The heat in the volcano's belly had become unbearable. The air was dry, suffocating, and smelled thick of sulfur and burnt stone. Each breath scraped their throats. Alec and Zuko stood at the edge of a rocky ledge, both soaked in sweat, chests rising and falling with exertion. Their clothes clung to them like wet cloth under the punishing heat.
Below them stretched a vast lava pool — a glowing sea of molten rock that churned and bubbled with slow, threatening rhythm. The surface wasn't still; it rolled like thick syrup, alive with pressure. Ribbons of orange and red danced along the cracks, while the edges glowed bright gold. Every so often, a deep groan echoed from within, followed by the violent hiss of rising gas. Occasionally, globs of lava popped and sprayed into the air, trailing smoke before splashing back down.
They had been searching for a way out for almost an hour now, pushing deeper into the volcano's belly. But the more they searched, the more they realized they were going in circles. The walls were too steep to climb. The tunnels behind them had collapsed. Time was slipping through their fingers.
Zuko kicked a loose rock into a nearby lava pool. It hissed, sizzled, and vanished beneath the glowing surface.
"This isn't working," he muttered. "We're running out of time."
Just then, Alec's eyes caught something in the far distance — a cave entrance hidden behind a curtain of steam rising from the lava. It wasn't large, but it was their only hope.
"There," Alec said, pointing toward it. "It leads somewhere. But…"
He didn't need to finish. The problem was obvious. Between them and the cave was a wide, bubbling lava pool. There were no natural paths. No solid rocks to jump across. Just liquid fire.
Zuko stared at it, jaw clenched. "We can't wait. The sulfur in the air is getting thicker. We'll pass out before we find another route."
"We need a way to fly across," Alec said, shielding his mouth with his sleeve. "Or glide."
Zuko turned to him slowly. "I have an idea. It's crazy, but it might work."
"I'm listening."
"I'll use short firebursts from my feet to lift us over the lava — like a blast jump. I've done it before, but not carrying anyone. If you ride on my back and focus on lowering the temperature around us — but not beneath our feet — we might just make it."
Alec raised an eyebrow behind his blindfold. "You're offering me a ride across a lava lake on your back using untested foot-blasts… while I'm controlling the heat bubble?"
Zuko smirked faintly. "Pretty much."
Alec sighed. "Alright. But don't drop me. I'd rather not become soup."
Zuko crouched slightly, letting Alec climb onto his back. Alec adjusted his position carefully, wrapping his arms around Zuko's shoulders without putting pressure on his burn from earlier.
"Try to keep the heat off my chest," Zuko said. "That's where it hurts most."
"I'll do what I can," Alec replied, already starting to focus his heat manipulation. He let a thin field of cooled air surround both of them — just enough to keep the worst of the temperature away from their bodies.
Zuko took a deep breath.
Then launched.
His feet blasted fire downward in tight, focused bursts, and they shot up off the ledge. Alec held on tightly, eyes squeezed shut behind the blindfold. The air whooshed past their ears, the heat from the lava below curling around them.
Halfway across, disaster struck.
The lava beneath them bubbled violently — and without warning, a thick column of molten rock exploded upward, right in their path.
"Zuko—!" Alec shouted.
Zuko tried to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough. Alec felt his grip falter.
Thinking quickly, Alec thrust his hand forward and released a sharp jet of flame, angled against the direction of the blast. The fire helped push them away from the rising lava and toward the cave's edge.
They hit the ground hard. Zuko landed first, dropping to one knee with Alec still clinging to his back.
For a second, they were still.
Alec jumped off is back and was about to Congratulate Zuko for safe entry but his words were stuck at the back of his throat when he turned his head toward him.
He saw Zuko collapsed forward, his chest scorched black , cloth burned and pained expression of his face. Apparently, during the sudden lava burst quite an amount of molten successfully hit Zuko's chest.
Alec rolled off and rushed to his side. "Zuko?"
