Chapter Eighteen
“Dragons, creatures of the purest magic, are not meant to exist in the mortal realm. Powerful enough to defy the gods who created them, they are at once Saviors and Destroyers of worlds…”
—From the lost oral fables of Immortals
Zai shot into the skies like he was born to it.
There was no fumbling or floundering. His flight came as naturally as breathing. In the back of his mind, buried memories rose—
Of a magical realm beyond even Immortals’ ken. Of clear skies lanced with rainbow bridges, mirror lakes and ponds, diamond rivers and lush, exotic gardens.
At the heart of soaring mountains whose peaks disappeared into wispy, floating clouds, stood a resplendent palace with a hundred glittering stone steps leading to its gigantic, golden entrance.
He recalled beautiful fairies and their tinkling laughter, crystal-winged dragonflies of kaleidoscopic colors flitting to and fro, and all kinds of mythical, magical creatures wandering the enchanted lands and resting in their hidden lairs.
Dragons lived here.
Of every Kind, shape and size. Of sky, earth and sea. And the rarest of all—the Celestial dragons withchimusin their foreheads.
They made their homes high in the mountains, deep beneath the earth or submerged in the Four Seas. A few of them even lived within the Jade Palace, including ashidinamed Cloud, an oriental jade green dragon who had come into being after Zai.
Zai himself had dwelled on top of one of the mist-covered mountains surrounding the Palace.
When he wasn’t soaring through the skies, he spent his time basking under the sun on a flat sheet of rock, his leathery wings wrapped around him to form an awning over his head so his nose didn’t burn.
He remembered being content.
There had been no worries, no pain, no pesky emotions at all. Solitude was all he craved. Only once in a while would he play with his dragon siblings or other magical creatures.
Time had no meaning in that realm. He simply existed and trained in the ways of dragons, and warriors in human form, as the Master, orShifu, bid. Preparing for the day that he would be sent into the mortal realm for a purpose that only the Jade Emperor and the Master knew.
It could be a day, an hour, or many years that he lived in a body chosen to house his inner dragon on Earth. He might not recall what he was as he existed on the mortal plane.
But, one day, when he was needed, his dragon would come out.
And then…
Zai shook his head and focused on the present.
He was dragon. He had a mission to accomplish. The human boy on his back would lead the way.
As he reached the top of the Fire Mountain and glided over the jagged crown of rocks that shielded a cratered plateau, he spotted the Dark One who stood defiant with fists clenched and feet braced apart on the shaking ground.
The earth cracked beneath the warrior’s feet, zigzagging from where he stood, radiating outwards in a spiderweb pattern. Rocks shook around him as if the mountain itself was a living thing. Loose pebbles all but hovered in the air as they trembled in agitation, inches above ground.
Zai realized then that the Dark contestant was creating the fissures. He was controlling the earth around him, making the Fire Mountain bubble with lava beneath the crust, making the earth split and boulders tumble.
The Dark One was bloody and bruised all over, his clothes in tatters, barely hanging onto his muscular frame. Somehow, despite having sustained heavy injuries, he was still standing.
He did not notice Zai’s approach for his attention was entirely focused on the flaming eagle that screeched in the distance, coming back around for another attack.
Zai’s instincts sharpened as his wings suddenly flapped backwards as he halted his descent, pulling him and his riders back—
Just as lances of hot lava erupted into the sky from the earth below, as the Elemental Dark One released an echoing roar.
Zai managed to avoid the worst of the missiles when he abruptly pulled back in flight, but he still had to dodge a few others with some nimble maneuvering or they would have speared through his torso and wings.
The Eagle King wasn’t so lucky.