The Dragon and the Fox

Kira didn’t know when she had started crying.

She was lost, flying over mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes. She’d left the tundra well behind, and had no idea when she’d crossed the Nexus. The palace of the Dragons of the Clouds was well hidden next to the Moon Dragon palace, surrounded by fog and storms.

Tears began running down her cheeks, falling down far, far below. Kira spread her feathers wide, gliding over the landscape, and yelled into the wind.

She had no idea where Deya was, the king of the Dragons of the Clouds was after her, and a Black Dragon was threatening the safety of Cyalia. Not to mention that Kira was totally lost.

The fox flapped her wings angrily. The wind began buffeting her with fury, forcing her to fly closer and close to the ground. Kira’s wings angled upwards to slow down.

Suddenly, a wall of heat slammed into Kira, sending her to the ground. She hit the dirt with an oomph, and staggered to her feet, trying to regain her balance.

Then she heard the wailing.

At first, Kira thought she was back in her village. The fire. The blood. Death, death, everywhere. Flashing claws and teeth. Her heart pumped, and her head swam. Visions of her mother flickered in and out of her sight, her voice faint. “Find them.”

“I can’t, Mother!” Kira cried. “I lost her!” She reached a paw out to Mother, but then she realized that she was alone. Tears blurred her vision, and the screams grew louder. More flashes of blood and fire filled her head.

The screams got louder, and through the noise in her head, Kira somehow realized that they were getting closer.

But so were the flames. It was just like at Kira’s home, where the fire roared and devoured. They leapt from one tree to another, swallowing it up in a blaze.

And then it reached her.

She thought it would hurt, but it was beyond that. Heat pounded over her, rushing and overwhelming her senses. She screamed, flaring her wings in the fire, knowing any second they would curl into ashes, and she would be gone. But it hadn’t happened yet—possibly because of her power, but Kira didn’t know. All she could feel was pain and fire. She reared on her back paws and screamed again.

“Hey!” A voice suddenly shouted, punctuated by coughing. “I think someone’s in there!”

Yes! Kira wanted to speak to them, but her lungs were filled with smoke and ashes. Help me! I can’t die like this!

“I heard them scream!”

“The heat—it’s too strong—”

“We can’t save them.”

Kira stopped flaring her wings. They weren’t burning, and she had no idea why, but she knew if she stayed here any longer, she would die.

No. I can’t die. Flashes of her mother’s face, Queen Eclipse’s face, Ozzy’s face. They were all depending on her. She couldn’t let them down.

But how can I escape?

Out of the blue, the answer came to her, clear as day—almost like a voice speaking to her. Your powers. Use them.

Energy pulsed between her paws, growing stronger the more she became aware of it. A pull came from it, as if it were sucking up the air around it. The fire closest to Kira grew dimmer and emitted less heat.

It’s not sucking up the air, Kira realized. It’s taking the fire!

The energy turned into a ball of white light, growing bigger than ever. The flames around her grew dark and flickered out of existence.

“Yes!” Kira shouted, raising the ball of light to the sky. She smirked at the flames. “Take that!”

The fire disappeared in earnest, leaving only charred ground where it had been.

The light in Kira’s eyes shrank and blinked out. She stood there, panting, her fur dripping with sweat. She through the fiery scene, searching for signs of life among the wreckage.

Cheers greeted her as she stepped out of the trees into a charcoal clearing. Wolves, birds, lions, and even a tiny opossum ran to greet her.

Kira scanned the crowd, looking for the dominant creature. It appeared to be bears, both grizzlies and pandas. They mostly sat outside of the crowd, not distant but not smothering everyone with their presence.

A fox ran up to Kira, and her heart lurched. He was orange, with white cheeks and black paws. His green eyes were curious and clever, with just a hint of mischievousness. Flashes of her homeland flew through her mind, blinding her with sorrow.

“Wow, you’re an odd color!” he said, nudging her shoulder and bringing her back to reality. “And you have wings! How on Cyalia did you stop that fire? Which pack are you from? I’m Fenn, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Umm—I-I-I—Kira, I guess?”

“Don’t overwhelm her, Fenn.” A brown and black bear cub muscled his way through the crowd and looked scornfully at Fenn. Then he turned to Kira with an apologetic expression on his face. “Sorry, Kira. Forgive him. He gets wrapped up in the moment sometimes.”

“I—” Kira tried to answer, but the clamor of the crowd was increasing, along with all of the hurried introductions.

