisters dying during this last half hour, yet this is the first time it happened so close to me; she wasn't even ten feet away from me when I saw her body that still looked perfectly alive collapse onto the ground.
"Sachi!" Yelled another elder from the Western Air Temple as she lunged towards the corpse, narrowly evading death as an arrow suddenly lodged itself into her shoulder where her head previously was.
"F-Focus!" Yelled Tashi sternly with a hardened gaze, though his actions said otherwise as he constantly glanced at the deceased Sachi.
"W-We can't say, Tashi! W-We must retreat! They will pick us off one by one!" Stated Jun in slight anger as he glanced at Tashi, who gritted his teeth, only for another Elder to be shot with an arrow in the chest.
"W-We just need to hold out a little longer." Said Tashi, displaying his desire to stay even in the face of inevitable death.
As much as I wished to agree with Monk Tashi, the fear of death gnawed at my heart as well; through both lifetimes, I've never experienced such brutal behavior, so terrifying, to say the least, especially when my death could happen at any moment.
Biting my lip, I glanced at everyone; we couldn't all retreat at once; if the void wasn't maintained, we'd all be burnt to a crisp and killed. However, if most of us left, the ones required to stay would be…
"Argh!!" Said a Northern Elder as he collapsed to the ground while profoundly bleeding from his neck, an arrow having cleanly pierced his flesh.
"We must retreat." Stated Gyatso solemnly as he gazed at his fellow elders, his words silencing everyone since they understood his words meant the death of those who remained.
"I-I–" "I'll remain!" Said Tashi and Aang, respectively; the latter interrupted the words of the former as his small body firmly stood amidst the raging flames that were ever so approaching.
"Aang! You can't-" Stated Gyatso sternly, yet he wasn't able to finish speaking as he was interrupted.
"I'm the strongest one here, Monk Gyatso; it's only reasonable for me to stay behind as I'll last the longest. Besides, I'm the Avatar; I've already thought of a way to survive, so trust me and retreat. I've proved myself capable, have I not?" Declared Aang firmly as his expression didn't waver despite the fear his heart pumped through his body.
Even without looking, I knew Monk Gyatso wanted to rebuke my words, but the whistling of an arrow and the cry of another elder stopped him; a third of us had already been taken out, and the longer we waited, the shorter amount of time we'll have to retreat.
"Gyatso, we must trust Aang." Stated Pasang as he glanced at Gyatso, who gritted his teeth before nodding.
"Don't… Don't die, Aang… I-I can't lose another friend." Said Gyatso pleadingly as he gazed at Aang, who faintly nodded before turning around and assisting an injured elder.
With the retreat of the elders, the fire began to quickly encroach upon me as I was the sole one remaining; the only saving grace was that it blocked the archer's line of sight, though I still changed my position slightly just in case.
While the fire quickly neared me, I stomped on the ground, using my mediocre earth bending to create a small opening I could hide myself in; despite what I said earlier, I didn't already have a plan to survive this.
'C'mon, calm yourself and focus.' Thought Aang lightly as he repeated those words within his mind while staring at death.
Glancing back behind me, I saw the elders finally reach behind some buildings they could use as cover, which was perfect as the fire was about to reach me. Gritting my teeth, I leaped in the air before landing on the ground after slightly spreading my legs as if pushing the very ground apart, which was exactly what I did; with a small opening just barely big enough to fit myself within, I fell into the hole and used whatever rocks I could find to shield myself.
As the fire raged on above me, incinerating the spot where I previously stood, not even three seconds later, from within my little hole, I could vividly feel the heat reach; this is what I imagined being inside an oven felt like. Thankfully, despite the powerful flames that made me sweat buckets, it didn't last for long, ten seconds at most; however, I didn't immediately attempt to leave and instead remained hiding within my hole, waiting for them to pass me so I could sneak attack while within the middle, which was dangerous, but it would sow chaos amongst them.
Although I couldn't feel them through seismic sense, I could hear their footsteps as they marched forward; after a few moments, I suddenly burst out of my hiding hole, only to appear in the middle of the army. Without hesitation, I spread my arms, manifesting a powerful gust of wind that knocked many surprised soldiers onto their butts.
Not wishing to test my luck, I leaped into the air, creating a vortex as I quickly left as soon as I appeared, not even taking three full seconds to make my move as I landed atop a roof; however, I was foolish and didn't think to question where the archers were shooting at us from. Just as I landed on the roof, an archer on the same roof already had his arrow knocked and was pointing directly at me.
Moving out of reflex, I leaped off the roof just as the archer released the arrow, and although I managed to avoid death, I wasn't left unscathed.
"Argh!" Said Aang, releasing a cry of pain as his left thigh was pierced with an arrow, causing him to lose his balance as he rapidly fell to the ground.