Awakening of the Fire
Pov Kai:
- La, I need you to bring my grandmother to me. - I looked to one side of the ocean and felt my grandmother's energy weaken.
- I see my suspicions were right. - said the Ocean Spirit with a clear encouragement in his voice.
- Your intuition has always been excellent, but how did you know I was the next candidate? - I asked, still confused.
My memories were a bit fuzzy, somehow it felt like I'd known the Ocean Spirit for a long time, as if she was a friend I hadn't seen for years, but at the same time it was my first interaction with her.
- I've known you since before time had a name, and I've seen all the dragon kings of all generations. - La proudly confessed. - All Dragon King Candidates like you have a certain connection with me, even if it's extremely subtle.
A large greenish light appeared in front of Kai, revealing a giant blob with a 16-meter dragon in a coma, its wounds slowly healing.
- I'm doing everything I can to heal her, but her injuries are serious. - La said seriously. - Unfortunately, she's infected with the darkness. If her spirit weakens, it won't be long before she becomes an eternal dragon.
- Can you keep Hana busy? - I raised my hands and summoned my Embers of Light to purify the darkness.
- I can distract Hana, but she's already feeling your energy... Can you heal Aki?
- It's not impossible for me, my mother used her nebula ability to prevent me from being infected. - A green flame comes out of my hands and merges with my light. - Her Individual Ability acted as an insulator, absorbing the corruption over and over again to keep me safe from it.
- I can see that the memories of the past and future are already affecting you. - La said with surprise.
- I can only see the past to a certain extent, my ability to see the future is still developing. - I confessed and closed my eyes to begin the healing process.
I concentrated my green flames, known as the Fire of Life, to absorb every inch of darkness for myself. It was an unpleasant and almost nauseating sensation, but it was the first step in healing Aki from corruption.
The dark bites of the Eternal Dragons tend to attack the souls of their victims uncontrollably, almost randomly, making it impossible for a Celestial Dragon to heal itself. What I was doing was concentrating the darkness inside me to a point where I could purify it with my Embers of Light.
Any carelessness on my part would practically endanger my soul, so I had to slowly absorb the darkness at my own pace.
Feeling the darkness, I could understand how scary it was, if a dragon was corrupted and not cured in time, not even this method could work to save a celestial dragon. It was practically Aki's luck, a few more minutes late, she would probably have had an unaltered consequence even for me with my current powers.
After a few minutes of silence, with La providing his energy to help me maintain the healing process, we managed to completely cleanse Aki's soul. If I hadn't been practically in the water, it would have been obvious that I was practically drenched in sweat.
- Finally. - I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed that an ice shelf had formed under my feet.
- Now that you've healed Aki, I need you to help me finish this battle. I'll look after Aki until she wakes up.
- Listen, La, I'm not ready for a battle of this level yet. - I looked at the choppy waves of the sea, a clear sign that the Sea Spirit's emotions were running high.
- With your true form, you should be able to compete with Hana, so what's the problem?
- Even if I manage to use my true form, my total power is no match for the power that Hana has accumulated over thousands of years. - I looked at the horizon and noticed that the clouds were circling the sky like crazy. - Not to mention that I can't risk being swayed by the wills of past kings.
- I understand that their combined personalities and thoughts can make you practically possessed by their instinctive savagery. But that's no excuse for not using everything you've got. - La scoffed.
- You're right, I'm a Dragon King candidate and I don't have the trump card of time to prepare like Hana. - I let out a long sigh and concentrated my spiritual energy, releasing it with all my might. - If I'm going to learn to be a king, I'm going to have to do it the hard way.
Kai's hair began to glow golden, and the waves of the sea began to surround him as if a hurricane was about to strike. The golden rays ran through every part of his body and his hair took on a reddish color along with the golden glow. Kai's pupils narrowed completely and he was completely taken over by his wilder side, or rather, completely embraced by his true self.
The stars in the sky shone brightly, illuminating the entire world, a sign of recognition of the kings who once ruled the world with their own light.
