Dragons are

  terribly beautiful;

  ruby-fire, sun-gold,

  sword-sharp silver claws,

  and diamond dagger-teeth.

  You were so elegant,

  dressed for business.

  Your manic, starved slimness

  looked good in knit dresses.

  You had a fondness for neat, classy hats.

  You were so impressive,

  raging against demonic

  politicians

  at 3:30 a.m.

  Dragons guard

  created beauty,

  crafted a golden treasure hoard

  from violent and destructive

  thugs on horseback.

  Enlightened nights,

  you taught a generation

  of third-graders

  that they could do math,

  make art,

  and write stories

  beyond what any other teacher would

  let them do.

  Daddy

  was raised in isolation.

  You never let his frozen feelings

  shut your children down.

  Dragons breathe fire;

  Even the dragon's blood burns.

  Mother,

  we never knew about the disease that breathed

  fire

  across your thoughts.

  We never knew that

  the dragon's blood

  etched into your tissues

  a little more each day.

  Long, slow fire

  seeped through each joint.

  Dragons sing

  beautifully.

  Dragons are masters

  of ancient wisdom.

  Mother,

  at your funeral,

  there were distant relatives

  in prosperous suits

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  who had come to nod?

  At Marjorie's expected demise,

  and there were a dozen

  strange women

  you had helped

  in finding their path

  from the shadows of the

  hospital

  back into the world.

  Mother,

  you knew the shadows so well. Mother,

  you walked the path

  Dragons fly.

  Mother Dragon by Angeline Richmen-Ozigi.

  ...

  Somewhere around the Qiongzhou Strait,

  Ancient China,

  Approximately a thousand years ago.

  Agnis

  Only the cackling of fiends could be heard as the Demon King and the Armies of Hell, in alliance with the mortals, surrounded us - Dragon Knights, Chosen Ones, and Immortals - on all sides.

  "What did you do to us, Demon King?" Lord Da Fu said in anger as we felt ourselves becoming weak.

  "Just an extra precaution to make sure none of you can use your powers against us," he snickered, pointing to the large dragon idol we thought they had brought as a peace offering, causing the demons to cackle maniacally all over again.

  "My lord, we're trapped!" I cried as they inched closer, causing us, in their midst, to tighten our circle.

  "This is your last chance to surrender," the Demon King said, his voice booming across the battlefield. "Just hand over your pearls and chi orbs, and no one will get hurt."

  "In your dreams!" Young Lady Ari spat weakly, as we mysteriously felt our powers draining faster.

  "Then, you leave me with no choice," he snarled and shot a flare gun into the air.

  Suddenly, there was a large explosion from above, which caused the earth to rumble, and soon several burning debris fell like confetti from the sky.

  "What was that?!" Lord Aito asked, shaken to the core.

  "Those fools!" the Demon King cursed. "I told them to use only one..."

  "You monsters!" I roared in realization. "You just bombed the Jade Palace!"

  "So?" he shrugged nonchalantly. "It's all your fault anyway."

  "Our families were in there," Prince Aaron snickered nastily.

  "But you said nobody was going to get hurt!" The Emperor of China cried guiltily, quite moved by the tears and cries of some of the dragon shifters who were mourning their families.

  "Shut up, you mortal!" the Demon King snapped. "Or perhaps you'd like to join them...?"

  "No pain, no gain!" the Emperor nervously chuckled.

  "What do we do, my lord?" Emperor Guan Yu gasped, urgently clutching the Jade Emperor's arm.

  We were taken aback by the Lord of Heaven's calm countenance as he brushed out of Emperor Guan's grasp. Almost lazily, he then brought out a small bird whistle in the shape of a dragon and blew it. The shrill sound caused the demons and humans to shut their ears in agony as it rang out across the cosmos.

  Almost immediately, the clouds thickened and started to swirl with purplish lightning cackling from within as it slowly blotted out the sky.

  "What's going on?" Wen Shi asked, trying to steady herself.

  "Lord Dal is locked in a duel with Lord Huli!"

  "Not again!" she groaned as we saw him push Lord Huli away before he lost control of his powers. Roaring in anger, more lava spurted out of the earth's core as his manna burned brighter.

  "He needs help in cooling off..." Shi replied thoughtfully as we dodged the lava droplets that had just spurted from a fresh crack nearby.

  "My lady, what do you have in mind?" I cried as I created a protective dome over us.

  "Agnis, Zixuan, Tao, Yun, Manchu, and Ai, you all should get everyone as far away from the shore as soon as possible."

  "What are you going to do?" asked Yun.

  "I shall create a stir," she smirked, extending her pinkie and thumb while curling the pointer, middle, and ring fingers of both hands - vigorously twisting her wrists in expectation of our comprehension. However, we failed to grasp the intended pun, causing her to sigh in disappointment.

  "Just go..."

  "We won't let you down, Mother," we chorused, bowing to her.

  "Agnis?" she said, calling me back.

  "Yes, Mother?"

  "Don't call me that!" she protested softly, "If I don't make it, give this to Ari."

  "Don't say that, my lady!" I gasped while collecting something wrapped in a napkin. "But your wish is my command."

  She gave me a curt nod, grunting as she turned into a black dragon. I joined the rest while she ran towards the horizon, over the sea. Each step caused ice to break out on the lava, but it soon melted away from the heat.

  We managed to get everyone out of the battlefield, demons and humans too. We were running towards the hills when suddenly the sky slowly darkened again.

  "Holy snake!" the demon I was supporting gasped, as we all beheld the largest wave we'd ever seen in our lives.

  "Run!" Emperor Guan Yu barked, but was too late as the water had already begun to tilt towards us.

  "Hold onto something!" Yun cried, and we held shrubs, bracing for impact. I almost lost my grip as we got submerged in the ice-cold water. Soon, the air was thick with water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur, and ash as the water receded.

  I weakly sank to my knees along with others, panting and coughing out water. I turned towards Lord Dal, who was sprawled on the floor in exhaustion by the edge of the cliff, sighing in relief as my lady flew out of the water to check up on him.

  I weakly laid back on the floor, coughing out more water, when I felt someone crouching beside me.

  "Master?!" I croaked as he helped me sit up.

  "Are you okay?"

  Before I could reply, we were all alerted by a piercing scream from Young Lady Ari, who was frantically pointing to the edge of the cliff.

  "Wen Shi!" we screamed in horror, seeing Lord Dal's dagger in her chest as he disappeared. Blood flowed out of her lips as she began to reel backward.

  I didn't know where I got the energy from, but I soon found myself running toward her. Only the panting of blurry figures trying to outrun me made me realize that I wasn't the only one who wanted to save her.

  Suddenly, a mighty gust of wind knocked her off balance, sending her headfirst into the turbulent waters below.

  "Nooooooo!"

  "Angel!"