Night had fallen by the time the group returned to the surface. The climb out of the altar chamber had been silent, the only sounds being the shifting of stone and their own uneasy breaths. The skies above Crescent Island were clear now, but the stars seemed dimmer—like the darkness they'd left behind below had followed them upward.
Appa waited by the cliffside, lowing gently as the group approached. Momo flew down from the trees, chirping excitedly, but even his usual hyper energy didn't last. He landed on Aang's shoulder and nestled in, ears drooping.
They didn't speak much as they loaded onto the sky bison. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Varu stood at the edge of the cliff a moment longer than the others, gazing out to sea, the wind tugging at the loose ends of his robe. He raised his hand briefly, as if feeling something in the wind. Then, without a word, he turned and climbed aboard Appa.
The ride back to the mainland was quiet.
Aang sat at the front with his glider across his lap, his brow furrowed. Katara sat behind him, watching the back of his head, worry pooling in her stomach like a heavy stone. Toph lay flat on her back, arms crossed behind her head, pretending to be asleep. Sokka gnawed on dried meat jerky and muttered to himself occasionally about cursed caves and haunted fire temples. Zuko stood by the saddle's edge, arms crossed, the cool air snapping at his cloak.
And Varu simply stared up at the stars. Not as if he admired them—more like he was waiting for them to vanish.
They landed by morning near the coast of the Fire Nation mainland. A messenger hawk from White Lotus headquarters had been waiting for them, perched on a worn post just outside a coastal town.
Aang unrolled the scroll.
"Avatar Aang. Your presence is urgently requested at the Eastern Spirit Shrine. Disturbances have worsened. One spirit has manifested in the mortal realm uninvited. It is not responding to pacification. We believe it is connected to the imbalance you reported. Come quickly. — Master Iroh."
Aang read the message aloud, and by the time he finished, the others were already gathering their things.
"Guess the vacation's over," Sokka muttered.
"No vacation ever includes haunted spirit attacks," Katara replied flatly.
"I don't know, our last vacation involved pirates and cactus juice," Toph said.
"This could be serious," Aang said, rolling the scroll up. "Spirits don't just wander into the physical world uninvited. Not unless they're being pushed."
Zuko nodded grimly. "We go to the shrine."
The journey inland took another half-day by sky bison. As they flew over the hills and forests, signs of disruption began to appear—animals running from the treelines, burned-out patches of earth that had not come from fire, but from something else entirely. The land looked as if the life had been leeched out of it.
They reached the Eastern Spirit Shrine by dusk.
The shrine was once a sacred place of meditation—a circle of ancient stones nestled between twin cliffs, where the veil between the physical and spirit realms was said to be thin. Normally, it would be surrounded by monks and quiet pilgrims.
Now it was surrounded by soldiers.
Fire Nation guards in crimson and gold armor formed a perimeter, weapons at the ready. But it was clear they weren't in control. Some looked rattled, others visibly shaken. A few had their armor partially melted, as if something impossibly hot—and impossibly fast—had struck them.
A familiar voice called out.
"About time you showed up."
Iroh stood near the shrine's entrance, flanked by two White Lotus members. He looked older than Aang remembered, his white beard a bit longer, his posture a bit slower—but his eyes were as sharp as ever.
Aang rushed forward. "Master Iroh. What's happening?"
Iroh's expression was grave. "A spirit has broken through. It calls itself Na'li. But it does not behave like any spirit I've ever seen. It doesn't speak. It doesn't communicate. It simply exists. And wherever it moves… silence follows."
Toph tilted her head. "Silence?"
"Not just noise," Iroh said. "Sound. Movement. Color. Birds stopped singing. Flames froze in place. Even air stopped moving."
They all exchanged nervous glances.
"Where is it now?" Aang asked.
Iroh gestured to the stone circle.
Na'li stood at the center.
Or rather—floated.
It looked vaguely humanoid, but its body was translucent, like black glass. Violet light shimmered beneath its surface. Its head had no eyes, only a crackling glow where a face might have been. Its limbs drifted in slow motion, as though underwater, but its presence was anything but peaceful.