“EVERYONE!” the bear cub roared. “This fox needs some space! I’ll lead her to the village. You can all ask questions later.”

The crowd dispersed reluctantly, and they all began trapsing in one direction.

“Hmmph,” Kira huffed, then turned to the bear cub. “I didn’t catch your name, by the way.”

“Harvey,” he replied. “Fenn is my companion.”

“What’s going on, back home?” Fenn asked Kira.

It was the question she dreaded. Kira was silent, wondering if she should tell the exuberant fox. He was her age—how could she burden him with knowing his home was being destroyed? But how could she leave him wondering and worrying about what was going on?

She could always lie to him.

But she didn’t want to.

“Helloooo?” Fenn asked. “You there?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kita snapped.

“What do you mean?” Fenn questioned, frowning. “Why don’t you want to tell me? My family is over there! I want to know what’s happened to them!”

“And I don’t want to talk about it!” Kira shouted, folding her ears back and glaring at him. “I’m sorry, but I can’t!”

“But why not?” Fenn was clearly getting more agitated. “What’s so bad that you won’t tell me?”

“Just—just shut up!” Kira yelled. Angry tears started coursing down her face. Fenn looked taken aback.

“Both of you, calm down!” Harvey intervened. “Look, Fenn, maybe Kira will tell you later. We can’t press her for information she doesn’t want to share.”

“But I have to know!” Fenn cried. “What if my family’s dead, and I don’t even know?”

“Later,” Harvey said sternly.

Kira stared at the ground.

“So…” Harvey started, changing the subject. “How did you put out that fire, Kira?”

Kira shuffled her paws. How much should she tell these animals? Could she trust them?

Not like I have a choice, she thought bitterly. If I want to find Deya, I have to start somewhere.

“Um…a Dragon helped me out,” Kira said vaguely. How much should she tell them about Deya?

“A Dragon? Really?” Fenn’s previous anger was now replaced with wonder. “No way! Which type?”

“A—a Light Dragon,” Kira said.

“Where are they now?” Harvey asked curiously, scanning the trees behind them as if a Dragon could pop out at any moment. “How did you befriend a Dragon?”

“She was impressed,” Kira lied. “I defeated a bunch of her enemies and, um, stuff.”

“Wow!” Fenn breathed. “Is that where you got your wings, too?”

“Yeah.” Kira folded and unfolded her bright, feathered plumage.

“Can I meet her?” Fenn asked excitedly.

“Err…” Kira began. “She likes to stay, um, hidden—she doesn’t really like being in public—goddess stuff, you know.”

“Yeah.” Fenn and Harvey nodded like they perfectly understood the works of gods and goddesses.

They stopped walking.

“We’re here!” Harvey proclaimed. Kira glanced up from her paws and drew in breath.

This was a village, alright. Compared to her pack’s mud dens, however, this was luxury. Almost a hundred caves filled the portion of forest they were standing in, with some having stone outcroppings jutting out of the ground. In the middle of them all was a pile of fresh meat, surrounded by other creatures who were laughing and talking with one another. Streams ran through the village, and bears occasionally paused their journeys to stick a paw into the water and draw out a fish or two.

“Wow,” she breathed.

Harvey stuck out his chest. “Welcome to Riverbed Village,” he said proudly.

When the creatures saw Kira, they fell silent. The crowd of companions that had come from the forest fire began greeting friends and telling them what happened. Slowly, all eyes turned to her expectantly.

“This is Kira, a Champion of a Light Dragon!” Harvey said. Somehow, Kira got the idea that he was the one in charge, even though there were many other bears much older and bigger than he was. “She vanquished the fire that would have destroyed our entire village.”

Kira gasped. This whole village? This paradise for creatures, and that fire would have destroyed it all?

Her home was one thing. This sanctuary was another.

Whispers began spreading through the crowd as Harvey’s words sank in.

“That fox?”

“The white one with wings?”

“She took out a whole fire.”

“I heard that the fire reached her, but it didn’t hurt her.”

“How did she do it?”

“Is she really a Champion of a Light Dragon?”

“Who is she?”

A brown and white weasel approached Harvey, his whiskers twitching. His black eyes glittered ominously.

“Harvey,” he said in a squeaky voice, “we all know what must happen.”

Harvey nodded, then turned to the crowd.

“Creatures of Riverbed Village!” he yelled. “Let us begin the Dragon Summoning Ceremony!”