Chapter IV — Yona

Chapter IV — Scales of a Different Kind

Good leads to better, and better leads to best.
That’s where my new technique took me.

It helped me become the most renowned fighter from the Peaks, and win last year’s Festival tournament. It’s taught any troublemakers to think twice before placing a step in my direction.

However, as mentioned, the Grimoire room leads to both power and pain.

The power part, you’ve just heard about.

The painful part? No matter how long Yone and I have searched for the answer, we’ve never been able to solve the second riddle.

Easily noticed, but difficult to measure,
Beneath the surface one may reveal such treasure.
You may already hold it, and may not know it,
Until you glimpse what was hidden, and then rise from it.

What the Falls, right?

In the history of the Festival tournament, no Champion has ever defended the title of Crowned Zodia. For some reason — logical, mystical, or otherwise — one of the new challengers always took the victory. No one ever won twice.

But as my mother pointed out, no other Dragon had the power of two grimoires to supplement their skill, correct?

Humph.

With the time of this year’s Festival quickly approaching — one which also happened to be blessed by the coming of the Spiritz — it became a priority to solve the remaining riddle.

The opportunity to rewrite history suddenly overshadowed anything else that was happening. And my mother wouldn’t allow me to forget about it.

“As per my previous comments,” Mother had been saying (every time single time we had spoken in the past two weeks!) “… think of the glory. Think of being the only Zodia ever to win twice in a row! Think of doing it in front of the Spiritz!”

It’s why I’d spent so much of my not-so-free time reading, though I’d rather be fighting. It’s why I’m standing here, contemplating.

Exploring the flavor of words we Dragons armor ourselves with.
I was wracking my brains to find the second answer.

Prestigious. Peak. Prohh-tekk-shuuunnnn.
Seriously, why do we Dragons love so many words with “P” sounds? Puh, puh, and puh.

Pew, pew, pew, what the hell do I do?

Shenryu glanced at me sideways as he hovered over my shoulder, eyes twinkling slyly. He probably managed to hear some of my thoughts again.

“Yes?” I asked, as I narrowed my eyes and gave him my most cutting of glares.

“First off, please don’t give me that face. The veins that start throbbing at your temples make it look like you’re about to have a heart attack, and worse, that your mother will blame me for it.”

“Second,” he continued, “it seems to me like you’ve been trying to find answers for a long, long time, by yourself. You keep re-examining what you already know. An apple, seen from any other side, is still red.”

“Talk to someone else. Ask for advice. Learn some new things.”

As per my previous comments, asking for advice around here isn’t that simple. I’m supposed to be the best at everything. The unflappable, the unflustered, the unbeatable.

The almighty Dragoness, asking for help? Sheesh. What would people say?

“Ah! You should talk to the Snake boy, Yujin,” he suggested.

“What?!? Why? Is he even around?”

“Yes, your mother mentioned it earlier while you were having breakfast. He was going to drop by to pay his respects after the Snakes completed their routine trade run to the city. She asked your brother to show him around, if I recall correctly.”

“What was I doing while this was happening?”

“Multi-tasking while eating some eggs; reading some poems and combat manuals, and thinking pew pew pew over and over.”

“Why the Snake though?” I asked him.

“Because our Guardian, Tak-ryu, and their Guardian, Orochi, used to talk quite a bit. They were friends, you know?”

“What? Tak-ryu had friends?”

“In earlier times, he spent most of the centuries alone, attempting to perfect his fighting techniques. Eventually, he realized he couldn’t fly any higher unless he outgrew his surroundings. I’m telling you to do the same because I inherited those parts of his memories,” he stated.

“Towards his later centuries,” he continued, “Tak-ryu traveled to other Kingdoms to spar with other Guardians. Those times, however, he fought to learn from them, not to beat them — to better himself, and not just to be better than them.

He found growth in helping others. Simply standing at the front isn’t the same as leading, you know? You need to learn to bring people with you too. Don’t wait too long before you grasp the same lesson.”

“As per my previous comment…” Shenryu continued.

He sounds just like my mother when he says that … he sounds … like me.
Do I usually sound this irritating when I say that?

“… he spent much of his time with Oro, and they became close friends. He learned to take pleasure in speaking with someone, instead of fighting them. Oro, the mischievous, jovial soul that he was, taught Takky how to … chill, as the Snakes say.”

