Chapter 92: The Dragon Ascends

Chapter 92: The Dragon Ascends

Labby raised her head, staring at the massive dragon rising from the pool of water in front of her. The Qi flowing through its scales smelled of unseen storms and thunder. It spoke to a deep inner desire within her Qi, to be let loose and run wild, like a fierce storm.

It was like watching a deity, and for a moment Labby almost felt the same reverence towards the dragon that she held for her Master.

In contrast, the dragon looked quite confused.

“What brings you to our lair, rat?” the dragon asked, its long serpentine body rising further out of the water, Labby struggled to see the Dragon’s face, until the massive creature lowered its head down to Labby’s level.

“Labby is trying to find her junior sister Twilight!” she squeaked at the massive dragon, crackling once with purple lightning.

“Junior sister you say,” the dragon uttered. It was only now that Labby realized the lack of any movement of the mouth when the dragon spoke. But rather than projecting its voice like she did, when the dragon spoke, the Qi all around her seemed to shudder, and give voice to its words.

“Ah, a bloodroot spirit. Foul creature of rot and decay. Why do you seek that one, little rat?” the dragon asked, turning towards Labby.

“Labby’s sister isn’t foul! And... Labby needs to find her. She got taken by a mean monster thing” Labby shouted at the dragon.

The massive creature looked down towards her, long whiskers flowing from its face. Water flowed around the dragon, a blob rising up to its face that began to reflect Twilight within it.

“You do not lie. A bloodroot fed on pure essence,” the dragon spoke. “She was taken by no monster, but the spirit of the trial. We see her, she is safe. Safer than any place on the Seventh Peak.”

The blob of water flowed down allowing Labby to take a better look. She saw Twilight sitting on a tree branch, a strange creature with glowing antlers standing nearby. Labby squealed happily to see her junior sister fine.

“Can you take Labby to her?”

With a silent plop, the blob of water dissipated, returning to the lake.

“Why should this great one give you anything? Tolerating your presence is honor enough to your Elders,” the dragon asked, its voice echoing throughout the cave.

Labby almost recoiled back at the power of the voice, but she held on. She stood silently, thinking over the dragon’s words.

“Great Dragon, Labby just finished the trial... shouldn’t there be a reward?” she asked the dragon hesitantly.

The dragon’s serpentine body swirled through the lakes as it rose further outside, looking down at her. “Your words are not without merit,” the dragon said.

“Squeak!” Labby replied in agreement.

“Unfortunately, we cannot bring you to your junior sister. She is not within the seventh peak anymore. And neither is your Master.”

“Where are they?” Labby asked, confused.

“In the line that separates our realm from those of the spirits. You should know of it child, the spirit realm is the domain of the lunar sisters,” the dragon said.

Labby let out an uneasy squeak. That did not sound good.

“Why is master in that place? And how can Labby get there?” Labby asked the dragon.

“The trial of spirits, that is where you stand. The trial brings each disciple to the locations they are most required at,” the water flowed up in streams of water, forming images. Labby saw a disciple with flames licking their clothes dancing among spirits of flame.

“A child of fire would be taken to the spirits of flames that live deep high above the peaks,” the dragon said, before the image changed once more.

“A child of water would be taken to the misty rivers that flow deep within the Seventh peak, to learn from the spirits directly,” Labby watched the disciple swimming underwater, moving currents through the river at their whim.

With a plop, the image collapsed.

“The trial is the foundation of the sect we preside over now, a great place of learning for those that know to seek. And today, it has brought you to us,” the dragon said, before looking down at the rat.

Labby looked back at the massive dragon, feeling her Qi unsettled within her core.

“There is a way to reach your master. But it would only serve to disrupt the trial that has been set out for him. Think carefully before you ask anything of us, child.”

Labby looked at the dragon, as her heart began to pound. Her Qi stirred inside her core. This was her chance.

“Labby... wishes to take a human form,” Labby spoke, crackling with lightning as she looked at the dragon.

“Squeak!” Labby shouted, as she churned her Qi and called upon the thunder around the world.

“Dragon’s Tempest!” she shouted, jumping towards the bolt of lightining. Purple arcs of lightning welled up around her body, shooting towards the heavenly tribulation. They struck the golden bolt, splintering further still.

