Chapter 34: The Raid on Shuihan
The scream that tore through the harbor was like a knife slicing through the calm morning air. Yogan's head snapped toward the sound just as the first explosion rocked the docks. A merchant ship near the pier burst into flames, its mast collapsing onto the wooden walkway, sending panicked civilians scrambling.
"Spirits, what's happening?" Yogan shouted over the sudden roar of chaos.
Lian, already crouched in a defensive stance, scoffed. "You really don't know?"
Talia rolled her eyes. "Strong but stupid. Typical."
Rilo yanked a coil of water from the bay, his fingers twisting the liquid into a whip. "Pirates, Yogan. They're like the bandits we fought in Tamai, except they sail on ships and raid ports instead of hiding in forests."
Moi, flipping a dagger in his hand, snorted. "That's the dumbest explanation I've ever heard."
Lian nodded. "Pirates aren't just bandits with boats. They're killers. They don't just steal, they burn, slaughter, and take prisoners if they think they can sell them."
Yogan frowned. "But we fought Lady Kiya in Tamai. She was dangerous."
Rilo smirked. "Yeah, and she's no ordinary bandit. But pirates? They're worse. They don't care about territory or reputation, just gold and blood."
Before Yogan could respond, a group of pirates surged toward them, their cutlasses gleaming in the morning sun.
Moi's fish shack, already half-destroyed from their earlier scuffle, became their makeshift fortress. Talia slammed her palms onto the ground, and a wall of earth erupted, blocking a volley of arrows.
"Rilo, freeze the bastards!" Moi barked, hurling a dagger that embedded itself in a pirate's shoulder.
Rilo didn't hesitate. He dropped into a low stance, arms sweeping in a wide arc as he gathered seawater into a swirling vortex. With a sharp exhale, he snapped his wrists forward, the water surged like a serpent, wrapping around a dozen pirates before he clenched his fist.
The water turned to ice in an instant, encasing the men up to their chests. Their weapons clattered to the ground as they struggled against the frozen prison.
"Nice," Yogan muttered.
"Don't just stand there!" Talia snapped, kicking another pirate in the jaw. "They're everywhere!"
Yogan spun, spotting a group of fishermen cornered near a burning boat. Without thinking, he shot forward, airbending propelling him in a gust. He landed between the pirates and the fishermen, arms outstretched.
"Get back!" he ordered the fishermen.
One of the pirates, a hulking brute with a scar across his nose, laughed. "Look at this, some monk thinks he's tough."
Yogan exhaled sharply and thrust both palms forward. A concentrated blast of wind slammed into the pirates, sending them tumbling backward.
Kenshiro and Haru rushed in, grabbing the fishermen and hauling them toward safety.
"Yogan, we need to fall back!" Haru shouted.
"No, we can't let them take the docks!" Yogan argued.
"You're outnumbered, idiot!" Talia yelled from across the fray, crushing a pirate's sword hand with a well-placed rock.
The pirates weren't retreating. More kept coming, swarming from their ships like rats. Some carried torches, setting fire to the market stalls. Others dragged screaming women and children toward their boats.
Rilo cursed, realizing their mistake. "They're not just here to loot, they're taking slaves."
Yogan's stomach twisted. He had heard stories of slavers, but seeing it happen was different.
"We have to stop them," he said, voice low.
Lian wiped blood from her lip. "Then stop talking and fight."
The group regrouped, Talia and Lian forming an earthen barrier, Rilo and Moi guarding the flanks with water and knives, while Yogan, Kenshiro, and Haru pushed forward.
Yogan leapt onto a stack of crates, surveying the chaos. The pirates had the numbers, but they weren't organized. If they could break their momentum…
A spear whistled past his ear.
He turned just in time to see a pirate captain, a wiry, sunburnt man with a gold-capped tooth—smirking at him.
"You're the one causing trouble, eh?" the captain sneered.
Yogan didn't answer. He dropped into a bending stance.
The Captain Lunged
The pirate captain's blade flashed toward Yogan's throat, fast, brutal, and without hesitation. Yogan barely had time to react, but his body moved on instinct. He twisted mid-air, his robes flaring as he kicked out with a burst of wind.
WHOOSH!
The gust struck the captain square in the chest, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurtling backward. The man crashed into the hull of a nearby ship with a sickening 'THUD', his sword clattering to the dock.
Yogan landed lightly, chest heaving. He hadn't meant to hit him that hard.
Then...
"CITY GUARD! HOLD THE LINE!"
A sharp, commanding voice cut through the chaos.
