...

"Left!"

"No, right!"

Ayika's shoes pounded against the cobble stones. At this point she was simply pumping her legs to keep her feet under her. Any spare thought was spent praying that no dark shadow was hiding a tilted paving-stone that would bring her ankle tumbling down. Her shorter strides had left her at the back of the group with Lili who despite possessing a more suitable runner's physique was obviously not accustomed to this kind of exercise. There were sounds of pursuit behind them. As a group they blew past an intersection down which Ayika could see a smashed compound gate surging with other shouting rioters. Some household less securely walled than the Gaoli's had suffered the overflow of tonight's ire. The gate looked like it had been broken with brute force.

Up the street behind them Ayika heard the crowd from the square thundering closer, still intent on chasing Mizumi. For a moment the sloped path became strait and the horde of pursuers caught sight of the five runners. The many headed beast roared out in incoherent anticipation. Then the road twisted and its prey were hidden again. They had to find a way to hide.

Xinfei slowed his pace slightly and fell back to the girls. He spoke between heavy breathing as they continued to run. "Next. other. crowd. Slow down. before. and we can. blend in. lose them." Ayika thought it was a good plan. The odds of outrunning the mob behind them were slim and they stood out on these empty streets. No one had seen their faces clearly when Mizumi made her display. They could just pretend to be other rioters. A couple dozen meters more and she saw the flickering light of torches shining on the walls of the next intersection. They hurriedly dropped to a walking pace and tried to round the corner at an inconspicuous pace. It would not do to be seen as panicked. The sound of yells and banging drew more distinct and in a last fit of inspiration Ayika reached up and whipped off Mizumi's Islander topknot ribbon just before they rounded the last compound wall. Mizumi grabbed at her hair in surprise but smiled gratefully when she realized what had happened.

On this street the five of them were joining an expression of patriotism already in progress. Some of the marchers had gotten their hands on paint and brushes. Now the tall walls around these rich merchant houses were covered with sloppily written condemnations of treachery and some anatomically improbable illustrations. Those protesters not preoccupied with their art were crowded around the broken front of a small building squashed in between two wealthy compound walls. It looked like it had been some sort of shop that catered to the residents of this neighborhood and thus had received special dispensation to open mercantile premises in the residential area. Maybe tonight that business acumen appeared as collaboration or the owner had been unlucky enough to leave some Islander fashions or products on display to those passing by. Other belligerents were across the street banging one of Gaoli's gas street-lamps with several long pieces of wood. None of these people were of the Initiated so that was not likely to amount to anything.

Several men were holding torches outside the remains of the shop and looked up at this advancing knot of youths. However, Xinfei and Xiaobao led them looking appropriately working class. They fit the expected demographics of a protest so no second thought was given to their companions. Together they moved closer, seeking to blend in with this group as camouflage from the mob that hunted them. Little bits of broken wood crunched under Ayika's feet, the remnants of window shutters or some other screen. For all the terror this night has inspired in her, the expressions on the faces of the men around her were not hate or fear, but joy, exaltation at this liberating expression of destruction. This was the Night of Veils played out with more passion. Those most confined by the rules and order of the city had burst forth in chaotic celebration of their own identity. But something twisted beneath the surface. Ayika tried to wrap her mind around this stray thought. Then someone bumped her and the sensation was gone but she remembered it well.

She grabbed at Mizumi's arm. "Something is not right. I...I don't know but we should get out of here."

Xiaobao looked over at her. "Not now. Look back." He pointed the way they had come. The intersection was filled with searching figures. They were yelling out about foreign spies lurking about. "Those folks are out for our blood. Any sight of running and they will chase. At least there aren't any of those Mask fellows over here." Xinfei nodded in agreement.

Ayika shook her head. The feeling of wrongness was intense. She felt the press of eyes looking down at her. Colored shadows shifting beyond the edge of her sight. "No that's just it, I can't explain it but they are near here! I just know and we need to move!"

Mizumi surreptitiously glanced around the street. "Ayika, what are you talking abou...oh zamat! There he is."

