He showed me a small basin filled with water. I looked into it and saw only my reflection. I didn’t realize that I grew nearly three times as large as I was earlier today. Mai Shen told me that it was my creation of my storm that lead me to be almost my full size, just with a little more training and I will be strong enough to fight.

He took me to another empty spherical room, where clouds floated around lazily. This was the training room, and I was to learn how to perfect my skills.

“Now give me that amethyst, if you want to perfect your skills you will do without it.” Said Mai Shen

I flew up into the clouds waiting for Mai Shen to direct me for what to do, but instructions never came so I did everything I new how to do. I mixed the clouds together, turning them black. Spat lighting as often as I could and created another storm, but not nearly as powerful as I wanted it. I tried flying faster and faster, but I could not get anything else to happen. I flew until I felt my body start to dissipate, I liquefied, and I became the storm. I slowed down to a halt and saw my teacher in awe.

“Never in my entire life have I seen any of my students achieve that, I thought only the guardian could accomplish it but you have proved me wrong” He said “But you must learn one more skill you must know to cause thunder, with out it you will not be able to destroy the source of her power. First however you need rest, you may be of the storms, but to have created a storm that powerful, you must be uneasy.”

I explored the cave in the cloud and stumbled upon many interesting rooms: a dining hall, a ball room, and the archives which I entered. Inside of it was a vast collection of different volumes throughout history. I could not begin to understand how far back the recorded knowledge went on for. I found a book titled The Guardians and Kia Ma and picked it up.

Inside of it I read how that after she fled from the guardian of life she found a deep abyss located far off from and mapped location. Something powerful drew her closer and closer until she discovered something inside that abyss. Inside was an empty void resting above an ancient alter decorated with torches lit with black flames. She stood in wonder pondering the artifact before her. She approached the alter ever so cautiously, but the moment she lay a foot on the alter the void awakened. An unstoppable force trapped her in its suction and she was submerged in the void.

Decades later, what was once a humble dragon of life became a black, fierce, dragon of the void. She entered back into the real world with her newfound power and set out only to find more. She discovered a village only a day’s travel from the void and wrecked havoc on the population. Minutes later, black flames ate away what was left of the village and survivors were forced into the center of town. She tempted them with her powers hoping to attract the strong yet weak hearted, easily manipulated warriors. The few that did not step forward were torched by her breath.

As she returned home with her followers, she found that the guardians have sent some of their own to search for her. An oblivious sky dragon was watching over the edge of the cliff searching for anything, when she stealthfully approached behind him. With a single bite, the dragon fell to the ground as it was consumed by the corruption of her venom. Her numbers grew as fewer dragons roamed the skies, and with every new follower her power grows.

I closed the book and returned back to the corridor to fall asleep for the night. I found that Mai Shen was already in the room in a deep sleep so I to shut my eyes for the night. I awoke soon after from a large pounding on the ceiling.

A hole was blasted through the roof of the training room, hundreds of the little dragons scurried into the room. We had no hope of winning this fight so we had to escape. Mai Shen attempted to plow through the small opening, and I followed. He was engulfed in dozens of creatures as he fell back to the ground. I tried to help him, but he fought me off telling me to escape. I would not listen; he battled the creatures, until he blasted me out of the cave in the clouds with a thunder strike.

I ached as I reproached the whole I made, when I saw hundreds upon hundreds of more creatures pour through it. I fled from the scene and flew as fast as I could until the unthinkable happened. The guardian of the void herself materialized in front of me, but I could not remember any of what happened next.

I awoke inside of a dark room, only lit by black flames. I was chained down and could not move anything but my head, but my mouth was muzzled. I looked through the room trying to make out anything I could in the near pitch-black darkness. I then saw another dragon across the room.

“Hello, can you help me” I yelled nervously.

There was no response, so again I yelled “Hello.”

The figure started to move and it called back “I can’t they have me chained down two.”

“Then I guess we can’t get out of here any time soon. Who are you?”

“My name is Shui Fen dragon of water, and may I ask you the same thing.”

