Tale of the wind

Armin pondered whether it had truly been a good idea to tag along with the dragon without her knowledge. Slowly, he moved toward the shrine, his eyes drawn to the towering stone pillars engraved with ancient symbols. Azure dragon motifs adorned the walls, adding an air of mystique to the surroundings.

Venturing deeper into the shrine, he came across an enclosed chamber. The massive wooden doors stood tall, their knobs—shaped like dragon heads—were as large as his own. When he touched one, it emitted a faint sapphire glow, as if responding to his presence. Feeling an inexplicable pull, he pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

The room felt alive, almost beckoning him. The warmth of the floor stood in stark contrast to the cold stone outside. A musky scent of cotton flower incense filled the air, its smoky tendrils wrapping around him. Dim yellow lanterns cast a golden hue across the space, and his eyes wandered to the walls adorned with portraits of various sizes.

At the center of the room lay a tomb draped in red silk, from which the incense emanated. Above it hung a portrait of a man in a dragon mask, his hand intertwined with Yui's. Her faint smile and the way she leaned against his shoulder startled Armin.

"I didn't know she could smile," he muttered to himself as he approached the tomb. His gaze lingered on the embroidery of the same man's masked visage on the silk covering the tomb. He turned to examine the other portraits on the walls, each depicting different dragon beasts in human form—mostly males. It dawned on him that these were likely clan leaders from different eras.

Just as Armin turned to leave, his foot caught on something hard near the tomb. Crouching down, he discovered a lever partially hidden in the floor. Curiosity overcame him, and he pulled it. A hidden drawer slid open, revealing a large book with a scarlet cover embossed with an azure dragon emblem.

He retrieved the book, titled Tale of the Wind, and began to read.

"Fire existed before wind existed,

Space existed before wind existed,

Earth existed before wind existed,

Wind was born last but blended well with all the others."

The opening passage intrigued him. Flipping through the pages, Armin found illustrations of wars and power exchanges. His interest deepened as he stumbled upon the section detailing the transfer of power to Yui. However, some pages were charred, with words and images obscured. He noticed, in particular, that the name of the clan leader before Yui, along with his unmasked portraits, had been deliberately burned. Despite the damage, Armin pressed on, reading with growing fascination.

"The dragons are majestic and need not be tamed. Young and wise as we are, we are not inferior to any elemental beasts. Through wind, we connect; through wind, we dominate and reign. Humans are far more selfish than they portray. We must not entrust one to do our bidding. Their kind serves no purpose except as slaves," Armin read aloud, realizing the book contained the collective memories of the Azure Dragons' former leaders.

As he finished Yui's section, he noticed the earlier pages were too charred to decipher. Fluttering through the remaining pages, he stumbled upon a few old photographs. One caught his eye: a younger Yui in wedding attire, standing beside the man whose image adorned the tomb and his face burnt in the picture.

"She's… a widow?" Armin whispered, the realization sinking in.

Suddenly, the shrine doors burst open. Yui stormed inside, her blue eyes burning with a cold fury.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, snatching the book and photograph from his hands in one swift motion.

Armin froze, utterly stunned by her abrupt entrance. He hadn't anticipated being caught, though in hindsight, entering a restricted area of a dragon's palace was foolish.

"I… well..I got lost," he stammered, the words spilling clumsily from his mouth.

Yui grabbed his arm, yanking him toward the door. In an attempt to steady himself, Armin instinctively clutched at the silk fabric covering the tomb. The motion inadvertently uncovered it, revealing a casket beneath.

Yui froze, her eyes widening with distress. For a fleeting moment, Armin glimpsed something more than anger in her expression—grief, raw and unguarded. Her frantic hands moved to cover the tomb again, smoothing the fabric with meticulous care, as though tending to someone merely asleep rather than long gone.

Armin's face paled as he noticed the inscription on the casket: Assassinated by Zhou Yui, his betrothed, his wife, and partner in authority. Though the name of the man had been deliberately obscured, the words struck him like a blow.

"You killed your husband?" The question escaped his lips before he could stop himself, his curiosity overriding any sense of self-preservation.

Yui's hands paused mid-motion. For a long moment, she said nothing, her gaze fixed on the tomb. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet but heavy with emotion.

"I had no choice," she murmured, her words tinged with grief and guilt.

Armin blinked, his perception of Yui shifting. Until now, he had seen her as a cold, merciless beast, driven solely by ambition and self-interest. But the pain in her voice was unmistakable. It was almost human.

"Does it have anything to do with humans?" he asked cautiously, his mind calculating the risks of pushing further but driven by a deeper intent—to understand, perhaps even to form a connection that might save Bao.

Yui's expression hardened, but she didn't lash out. Instead, she nodded, her response simple and quiet. "Yes."

A long silence followed, stretching unbearably as Armin weighed his next words. He chose not to pry further, sensing it was not a good topic to discuss to befirend.

Finally, Yui broke the silence, her voice laced with disdain. "Humans are nothing but self-serving and cruel. They call us beasts, yet they are the ones with savage tendencies and an insatiable thirst for power."

Armin raised an eyebrow at her reasoning, the irony of her statement not lost on him. While he sensed there was more to her hatred of humans than she let on, he couldn't resist challenging her.

"Are you saying dragons don't seek power?" he asked pointedly.

Yui sighed, acknowledging the truth in his words but refusing to relent entirely. "We seek power for survival."

Armin scoffed in return. "Perhaps both humans and dragons just want to survive—power or not." He nodded stoically, as though his comment was phenomenal.

Yui stared at him, her expression blank for a beat before she muttered under her breath, "Man-shit."