“Takky?!?! … Chill?!?!” I sputtered.

I couldn’t imagine our battle-hardened Guardian sitting around, telling jokes, and … laughing. That wasn’t how I thought he would be.

That wasn’t how people expected me to be.

“Yesss,” continued Shenryu, exasperation leaking into his tone. “They had nicknames for each other. Anyhow, let’s go find Yujin and Yone. They’re probably sparring; we can watch them. You might even have fun while we’re at it,” he finished. He started drifting off, not bothering to check if I was following.

“How is fun going to help?” I scowled and asked.

He stopped and whirled to face me, his serious expression mirroring mine.

“It’ll help relax your resting dragon face.”

I followed Shenryu as he floated towards the western training plateau; the one closest to the Temple. These plateaus were built all over the Peaks, amongst the passes. This provided regular training facilities that allowed soldiers to practice whenever they wanted, and wherever they may find themselves stationed.

Like us, the Snakes were closest to the element of Water. But serpents aren’t dragons. How would someone from the Shimmering Lowlands answer a riddle found in the High Peaks?

I noted that I was frowning at nothing, and made an effort to relax my features. Try as I might, I couldn’t suppress all my irritation.

I was the Crowned Zodia, the queen of combat proficiency.
What could some scaly lowlander teach me?

Yujin.
Humph.

Huh.
He was beautiful.

I really didn’t know how else to describe him.

At first glance, I thought he was a girl.
Sheesh, if anything, maybe he could give me lessons on how to be pretty.

If I was pressed to offer more detail, I would say that he had lavender hair tinged with auburn — as if the sun decided to set in its strands, and found that it never wanted to leave.

I would say that his eyes, though narrowed in focus, were loud with laughter — like their corners wanted to turn upwards, to match the smile on his lips.

I would tell you that wore his clothes like a second skin; his black sleeveless shirt wrapped as tight around him as his leather trousers. Like his own shadow decided to enshroud him, just for the sake of holding him close.

For his weapons, he held a pair of dual-bladed long daggers. The steel which protruded from both ends of the handles were curved in form, and caught the daylight with every motion. He looked as if he spun diamond serpents from his fingers.

If beautiful looks could kill, we’d all be at risk.

“Well, even if he can’t teach you how to solve riddles, it seems like he could teach you how to write them,” Shenryu said, a sly smirk on his face. “Your thoughts sound more poetic already. Hehe.”

I caught myself narrowing my eyes and glaring at him by reflex. In an effort to change my normal expression of disdain, I impulsively stuck my tongue out at him instead.

The Dragon Sticks Its Tongue Out.
Take that, you little gargoyle.

Anyhow, back to the training grounds. Each of our plateaus was shaped in an octagon, and surrounded by a stream which ran about 8 feet wide. Victory in a sparring bout usually meant scoring a set number of points (earned by strikes), forcing your opponent out of bounds and into the water, or beating them to the ground and causing them to yield.

I stood some distance outside the liquid boundary, watching the two combatants. A group of our soldiers were standing around as well, watching Yone and Yujin fight.

As per my previo … As I said before, Yone was a Zodia who could usually find his match only while fighting me.

He was competitive, and he was brash. He was known to overwhelm opponents quickly with his skill. He was like the viciously harsh storms that suddenly come upon you in the colder seasons; howling, strong, and abrasive.

He would usually beat his opponents, Zodia-empowered or otherwise, in rapid regularity. He would then toss off his armor in mock despair, claim he was bored, and go off on “patrol” (which usually meant wandering around, trying to talk to girls).

So I was surprised to see that the Snake boy was holding his own. From what I’ve overheard from the soldiers’ chatter, this was their fourth match. If this Yujin had been keeping my brother occupied for all this time, then he must be skilled.

Beautiful and skilled.
Interesting.

He dodged my brother’s attacks with near-on superhuman speed (or maybe it just looked that way), and with barely any wasted movement. Watching him move was like looking at a river racing purposefully, cutting a path straight to its destination — paying no heed to any obstacle or detour.

My brother didn’t look like he was having an easy time here. He probably felt frustrated at his inability to score his usual quick victory.

