"You better start stretching. Soon it will be you bowing to me."
Fang Xun is known to all as the great dragon king and Emperor of Wuzhen. However, to the elemental mages, he is nothing more than an obstacle standing in their path. After the brutal a...
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We began our trek through the Yuhan Forest after packing up our instruments and putting on our finest clothes. Our musical troupe consisted of four people, all residents of the water dragon district. Our goal was to raise enough money to assist other water dragons who had been attacked by water demons in the Suzihua Sea. And the attacks were frequent. Although we could have petitioned the Emperor to assist us, almost all the resources were given to the soldiers defending the country against mage invasions and patrolling the borders.
Lin Xiu provided the melody with her guzheng, a twenty-five string zither. She was the youngest in our troupe, at seventeen years old, but was tremendously experienced for her age. Zhao Lei played the erhu, a two-stringed fiddle, and the pipa, a pear-shaped lute. He would play whatever suited the song we were going to perform. Hou Shi provided the beat and often carried small drums for easy transportation. I was the final member and responsible for dancing. It was easy to calm my nerves, especially when it was something I loved.
"Did you hear what happened in Zhenyuan?" Lin Xiu asked. "The entire district was destroyed by fire mages. The rumors say they were wielding water dragon scales. We should say something to the sect leader, they'll go after Xianyang next."
"Don't be so morbid, Lin Xiu. The Emperor would never allow the mages to infiltrate so close to the Mainlands," I lightly chastised her.
She hoisted her guzheng up to Zhao Lei before adjusting the sleeves of her white and teal blue hanfu. We all added a bit of white to our costumes as a tribute to all of the fallen soldiers and citizens as of late. "I wonder whether there will be anyone at the Mid-Autumn Festival. It seems a little insensitive by the Emperor to insist it continue. Everyone is mourning and they need time to accept the deaths of their loved ones."
I placed a hand on her shoulder to capture her attention. "Don't say that. I'm sure the Emperor is mourning in his own way. Imagine all of the difficult decisions he has to make and the number of people depending on him to make the right choice. It has to be a lot of pressure and he's doing it all by himself. I almost feel bad for him," I explained.
"Sometimes your heart is too big," Lin Xiu responded.
"What do you mean?"
"I think what Little Xiu means to say is it's difficult to hold pity for someone who holes himself up in the Imperial Palace with plenty of food and water. Would it be so difficult for him to share some of his resources with the people?" Zhao Lei chimed in. "He may be the Son of Heaven, but he is still a dragon like the rest of us and we deserve to receive equal treatment."
I thought over what Zhao Lei said, his words held truth to them. But I found it hard to believe he didn't care. How could anyone sit back while their country was slowing burning away? Surely, he would do something, save someone, restore Wuzhen, something. 'You have a heart too, don't you?' I thought, knowing my unspoken words would never reach him.
