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Chapter 33

The next morning we headed out to the ancient city.

"We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster."

Appa growled. "Appa's right, Zuko. In our group, typically we start out our missions with a more upbeat attitude," Aang said.

"I can't believe this," Zuko mumbled.

"Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it."

"Or you can just do what I do and pass out through most of the journey. Everything flies by."

Appa passed through a cloud. The city stood tall in front of us. "Whoa!" We landed in the ruins.

"Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these," Zuko said. I looked around the ruins.

"Ok, we learned something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too. The past can be a great teacher," Aang said. As he stepped forward the ground in front of us opened up, revealing a pit of spikes. Aang jumped over it, using a gust of breath to propel himself forward. He landed on the other side. "I think the past is trying to kill me."

"I can't believe it. This booby trap must be centuries old, and it still works." Zuko inspected the wire.

"There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here."

Zuko took a running step and ran across the wall. I jumped across, using my naginata to propel myself forward as I passed over the pit. "Where's that upbeat attitude you were talking about? Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting." Zuko dusted himself off.

We continued through the city, and made it to a large building. "Look. This seems promising. Though I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending."

"They look pretty angry to me," Zuko said.

"I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors."

"They don't look like they're fighting to me..." I shrugged.

"Well, they had a funny way of showing it." Zuko turned away and began walking.

"Zuko, something happened to the dragons in the last 100 years. Something you're not telling me," Aang said, stopping him.

"My great-grandfather Sozin happened." We walked across a large stone bridge, with dragons decorating the side. "He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. They were the ultimate firebenders. And if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary, and you'd earn the honorary title 'dragon'." One of the dragons at the end of the bridge was missing its head. "The last great dragon was conquered long before I was born, by my Uncle."

"But I thought your Uncle was, I don't know, good?" Aang asked.

"Yea that doesn't sound like him," I said.

"He had a complicated past. Family tradition, I guess. Let's just move on."

We arrived at a set of yellow doors, a red stone embedded in it. Aang tried to open them up, but nothing happened. "It's locked up."

Zuko looked around the area. There was a red jewel sitting on a column, the sun shining through it. "Wait." He stepped to the side, the light from the jewel shining on the ground. "It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples. I bet that Sun Stone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits it at just the right angle, on the solstice."