A new figure was climbing out of the smashed ruins of the shop's interior. There was the mask, blue and red with a great frowning brow, but its owner was holding it in his hands instead of wearing it. It was a young man Ayika did not remember seeing before. He was breathing heavily and as she watched he stumbled over the jagged hole smashed through the storefront. This was a far cry from the speed and power demonstrated by the Masks in the hilltop fight. He did not look capable of ripping metal with his hands. Ayika examined the young man's face. He was looking at the mask in his hands with some expression that was not reluctance and was not desire but was somewhere between the two. There was apprehension she had not seen when last she watched men holding those masks. Then bells began to ring out from the distance and his head snapped up with along with everyone else on the street. Every resident of the city recognized those harsh clanging bells. The city guards had arrived and they were closing down this district.

Lili exhaled in obvious relief. "Oh, thank all the spirits of the earth. The guards are finally here. What under heaven took them so long?!"

Xinfei was doing some mental risk calculation. "Ayika, I have reconsidered your suggestion and would like to change my vote to 'run'. Lets slip away right now. We can...WoahWa!"

The clamor of thick metal bars against heavy metal bells reverberated up the sloped roads and alleys from somewhere at the base of the hill. Echoes rose into the night from the distance to the left and to the right. Suddenly at her side Xinfei yelled in abrupt surprise and Ayika felt a sudden pit in her stomach but by the time she looked back the man with the mask was gone. Those rioters around where he had been looked like they had seen something that made them rethink their role here.

"Motherless son of a pig! What was that! He just..." Lili could really swear when she wanted to.

Ayika looked up and saw a leaping shadow moving across the rooftops in under the dim stars drowned in lamplight. A shadow that moved faster than any climbing man should manage. It was moving in the direction of the bells. All the on the street dissidents were erupting in divided opinion as to what to do now so it was easy to slide out of the group and around a corner. Mizumi nodded to Ayika and grabbed Xinfei's wrist as he stared at the roofs in disbelief. They ran through alleys in the night.

Down here at the foot of the Fifth Hill they had left the mansions and compounds of the great merchant families and were in the realm of prosperous but closely packed homes and businesses. Strangely it actually looked richer than the Hill proper since these residents could not afford set their homes behind tall walls. The streets were narrower as well since each block of buildings bulged out on the second floor to make the most of this valuable belt of real-estate. By the third floor the roofs almost kissed. Still, these narrow paths were deserted and Ayika thought they might get free of the cordon the guards were undoubtably setting up around the Hill. Then they reached a point where their chosen side-street joined a wider road that wove down from the Hill. Ahead they could see a wide intersection where numerous other streets and roads branched off and vanished between buildings and a drifting misty haze that tonight hid the unplumbable depths of the city. However, that view was quickly quickly hidden from them.

Two unarmed men stood at the mouth of their escape. They wore green robes badged with the circle and square of the government. Moving as one they smoothly sank into stances as their hands closed into fists. The men were twenty meters distant but every one of Ayika's friends froze like a knife was held to their neck. Distance mattered little to those who knew the magic of the earth. The two men stepped forward in unison and brought their arms up in sharp powerful motions. Answering the command of their bodies a large stone slab slid up out of the ground by magic power forming a solid wall three meters tall.

The earth rumbled under Ayika's feet as other stones shifted around beneath the surface to hold that new construction up. This street was sealed. Xinfei swore something foul and gestured down another small side-street. He said, "Damn it! They are raising the blocks already. Quick! We need to run now before they finish encircling this district! Why did the government choose tonight as the time to be competent?" Seeing Lili was as slow on the uptake as she was to catch her breath he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to a run as they darted away.

Lili was breathing heavily as she struggled to keep the pace. "Anyone. Want. To. tell. me. why. we are. running. from. the guards? I thought. that. was. what. we were. waiting for!" She managed as they stumbled down another dark alley. Every window and door was barred and shuttered. On a night like this no one would choose to look outside.

Ayika did not have the energy to explain to another rich girl why the guards were not your friends. "Mizumi?" She said. "How about you take this?"

The Fire Nation woman was quick in her response. "Your government suspects my involvement in murder and arson. Xinfei was badly beaten during an interrogation. And Ayika tried to slap a Public Safety agent." Huh, when Mizumi said it like that it sounded really bad.

"Wow," Lili said. "You guys. do have fun. don't you?" Under her panting she sounded impressed and a little envious. She was an odd girl that one.

They turned the next corner only to see another huge slab rise into place across the mouth of the street with final grinding rumble. "Damn it again!" Xinfei swore. An agile person could climb up the adjacent buildings and make it over the barricade but not even a fool would do so with government earthbenders waiting on the other side.

