The Hidden World

When everyone came to, Yuki called for a meeting. They all gathered around and waited for Yuki to start. Yuna noticed that none of them seemed curious or confused in any way. She must have been the only one out of the loop.

‘Well, I was out training and practicing with Laurel for much of my time in the city,’ she thought. ‘I guess she never found the opportunity to tell me.’

“This meeting will be brief,” Yuki announced. “I just want to catch Yuna up on our activities and course of action. Yuna?”

“Yes?” 

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I didn’t want to distract you from your training,” she explained. “Since it’s completed, though, I think you should know as soon as possible.”

“Ah. I understand,” Yuna nodded. “So what’s the plan?”

“We’re going to the dragons,” Yuki replied. “We’ll be traveling there with Ember guiding us. The reason why we’re going there is because of me. I need to meet with them.”

“Why?” Yuna asked. “What do dragons want with you?”

“They want to meet me,” Yuki said. “I am a lost kin of theirs. A child taken away from the cities as a little egg. That’s why they want to see me.”

Yuna froze for a moment, processing the words that Yuki had just said so nonchalantly. There was no preparation or warning. 

“You’re a lost kin?” she repeated slowly.

“Yes. I’m a dragon,” Yuki supplied with a nod. 

Rubbing her face, Yuna’s mind raced as her mental image of Yuki began to morph. She thought of the pictures of dragons she had seen in textbooks, large scaly lizard beings, and compared it with the beautiful silver eyed woman next to her. She knew that dragons can change forms, Ember was proof of that, but she still couldn’t see it.

“I thought you were an elf?” Yuna asked.

“I thought so too. Turns out, I’m not. It was a bit surprising initially,” Yuki said with a rueful smile. “I did expect something like that about my origins, but I didn’t expect that.”

“If it’s any help, I can confirm,” Ember piped up. “I know a dragon when I see one.”

“I saw her scaly form,” Akira offered.

“Scaly form?” Yuki frowned.

Yuna gave up and decided to just accept it. It was probably true. Yuki would never lie about such a thing. It would help explain a few things as well. Those things such as Yuki’s abnormal strength and mana capacity that was way beyond that of a normal elf.

“Okay. You’re a dragon,” Yuna nodded. “Why do they want to meet you though? Do they just want to greet you?”

“That, I’m not certain,” Yuki replied. She glanced at Ember. “Em, I’ve asked you before, but just tell Yuna what you told me.”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “The Dragon Council wants to meet Yuki because of a number of reasons. One is the fact that she is a child raised away from the cities. Other reasons are about what kind of dragon she is and her various activities in Libra. I don’t know, however, what they want or what they want to do.”

“What kind of dragon?”

“Yes. Um, Yuki, do you want me to explain or you?”

“I can do it,” Yuki said. “To put it simply Yuna, I’m a very unique kind of dragon. There are many different types of dragons. Each type represents an element. Ember is a fire dragon and uses fire magic for example. Sometimes, dragons can use multiple elements, but they still are either a fire dragon or a water dragon and so on. Me, on the other hand, am none of them.”

“What do you mean?” Yuna frowned. She wasn’t following.

“I represent all of the elements.” 

“All.”

“Yes. All. I can use every element,” Yuki said. “I can’t use them well though. It takes practice. Most elements I can just do a few things with them. The only ones I know well are earth, wind, and fire. I’ve been practicing my water.”

“That’s useful.”

“It is. You have any questions?”

“There’s not much to ask,” Yuna said. She thought for a while. “How long have you known?”

“I found out when I was in the Coliseum,” Yuki replied. 

“Oh. Alright. So we’re going to the dragons then. Are we walking there?”

“I don’t believe so,” Yuki said. “Ember, you said that you have a quick way to get to the dragons?”

“I do,” Ember nodded. “It’ll be the same way I got there.”

“Is it with magic?” Akira asked. “Some sort of teleportation device or spell?”

“No, it’s really simple. We’ll be flying over there,” she said. “I’m a dragon. I have wings. Might as well use them. Besides, I didn’t get much time to fly before so it felt great.”

“I haven’t flown in a while either,” Yuki said. 

“Now, I know that Erica, Mathali and Akira have wings though only Akira is built for long distance flights,” Ember listed. “Even with that, where we’re going is going to be quite a journey and chimaera’s don’t have the same stamina as dragons.”

“So what are our options?” Yuki asked.

“Well, while I was at one of the cities, I grabbed a few saddles. We’ll be giving them some rides. It’ll be faster that way.”

“Dragon riding?” Yuna said, her eyes widening. 

“Yes. The saddles are enchanted, so we can go pretty fast without having to worry about you guys,” Ember said. “You also don’t have to worry about staying on the saddle, it’ll do it for you.”

“How about me?” Yuki asked. “I don’t have experience giving people rides.”

“It’s fine. Just fly,” Ember smiled. “I’m sure you don’t fly like a drunkard. But if you really need tips, I can give them to you while we’re up in the sky.”

“Do you do this often?”

“Yeah, kind of. When dragons are tired, they’ll often ride on others. I have a lot more energy than most, so I’m usually the one giving rides.”

“Ah. Well, I guess that’s it then. Yuna, do you have any concerns or questions about what we’ve discussed?” Yuki asked. Yuna shook her head. “Then we’ll prepare to go then.”

They all stood up and followed Ember and Yuki as they walked toward a large clearing. Yuna watched Yuki, thinking about this new information. She wasn’t sure how she should respond. It didn’t actually change much. Yuki was still Yuki. 

‘It is what it is. She didn’t treat me any different when finding I’m an angel, so there’s no reason for me to do that same. We’re the same people.’

They arrived at the clearing and were told to step away for a moment as Yuki and Ember went up. The two of them stood a few yards away from one another. They nodded at each other before they morphed, their bodies expanding and shifting until two dragons stood. 

Ember looked almost exactly how Yuna had imagined her. Her scales were a darker shade of red than she had expected, almost crimson. Her body was shaped like the dragons Yuna had seen in books, strong and slim like a lizard. Wings sprouted out from her backs like two leathery sails. Sharp white teeth shone whenever her mouth opened.

Yuki on the other hand looked different. Her scales were silver and when hit by the light, shimmered with the colors of the rainbow. Her muscles were less pronounced and her body was more compact, tapering at her snout and tail. 

'I guess she really is a dragon,' Yuna thought dryly. If she had any doubts, they were all dispelled now.

“You all look so tiny,” Yuki said, her voice rumbling out from her. “Ember, I take it that you’ll show them how to put on the saddles?”

“Yep. Come on you guys,” Ember said. “We have a long trip on our hands."