Purple Dragon (Yona of the Dawn)

The Return

Yona's P.O.V

I felt like I had come home after a very long trip. My chest filled with warmth at the sight before me. I was expecting crumbling stone ruins, a desolate cave or even a fortress but what I got was so different. Before us stretching farther than I could see was a forest, three paths split through the trees. Sin-ha looked down each path pausing slightly on the middle one. 

"Lake and waterfall." He said pointing down the left path.

"Stone tower." He pointed at the middle one.

"Open field." The right one. 

"I think we should go to the lake first, we're running low on water," Yun commented and not wanting to argue with him we headed down the left path. It only got more beautiful as we went and when we got to the waterfall my breath was stolen. The water was so clear and pure I could see the rocks at the bottom of the lake and the fish swimming around.

"I don't want to touch the water, I feel like I might pollute it," Yun said gaping at the water.

"Well, we could sterilize something metal and scoop it up," Hak said and I stared at him. He looked at our group and scowled.

"What? I'm intelligent," He snapped crossing his arms. Nobody wanted to argue with him so we got to work fashioning a scoop so we wouldn't ruin the pristine waters. It took a lot of fire but eventually, we had a scoop so sterile once again I didn't want to touch it. Jae-ha didn't have the same reservations. Without letting his hands touch the water he scooped it up and filled the water skins in record time. A soft breeze shook the trees and the five dragons went still.

"What is that smell?" Alya whispered. She tilted her head back taking a deep breath. I sniffed the air but wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"Iron?" Gija asked.

"No, blood," Zeno said. Nobody moved. 

"Where is it coming from?" Jae-ha asked.

"The tower." Sin-ha was looking off towards the tower. I could see just the very top reaching the tips of the trees. Which meant the tower was rather larger because the trees were HUGE!

"Zeno remembers." We all turned to look at Zeno, my heart nearly shattered at the look on his face. He looked so sad and his eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

"Zeno, what do you remember?" Alya asked gently.

"This place, Zeno was here a long, long time ago. Zeno drank the blood of the yellow dragon." His voice was soft but it was impossible not to hear him.

"The smell of blood, it's probably been in the air since the day the first dragon warriors were created," Jae-ha said. I had never heard him sound so solemn but the weight of where we were, who had lived here and the events that had occurred here, this place is their origin. This is where the five dragon warriors began and now they have come full circle and returned.

"We should head to the tower." Alya's voice cut through the straining silence and we were all snapped back into reality. Nobody said anything as we walked, just the sound of our footsteps and the rustling of someone adjusting their gear or taking a drink of water. We reached the tower, it was larger than I had originally thought and I originally thought it was huge.

It was larger around than the doors that had been set into the mountain, and taller than those doors too. The passageway we had walked through to get here wouldn't have wrapped halfway around the tower. I can't even find the words to describe just how absolutely massive it was.

"I can see a few dragons living here," Hak said. Yun snorted and I started giggling, suddenly everybody was laughing. It wasn't even that funny, we all knew it but the atmosphere was just so tense that one little crack and we all just lost it.

"Okay, I needed that," Alya said gasping for breath. 

"Maybe we should break and have something to eat before we go in. Just relax a little." Yun suggested and we all jumped on board immediately. 

Things were a little more lively after that, Jae-ha flirted shamelessly with Alya with the result of her threatening to set him on fire if he didn't knock it off. Gija was back to... well being Gija. Zeno was happily eating, Yun was scolding everybody and Hak was watching everybody trying to look annoyed but settling on slightly amused. I was glad to see everybody in better spirits, who knew what we would find once we entered the tower.

We ate, we packed, we prepared. It was decided Gija should open the door, so the rest of us stood back and Gija gave the door a push. It flew open and other than a bang as the door hit a wall silence followed. We approached the doorway but inside it was dark. 

"Alya, look at the walls," Hak said. I leaned forward to see what he was talking about. About head level with Hak was some sort of stone pit that ran the length of the wall. Alya seemed to know what to do because she summoned fire into her hand and reached up placing it inside the stone. Fire burst up and continued to light around the wall illuminating the entire room. Twenty feet up was the ceiling and the room we were in was completely empty except for a pedestal sitting in the middle of the room. We approached cautiously, sitting on top of the pedestal was a black orb. I couldn't even begin to guess what it was made from.

"Gija, touch it," Alya said.

"What? Why me?" Gija cried out.

"Because Hak was going to volunteer you to do it anyway and it makes sense for one of the dragons to touch it first." Gija looked like he wanted to protest but he refrained. Slowly Gija placed his right hand on the orb. As soon as he made contact a portion of the orb began to glow white. 

"We should touch it to," Alya suggested. She reached out and touched it and a portion of the orb began glowing purple. Zeno, Sin-ha, and Jae-ha each touched it and the orb added yellow, blue and green spots. There was still a dark spot left on the orb.

"Now what?" Yun asked. The five dragons each looked at each other then turned to me.

"Yona," Sin-ha said.

"Me?" I asked alarmed.

"It makes sense. The five dragons and the crimson king," Alya said.

"But I'm not the Crimson Dragon King, I told you that when we met," I argued back.

"Whether or not you are the Crimson King we have accepted you as our master. Either you touch it and it glows or you touch it and nothing happens." I was surprised that it was Jae-ha who snapped. Normally he's so calm and relaxed but all five of them looked highly agitated. I looked at Hak and he just sighed.

"It's obvious we can't move on from here until you touch it Princess, might as well get it over with." I took a deep breath and pressed my hand against the orb, it was warm and smooth under my hand. I wasn't expecting anything to happen which is why I almost released the orb when red light spread out from my hand. The red was able to connect with the five other colors and once the entire orb was glowing it began to heat up. I tried to pull my hand away but it was as if my hand was glued to the surface. Next thing I knew the light had completely filled my vision and I was starting to panic and then.... darkness.