As Aang stepped into the circle, he felt it instantly.
Pressure.
A weight pressing down on his shoulders and chest—not from gravity, but from something spiritual. The presence made his skin crawl. It wasn't rage. It wasn't malice.
It was emptiness.
Like the universe had folded inward and left something behind.
He stepped closer. "Na'li," he called. "Can you hear me?"
The spirit twitched.
The air went still.
Katara gasped. Her breath had frosted over. The sky around them began to dim, though no clouds moved.
Aang closed his eyes and reached out—not with his body, but with his spirit.
He stepped forward into the Spirit World.
Everything was gray. Washed out. The landscape was the same shrine, but twisted, quieter. Duller.
Na'li turned toward him.
Now he could feel it fully.
It wasn't a spirit born from an animal or natural force. It wasn't a fusion of emotion or balance like the Moon and Ocean.
It was a wound.
A fragment.
A sliver of something left behind when the seal broke.
"You're not supposed to be here," Aang said.
Na'li tilted its head.
"Were you sealed too?" he asked.
Na'li didn't respond.
But it showed him.
A rush of images poured into Aang's mind—spirits fleeing, darkness oozing from broken stone, temples cracking open, and one single altar glowing with light that wasn't light, being pierced by something—someone.
Varu.
Varu stood in the vision, his hand pressed to the altar, screaming as something tore through him.
Aang staggered back, eyes wide, yanked from the vision as his physical body stumbled in the real world.
Zuko caught him. "What did you see?"
"Na'li… it's a piece of something," Aang whispered. "Not a full spirit. A fragment. Like Varu, but… raw."
Katara stepped forward. "Is it dangerous?"
Before Aang could answer, the ground shook.
Na'li twitched again—and let out a low hum that vibrated the entire shrine.
Cracks split the stone beneath it, and darkness poured from the fractures—not smoke, but strands of shadow that reached like tendrils.
Toph slammed her foot down, raising a wall of stone between the team and the creature.
"Yup, that's dangerous!" she shouted.
Aang took a deep breath and stepped into the Avatar State.
His tattoos lit up with bright blue light, pulsing against the creeping shadow. He floated above the ground, eyes glowing.
Na'li hissed, a sharp sound that split the air like glass.
Aang raised both hands and drew the elements to him—fire, water, earth, and air circled around him in a glowing spiral. He spoke with a voice that echoed with the weight of generations.
"You do not belong here," he declared.
Na'li shrieked again and surged forward.
The battle was sudden and sharp—Na'li moved like a shadow, shifting midair, slashing with tendrils that sliced through rock and flame alike. Aang countered with bursts of water and fire, redirecting strikes with fluid precision. Zuko joined in, lashing blue fire across the field while Katara froze shadow tendrils mid-lash.
Toph cracked the ground beneath it, trying to contain its movements, but Na'li defied gravity, floating above her traps.
Then, without warning—Varu stepped into the shrine.
"ENOUGH," he said, his voice echoing unnaturally.
Na'li paused.
For the first time… it seemed to recognize him.
Varu raised his hand. His shadow stretched behind him, reaching out like a bridge. Na'li responded, its body rippling as if answering a command. The two shadows touched.
A pulse of darkness surged.
Then—Na'li vanished.
Gone. No smoke. No echo. Only the faintest ripple in the air.
The team stood in stunned silence.
Aang lowered to the ground, the glow fading from his eyes.
"What just happened?" Katara whispered.
Varu turned toward them, face blank.
"She was a shard," he said. "A remnant. Drawn through the breach we opened. There will be more."
Zuko clenched his jaw. "And you can control them?"
"No," Varu replied. "But they know me. As one of their own."
Sokka rubbed his temples. "I'm starting to think sealing stuff away forever isn't the worst idea."
Aang stepped forward, looking at the place Na'li had stood.
"We need to reach the next altar," he said. "Now."
Katara nodded. "The Earth Kingdom's next."
Toph cracked her knuckles. "Time to wake up some more ghosts."
Varu looked up at the sky.
"No," he said quietly. "Not ghosts."
He turned, eyes glowing faintly.
"Echoes."
End of Chapter 4