Twelve years after the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and nearly six years after the conclusion of its sequel, The Legend of Korra, the rich fantasy world created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, continues to expand through comic books and novels. The latest is The Shadow of Kyoshi, available July 21 from Amulet Books.
Written by F.C. Yee with assistance from DiMartino, the sequel to 2019's The Rise of Kyoshi follows Aang's Earth Kingdom-born predecessor as she travels the Four Nations, struggling to maintain a fragile peace. When a mysterious threat emerges from the Spirit World, Kyoshi, her firebending teacher, and love interest, Rangi, and their reluctant allies must unite to prevent the destruction of the Four Nations.
Amulet has provided CBR with an exclusive excerpt from The Shadow of Kyoshi, from the chapter titled "The Reunion," in which Kyoshi and Rangi see each other again for the first time after parting company in the first novel.
The Reunion
It was strange to think that getting closer to a string of active volcanoes would make them feel better, but here they were, approaching the Fire Nation.
Jinpa wisely avoided the plumes of noxious smoke emanating from the active peaks but wove Yingyong over the thermals in between, riding bumps of heated air in a playful, winding course. It was enough to make Kyoshi forget herself and smile. Clumps of settlements could be seen on the smaller islands, usually by the coasts but sometimes higher up in the mountains, where level pastures and shade-grown tea farms dotted the slopes. The landmasses formed a thickening tail that led them to the body of Capital Island, where the earth doubled over on
itself to form First Lord’s Harbor.
They swooped lower to see the city that had formed around the Fire Nation’s largest port already preparing for the upcoming celebration. Strings of red paper lanterns crisscrossed the streets, in some places thick enough to completely obscure the carts and sidewalks below. The sharp clack of vendors hammering their wooden stalls together filled the air. Kyoshi spotted one alley overtaken by a half-finished parade float. A team of dancers practiced their moves in rigorous unison atop the platform.
“This seems like a serious party,” Kyoshi said. She secretly wished she could be down there, among her fellow commoners for the celebrations, instead of attending a state function. There’d certainly be less pressure on her.
“You know how Fire Nationals are,” Jinpa said as he waved at a bunch of gawking children on a rooftop who were thrilled to see a bison fly overhead. “Buttoned up until the moment they let loose.”
They left Harbor City behind and continued flying up the slope of the caldera that dominated the big island. Trees and vines clung tenaciously to the steep, rocky surfaces, and the humidity grew heavy like a blanket.
“Should we stop here and announce ourselves?” Jinpa said. He pointed to the stone watchtowers and bunkers built into the lip of the dead volcano.
Kyoshi shook her head. Impatience was rising in her chest, tidewater threatening to spill over its levees. “The letter said we should head straight to the palace.”
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Sure enough, the pointy-armored guards watched them fly by with hardly a reaction on their unmoving faces. Yingyong crested the edge, and the capital of the Fire Nation revealed itself like the burst of a firework.
Royal Caldera City. The home of the Fire Lord and the highest ranks of nobility in the country. Where Ba Sing Se equated power with expansiveness, Caldera City concentrated its status like the point of a spear. Towers rose into the air, brushing shoulders with their red-shingled neighbors. They reminded Kyoshi of plants competing for sunlight, stretching ever higher lest they fall behind and perish.
Several glossy, shining lakes lay in the bowl of the caldera, one much larger than the others. She’d forgotten their official names, but outside the Fire Nation they were often referred to as the Queen and Her Daughters, renowned for their crystalline beauty. It was said that no boat disturbed them on pain of death, but Kyoshi now knew that to be a silly rumor. Lantern barges were already paddling across the mirror surfaces to set up for the festival.
In the center of the depression was the royal palace, stern and barren. It was surrounded by a wide ring of naked beige stone that would force anyone who approached on foot to be unsettlingly exposed to the ramparts and watchtowers. Only within the inner walls did a garden dare to take root, and it was as sparse as a young man’s beard. Kyoshi knew that was likely a security measure to prevent thieves and assassins from moving from tree to tree undetected.
With defensive concerns taken care of, the palace complex itself focused on grandeur over any other priority. A central spire pointed to the sky, flanked by two golden pagodas with an excess of upturned eaves, making it appear as if the roofs were adorned with animal claws. It looked more like a great shrine than a residence. The steep angles of the structure would have made it difficult to sneak in from above.
Kyoshi mentally slapped herself once she realized she was casing the home of the Fire Lord. The old habits of the Flying Opera Company were sprouting from her head like dormant seeds after a fresh rain.
“Do you know where we’re supposed to touch down?” Jinpa said, interrupting her reverie. “I’m a little wary of flying over the wall. I’m guessing that families who own mounted crossbows tend not to like that sort of thing.”
“The main gate, but not too close.” As a former servant Kyoshi knew that the higher classes liked their visitors to enter their residences in just the right manner, to be awed and cowed by a well-designed display of culture and power. And the ruling family of the Fire Nation was the highest class it got.
Yingyong settled on the avenue that bisected the stone ring. They dismounted to walk the rest of the way to the gatehouse. On the ground, the bison had a bouncing gait from his single foreleg that made it hard for riders to stay in the saddle. Luggage would get thrown off his shoulders if it wasn’t securely tied down. They came to the heavily barred, unbendable iron gate.
There were no slats, viewholes, or other means to show themselves. Kyoshi wondered if she was supposed to knock before a grinding metal noise broke the awkward silence. Somewhere inside, the gears of heavy machinery bit into each other, groaning with friction. The gate moved, not outward or inward, but straight up.
A girl stood on the other side, revealed by inches, as if she were too much person, too much force for any one mortal to handle all at once. Sometimes Kyoshi believed that. In her mind, the grand scape of Caldera City and the royal palace was nothing compared to the splendor being unveiled right now.
The gate finished its agonizing journey with a heavy metallic slam. The archway inside was lit with torches, none of which shone as bright as the pair of bronze eyes that flickered over Kyoshi from head to toe. Other than wearing the armor of a higher-ranking officer that had fewer spikes and overhanging flaps and more gold trim, Rangi looked the same. Her ink-black hair had grown back to its usual length. Her posture was as stiff and unyielding as Kyoshi remembered.
And she still wrapped herself in the same air of unquestionable superiority. To be in Rangi’s presence was to not meet her standards. A mere few seconds of silence were enough to make Kyoshi tremble.
Her worst fears pushed their way to the forefront. Enough time had passed that Rangi might have changed into Kyoshi’s former. Former teacher, former bodyguard, former ... everything. The stillness of the moment was broken by a strange noise that Kyoshi had heard only once before. Rangi laughing and choking at the same time.
The Firebender slumped over, leaning her hand against the nearest wall, and gasped for breath like she’d been holding it since the gate cracked open. “I had to sprint over here ... all the way across the grounds ... so I could look impressive greeting you,” she wheezed. “I must be out of shape.”
The bands snapped from around Kyoshi’s heart, giving it room to beat once more. “Is that how you’ve been doing it?” The whole time they’d known each other, Rangi would often be waiting for her, ridiculously early, or she’d suddenly and dramatically appear out of nowhere at the last minute. Knowing she’d simply been running at top speed from place to place hurt the mystique a little.
Rangi grinned and nodded as she caught her breath. “At least I don’t have to worry about other Fire Nationals seeing me right now. The only blind spot in the defenses is right here, directly under the gate itself. Which means I can do this.”
She reached up and yanked Kyoshi inside the wall, right into a searing kiss.