The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 16 (Shuu)

I'm besieged.

Gyeoul knows how to screw me up. He gathered his troops to encircle me and ordered them to shout their thoughts, thinking of many things, so that I would be overwhelmed in my fight against them. So I have trouble finding Kaze.

It's almost dusk. If Kaze had succeeded, she would have already been in Xiang. I need to get out of here and find him. But I couldn't capture his thoughts with the many thoughts of the people around me.

"Give up, Water Dragon." He said in a typical Han accent. I remember the way Yeon-Hwa spoke. But Gyeoul's voice was heavier and rougher because she was a smoker.

"You want to capture the Water Dragon in its own territory? In the Water Village? Aren't your ambitions too excessive, Torakka?"

Gyeoul laughing. "You won't dare to fight. I've known you since I was a kid. So it's better to stop playing chases with us and come with us to the Palace. That way, no one gets hurt."

He's correct. I could have drowned Gyeoul and his army by bringing a flood in Xiang. By the Yaozhi river. But in doing so, I will also kill thousands of innocent lives in Xiang. Both the Jung people who live in this Water Village, as well as tourists from various regions and various countries who are visiting Xiang. Water is healing, it is man's friend, but it can kill if I will.

While I was still thinking of a way to avoid Gyeoul, I suddenly saw her red eyes become brightly lit like her corneas had just been replaced with suns, but her gaze was blank. It only happened for a few seconds, then his eyes returned to normal red. Gyeoul looked grinning. Something bad will happen in the future.

"Yi-Zhuo managed to catch your twin sister. They're going to the Sun Palace tonight." His prophecy. His heavy voice made the prophecy sound even more terrifying.

Gyeoul is a psychic. Her mother had been working as a fortune teller in the Emperor's Palace since she was young. His skills declined for Gyeoul and his younger siblings.

"Kaze can't get caught. He would definitely bring in a storm first before Yi-Zhuo could—“

"He failed to call his father. Yi-Zhuo threatens to kill Eri. You know Kaze and Eri are like sisters."

They're gonna take Kaze to the Emperor. And Yi-Zhuo will not care what Kaze does, he will still kill Eri. Yi-Zhuo is not normal. He's wacko. He would definitely torture Kaze all the way to the Sun Palace. He was happy to see others hurt and suffer. Kaze's in danger.

I don't know what's going on, I suddenly heard a scream from a distance. At first I thought it was just a distraction, one of the thoughts I heard. It turned out that it was the sound of terrified screams while asking for help from the citizens of Xiang. They begged for mercy in the temples and in the streets.

Forgive us, Water Dragon.

Please do not be angry, Son of the Sea.

Forgive us! Forgive us! Forgive us!

I even heard their prayers from their minds. Prayers from different languages and from different regional dialects. The prayers of the citizens of Xiang and the prayers of the tourists. It took me a while to realize what was happening. The reason they all screamed in fear and prayed.

The waters of the Yaozhi river began to rise and flood Xiang. Xiang will sink in a matter of seconds. It seems that myth is true. When the usually calm Water Dragon began to be disturbed and angry, the Yaozhi river would spill. Hearing that Kaze would be captured and Eri would be killed, I was unable to control my own anger. I can't stay calm. Even when I realized what was going on, I still couldn't control it. The water flooded Xiang.

Gyeoul and his army began to panic as the floodwaters had already risen to their knees.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder, someone who was hot never hurt me, "Don't do that. Stop the. You're gonna put innocent people's lives at risk." Said. He uses his own language, Nordhalbinsel. And use his own voice. A voice I heard a thousand years ago.

"Who are you?" Shouted Gyeoul at the man who suddenly, at his leisure, stepped into the siege of his army amid the panic of everyone and the negligence of his troops.

I looked behind me to see it.

Riz.

Nope. He's not Riz. I know who he is.

"Baginda King..."

My king smiled as he put his finger on his lips, gesturing not to dismantle his disguise in front of everyone. He still uses the face of Arizona Navarro the Westeria. "You think they'd be more afraid to see the eyes of Amethyst belonging to the Navarro clan or the raging Fire Dragon?" yangna, slowly. Gyeoul and the others definitely could not hear it.

"I guess..." I looked around us— towards Gyeoul and his troops. As my King appeared in the face of the Arizona Navarro, they were all trembling, glued to his eyes that resembled Amethyst jewels. They looked at him in horror. I caught the minds of all those who called him The Navarro Sinting. The Slaughterer. The Destroyer. Death God. I think the reputation of the Navarro family is quite well known in the Orient because the last time the Orient lost a war a few hundred years ago was because Westeria decided to release the Navarro Clan to the battlefield of— which resulted in the death of thousands the people and destruction of most of Westeria itself. From then on Westeria kept their country neutral and peaceful so that the people of the Navarro Clan would not have to use their terrifying abilities. The people from the Navarro Clan were indeed terrifying, but they were still only humans. I can't imagine if they saw the Great Fire Dragon directly. They might faint. "Amethyst's eyes." I replied. "Let's not make a fuss for a while."

She laughs. "You're calm enough apparently. Thank goodness I didn't come late."

I get the point. The Yaozhi river has stopped overflowing. The flood slowly began to recede. Apparently he had shifted my mind so that my emotions did not control me and made it difficult for me to control my own strength. Things like this can happen to us Dragons. And when our emotions are unstable, seeing the consequences of our strength, it only makes us panic. But my king knew about it, and managed to divert me.

"Don't worry about Kaze. He'll be fine." Said. I looked at him, reading his thoughts. Kaze will be safe because our Queen will save him.

"You're not a real Navarro!" Gyeoul. I don't know where she knows, but she's a psychic, so I won't be surprised. He then shouted an order towards his troops. "Don't be afraid! He's faked. Raise your swords!"

