The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

Xinyi's anklet lit up and a tiny voice of Lengshui spoke in her mind. "Send me out, my lady. I can help them."

"Go, Lengshui," Xinyi said out loud. 

Lengshui appeared in his water form and surrounded Nianshi and Meirga with his cold water. The fire slowly died down, but it didn't last long. Vapors simmered above Lengshui's covering. The heat emitted from the dragon's bodies seemed to grow stronger and boiled Lengshui's body of water. Lengshui yelled in pain and moved away from the two for a while.

He moved again and covered the two with a bigger blob of water, hoping to lower the temperature in their bodies. "Nianshi, revolve the pure essence in your bodies."

"Nianshi?" Xinyi said with deep concern. Beads of sweat dripped from her and the onllooker's faces as they watched Nianshi and Meirga's struggles and Lengshui's painful efforts.

Nianshi replied in Xinyi's mind. "Forgive me, mistress. I can't open my mouth to speak. Uncontrollable fire will come out if I do. We've been revolving the essence, but you sent more than we need. We can't infuse all."

"Don't apologize. It's my fault. What can I do to help you?" Xinyi said with a nervous tone.

The two Godingans could hear Xinyi and Lengshui speaking but couldn't hear Nianshi. However, they grasped the fact that they were talking telepathically based on their conversation. This was a known practice with a beast master and his mount, so this wasn't new to the two.

"All of you must get out of this place. We need to exhaust the excess by blowing fires from our mouth but that would mean burning this whole place down. Leave now." Nianshi said almost like a shout, but Xinyi could tell he was controlling his voice as he spoke in their minds.

The Hutyuns spoke near the blob. "Queen, I can help the waterboy freeze his water to lower the temperature more."

"Don't do it, you damn Hutyuns. You can't bear the heat from the pure fire essence. Most of you will die," yelled Nianshi in their minds. He squeezed his eyes shut to hold the fire in. "Leave this place now. We can't release the fire if you're still here. Go."

"But Nianshi, our bodies might explode if we won't exhaust all the excess essence from our mouths. It will burst out from our skins. Better let the waterboy and the Hutyuns try." Meirga joined in their conversation. Her teeth gritted in the intense pain.

"There might be something I can do." Xinyi begged in her heart. Seeking wisdom from her powers within. She thought of the spring in her domain, but Lengshui interrupted her.

"My lady, let us try," Lengshui said.

"Yes, Queen. Let us try. Even if most of us will die, we can propagate later." The Hutyuns formed a protective barrier between her and the two cross-legged dragons.

"Don't waste time, my lady. We need to do it now. Talking to you increases their pulse rate, adding more heat in their bodies. Let us do it now," Lengshui partly yelled.

"How big is the success rate, Lengshui?" General Lofey asked, although he didn't know who this waterboy called Lengshui.

"About seventy percent."

"That's quite high. Let them try, Lady Lei," General Lofey said, hoping to help Xinyi from her indecisiveness.

"That is better than my plan of a fifty percent result." Nianshi affirmed to Xinyi and Lengshui.

Xinyi's heart drummed faster as the air grew tense, but when she heard Nianshi's affirmation, her indecisiveness melted and dared to gamble with this seventy percent.

"Go ahead, Lengshui, but be careful. I don't want something to happen to you too." 

"Don't worry. Your power in me strengthened me a hundredfold. I can take this with a day of rest after."

After speaking, Lengshui made a bigger water blob to cover the two. Xinyi and company walked out from Meirga's room, giving way for Lengshui to fill the entire place. The Hutyuns became invisible as they rotated the water until it froze. The temperature in the room dropped as the process went on. Xinyi's sweat dried up as the temperature continued to go down.

They could see two red bright human forms in the middle of the clear block of ice. But the redness didn't escalate. It stabilized for a time. 

"Have they controlled the fire?" Tyriece walked nearer to the room entrance, wishing to touch the ice. But as his hand was about to make contact, the redness in the middle of the block of ice became brighter. 

Seeing the fatal effect on the struggling human-dragons, Lofey pulled Tyriece's hand in an instant. "Don't. You're agitating Nianshi. Didn't you hear what Lengshui said? Don't trouble them more." Lofey yelled.

"Sorry." Tyriece shamefully placed his hand down. The brightness lowered, but not much.

While all of these took place, the fox-spider inside the cage grew restless, relentlessly attacking the cage's stone bars with its steel webs. "No, no. This place will explode. Get me out of here."

"Don't jinx us, you pest." Lofey sneered at the spider. 

Being treated like an insignificant being irritated the spider. And courage swelled in its belly in this time of crisis. 

"You? Do you think I'm stupid? I'm a spirit beast and a blessed guardian. The magical animals in the Illusion Forest would even bow to me. I'm just not as violent as the other guardians. Trust me when I say the Hutyuns will not last long. Their present power is not that strong against the two flaming dragons. If they continue, they will die." 

The fox-spider let go of his fear against Xinyi, and his boldness grew a level higher. "Hey, Sorceress, don't just stand there. What's the point of your powers? Send your essence of air to the Hutyuns. You might be able to save half of them. Double their defense. Now," the fox-spider shouted.

"There's a knowledgeable guardian here. Great." Lengshui said. "Do as he says, my lady."

Xinyi nodded. She touched the block of ice and Nianshi's redness brightened again. This alarmed her and pulled her hand away. 

"Damn it, Sorceress. Don't hesitate." The spider shouted at the top of its lungs, if there was one.

"Watch your tongue, spider," Lengshui said, flaring the spider's annoyance but what could it do against a stronger guardian but silently complain behind their backs.

Xinyi could sense the spider's complaining heart and sighed inwardly. "It's fine, Lengshui. Thank you, spider. You're an excellent source of strength. Now, tell me how to send out my air essence to the Hutyuns."

"Don't tell me…" The spider was about to mock her incompetence again, but Xinyi cut its words short. "Save the mocking later. Tell me what to do. Now!" she said, half-shouting.