Yogan turned just in time to see a squad of armored guards charging down the docks, their weapons drawn. At their head was Gan Ye, the short but lethal soldier they'd met earlier, the one who had escorted Mariko and Keru to Lord Jian Ye's estate.
Gan Ye moved like a storm given human form.
Gan Ye didn't waste time with orders. He dove straight into the fray, his curved sword a silver blur.
A pirate rushed him, swinging a crude axe. Gan Ye sidestepped, pivoted, and SLASH! his blade opened the man's forearm to the bone. The pirate screamed, dropping his weapon, but Gan Ye was already moving, spinning into a second pirate's guard and driving his knee into the man's ribs. Before the pirate could recover, Gan Ye's sword flicked upward, a clean cut across the throat.
His men followed his lead, forming a disciplined wedge, shields locked as they drove the pirates back.
But the raiders weren't retreating.
Instead, they grew more desperate.
A pirate near the storage houses roared, "BURN IT ALL!"
He hurled a torch into a stack of fish oil barrels.
BOOM!
The explosion sent a fireball rolling across the docks, swallowing fleeing civilians in its wake. Screams tore through the air as people, dockworkers, fishermen, children, scrambled in panic, some stumbling into the water, others cut down by pirates as they ran.
Yogan's vision turned red.
He took a step forward
"YOGAN!"
Rilo's hand clamped onto his shoulder, yanking him back.
"Let me go!" Yogan snarled.
Rilo's grip didn't loosen. "You're about to do something stupid."
"I have to help!"
"Then let me handle this," Rilo said, his voice low. "You want to see what a real waterbending master can do? Watch."
Yogan hesitated.
Rilo smirked, rolling his shoulders. "I didn't show much in Tamai or Daiyo. But today? Today, I'll show you why I'm worthy to teach you."
Then he stepped forward, toward the carnage.
Kenshiro and Haru exchanged glances.
"Why the hell hasn't Rilo taught you waterbending already?" Kenshiro asked, wiping blood from his lip.
Haru frowned. "Yeah, what's the holdup?"
Lian, standing nearby, blinked. "Wait, what? The boy's an airbender. Why would Rilo teach him waterbending?"
Moi, sharpening a dagger on his belt, grunted. "Yeah, that makes no damn sense."
Kenshiro opened his mouth, then froze.
Haru did the same.
A beat of silence.
Then, slowly, everyone- Lian, Moi, Talia, Kenshiro, Haru- turned to Yogan.
The airbender exhaled, watching Rilo stride toward the battle.
"It's… a long story," he said simply.
Then he turned back to the fight.
The moment Rilo stepped forward, the air around him seemed to shift. The pirates, still hacking their way through the chaos, barely noticed him at first, until the water beneath the docks began to tremble.
Rilo exhaled sharply, his arms sweeping outward in a smooth, practiced motion. The bay answered. A thick tendril of seawater lashed upward like a whip, cracking against the chest of the nearest pirate and sending him flying into two others. Without pause, Rilo twisted his wrist, and the water coiled back, forming a spiraling shield that deflected a volley of thrown knives.
Gan Ye, mid-swing as he cut down another raider, caught the movement from the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see Rilo flick his fingers, another whip of water snaked out, wrapping around a pirate's ankle and yanking him off his feet before slamming him face-first into the dock.
"Appreciate the assist," Gan Ye called, sidestepping a wild slash and driving his sword through the attacker's shoulder.
Rilo grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Haven't done this in a while. Mind if I take over? Get your men to fall back and clear the area."
"Fall back? Are you insane? These pirates have the docks surrounded, we pull out now, and they'll torch the rest of the ships!"
"And if your men keep charging in, they'll just get slaughtered. Look at them, they're exhausted. Let me handle this."
"Handle it? You're one man against thirty pirates!"
"You saw what I just did. I don't need to fight thirty. I just need to break their line."
"And if you fail?"
"Then you get to say 'I told you so' while we all burn. But I won't."
Gan Ye with teeth gritted, glancing at his wounded men. "Fine. But if this goes wrong, I'm not dragging your corpse out of the water."
"Wouldn't expect you to."
Gan Ye hesitated for only a second before nodding. He barked an order, and the guards immediately began disengaging, pulling back to form a defensive line while ushering civilians toward safety.
Rilo didn't wait.
He dropped into a lower stance, his fingers flexing as he gathered more water. This time, he didn't just pull from the bay, he summoned it from the air itself, the morning mist condensing into shimmering ribbons around his arms. With a sharp thrust, he sent twin jets of water spearing forward, each one striking a pirate square in the chest with enough force to crack ribs.