Zuko groaned but didn't get up. His body trembled, and his face twisted in pain.
Alec leaned over and quickly pulled open his tunic. A large burn mark had spread across his chest — red and blistering.
"Damn it," Alec muttered. "You took the hit… and still made the landing."
Zuko didn't respond. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing shallow.
Alec tore a strip from his already worn sleeve and soaked it with what little clean water remained in his canteen. He gently pressed it against the burn, cooling the area as best he could. Then he used his heat manipulation to lower the temperature around the wound, careful not to cool it too quickly. He carefully removed small pieces of cooled lava from his chest lest he might get infected.
"It's going to hurt, but you'll be okay," Alec said softly, more to reassure himself than Zuko.
He worked carefully, stabilizing Zuko's condition. The wound was serious, but not fatal. At least, not yet.
Once he was finished, Alec sat back, exhausted, the cave's ceiling dripping with moisture from steam trapped inside.
He looked down at Zuko, who lay unconscious on the cave floor, his chest wrapped in makeshift bandages. His breathing was shallow but steady. The blast from the lava had left angry red burns across his chest, but the worst had been avoided — thanks to Alec's cooling and fast reaction.
But it wasn't Alec who had saved them.
It was Zuko — stubborn, determined Zuko — who had pushed his body past its limits and launched them both across the deadly lava pool. Even with molten rock flying at them and poison in the air, he'd made sure Alec landed safely before his own body gave out.
Alec stared at him, his expression tight with emotion.
"You're a stubborn idiot," he muttered under his breath. "But a brave one."
He looked around the cave. The tunnel was narrow but seemed to stretch further ahead. Black rock walls closed around them like ribs, and the ground was uneven and cracked from old lava flows. It wasn't immediately clear where they were — just that they were still inside the volcano, somewhere deep below the temple.
Alec's thoughts spiraled. His ribs still ached. His head throbbed from the heat and exhaustion. His energy was low, and now he had an unconscious prince to carry through a hostile environment.
"We don't even know where we are in this volcano," he said aloud, more to vent than anything. "We're not in shape to fight or climb, and we're running low on everything."
He gritted his teeth, pressing a hand against his side. His body wasn't holding up well. Between the earlier fight and the heat, he was close to burning out.
"This place is a death trap," he whispered bitterly.
Then, somewhere in the stillness of the cave, he remembered something Iroh once said — half joke, half wisdom: "When the spirits close a door, they often leave a window open."
Alec gave a tired chuckle. "If that's true, I could really use a window right now…"
Suddenly, a soft chime echoed in his mind — a now-familiar sound he hadn't heard in days.
[Ding — Intense Emotional Spike Detected in Host.]
Alec blinked. "Oh no…"
[Emergency System Protocol Triggered:
Offer – HEALING TECHNIQUE: LEVEL 2
Cost – STRONG TEMPORARY SIDE EFFECT: Weakness (7 days).
Effective in: 2 hours. Strength will reduce to Level 3.]
He stared at the glowing message only he could see, hovering faintly in the air like floating firelight.
"Level 2 healing…" Alec whispered. "Enough to stabilize Zuko, maybe even give us a chance."
But the price was high.
Seven days of weakness. His body's strength dropped. Reactions slower. Fire output reduced.
In a volcano. With no clear exit.
But as he looked back at Zuko's pale face, Alec's answer was already clear.
He nodded. "Accept it."
[Healing Protocol Confirmed. Initiating cooldown. Activation in 2 hours.]
A warm sensation bloomed in his chest, spreading slowly outward. It didn't hurt — not yet — but Alec could feel the system gathering energy, preparing to force his body into an unnatural healing state.
He sighed and leaned back against the stone again.
"Two hours…" he said to himself. "Just hold on, Zuko. We're not dying down here."
He reached for his fan and rested it across his lap, then gently adjusted the cloth over Zuko's chest to make sure the bandages held.
"We'll get out," Alec said softly. "Somehow."