"Get back here, you little thief!" a baker yelled at the crowded, city street. "Get the Crimsonvale! Someone... Anyone?" 

Nobody cared. 

Snickering quietly to herself as she turned around a corner, a teenager no older than fourteen Summers, pulled out a frosted pastry from within her sleeve. She took a bite and let out a muffled, happy squeal. Attracting the attention of passersby, murmuring among themselves and shared laughter over the girl's expense as she blushed crimson upon her pointed ears picking up their voices. She ran through the crowd, parting it like a jagged river running between plateaus. Her azure-colored hair and golden eyes didn't stand out among the city's inhabitants of humans and demihumans. However, her outfit of white and red was similar to a shrine maiden.

Twin suns above were beating down the realm with their heat as the clouds were scattered across the sky, moving ever so slowly. The legendary nation, Rularis, was filled with neverending activity. Traveling merchants come and go daily, safe from thieves and bandits as long as the Crimsonvale continued to operate directly under the orders of their king. 

The young girl ran and ran until she was out of breath. She broke a sweat and tried to catch her breath underneath the shade of a large statue. Looking up at the two marble figures then down at the plaque.

"Never forget the sacrifice by the Architects of Light," the voice of a woman said from behind her. "I taught them everything they knew." She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, who suddenly stiffened upon hearing the woman's voice. 

She slowly turned her head to look up at the woman next to her. She was reluctant to where it was as if there were the sounds of creaking coming from her neck. "L-Lady Tamamo..." 

"Ryuu Draconia." Tamamo glared down at her while keeping her fan in front of the bottom of her face. "Let us return home, shall we?" 

Ryuu's face sunk with fear. 

A few hours have passed and the twin suns began to set beyond the skyline of mountains and distant cities. Tamamo casually walked up the long, stone staircase up to the mountain path, whereas Ryuu was holding on with barely any energy. 

Feeling as though she'd collapse any second, Ryuu's vision grew hazy. "C-can't I just fly?" 

Tamamo stopped as Ryuu bumped into her tails. "Do you honestly believe with your current stamina and skill that you can take flight?"

"I... Well..." Ryuu averted her gaze as though she was also sweating bullets. She was defeated in an instant.

Tamamo continued up the long stairway. "You don't need to hide your horns and tail anymore. We are no longer within the gaze of the public eye." 

"Yes, teacher," Ryuu mumbled disheartened. Two glowing rings appeared diagonally on her head, just above her pointed ears. The rings slowly floated back, showing two horns, white as snow and pointed straight back. A third ring slowly vanished from behind her as her draconic tail whished back and forth behind her with her footsteps.

At the mountain peak, a red temple with wooden walls stood tall with a balcony floating over the edge. The ground was flat and recently swept as piles of pebbles were pushed to the edge against the rocky barriers.

Tamamo stood in the center as Ryuu finally reached the top... by crawling. The Kitsune sighed. "Honestly, how will you live the rest of your life if you do not put in the effort?" 

"By... By eating all the snacks I want and play all the games I'd like?" Ryuu rolled onto her back, trying to catch her breath. 

Tamamo wasn't surprised at all by the Half-Dragon's nonchalant answer. "Then I have a proposal for you." 

Ryuu "looked up" at her teacher, seeing her and the world upside down. 

"If you answer my questions correct, your punishment for sneaking off across the realm to Rularis," The Kitsune smirked behind her fan. "I'll lessen its severity."

The young  Half-Dragon rolled over and stood up, patting the dust off her clothes. "Challenge accepted," she couldn't stop herself from saying. The dragon's blood within her boiled with determination and desperation to avoid the cruel punishments of a fox. 

"First question I beseech thee to answer," Tamamo squinted her eyes. "What exactly is aura?"

There was an awkward silence between them as the gears within Ryuu's mind were struggling to turn on top of her exhausted state. If a tumbleweed could appear out of thin air and majestically bounce with the light breeze across the flat mountaintop, one certainly would. 

"Tick tock, young Draconia," Tamamo added. "Although our lifespans are eternal, we do not have an eternity to spend pondering upon a single question."

Ryuu snapped back to reality and cleared her throat. "Aura is the residual life force in all things. It manifests in different ways and can be used differently from one person to another." 