One raider, smarter than the rest, lunged at him from behind with a jagged dagger. Rilo didn't even turn. He flicked his elbow back, and a whip-thin stream of water snapped like a lash, disarming the man before curling around his throat and yanking him off balance.
Gan Ye watched, impressed despite himself, as Rilo moved like the tide itself, fluid, relentless, and utterly without mercy.
Two more pirates charged him at once. Rilo pivoted, his foot skimming the ground as he dragged a wave of water up in a sweeping arc. It hardened mid-air into a jagged wall of ice, blocking their path. Before they could react, he clenched his fist, the ice shattered into a hail of needle-sharp shards, peppering them like arrows.
A sixth pirate, braver or perhaps more foolish, raised a flail and roared as he barreled forward. Rilo exhaled, almost lazily, and the water at his feet surged upward in a spiraling column. It engulfed the man, swirling violently before Rilo snapped his fingers…
CRACK.
The water froze instantly, trapping the pirate in a solid block of ice up to his neck.
Gan Ye whistled low under his breath. "Damn."
Rilo wiped his brow, glancing back at him. "Told you I had it handled."
Gan Ye nodded, signaling his men to keep pulling back. "Just don't drown the whole damn pier."
Rilo smirked. "No promises."
And then he was moving again, the water bending to his will like an extension of his own body.
The last of the city guards and civilians had pulled back, leaving Rilo standing alone on the blood-slick docks. The pirates, now realizing they had been abandoned by their prey, turned their full attention to the lone waterbender.
One of them, another hulking brute with a rusted cleaver, spat on the ground and grinned. "Look at this. One little water rat thinks he can take us all?"
Another, a wiry man with a face full of scars, chuckled. "Maybe he's got a death wish."
Rilo said nothing. His fingers twitched at his sides, the morning mist clinging to his skin like a second layer. The bay behind him rippled, sensing his readiness.
The first pirate lunged, swinging a spiked club in a wide arc. Rilo sidestepped, his body tilting just enough to let the weapon whistle past his face. At the same time, his left hand flicked upward, a thin whip of water snapped from the dock's edge, wrapping around the man's wrist. A sharp tug, and the pirate yelped as his arm was wrenched sideways, the club clattering to the ground.
Before the man could recover, Rilo pivoted, his right foot skimming the surface of the dock. A surge of water erupted beneath the pirate's feet, lifting him off the ground before crashing him back down hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.
Two more pirates rushed him from opposite sides. Rilo dropped low, his palms slapping against the wood. Twin geysers of water burst upward, intercepting the attackers mid-stride. One managed to twist away, but the other took the full force of the jet to his chest, ribs audibly cracking as he was hurled backward.
The remaining pirates hesitated for just a moment, long enough for Rilo to straighten, rolling his shoulders as he surveyed the crowd. There were still too many. A hundred at least, maybe more.
A volley of arrows suddenly rained down from the pirate ships. Rilo reacted instantly, his arms crossing in front of him as he summoned a swirling shield of water. The arrows struck the liquid barrier and stuck fast, suspended like insects in amber. With a grunt, Rilo twisted his wrists, the shield exploded outward, sending the arrows flying back toward their owners. Screams erupted from the ships as several pirates fell, clutching at feathered shafts now embedded in their flesh.
The distraction cost him. A massive pirate, taller than the rest and wielding a crude anchor chained to his wrist, barreled into him from the side. Rilo barely managed to turn the charge into a glancing blow, but the impact still sent him skidding across the dock. His back hit a stack of crates, wood splintering under the force.
Gritting his teeth, Rilo pushed himself up just as three more pirates closed in. He could feel the fatigue setting in, waterbending on this scale wasn't something he'd done in years. But he couldn't stop now.
The first attacker swung a curved dagger. Rilo ducked, letting the blade pass over his head as he drove his elbow into the man's gut. At the same time, he kicked outward, a thin blade of water slicing through the air to slash across the second pirate's thigh. The man howled, collapsing as blood seeped through his trousers.
The third pirate was smarter. He hung back, waiting for Rilo to commit before lunging with a spear. Rilo saw the movement too late, the spear tip grazed his side, drawing a thin line of red across his ribs.
Snarling, Rilo clenched his fist. The water still clinging to the dock from his earlier attacks surged upward in a dozen needle-thin spikes, impaling the spearman through his outstretched arm. The pirate screamed, dropping his weapon as he stumbled back.
But more were coming. Always more.
Rilo could see them now, regrouping, spreading out to flank him. He was tiring, and they knew it.
A fresh wave of pirates charged, their weapons gleaming in the morning light. Rilo braced himself, calling the bay's water to him once more.