My king then pulled out the two sword blades that I just realized he had been carrying since. The sword is covered with fire. The other one looks very strange. "You can use a sword?"

I nodded briefly, "We were taught in the Palace."

"You made another sword apparently, Your Majesty. I think you can only take one scaly."

He smiled as he looked at this sword I was holding. This sword was made from the scales of the Great Fire Dragon and was decorated with rose-shaped ruby gems on the handle. "My beloved wife asked for it, of course I gladly gave it as a wedding gift. Actually, it was because I had accidentally broken Anna's sword earlier. Long story. Now we'll deal with this first."

This sword makes things easy. Its light weight doesn't make it difficult to use at all. But that's not the point. Swords made from the scales of the Supreme Fire Dragon can split and pierce anything. I swung the sword freely against the entire army brought by Gyeoul. While my King fought Gyeoul.

I usually hate fighting and bloodshed. But this needs to be done. We are defending ourselves. Rather than using the power of the Dragon which could have exposed innocent citizens to the impact, fighting with the sword is much fairer. If they don't fight back, then I won't attack back either. I only attack those who are against me.

This is not the first time I have killed. Before entering the Water Palace, I had already killed people. I killed dozens of rebels. They were the people of a former Orient colony united against the Emperor. The emperor used me as a death sentence for those rebels when I wasn't even ten years old. I still clearly remember their faces when I drowned them. I remember their painful thoughts. I thought it would be my nightmare forever. I thought it would ruin my soul. Actuallyno. I was still able to sleep soundly and enjoy the luxuries and benefits I had as a Water Dragon for many years to come without feeling the slightest bit guilty. And it scared me of myself. To what extent can I ignore it all?

I convinced myself this time was different. I will only kill those who have the mind to kill me and my King. I will only hurt those who have the mind to hurt me and my King. I will only fight those who fight us.

It did not take long, we managed to subvert those who dared to fight and make some others run away in fear. The reason was not only because they fought the Water Dragon, but because the sword that my King used was covered in eternal fire. They held the suspicion that what they were fighting might not be Navarro, but something else, which was far more terrifying. And their suspicions are right, if only I could tell them.

Gyeoul is out of energy. Half of his face was burning with fire, his perfectly white skin was blistered. I noticed the stab wound on his chest that was spitting out a lot of blood. Not right in his heart. The wound did not kill him.

I looked up at my King who was still staring at Gyeoul furiously. He couldn't possibly miss out like that. The sword science currently studied by humans is the creation of the Great Fire Dragon. He intentionally. He had no intention of killing Gyeoul.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

My king's shaking. "He will send a message to the Emperor. Anna and I agreed not to kill the Torakkas." My king then looked at me who was still confused. "Don't worry. They won't terrorize us anymore."

But Gyeoul laughed at hearing that. He laughed so hard like a man who had lost his wits due to his defeat. At first I thought so, but after I noticed it again, his eyes lit up brightly again. He saw something in the future. He smirked vilely looking at my King.

"I should have known... You're the King of dragons." He laughed even harder. "But how is this? What a pity, the Great Fire Dragon. This time your life will be very short. You'll die at the hands of a—“

"Witch. I know." My king cut Gyeoul's prophecy. His tone sounded bored. "I've heard that prophecy. Don't worry about me. You better worry about yourself, psychic."

My king was about to leave Gyeoul bleeding on the ground with a half-burned face. I'm gonna follow him. But Gyeoul's words stopped our steps.

"Oh, you're dying, aren't you?" Her laugh. "You're gonna die soon! When exactly? Tonight then? Tomorrow?"

With a very quick movement, my King turned around and drew his fiery sword towards Gyeoul. The distance of the flame was only a few inches from Gyeoul's eyes. But Gyeoul didn't seem afraid at all. His eyes are still burning red.

"Shut your mouth!" My king looks very angry. The eyes of Amethyst belonging to the Navarro Clan were replaced with the original eyes that were as the color of fire. The flames appeared all around us, burning those who were already dead in battle. Chasing those who are still alive. But Gyeoul did not seem afraid in the slightest.

"Baginda King... The fire..." I warned.

My king closed his eyes and set his breath. When he opened his eyes again, the fire was gone. The eyes of the Amethyst returned.

"Does your Queen know?" Gyeoul looked even more excited when she found out she had managed to provoke the Dragon Monarch. I saw the grip of my King's hand on his sword grow firmer. For a moment it seemed that I saw the veins in my King's hand that were dark black. "He doesn't know yet?" Gyeoul.

"What is he talking about, Sire? What's that supposed?" My toot. I tried to read his mind to find answers, but I found no way to penetrate his mind. His mind was tightly closed.

Gyeoul glanced at me for a moment, then turned back to my King. "So no one knows?" His laughter glared, giving me goose bumps.

Seeing my King withhold his anger with great difficulty, I was pretty sure he would soon blow up Gyeoul. But it didn't happen. He only remained silent for a long time, then lowered his sword. He turned around, facing me again who was still waiting for an explanation.

"Don't listen to him. Let's go."

I nodded, according to him. But not far away from us, Gyeoul again said another prophecy, "You better take good care of your Queen and your little princess, the Great Fire Dragon. One or both will die if you fail."

The words made him stop. "Who do you mean?" Ask. This time, instead of getting angry, he looked confused.

"You ignored the warning from the Sky. You think the Sky has blessed you just because of the shooting stars? Is that sure you are? You know you should stay away from him. It's too late now."

"Explain what you mean!"

Gyeoul smiled as she found out she had finally predicted something my King had not known.

"Yet... Oh, it's not time yet. But maybe soon there will be signs. It's not fun if I tell you now. You'll know soon enough. He, or they, will die if you fail."

It was the last prophecy to come out of his mouth. Gyeoul burned out in one eye.

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