Kai's body took on a draconic form, unlike Hana or Aki, his form was made entirely of fire, as if it were simply his willpower manifesting itself physically in the world.
The sea seemed to be on fire, steam was rising into the sky, obviously indicating that the temperature around the new Dragon King candidate was approaching that of the sun.
As a sign of war, Kai roared into the sky in his dragon form, causing an electrical storm in various parts of the world, a sign that his strength was slowly increasing and connecting with the world and the universe.
***
The Sea Spirit dodged Hana's claws, which scratched the ice sculpture of its body. La summoned a wave over 30 meters long to push the dragon away from its position until it crashed into a mountain.
With the impact against the mountain, La compromised the base of the mountain, causing an avalanche and tons of ice to fall on Hana.
- This game is getting on my nerves. - La frowned and rebuilt his battle-damaged artificial body.
An explosion destroyed what was left of the mountain, revealing Hana flying in the sky with an extremely angry look on her face. The Eternal Dragon opened its mouth and spat out a huge wave of dark flames, big enough to destroy an entire city.
La placed one of her hands on the ground and caused all the ice she had created and scattered to become liquid, forming the shape of a titanic shark that completely swallowed the Eternal Dragon's attack, freezing it at absolute zero to prevent long-term damage.
Hana quickly flew at supersonic speed, crossing the entire shark-shaped mass of water to devour La's artificial body in a single second. Unable to react in time, the sea spirit was devoured in a single instant, tearing through the water shark as if it had never existed.
A small manifestation of water appeared in the sea and it was La, who was looking at the dragon with a nervous expression.
- As I imagined, I can't manipulate my own element in Hana. - La was very worried because she had tried to use her elemental influence to freeze Hana inside her body. - Although she's dead, she's still a celestial dragon.
The seas all over the world began to get turbulent, causing storms and floods in various parts of the world, including the Water Tribes. Now, the Spirit of Flexibility and Change was using its power even more, a power that was capable of plunging the entire planet into the Ice Age, as it once was.
A giant aquatic creature with a humanoid appearance and the head of a fish manifested itself, hundreds of meters taller than its female human manifestation from a few minutes ago.
- Let's see how you fight without your wings! - La shouted as she used her two hands and more water tentacles to grab Hana and crush her.
La used all her oceanic power to break the bones in Hana's wings, concentrating all the power she could muster to at least permanently damage the draconic corpse.
With a few seconds of effort, Hana's four wings were finally broken, causing the dragon to scream in rage and fire a black laser that split the Sea Spirit's body in half again, compromising its created structure and causing hundreds of tons of water to plummet into the sea, creating tsunamis in the regions that were connected to the sea.
Unable to stay in the air, Hana fell unsteadily towards the sea, but before she touched the water, every drop of seawater was completely washed away, causing the dragon to fall to the bottom of the ocean.
A large area of the sea was completely dry, leaving only crustaceans, algae, sea sponges, rocks and sand on the seabed. The seawater was completely drained from the area where Hana had fallen, leaving the dragon trapped in an area surrounded by a wall of more than a thousand meters of water.
***
Jang Hui Village
The Protected Village of the Fire Nation was a region whose borders were connected to the sea, and it was bound to fall victim to La's elemental influence. Not that the Sea Spirit did it on purpose, but his attention was completely focused on the dragons and a simple move by him caused the whole world to be affected by his primordial powers.
- All civilians must go to the high ground! - Huzo ordered as he tried to evacuate people to safety. - Earthbenders, raise the coastal walls, we can't let the village be completely destroyed!
A large wave suddenly approached a group of civilians who were trying to get their belongings onto the Fire Nation soldiers' boats. Before it could drag them into the lake, a large wave of air dispersed the water just in time.
Jefh was inside the village, using his air bender to deflect any dangerous waves that might be heading towards the people. But his aim was still to keep the river flowing towards the sea, giving everyone time to escape safely.