This wasn't over yet.
Rilo spat blood onto the dock, his black robes clinging to his body from seawater and sweat. His long black hair, now half-loosened from its tie, stuck to his face in wet strands. A fresh cut above his eyebrow dripped crimson down his temple, mixing with the saltwater running down his jaw.
The pirates circled him like sharks, their weapons glinting. One, a bald brute with a serrated knife, lunged first. Rilo barely twisted away in time, the blade still grazed his ribs, splitting fabric and skin. Blood welled instantly, staining his dark robes even darker.
He grinned through the pain.
"Missed this," he rasped.
Then he moved.
His hands snapped up, fingers curling like claws. The bay erupted.
A column of water thicker than a man's torso exploded from the surface, crashing into the bald pirate with enough force to cave in his chest. Bones cracked like wet timber as the man was launched backward, crashing through three others before his ruined body slid into the water.
The remaining pirates hesitated.
Rilo didn't.
He swept his arms in a wide arc, the water responding like a living thing. Tendrils lashed out, wrapping around limbs, and squeezed. A pirate screamed as his arm was crushed to pulp inside a liquid vise, the sound cut short when another whip of water snapped his neck sideways with a sickening pop.
Blood sprayed across the docks.
Two pirates charged from opposite sides. Rilo dropped low, his palm slapping the wooden planks. The water beneath the dock surged upward in twin spears, impaling both men through their stomachs. They hung there for a second, mouths gaping silently, before Rilo flicked his wrist, the water spears detonated, showering the area in gore.
A throwing axe whirled toward his head.
Rilo didn't dodge.
He caught it mid-air with a water-whip, reversed its momentum, and sent it screaming back. The axe buried itself in the thrower's face with a wet thunk, splitting his skull down to the jaw.
The remaining pirates, maybe fifty now, started backing away.
Rilo advanced, his breathing ragged but his movements precise. Every step left bloody footprints on the soaked wood.
"Come on," he growled, flexing his fingers. Water dripped from his hands like liquid claws. "I'm just getting started."
The pirates circled him like sharks, their weapons glinting. One, a bald brute with a serrated knife, lunged first. Rilo barely twisted away in time, the blade still grazed his ribs, splitting fabric and skin. Blood welled instantly, staining his dark robes even darker.
He grinned through the pain.
"Missed this," he rasped.
Then he moved.
His hands snapped up, fingers curling like claws. The bay erupted.
A towering column of seawater, thick as a tree trunk and glittering with the rising sun, shot into the sky and arced with deliberate grace over the pier. The pirates paused, heads tilting upward, eyes widening.
Rilo dropped both arms like a conductor of a storm.
CRASH!
The wave collapsed on them like a god's hammer, slamming pirates off their feet, sending them tumbling into crates, masts, and each other. Wood shattered. Screams rose. Bodies flew.
But Rilo wasn't done.
He pivoted on one heel and drew in the mist from the harbor like a breath. It spiraled into his outstretched arms, thickening, darkening. With a guttural shout, he snapped his arms wide.
The mist exploded outward in a blinding, stinging shroud, obscuring vision for everyone but him. Pirates flailed blindly. Some screamed, some ran.
Not fast enough.
From within the fog, tendrils of water lashed out like serpents. One seized a leg and yanked its owner high into the air, slamming him against a wall. Another coiled around two pirates at once and dragged them off the dock into the sea.
A pirate captain, a lean man with a black eye and tattoos snaking down his arms, emerged from the mist, screaming, "Kill him! He's just one man!"
Rilo stepped through the fog, his eyes glowing faint blue. Water trailed in ribbons from his fingertips. He was soaked, bloodied, but stood like a pillar in the heart of a storm.
"Just one man?" he repeated, voice flat.
The sea behind him surged.
Then it roared.
A wave taller than a house, churning with debris and lined with froth, rose behind him like a living wall. Rilo raised both arms, and the wave froze solid in mid-air.
Gasps and panicked screams filled the air. Even the pirates faltered, feet skidding.
With a single downward gesture, Rilo sent the ice-wave crashing forward, not as water, but as a grinding, jagged avalanche of death. It thundered down the docks, smashing through barricades, masts, and pirates alike. Only those lucky enough to dive into the water survived the pass.
He bent low and thrust one hand forward. The sea responded again, drawing itself upward into a serrated crest, which he launched like a bladed fan. It sliced through ropes, sails, and weapons.
One pirate tried to flee to his ship.