He was likely steaming on the inside, ready to blow up at any moment. He was probably getting mad, and was about to …

Yujin interrupted my train of thought as he moved in quickly between Yone’s slashes. He stepped within my brother’s guard, lightly jabbed his knuckles against Yone’s neck, then darted away just as swiftly.

My brother was left standing there startled, red-faced, eyes wide in shock.

I braced myself for the explosion to come.

Oh, Guardian, he was probably going to …

“Hahahahaha!”

… have fun?!?!

I was startled by my brother’s laughter. I knew he hated losing as much as I did. I would have thought he’d be embarrassed to lose face in front of our soldiers — who were all murmuring in appreciation of the skills on display.

“Yo!” he exclaimed. “That was a nice one.”

Yone then raised his oversized sword in salute, before moving to attack the Snake once again.

You’ll notice I compared Yone to the elemental cold. Watch him fight, and you’ll be quick to learn that it’s an apt metaphor.

He has the power to manipulate the moisture in the environment — modifying its temperature and drawing the heat out of it.

Finding the air around them chilled to freezing-cold degrees would usually slow down any opposing fighter. It was part of why he tends to outpace all challengers.

He could even form icicles within a certain radius, and call them to rain down on whomever he was fighting — hampering their movements further.

In addition to his unique abilities, Yone could also summon the Liquid Blade — a technique commonly shared by Dragon Zodias. It allowed us to coat our sword blades with a water-like sheen, making our weapons feel lighter in our hands. It also made their edges sharper for cutting.

Yet here he was, using all of those techniques against someone who danced around as if they had no effect whatsoever.

And he was laughing like a schoolboy building a snowman, while doing so.

I watched in fascination as their fight unfolded; my brother charging like the indomitable force of nature that he was, the Snake effortlessly flowing out of the way of each strike. He seemed untouchable; unreachable. Almost like … a Dragon in the sky.

I knew that my brother should have been slowing his movements, but that obviously wasn’t happening. Actually, every time he darted in to touch Yone with his fists, it looked like my brother would receive a taste of his own medicine and slow down instead.

How was he doing that?

I watched closely as my brother moved in again. Yone’s sword swept in low, at knee-height. The blade struck as swiftly as a hawk, wings tucked in, diving from the heights. Matching its speed, Yujin somersaulted backwards to avoid it.

Displaying remarkable control, my brother halted the momentum of the swing. He reversed its direction and launched a counter-sweep while Yujin was still airborne — feet in the air above his head, face turned away from my brother.

I leaned forward in anticipation, an echo to my brother’s movement — and realized that all the soldiers did the same. We moved in harmony, linked by our expectation to see the decisive blow.

We watched as Yujin completed the turn of his backflip; body curled, left leg leading, approaching the ground.

Yone was aiming to meet him at the point of landing. The edge of his giant sword was only a few inches away from the Snake boy’s leg.

As Yujin’s left foot touched the ground, his left leg bent slightly with tension. It then uncoiled quickly, launching him back up in the air from his sole-footed landing.

I looked on in disbelief as his body twirled in flight, parallel to the ground, pirouetting in mid-air as the sword passed beneath him.

He landed on his right foot, found his balance in half a heartbeat, and threw a kick at my brother’s chest.

Yone dashed backwards, out of harm’s reach, barely avoiding the blow.

I heard the soldiers give a collective gasp, echoing the one in my head.

How did Yujin react so quickly? How did he know the blade was coming for him?My brother started his move while he was up in the air, flying backwards, so how could he even see it coming?

Yone let his guard down and stood up straight; fully relaxed for the moment. He planted the tip of his sword on the grass, cocked his head to the side, and idly scratched it.

My brother was…thinking? Strategizing?

Well, well. That was new too.

Across the way, Yujin stood idly, spinning his right-hand dagger across the back of his fingers.

I watched as Yone’s eyes grew slightly wider, as if coming to a sudden realization. Immediately after, the aura of cold air surrounding Yujin disappeared. The Snake nodded his head as if conceding a point, and laughed in acknowledgement.

A breath after that, the Liquid Blade coating my brother’s sword disappeared entirely.

He was dismissing his advantages? Why?
What was he doing?

There was no laughter to be heard from Yujin this time around.

Yone, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, shifted to an offensive stance. His body was turned sideways, left foot extended forward. His lead leg formed a sixty-degree angle from the ground, with his right leg bent to support his weight. He lifted his sword above his head; both hands on the hilt, the angle mirroring his foreleg.

