A suffocating silence.
Asrial stood alone in a realm where time did not exist. The sky stretched endlessly in every direction, but there was no sun, no stars, no wind. The ground beneath him was neither earth nor stone—just an infinite, glassy surface reflecting nothing at all.
His breathing echoed in the void.
His last memory was of falling—of holding Therisia in his arms, of pain ripping through his body, of the roaring surge of uncontrollable power.
"So why…am I here?"
His voice trembled as he asked the question to no one.
A gentle breeze stirred around him.
He turned—and his heart skipped.
There she stood.
The Elemental Dragon. No longer the colossal beast who had once towered above him. No longer scales and flame. She appeared now as a woman—tall, otherworldly, draped in white garments that shimmered like liquid silver. Her long, ethereal hair glowed faintly, and a pair of sharp glasses rested on her delicate face, giving her an air of intellect.
Her sapphire eyes regarded him—not with hostility, but with what seemed like a strange mixture of surprise and disappointment.
"Asrial," she spoke at last, her voice soft yet heavy with the weight of countless centuries. "I did not expect to see you again so soon."
His brow furrowed. "Where…am I? Did I…fail the trial?"
"You passed the elemental trials," she replied, folding her arms, her long hair flowing despite the stillness around them. "You were granted permission to manipulate the domain of the four elements."
"Then why am I here? Why am I still…trapped?" He stepped forward, confusion quickly boiling into frustration. "Wasn't that enough?!"
"You reached beyond what you were allowed to touch," she said sharply. "You forcefully awakened the dragon rage—a power you were not yet worthy to wield. You stole it…from me."
Her voice struck him like thunder.
"I didn't steal anything!" he shouted back, fists clenched, heat rising in his veins. "I was desperate! I had to protect Therisia!"
"And in doing so, you broke the balance within your soul." Her sapphire eyes glimmered, but her expression remained cold. "If you wish to wield that power properly—if you wish to truly make it yours—you must defeat me. You must subjugate the core of the Elemental Dragon."
His hands trembled. "Why me?! Why do I have to bear this weight? Why can't I just…live a normal life?" His voice cracked, raw and desperate. "Why can't I have peace?"
Her gaze softened for a fleeting moment.
"That is a question…" she murmured as she adjusted her glasses, looking away, "...you should ask the Dragon of Fate. I, Xucutle, know nothing of your destined suffering. I am merely the one bound to test you."
His breathing grew heavier, and a spark of fire flickered at his fingertips.
Xucutle's expression hardened as she stepped forward.
"Steel yourself, Asrial. If you wish to take this power for your own, then prove you can withstand it."
Without warning, she vanished.
A cyclone of wind slammed into his side, launching him across the empty plain. He barely managed to erect a wall of earth to stop his slide, but the moment he righted himself, a torrent of crimson flames engulfed him.
He screamed, forcing water to surge around his body to extinguish the flames.
When he looked up, she was already in the sky, controlling all four elements with masterful precision. Unlike him, who juggled them as separate tools—she blended them as if they were one.
"Your elements are still fractured," she called down to him. "They obey you out of force, not harmony."
"Shut up!" he roared, launching a barrage of fireballs, slicing the air with blades of wind.
She weaved through them effortlessly, retaliating with bolts of lightning that cracked the sky and threatened to tear his body apart.
Their battle spanned days—or perhaps weeks—within this timeless space.
He fought with everything he had:
Walls of stone to defend.
Blades of wind to slash.
Torrents of water to trap.
Infernos of fire to incinerate.
But she was always faster. Always stronger.
His attacks were crude; hers were art.
At times, he cursed his own weakness.
At times, he wanted to surrender to the void.
"Why can't I win? Why does this feel like I'm fighting something…that I never wanted to lose?"
In rare moments of stillness between their clashes, her words lingered in his mind.
"You fight as if you hate me," she had said once, brushing flames from her shoulder. "But I have been watching you…like a mother watches her child."
A mother?
What did that mean?
Every strike carried her sorrow. Every dodge carried restraint. She could have killed him many times, but she never did.
His body faltered. His movements slowed.
His soul groaned under the strain.
He dropped to one knee, his elemental energies flickering like dying embers.
"Why…" he whispered, his fists pressing into the ground. "Why can't I win? Why was I chosen for this cursed life?"
He slammed his fist against the glassy surface, and a surge of memory flooded him—his sister Luna, the village burning, Therisia's broken body in his arms.
"I won't…lose again."
His eyes flared.
"I won't lose anyone else!"
The ground exploded beneath him as he rose with a surge of elemental power far beyond what he had previously wielded.
The storm raged anew.
Xucutle's eyes widened—not in fear, but in quiet pride.
"Come, Asrial. Show me the strength that was always within you."
This time, he didn't fight each element individually.
This time, he fought as one.
Fire wrapped around his blade. Wind carried his steps. Earth reinforced his strikes. Water weaved through his veins.
Their battle became a dance.
Each blow shattered the sky.
Each counter reshaped the landscape.
And finally, with a roar that shook the heavens, Asrial condensed fire, water, wind, and earth into a single blazing blade.
"I won't run away anymore!"
He pierced her heart.
But instead of collapsing, she smiled—soft, serene, almost maternal.
"You've finally done it…" she whispered, blood trailing from her lips. "I was never your enemy. I was your guardian."
He trembled. His grip on the blade faltered.
She reached out, cupping his face gently.
"I'll always watch over you…as a mother does. Remember that, Asrial."
Her form dissolved into light, elemental fragments scattering into his soul, permanently merging with him.
"Xucutle…" he whispered as the light consumed the void.
A faint voice echoed one last time:
"You are not alone."
---
Asrial's eyes snapped open.
The white ceiling of the hospital loomed above him.
His breathing was ragged. His chest ached.
But his heart felt…whole.
"Xucutle…" he murmured, tears falling freely.
Memories, powers, responsibilities—all now rested within him.
The will of the Elemental Dragon was now his to carry.
But at what cost?