The Emperor and The Dragon

The Injury

Long ago, The Dragon flew up and weaved her feathers through the clouds.
"How is life in the Imperial Palace, Laan-Mei?" Jou-Rah asks, as the little fairy tries to keep up with Dragon.

The Dragon weaved through the clouds above the Meadows of the Villagers, on a bright, sunny day.

"He is off to hunt with his subjects today. I am no use to him till to-morrow." Laan-Mei informs, "Human life, as I can now observe closely in the Palace is...complicated. They battle with so much, they even battle with themselves in their own mind! Can you imagine?"

Jou-Rah sighs, "Humans really are peculiar..."

"So it seems." The Dragon agrees.

"I think it is time for you to tail the Emperor now." Jou-Rah says after a moment. The breeze whipping through his wings, and ruffling Laan-Mei's feathers.
"If he is off to hunt, there will be a lot of dangers present. Oh, the worst situations are bound to happen in human hunts."

"Yes, you are right. I must watch over him as I have always done in the past." Laan-Mei declares.

"Have you chosen the role to be his Guardian beast?" Jou-Rah giggles.

"I have chosen to love him." Laan-Mei corrected, before soaring up higher to the sky.

"Do not be seen by the humans!" Jou-Rah yells, as the Dragon disappeared into the clouds.

Many humans still have respect for the ancient beasts, but some have began to hunt or kill the beasts for their own personal gain.

Dimembering a Trickster's tail will guarantee a human to shape-shift into many forms.

Crushing a Flower Villager's wings into fine dust and smearing it into any weapon would immediately turn a boring sword into an enchanted one.

Killing a Water Maiden and extracting her oil to light lamps and Temple fires, her oil can light any fire and it would never die out for more than a thousand years.

Killing a Worker and taking their gemstones and metal work can make any commoner rich.

A Tree Spirit's tree is the most beautiful kind of wood a human have ever seen. Its bark is as soft and rich as a sheep's wool. Noblemen and women order their servants to chop down the tree to be their very own table or to be a pillar of their homes.

Capturing an Earth Magician for their ethereal beauty to be turned into husbands or wives even when they beg for freedom. Cutting off their long, pointy ears to stop them from using any magic for the rest of their remaining days of their lives.

And breaking off a Sky Snake's horns will turn their hunter into another powerful Dragon.

Most of the lesser beasts are still hunted down for entertainment, even though it is not necessary nor, has any purpose to hurt and hunt them down.

When Humans were first created, the beasts acted as parents to them. Teaching them to survive, count, and read.

It is a sad story to think about, that the thanks the beasts get in return is to be slaughtered and captured by the very same species that they once happily raised.

As Laan-Mei followed the Emperor who rode on his horse, her eyes never left his figure even once.

The servants and Imperial Guards follow closely behind their Monarch, as they carefully tread up in the Mountains.

Unbeknownst to Laan-Mei, the Emperor was out to hunt a Dragon.
His Advisers had suggested that maybe slaughtering a Dragon will grant their Emperor to be a a powerful Dragon that would rule over Ka'ng Ruan.