The Snake assumed a defensive stance, body set sideways, in kind. One dagger was extended forward horizontally in a warding posture. The other was raised behind him, ready to strike a counter to Yone’s blows.

Why did he take my brother more seriously all of a sudden?
This situation was as puzzling as releasing a grimoire locked within an orb.

I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath.

I only found out a moment later, once they launched themselves at each other — and I felt the air rush out of me in response.

For the next few minutes, we were treated to a masterclass in bladework. Yone’s strikes were aggressive but precise, chasing Yujin around the training ground.

Yujin, displaying his fluid economy of motion, avoided Yone’s sword gracefully. I did notice that he was forced to use his daggers to deflect Yone’s weapon more often than before, however.

Finally, harnessing the momentum from his last errant swing, Yone raised his sword above his head ominously. He appeared to be poised to launch a devastating overhand blow.

Yujin was going to have to dodge to the side, since his daggers couldn’t possibly block the weight of that attack.

As predicted, he shifted to his left, eyes focused on my brother’s blade as it began its descent.

Apparently, that was the moment Yone had been waiting for. I felt his temperature-altering powers take effect in a very specific spot; right under Yujin’s lead foot.

Yujin set his weight down on it to find that the grass underneath was half-frozen, covered in frost.

His face took on a comically surprised look as he lost his footing. He dropped his daggers and started cartwheeling his arms around, in an effort to regain his balance.

This time, there was no unexpected escape.

Beautiful boy just fell on his pretty ass.

A second later, my brother was standing over him, his sword tip gently pressed to his chest. Then, as if signaled by some unspoken but all-too-familiar cue, they broke into laughter once again.

Checkmate.

All around me, the soldiers burst in cheers and applause. They all moved onto the platform and gathered around the combatants as my brother pulled the Snake boy back up to his feet.

I waited a few moments before crossing one of the little bridges that led over the stream. I meandered over to stand at the back of the crowd that encircled Yone and Yujin.

“…so sometimes a quick shift in your strategy,” my brother said, tapping the side of his head “will be far more effective than adjusting your physical technique alone.”

“Especially when it’s unexpected,” added Yujin. “He caused me to forget about his powers by dismissing them, and had me focused on his bladework. When his powers came into play again, I was caught by surprise,” he continued.

“You know, there’s more to it than that …” Yone interrupted, flashing a wink at Yujin.

“Shush, don’t give away my secrets,” he answered.

I realized that he elongated his “S” sounds slightly … fitting for a Snake I guess. I found myself thinking that I liked it.

Focus, Yona!

“Anyway, you might not all have Zodia powers,” Yujin continued, “but when you’re fighting in pairs, you can achieve the same effect by suddenly switching your formation or your collective attack patterns,” he told the troops, while smirking slyly at my brother.

Some of the soldiers nodded at his advice, while some murmured thoughtful thanks.

At a final nod from Yone, the warriors turned around to resume their duties.

Fragments of conversation drifted towards me as a particular trio moved closer to where I stood. I realized that it was the same sergeant who I had encountered earlier today, walking with his men.

“… that was a lot more educational than being scolded by the …”

He abruptly stopped speaking as he looked up and realized who was blocking his path.

“Crowned Zodia!” He exclaimed, hurriedly standing at attention with his cohort. As one, all the soldiers turned and noticed me.

They were so caught up in watching the duo of wonder boys that they didn’t register my presence in the audience.

“Prestige at the Pe ...”

“Yes, Yesss,” I said, waving off their joint salute as I walked past them.

“Whatever,” I said under my breath.

“Well, you boys seemed to be having boat-loads of fun.”

“We were!” Yone answered, looking disgustingly exuberant.
Yujin, meanwhile, offered a very gentlemanly nod.

“Thanks for training with me,” exclaimed my brother, as he turned toward the Snake Zodia. “Our little talks between the matches were quite helpful. Please make sure to drop by and find me next time you’re in the city.”

He finished by standing at attention, and then clapping his fist to his chest in salute.

“My pleasure,” answered Yujin, who bent forward in another stately bow.
“I must say, not very many people have figured out my abilities before. That made it more enjoyable.”

“Well, you know, I’m not just a pretty face.” Yone answered. “I can be smart too,” he added while tapping the side of his head.