Rilo pointed two fingers. The water beneath the pirate's boat hardened into jagged spears, lifting and tilting the ship before it snapped in half, sending the pirate tumbling into the bay.
Up the pier, Gan Ye and his guards looked on with stunned awe. The city soldier who'd argued with Rilo earlier stood slack-jawed.
"Spirits…" Gan Ye muttered. "He's not a waterbender. He's a tidal force."
Down near the warehouse, a group of pirates tried a coordinated assault. Ten men, armored, disciplined, moving in formation.
Rilo saw them coming.
He lifted his foot and stomped.
From the seawall, a wave burst upward, high and wide, but it didn't crash down, it curved inward, forming a dome over the advancing soldiers. A breath later, he froze it, sealing them in a translucent prison.
Their screams echoed dully inside.
Still more came. Still he moved.
A sweeping arc of his arms and the sea bent sideways. A horizontal wave flowed down the dock like a river turned on its side, sweeping away pirates like leaves before the wind.
Another thrust of his arms and a vertical spiral of water lifted him into the air. He stood atop the whirlpool, surveying the battlefield, cloak trailing behind him, saltwater dripping from his chin.
Dozens of pirates lay unconscious or moaning. Others fled. A few ships had already cast off, sails unfurling in desperate retreat.
"Cowards!" shouted one of the remaining captains, brandishing a flame-slicked sword. "We fight 'til…"
Rilo snapped his fingers.
A column of water launched upward from beneath the man, catching him in the gut and launching him clean off the dock. He didn't resurface.
Now silence fell.
Except for the groan of splintered wood and the crackle of lingering flames, the battle was over.
Rilo descended from his watery perch, stepping onto the slick dock with heavy breath. His arms trembled. His hair was plastered to his face. Blood still trickled down his ribs.
But his eyes burned with life.
Kenshiro, Haru, Yogan, and the others ran forward, stunned.
Talia blinked. "Is he… even human?"
Lian, hands at her sides, whispered, "No. That's a master. That's what it means to own your element."
Yogan approached, staring at the bodies, the wreckage, the still-spinning whirlpools Rilo hadn't even fully dissipated.
"You never showed this before," he said.
Rilo exhaled. "Didn't need to."
"Why now?"
Rilo looked at him, eyes steady.
"Because it wasn't about me. Not anymore."
And behind him, the sea calmed.
The docks were still. The scent of fire and salt hung thick in the air. Broken crates floated beside shattered ships, their cargo leaking into the bay like the last breath of a dying storm.
Rilo stood at the center of it all, water still coiled loosely around his wrists like silk threads unraveling from a loom. He was bleeding, hunched slightly, but unbowed. The sea obeyed his breath.
All around him, the crowd began to emerge.
From behind carts, barrels, and shattered stalls, civilians crept forward with wide eyes and hushed voices. Mothers clutched children. Fishermen stared open-mouthed. Shopkeepers with soot-streaked faces pressed against the edges of the broken marketplace.
And amongst them, unnoticed, stood a figure wrapped in a thick black hood, face hidden in shadow. He said nothing. Made no move to help. Just watched, silent, still, and hungry.
At the edge of the pier, Gan Ye approached with his guards. His armor was scorched. His blade still dripped. But his posture was proud as he strode toward Rilo.
"You turned the tide," Gan Ye said plainly, stopping just short of the waterbender. "Without you, this would've ended up with a lot more casualties."
Rilo didn't reply at first. He just stood there, chest rising and falling. The silence stretched until he finally grunted, "Wasn't doing it for the praise."
Gan Ye cracked the faintest smile. "Then accept our gratitude anyway. Shuihan owes you more than words."
Behind him, the guards began helping civilians, ushering them to safety, tending to the wounded. Yogan stepped up beside Rilo, still watching him with quiet awe. Kenshiro and Haru were behind him, speaking to Talia and Lian in low, uncertain tones. The scattered group was gathering again, bloodied, burned, bruised… but alive.
The black-hooded figure shifted slightly in the crowd, just enough to watch their faces. His gaze lingered not on Rilo, but on Yogan.
On the airbender with steady feet and eyes that still scanned for danger, even in peace.
Then he turned slightly, speaking so low only the wind would have heard it.
"A strong one," he said. His voice was calm, amused. "I guess this will be more fun than I thought… Shen."
He turned, slipping through the press of stunned civilians like smoke curling from dying flames.
By the time anyone might have noticed him, he was already gone.
[A/N: Can't wait to see what happens next? Get exclusive early access on patreon.com/saiyanprincenovels. If you enjoyed this chapter and want to see more, don't forget to drop a power stone! Your support helps this story reach more readers!]