Xiaobao said, "Come on guys we have to keep trying." He looked around, obviously completely lost but wanting to make a show of reassuring leadership. "How about if we...wait, what is that? I thought I saw something." He was looking up the intersection towards the Hill. There was motion in the dark up the street. The distant gas-lights illuminated shapes like something rolling down hill. No person could run that fast. At least no normal person.

There was no way to answer how but Ayika knew what it was. Her gut twinged with fear. "Masks. They are coming to fight the earthbenders."

Mizumi was blanched even as her cheeks were colored with exertion. "How do we find our way out? Lili, you live here! You should know these streets!"

"I don't go walking! Father doesn't...there is always someone with me who knows the way!"

"Quick! Hide!" Xiaobao shoved them into a small alcove formed by some uneven architecture in the side of a building.

Suddenly at a nearby corner Ayika saw the shadows of another running figure. In the dim moon and distant lamplight she could just make out a dark robed shape and hear the sound of their boots on the street as they hurried away. That was not one of the Masks. They might be other fleeing protesters trying to escape the encirclement. Everyone would have to be trying to get out and this person moved like they knew a way. She yelled, "Come on, this way! We can follow them!"

Xinfei had missed sight of the fleeing protester and said, "What?" but Ayika was already running so he had no choice but to chase after her. Come to think of it, how was she able to identify that this dark shape was not one of the Masks? She was operating on pure instinct. She heard the click of nail shod boots ahead. There had not been much time for personal reflection. They were now dashing through a narrow alley. The moon was rising and she was grateful for the light.

Mizumi threw an arm upwards to point as she ran along. "I think I saw someone on the roof up there!"

"Another of those masked guys?"

Ayika knew it was not. "I don't think so!" She had thought that those masks exerted some sensation that everyone would notice but she seemed to be the only one who made note of it. A slight turning in the winding path between looming darkened apartments and she saw her way clear to a vacant misty street glowing faintly in the gleaming of the gibbous moon. Drifts of vapor made things slide in and out of view but she thought she could see the dark figure they had been following holding still far ahead, perhaps catching his breath. Soon that same unseasonable fog would hide him as well. She slid to a stop by a blank brick wall to gather up her friends. Back the way they had come yells and screams sounded out, punctuated with the sound of falling stone. It was the sound of a fight, one between those much more powerful than her.

Xiaobao came to a halt and looked at their potential escape path. "Fhew! That looks like a way out of the district! And no sight of guards or any..." He was cut off by some flying thing hitting him hard in the arm. There was the wiz of more dark shapes and clumps of living rock thudded and clamped into place around his wrists and ankles. With a sudden jerk Xiaobao flew back to smack against the flat brick wall with a loud impact.

"Wha..." Ayika barely had time to vocalize before there were more sounds in the night and something hard smashed into her forearms. Then something hit her shins and with a sudden whirl of disorientation a hard impact slammed into her back and knocked the breath out of her lungs. She was hanging on the side of the building like a mounted trophy next to Xiaobao, held tight by hard bonds on each limb. Two more thuds and Xinfei and Lili were similarly pinned to the wall. Lili was screaming. But one was still free. Somehow Mizumi managed to twist like lightning and avoid the first projectile striking down from above, leaving it smash agains the street. Ayika yelled out, "Mizumi! Just ru...!" But no matter how skillful the marital trained girl from foreign lands was the second attempt by their unseen assailant caught her. A shot from the night formed a manacle on her arm anchoring her to the air by invisible force. Her shoes scraped across the dirty alley floor as she tried to resist the draw but she was pulled back to the wall where Xiaobao was straining and pulling against the restraints with all his considerable might.

Somewhere to her left Xinfei cried out, "Ayika, if we...!"

Then the world turned black as there was a loud cracking sound and her patch of wall flipped around like it had been built on an oiled hinge. She was still hanging from her four stone shackles but when as her eyes adjusted she was inside some back stockroom of a shop. This she saw by the flaring light of a single candle lit by a sulfurous fire-stick. That light was held in the hand of the false gardener Ma'er. They were the captives of the rogue earthbender, the mask-hunter.

...

(Author's Note: I did not have time to do a full editing of this section so if there are mistakes please forgive them.)