Smart? Polite? My brother?
Who is this snake guy, and what did he do to Yone?

“Well, I better go off and complete my patrol routes, or a certain Crowned Zodia is going to let me hear it.” Yone said, while winking at me.

“Thanks again.”

He extended his arm towards Yujin, who clasped his wrist in return. They looked each other in the eye, then laughed together one last time before letting their grips loosen.

Yone gave me a brief wave, and began to wander off.

“Wait!” I called out. “What did you mean when you said ‘there was more to it than that?’ What secret did you learn about this guy?” I asked while pointing at the Snake boy.

“Sorry, Sis,” he answered. “No free passes when it comes to fighting. You’ll have to discover that yourself. Go a few rounds with that guy and see if you can figure it out.”

Humph.

“Anyway, have you seen my cat?” he asked, looking around curiously.

“You mean the black one that was with you earlier? The one you said you rescued?” asked Yujin. “I’m pretty sure I noticed her wandering off right after our last fight ended. Why?”

“Just thinking that it would’ve been nice to bring her around while patrolling. I wonder where she went? Anyhow, I’m off.”

He raised his sword to the both of us before jauntily sauntering off, with a tune whistling from his lips and a cheerful bounce to his steps.

Ugh.

Still slightly irritated at my brother’s snub, I turned around to face the only other occupant of the octagon.

I found him staring at me inquisitively with those beautiful, laughing eyes. Ones that looked at me as if a question had decided to sneak in, to play with the laughter, and found that it never wanted to lea…

Dammit, Yona! Get ahold of yourself!

“What?” I asked, vexation creeping into my voice. “And are you going to tell me about this ‘something more’ that you and my brother were hinting at?”

“Many apologies,” he said, “but may I ask you something before that?”

“Okay, what?”

“Would you like to dance?“ he asked. I noticed a hint of a smile forming on his lips. Then he stepped back and flourished his daggers in each hand.

“You want to fight me too? Now?”

“Are you ready?” He asked in return, brandishing his pretty, irritating smile.

I scowled at him, disregarding the inner voice that told me to relax my face.
I heard Shenryu laughing to himself behind me.

I loosened my sword from its scabbard and answered.

“Ready as ever.”

Interlude:

“Purrrawwrrrr!”

“Yeah, yeah, you did a good job,” I told the cat, giving her a well-earned scratch behind her ears. “Thanks a bunch for telling me about their matches. Getting close enough to watch would’ve been risky.”

It might’ve been nice to see it all firsthand, but there were too many soldiers standing around. Too many prying eyes. Even watching from a distance was a no-go.

Watching, watching, watching.

Seems like it’s all we’ve been doing, for so long. But the time for change is coming. Then we’ll steal back what should’ve been ours.

I can wait a little longer.

And thanks to this cuddly lil’ creature snuggling against my thigh, I now had an idea of what the Dragons and Snakes could do in a scrap. Which should make all that other stuff easier.

Gotta admit, sending these “strays” to watch our enemies for us was clever as fu … cough … fur around your collar.

Thankfully, those other brainless mounds of muscle that were watching the fights had left. I was able to come out of hiding to find a different vantage point. Now, I was sitting at a comfy distance, watching the Snake and the Princess. I wasn’t worried that they’d spot me.

No one’s eyes were better than mine.

I gave a hard thought about moving on, though. Seems like that annoying Dragon kid went off to patrol the area. I really shouldn’t get caught wandering around here.

“Well, mate, looks like the exciting stuff is done for the day,” I told my furry friend. I dusted off my pants and pushed the cat away gently. “Time to make myself scarce.”

I was getting up to leave, when the glint of sunlight reflecting off weapons tickled my eye. I froze for a second.

I noticed that the Snake kid’s daggers were out. The angry-looking Dragon was working her sword loose too.

“Oh, ho ho. Maybe I spoke too soon!”

I plopped back down beside the night-black bundle of fur. I’d only ever heard of this “Crowned” Dragon before — I’d never seen her fight. Felt like staying to see this might be worth it.

“Time for a little more watching, watching, watching, I guess,” I said to the cat, who jumped up on my lap to get a better view.

“Just you wait,” I whispered to the fighters in the distance.

“Soon, we’ll be taking, taking, taking.”

Rawrrr.