Good. Follow me.
The dragon rose to his feet and, with an impossibly fluid, seamless motion, glided out of the cave.
Well, there was nothing else to do now. I was already in this up to my neck. The only way left was forward.
The second dragon was already waiting for me on the bridge... Or rather, the second dragoness. How had I figured that out? Hell if I knew. I simply knew that the dragon Ran was female… And thank all the gods and demons that I'd gone left instead of right. If she had eggs somewhere in that cave, I'd have been reduced to ash first and questioned afterward. I swallowed the lump in my throat. That had been close.
Meanwhile, the dragons began to dance.
Graceful, flowing movements, as though they were reshaping the world around them. I had seen those motions before in the spirit's memories, but back then they had merely been the recollections of an observer. Now the dragons were dancing for me, and I could feel something inside me responding to the dance—changing, demanding release.
And so I began to dance with the dragons.
No, not by repeating the sequence of movements I had seen in those same memories. I was creating something of my own. Similar, yes, but still different.
In some ways, it reminded me of how Iroh had taught me to breathe properly. The movements I had copied from him had been completely useless until he, as a teacher, corrected and adjusted my stance and motions with a dozen brief gestures, tailoring them specifically to me.
The dragons were doing much the same thing now, somehow adjusting my energy to their standards. Making me a dragon on an energetic level, if such a thing could even be said. The mass of power in my chest was burning unbearably now, but no—not yet. Something was still missing. One final touch.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the Lords of the Sky exhaled fire... Directly at me. And I inhaled. The flames howled around me in furious torrents, burning and destroying everything around me—and me along with it. I could feel them racing across my skin, sinking deep inside.
Seven shades of fire. The full spectrum of the rainbow, from rich crimson to deep violet. Every color carried its own meaning, its own properties. Its own influence upon the physical world and its own... mmm... proportion of spiritual power that needed to be poured into the flame to create that particular hue.
How foolish and naive my earlier thoughts about the nature of bending seemed now. A tool. A weapon. A science. Yes, bending was all of those things—and none of them. It was simply the way the children of this world interacted with the world itself.
Humans were outsiders here, strangers. They could only imitate, adopting the form but not the essence, copying outward manifestations while failing to grasp the truth within.
Those among us... no, among them now… who managed to peer a little deeper were called Great Masters.
But I was not entirely human.
And so the Teachers had been able to show me something far deeper, far more vivid.
Yet… one question still remained.
Why, possessing such power, did you allow yourselves to be slain by human benders?
Fire destroys. It clears the way for what comes after, came the answer.
And this time, I understood.
Now I understand. Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Father.
After all, what else was I supposed to call them when I had, in truth, been born anew in dragonfire?
You will need new scales, Shaw rumbled with amused mockery. Only then did I realize that I was standing completely naked. The dragons' fire had burned away everything except my sword… And even that would need its grip rewrapped.
While I was coming to terms with this unfortunate fact, the dragon disappeared into the cave and returned carrying one of the great sheets of his old shed scales.
Discarded though it was, it had lost neither its rich scarlet color nor its remarkable suppleness.
Thank you.
I bowed to the dragons.
Tell us of your achievements when the time comes, little one.
With that, the dragons took to the sky and returned to their caves, leaving me alone to admire the sunset. We had danced for nearly twelve hours, and I hadn't even noticed.
"You won't be disappointed. I promise."
I raised a hand and watched as the flame dancing across it shifted from vivid sunset-red to orange, then to yellow streaked with veins of green.
Well then.
They had shown me the essence of it all...
***
I returned to the ship well after nightfall.
It had taken some effort. The spectacle had attracted a great deal of interest from the locals, and while they had lacked the courage to approach when the dragons were still in the sky, the moment Ran and Shaw disappeared, the natives hurried off to investigate.
Personally, I had no desire whatsoever to be seen by them, so I executed a strategic evasive maneuver that ultimately turned into a naked sprint through the forest. Not an experience I'd recommend. And those damned mosquitoes and stinging nettles...
By the time I climbed aboard, I was exhausted, itching all over, and thoroughly irritated.
"Petty officer, my business here is finished. We're leaving."
"Aye, s— Commodore Chan, what happened to your eyes?" The sailor stared at me in shock. His expression was a mixture of disbelief, doubts about his own sanity, and something that looked suspiciously like either awe or terror.
"What do you mean?"
"They've turned amber, sir. And... if you look closely, your pupils are elongated..."
"A side effect of spending time with certain individuals. And one more thing, Petty officer."
"Yes, Herald?"
"We. Were. Never. Here. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." The warrior bowed. "Neither I nor any of my men will ever remember this place. You have my word."
"Excellent. Well then... let's go home."
"Aye, sir."
He snapped a salute and hurried off to oversee our departure, while I made my way to my cabin. I needed new clothes… And a mirror.
(End of Chapter)
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