Embers of the Holy War

The Fire Dragon

Every time Guang closed his eyes, he found himself in an endless field of sakura trees. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, surrounded him and went as far as the horizon could stretch. In a soft, silent breeze, they would sway, like some sort of greeting dance. It was an enchanting vision that only he could behold, and no one else.

"That's right," came the firm voice of his teacher, Ms Penelope, from the realm of reality. "Control your breathing, loosen your mind and dilute your emotions. How are you feeling?"

Guang's eyes fluttered open to the bright, lush green courtyard of the Dragon Manor. Above, the sky was clear, the sun shining in all of its glory. Ahead of him was Ms Penelope, his combat training teacher. As per their usual combat training sessions, the two of them were dressed in a tank top and workout pants. With her arms crossed, Ms Penelope was watching him with sharp, hawk-like eyes.

"I'm feeling pretty calm," Guang confessed.

"Like the still surface of water?"

In irony, Guang nearly snorted. It was all he could do to keep a poker face, even though he was sure his lips twitched. Every lesson, Ms Penelope would use the same simile. Every lesson, Guang had to hold in his laughter and sustain his calmness. Consider it a training by itself. Even so, he had no idea what was going through Ms Penelope's mind to use water, of all things, to help in lessons where Guang was supposed to practise his flames.

After taking a few more deep breaths to quell down the urge to laugh, he answered coolly, "Like the still surface of water."

Ms Penelope nodded approvingly, unsheathing her sword. Underneath the glaring sun, the silver sword gleamed menacingly. "Very good. Now, we will begin the spar as usual."

For the next few hours, Guang and Ms Penelope traded explosive blows with each other. Sweat flew in the air and the grass crunched beneath their feet as the two of them engaged in a furious, aggressive dance. Guang remembered when he first started off as an amateur, he couldn't even get one hit on Ms Penelope despite the numerous handicaps Ms Penelope had subjugated herself to. But now, after training under Ms Penelope's wing for eleven years, both parties could go full-on on each other without worry.

That was, until today.

Ms Penelope was one of the most talented fighters in Alca, perhaps second only to his father and mother. As such, in combat, she kept a cool head and wasted no movements. When she swung her sword, it was with great, devastating force that could slice ten trees in half with one stroke. Her talent mainly lies in her strength. Which was why, whenever it came to sparring with Ms Penelope, it was more often than not that her powerful stroke would decide the results of the spar. However, the disadvantage of that powerful stroke was that it required one second for her to prepare.

Guang found a tactic to prevent her from using this move by constantly attacking her in close-quarters. As a hand-to-hand fighter, this tactic worked well for Guang. However, this only served in delaying her attack. It was impossible to constantly maintain a close distance with her when her other attacks still packed quite a punch.

Today, a forceful kick sent him skidding across the courtyard. Oh, crap. Guang knew it was coming, and Ms Penelope knew he was expecting it too. Without tearing her gaze from him, Ms Penelope raised her sword above her head, as if saying, 'Here it comes.'

Guang gulped. Having said that, today was different. Today, he will overcome this enormous obstacle. Forget dodging it; right here, right now, he will devour the attack!

Focusing his flames into his feet, he launched himself forwards. In a blink of an eye, he had appeared right in front of his teacher, gold eyes ablaze.