"One example," Tamamo said in an indifferent tone. "Among all beings in this realm, who is famously known for using his aura for combat?"

Ryuu lowered her gaze. "The King of Rularis, Reginald Aeterna." 

"And what is he exactly?" Tamamo continued her verbal test. "It is said that his kind is rare to gaze upon and even rarer to encounter. Less than twenty of them exist in this entire universe."

Ryuu took a deep breath. "He's a Rularian. A long-living mortal race of absolute power. The war between Rularis and Casum was one-sided. It's said one of the battles could not be considered one at all the second King Reginald stepped on the battlefield. He wiped out an entire army with just a wave of his hand... using his golden aura." 

"It has been years since that war," The Kitsune cut in. "Is it known to be fact or fiction?"

"Fact," Ryuu answered with a straight face. "We've seen it from this temple. The clouds were blown away and the sky turned gold for several seconds."

"Excellent, you've been paying attention and your memory is... nearly as sharp as ever." Tamamo closed her fan and pointed it to the right. "The nation to our right?"

"The Cyninq Kingdom," she answered with a deep breath. "Where Queen Arissa Cyninq governs over her people. She patrols the streets to help each of her citizens, minimizing problems wherever she can. No matter how small."

"And to our north?" Tamamo pointed the fan right over Ryuu's shoulder. 

"The Elfier Empire. A unified Elven nation that stretches beyond the realm to other worlds. Empress Matilda works constantly as there is no time for rest when governing every territory they have."

"Further north and slightly to the east?" Tamamo asked. "This is the nation directly north of the Cyninq Kingdom."

"Rularis."

"And lastly, the far east?" Tamamo pointed. 

"Casum," Ryuu looked in that direction. "An unruly and restless place. Their mountains are inhabited by the Oni and the forests by Lamia."

Tamamo opened her fan and held it up to her face. "Congratulations, young Draconia," she said with a suspicious gaze. "You won't be sitting on your knees with a few bricks resting on your legs for hours."

Ryuu was about to jump for joy that she wasn't going to go through it... Until she realized she'd still be punished for sneaking out. 

"Instead," The Kitsune continued. "You will clean the floor of the main hall-"

"Oh, that's not so bad," Ryuu cut in.

"-with a toothbrush in the morning," Tamamo added.

"You did that on purpose."

Tamamo raised a brow. "You didn't let me finish." Hiding her smirk behind her fan, she walked toward the temple entrance. "Best get some rest now, you wouldn't want to sleep past your morning duties."

Once the kitsune was out of sight, Ryuu let out a relieved sigh. She wasn't just physically exhausted anymore but also mentally. She didn't care about dinner or getting another snack at this point. A choice she already knew she'd regret later. Some shut-eye was all she wanted. 

Ryuu walked into the temple as red lanterns were strung from the ceiling. She ran down the hallways, making loud footsteps upon its wooden boards and the second she turned around the corner for her room, she kicked off her sandals and leaped, diving face-first into her soft bed. Already out like a light, Ryuu was lightly snoring but she tossed and turned.

In her nightmare, she found herself standing cliffside with a low fog gliding across the ground as it slowly went over the edge. She felt a sudden chill go down her spine as the atmosphere around her grew heavy. The ground rumbled as the ground cracked beneath her feet. Ryuu quickly moved to stay on one side as the cliff split apart and black flames spewed out. The blue sky darkened until not a single glimpse of light could be seen.

Even the fog morphed into shadows that danced around her like a coiling snake trying to catch its prey. She wanted to wake up from this dread-filled nightmare but it wasn't close to over. 

Out of the crevice, a large figure rose out. Wings of pure darkness expanded outward, covering what was once the sky and surrounded where Ryuu stood. A massive dragon of shadow was before her, staring down at the young half-dragon with pupil-less, iris-less eyes. Only its white sclera glared down at her.

Ryuu was frozen in absolute fear. She didn't know who she was seeing but she knew what it was. A dragon of shadow from the bedtime stories she used to be told years ago. The dragon opened its mouth as it dived its head down, trying to swallow her whole. 

The sudden rush forced her awake in the dead of the night. Her eyes snapped open as she sat up, feeling her own heart race as she was trying to catch her breath. She slowly laid back down and closed her eyes, hoping for a more pleasant dream.