- How are you, Jefh? - Huzo asked, running towards the air bender.
- I'm hanging in there, if it wasn't for Aunt Ayumi, we'd probably all be flooded by now. - Jefh replied, his face covered in sweat from the long effort.
- We've almost got everyone on the boats, just hang on a bit longer! - Huzo looked up at the sky and saw a bolt of lightning strike hard.
A huge wave came towards the river, easily 5 meters high, enough to completely destroy the village with its force.
- Fuck! - Jefh cursed unconsciously.
- Jefh, let's combine our elements! - Huzo shouted, preparing to unleash his fire with full force.
Fire and air merged, amplifying and increasing the power of both attacks, creating a barrier that considerably slowed down the immense flow of water.
- Jefh! - shouted Huzo.
- I've got it! - Jefh began to rotate his movement to increase the flow of fire and vaporize the water in large quantities, spreading the water to both sides.
Other soldiers with earth manipulation skills helped create another wall to slow down the flow of water as quickly as possible, but their skills were extremely slow to create an obstacle strong enough without breaking it.
- AHHHHHHHHHH! - Huzo shouted through the effort, causing his flames to take on a bluish hue for a brief moment.
In a single instant, the water in the entire area was completely frozen, and everyone seemed to stop evacuating due to the obvious surprise before their eyes.
Ayumi simply appeared, as if her body was made of mist, and she looked tired of standing on the beach trying to hold back as much as possible the gigantic waves created by the Sea Spirit.
- Is everyone all right? - Ayumi asked, looking physically and mentally exhausted.
- Ayumi! - Huzo hugged Ayumi affectionately, worried about her safety. - You're tired.
- I'm fine, it was hard to contain the power of the Ocean Spirit.
- Aunt Ayumi, what's wrong? - asked Jefh, concerned about the apparently weakened state of the spirit of the region.
- I don't know, I've never seen the Ocean Spirit use its powers to such an extent. - Ayumi snorted with exhaustion. - If we're having these problems, then the whole world is in the same situation.
- The Fire Nation and the colonies near the sea must be completely flooded. - Huzo said seriously.
- Where's Zoho? - asked Jeph worriedly, without finding the old firebender.
- Don't worry, he's evacuated the children and the elders to the mountains. - replied Huzo. - Dear, do you know why the Ocean Spirit is angry?
- I don't know. The Spirit of the Sea doesn't want to communicate with me, as if he's too busy in one place, even though he's practically omnipresent. - Ayumi replied with doubt in her heart. - We have to be careful, let's go somewhere higher and wait....
Ayumi opened her eyes in amazement, unable to explain what she was feeling. This feeling was shared by Huzo, who also had a spiritual sensitivity to the world and was just as surprised as the spirit next to him.
- Kai? - Huzo and Ayumi said at the same time.
***
A figure made entirely of fire landed a few dozen meters from the Eternal Dragon, revealing a dragon about 18 meters tall, made entirely of fire from head to tail, with only eyes made of scarlet fire.
Kai roared, and with a single wave of sound, it was enough to completely burn the entire isolated region of the ocean to ashes, turning it into an almost flat space, just so that the two of them could settle this dispute one by one.
Hana looked seriously at her new opponent, even more irritated. Perhaps due to some muscle memory of the Eternal Dragon's body or some lost memory, Hana roared into the sky, causing lightning to strike all over the world.
A pillar of dark flame completely covered Hana's body, revealing a new appearance that was different but similar to Kai's.
Hana's body transformed into a version made entirely of dark flames, with her only eye replaced by a white flame, creating great pressure in the region. Hana's body was around 30 meters tall, which seemed to overshadow the already astonishing size of Kai's dragon form.
Hana roared in response to Kai's roar, perhaps following some instinct that hadn't manifested itself for thousands of years in the emerging darkness.
Kai and Hana roared at each other, making all beings connected to the element of fire, including those in the spirit world, feel that a duel was beginning.
Next chapter: King vs Queen