Arcs of lightning struck Labby, coursing through her body. She felt her limbs go stiff as she slid down the tail of the dragon, falling down to earth.

Refusing to stop, Labby swirled midair, using her teeth to cling into the gap between the dragon’s scale, managing by a fraction of an inch.

Cycling her Qi, she fought through the injuries she had, grabbing on once more as they headed straight into the clouds of tribulation.

“The heaven rages, it rages at us who seek to defy destiny,” the dragon sang, its voice booming, and the world shuddered all around it.

“Let it rage all it wants, for it can never smother a dragon.”

The Qi sang around the dragon, as lightning welled up all around it. Bolts shot into the heavens, striking at the clouds. Labby watched Shen Teng open its maw, as a stream of water poured from it, into the skies. Rain and storm struck at the heavenly trial clouds, dissipating a little circlet.

“Hold on tight,” Shen Teng spoke, before shooting forwards like an arrow.

Labby squeaked loudly, as the dragon rushed into the sky, flying around the bolts of lightning that shot towards them. Shen Teng swam, twirling through the skies like a dancing carp scaling a waterfall.

“But a dragon is not mere pride. For we are creatures of both will and grace,” the dragon whispered in a soft voice, swimming through the skies past the dark clouds of Heavenly Qi.

“And nothing, not even the heavens can separate a true dragon from its sky,” the dragon said, as the clouds parted. Labby watched in awe at the blanket of clouds beneath her, and the shining sun high up in the sky, glowing brightly within a deep blue sky.

“Thus, the lesson ends, Child,” the dragon said, slowing down to a gentle swim through the calm skies. Labby looked down and saw a carpet of white and gray, with little peeks of the ground so far beneath her that she could barely fathom it. Her gaze traveled forward, towards the Azure-Jade empire. To the land she called home and the seven peaks that presided in it.

“It’s... so big,” Labby exclaimed, in awe. The mightiest of trees, the largest of sects. They were all but mere dots on the landscape in front of this sight.

“And so you see the nature of the world, from the sight of a Dragon. Even we are mere whispers of the tale that is the world. And it is precisely why a dragon is proud. For we can partake in this sight, and understand our place in the order of the world.”

Labby squeaked, nodding. She could understand, after seeing this sight.

Did her master know of this? Did he know of the vastness of the world? The way the trees looked like tiny motes of grass laid across the land. The way the world curves at the edges, leading to a darker sky further.

Labby’s gaze turned up and outwards, towards the blue sky, and the edges of darkness she sensed beyond. Wisps of something began to flow downwards, an energy she did not understand. Dark, but colorful. It was chaos personified and for a moment, she felt as if she was drowning in it.

“Do not look there, child. The primordial vastness is not kind to our kin,” the Dragon spoke, snapping her out of her daze.

Labby took in a breath, nodding.

“Now, do you understand the world better, child? And the task you are here to perform?” the Dragon asked.

Labby nodded once more.

“Very well, then close your eyes, and sense the moon. It lurks beyond sight, but it is there. Call for it, grasp upon the threads of the moon, and hone it into the lightning you wield. Then focus, and ask for an audience with the sisters of the moon,” the dragon said.

Labby closed her eyes as instructed as she began to focus on the lunar Qi. She let her senses spread outwards, trying to find any hints of it. A myriad of colors splashed in her senses, the world was full of chaos and Qi, and at a moment she felt as if she could reach out and touch all of them, yet the one she sought was not here.

She looked further, extended her reach even outward. She looked for the silver strands of light, of the moon that lurked within the bright sky.

A little strand of lunar Qi reached Labby, before one more and then another one more.

A few moments later, she was surrounded by silvery light flowing all around and into her. Never before had she felt a stronger connection to Lunar Qi and Labby relished in it, cycling her Qi over and over.

She felt one particular strand of lunar Qi beckoning her towards itself. Labby moved her senses closer, and she felt something shift within her core. As if she had moved a part of herself outside of her soul and granted it to the strand.

The strand shuddered and moved, shooting to the sky and then with a shudder, a burst of light made Labby open her eyes.

Eight figures loomed in front of her, eight faces she could recall from when she had first picked the path of the moon.

One of them stepped forward. A silver crescent moon was marked on the forehead, and clothes flowed around her body. She greeted Labby with a smile.

“Welcome, child. We have been waiting.”