Tides Of Flame : Avatar The Last Airbender

Alec stirred first. The warmth around him had changed — no longer sharp and scalding, but smothered and damp. His limbs felt weaker than before, like they had been drained of energy and only half-refilled. His breath came slower, but steadier.

The system's promise had come through. Alec skillfully healed Zuko and then himself. Zuko's burns were no longer blistering. His breathing had evened out. But Alec, now left with just a fraction of his usual strength, felt like a threadbare ember — still burning, but dimly.

Zuko was awake when Alec sat up, watching the ceiling as thin trickles of steam escaped from cracks above.

"You're pale," Zuko said, sitting up slowly. His chest was bandaged with ash-soaked cloth and cooled bark, held together by what was left of Alec's robe.

"I'm fine just exhausted," Alec admitted. "I needed to cool you down so that we could escape."

Zuko nodded, then stood carefully, testing his legs. "You should've saved yourself rather than waiting for me."

"I didn't fall into lava," Alec said, trying to stand. His knees wobbled slightly, but he stayed upright. "We're not done yet."

The air inside the cave was thicker than before. The heat pressed against their skin like a weight. The stone walls near the lava pool had cracked further, glowing orange from within. Time was running out. If the volcano erupted, there would be no safe way out.

"We need to move," Alec said.

Zuko looked around. "Back the way we came?"

Alec shook his head. "Collapsed behind us. That path's gone."

Zuko glanced toward the far end of the chamber. "Then forward."

Alec followed his gaze. The lava pool stretched ahead — a massive flow of molten rock glowing red-orange, sludging slowly like thick syrup. At the far end was a high ledge leading to a narrow tunnel carved into the stone. It was their only hope.

Between them and that ledge: bubbling lava, random bursts of flame, and a choking layer of sulfur fog.

Alec studied the pattern of the eruptions. "We can cross — but not walking. We'll need to use bursts. Like before. Short propulsion strikes."

Zuko rubbed the side of his ribs. "I can manage a few jumps."

"I'll guide you from behind. Try not to fry me."

He passed Zuko the scroll again. They reviewed the flow together — forming a compressed strike under their feet, using it to push forward without fully lifting off. They had to time the heat so that it lifted them gently, not explosively.

Zuko took a deep breath. "You ready?"

"No," Alec said. "But I'm going anyway."

They lined up side by side at the edge of the stone shelf. The heat rising from the lava singed the edges of Alec's pants. Across the gap, the cave mouth shimmered like a mirage.

Zuko ignited the first burst, a short flare under his boots that launched him into the air. Alec has never done that but he neither had any other option nor was in a situation to not comply. Alec mimicked the movement but used a cushion of heated air to follow the arc. The blast lifted them like skipping stones across the molten surface.

They landed hard on a nearby platform, just inches from a bubbling fissure.

Lava hissed below them.

"Next jump!" Alec shouted.

Zuko launched again — this time with more control. Alec pushed the air under him with a heat pulse, though his legs buckled slightly from fatigue. He clenched his jaw and focused, managing to reach the same stone slab Zuko landed on.

The lava behind them exploded in a short geyser, splashing liquid fire across the place they'd just been. The volcano was waking up.

"Keep moving!" Zuko yelled.

One more jump.

The final gap was the widest. Alec knew he didn't have enough strength left for a full arc. He looked to Zuko.

"I won't make it on my own," Alec admitted.

Zuko didn't hesitate. "Grab my arm when we go."

He crouched low, building heat beneath his feet. Alec placed a hand on his shoulder and steadied his fan with the other.

"Three… two… one—"

Flames erupted beneath them.

Zuko soared through the air like a comet, Alec pulled alongside him. The wind burned their faces. Midway, another plume of lava erupted behind them, chasing their arc like a fiery serpent.

Alec saw the blast and twisted mid-air, channeling a focused pull of heat toward himself — not enough to freeze, but enough to bend the blast's path. It splashed sideways into the wall.

Zuko's boots slammed against the ledge. He stumbled. Alec let go and rolled hard onto the stone. They were through.

They lay panting at the edge of the tunnel, bodies scorched and slick with sweat. The lava below bubbled angrily, but they had made it.

"I… am never doing that again," Zuko groaned.

"You'll forget by tomorrow," Alec replied, voice hoarse.

Zuko looked over at him. "You okay?"

"No," Alec said honestly. "But we're alive. So that's enough."

They pushed forward, deeper into the tunnel.

The winding path from the lava tunnels eventually led them to something neither of them expected — a shift in the air, in the stone, in everything around them. Alec felt it first — the subtle change in temperature, the slightly cooler breeze. It wasn't much, but after hours of oppressive heat and choking sulfur, it felt like a miracle.

When they stepped out of the last narrow passage, what they saw stopped them in their tracks.

A wide underground cavern opened before them, its ceiling lost in the darkness above. Stalactites hung like jagged teeth. A quiet lake rested at the center, its surface smooth as polished glass. A soft orange glow came not from lava but from luminous crystals embedded along the cavern walls, giving everything a faint, amber warmth.

On the far edge of the lake stood a structure — unlike anything they'd seen in the Fire Nation's military world.

An elegant pavilion, octagonal in shape, rose slightly above the stone ground, standing on a wide, carved base. The roof curved upward at the corners like wings mid-flight, tiled in dark red and black — ancient, but preserved. Each supporting pillar was engraved with fire motifs.