My heart nearly stopped, I would have never expected this, not this way, not remotely close, and never could I anticipate meeting my brother in a prison hidden in an abyss as dragons. My eyes watered, with tears of joy, or sadness, I couldn’t tell.

“I am a dragon of storm, I am the one meant to stop Kia Ma, I am you sister, Cai Lien”

“Well if that isn’t something, finally seeing my sister again, but I always thought you were destructive like a storm.”

“Haha very funny, now how could we get out of here brother, there is nothing we can do.”

“There is always a way, we just have to find it, never give up Cai Lien”

His words rang through my body, I took his message to heart, I felt my spirit grow stronger. I started spraying lighning as fast as I could, but no matter how much I did I felt I could do more. I let everything I had out, and with one last desperate push, I let out a barrage of thunder. The walls containing us crumble, and out chains disintegrated. I freed both myself and my brother and we flew up into the sky before I was struck back down near the alter I read about.

My brother touched down near me and I grimaced as I found out what really happened. My brother fell to the ground in agony as a whirlwind formed around his body. Kia Ma solidified from the minor windstorm and stood before me.

“A major advantage for life dragons, possession, wonderful ability isn’t it.” Said Kia Ma

“You how could you do that to my brother I will kill you” I screamed.

“Oh silly little girl, when will you learn you can’t defeat me, I was always one step ahead of you, just look at you brother he has already joined my ranks.”

I looked at my brother he was not blue like I figured, he was as black as midnight, the darkness was her idea all along.

“I will not kill you because you do make a fine warrior, if Mai Shen wasn’t still alive, you would pass as the guardian.” She said “I will give you a choice, you can join me willingly, or I will force you and eliminate any will you have to keep you in line. Your choice.”

“I will never become one of your follow- ahh!”

I was smothered in the little creatures I saw earlier in the caves. They sunk their teeth into me. I screamed in pain, as their venom spread up my arm.

“That’s strike one, you still have the option to join me Cai Lien.” the guardian of the void said.

“Never, not after what you did to my brother – AHH!”

“Strike Two, or I will make this miserable” said Kia Ma.

“I WILL, okay you win, my fate was decided, please take me.” I admitted.

“Excellent, come with me”


She took me up to the alter and in front of the void. My body was mostly black, but I still felt guilty for my decision. She breathed into the void, which then accepted me into itself. Only emptiness surrounded me I could see nothing, just hundreds of miles one way, and a hundred miles another way. No matter what I did, I seemed that I never moved from my spot.

I was about to give up, when a voice filled the air.

“Hello Cai Lien, I am the void. You really thought that you could defeat me, well now look at you trapped inside of me, unable to do anything, I could do anything I want with you. I am going to enjoy every second of this. You will bend your will to mine, you will forever be apart of me, and I will forever be in you, I you live I cannot die, and if I live you will remain under my power. You are me and I am you. First let me make you suitable as my host. Let me change you. Oh yes, you must be larger, and stronger. Hmm, yes I like my hosts black as midnight, and I love sharp venomous teeth. Let’s see, your tail needs some tweaking, lets sharpen that up a bit, make it a drilled barb, oh yes I like that. Anything I am missing, oh yes silly me. You need to be fiery, I like destruction, you will forever be covered in flames but you shall not burn. You will make a glorious host; now let me enter into your body.”

A stream of emptiness flowed into my completely different body, I felt my mind become hazy, and I started to fade. Almost to the point were I felt nothing I remembered my destiny. I let my spirit collect into one powerful source of energy. I released my built up force and released it into the emptiness. Shards of nothing fell to the nonexistent floor. The void began to collapse on itself. Nothing was being destroyed and nothing came to an end.

I stood on the empty alter, with every dragon on the void looking at me. I spoke but the words that came out were not mine. “Hello all of my followers, I am the void, I am your lord. My host has destroyed my body, but I remain inside of her. Bow down to me.”

Without knowing what I was doing I bowed to myself, under full control of the void.