The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

Nianshi was ashamed of his past.

So sad. A great mythical lion dragon having a phobia was humiliating. After experiencing that deadly hit from an arrow attached with Wag and blue stones centuries ago, he acquired this fear. He deeply wished he could manipulate time and go back days before that fateful day to prevent the incident. 

Truth be told, he was a prideful dragon. After coming out from his eggshells and meeting the first Sorceress, life was good. There was no chaos in the magical world. Everything was in balance. But greedy Chiangdas came and used these stones the wrong way and turned their world upside down. This was the start of the wars between Chiangdas and the non-Chiangdas.

Nianshi grew in the Sorceress' care and fought battles with her and always won. That's why he feared nothing and boasted that the red stone could only inhibit him from using magic powers but.. couldn't stop his speed and muscle strength. 

"Your arrogance would lead you to your grave." The Sorceress warned him countless times, but he laughed them off. 

"Don't worry, my lady. I can outsmart them with my speed, agility, and strength. Could they stop the stormy winds my huge wings produced? Could they stop my tail's heavy lashings and my deafening roars that their souls had to flee out of fear? Nope. I promise you, they can't come near us. Even their mounts cower in my presence. Let them bring those stones and I'll give them a good whipping." He said with confidence and laughed it out loud.

The Sorceress sighed. His boastful attitude bothered her.

Indeed, he was victorious with his battles using what he mentioned and stopped the advancing enemies although they raised the Wag stones against him. The results was satisfying to Nianshi.

"Don't be a worrywart, my lady." 

"I'm afraid I have all reasons to worry. Your fight with them are too easy and ended quickly. I think they are experimenting to find out your weakness." 

"No worries. I will subdue them before they find any weakness from your great mount."

Her worries were perfectly on the spot. In those lost battles, the enemy figured his weakness. The scales on Nianshi's nape opened when he roars and he got a scratch on his face when the special arrow grazed it.

On that fateful day he did the same thing to stop the humans while the Sorceress busily fought together with the strong and fearsome animals. The enemy's troops tempted him to roar and when he did, an arrow found its way on the back of his neck and the great Nianshi fell like a huge plane crashing the trees and everything in its path, leaving a hallowed extensive ground behind. 

He tried to stand when he saw the endless barrage sent to the Sorceress who stood a distance from him, but the stone inside his body absorbed his strength, rendering him useless. The enemy sent another salvo of arrows to Nianshi to kill him for good but his master moved. In a split second, she had reached Nianshi and formed the biggest shield she could make to protect Nianshi. 

Nianshi could never forget that momentous event. The Sorceress stood alone in defense against the bombarding fiery stones from the trebuchets and long steel arrows from large crossbow machines. They made these armaments to attack thousands of army and to pull great walls down to ashes, but today they sent it to a lone figure. Yet, she stopped them using ninety-five percent of her powers. 

She commanded whirlwinds, storms, and earthquakes to swallow and break the armaments. She gave life to the trees to attack the enemies' troops on land and threw rocks on those flying above. And more astounding acts she displayed that anyone couldn't fathom. That was how strong and powerful she was. This was the reason the opponents focused on her. They sacrificed thousands of men and machines to make her fall.

However, she has her limits and that's where the enemy took advantage. More power she used up, the more her body grew tired.

Because of this, another unforgettable incident happened. The animals saw her getting weaker and weaker and could not bear watching her die while they lived. Thus, animals in various sizes like rabbits, bears, foxes, lions, mystical giant spider and other huge animals unseen before, disregarded their lives and entered the fray to form a dome of animal-shield covering Nianshi and the Sorceress. 

And they all died with no mercy in that instant...

Their sacrifice moved Nianshi. For the first time in his life, he cried for the animals. Most of all, when he saw the Sorceress groaned in pain saying, "You don't need to do this."

"Save your life, my lady. Leave me to die." He wailed as a pool of tears formed under his chin and neck. Nianshi knew, if the enemy would make another round of attacks, the Sorceress would surely die.

However, the Sorceress went to his side instead. With a touch of her hand, she gave him part of her life essence. In an instant, her skin turned pale, and she coughed out blood. Yet, she smiled while wiping the red liquid on her lips with her dirty sleeves. "You must live to guide and help my future successor." 

"Take back your life essence. I deserve to die." He tried to stand again, but the Sorceress caressed his face and sent him to sleep.

"I'm glad you've learned your lesson well, but it's not yet time for you to die. Sleep and your new master will wake you. Don't forget to teach her well so she could accomplish what I did not." 

Then she made his last appeal to the Great King. "Time of life, hear my call, send my powers to whom worthy to carry this torch… Creator of life, take my life as an offering to bring back balance to this world." 

Nianshi only heard her words because his eyelids dropped and fell into a long slumber. The next thing he knew, the young Xinyi woke him from his long hibernation. But the sad thing was, there was no loneliness in his heart. 

The Sorceress took away his sorrows. He didn't even miss the late master that much. For him, it was an odd feeling. However, he was the only one who could fight his battle to conquer his fear against the stone.

Now, he failed keeping the task given to him by the late Sorceress. He would regret being alive if something bad happened to Xinyi right now. 

Nianshi was on the spot with his anxieties because…

Xinyi avoided the avalanche in the nick of time but because of her uncontrollable speed, she jumped into a powerful natural illusion in the mountains.

She was in a dilemma. Xinyi had no idea about illusion traps.