This story is mostly written in third-person omniscient, even though Eona's the main character.


Prologue

When the Circle of Twelve was complete, and the celestial dragons were all back in their respective domains, the Celestial Empire was once again at peace and all was in perfect balance. Or so they thought. But as it turned out, they no longer had the dragons to protect the land, the nature, them…and so it began. The inevitable natural disasters that began to tear it apart, hopelessly, endlessly, horrifically. Many died, and the population was cut in half. Whole villages were destroyed. The palace itself was demolished to mere pieces. How can the people of the Celestial Empire cope with these never-ending catastrophes that are plaguing them and forcing them constantly on the move for survival, without their Dragons to protect them like they had for so long…

Chapter 1—A New Beginning

Eona felt her legs give way as Yuso kicked her from behind, his foot jamming into the back of her thigh. She felt a blow to her ribs next. Surely something was about to break, if it was not already broken. She felt the world spin around her and she became dizzier and dizzier.

"Drink this," he ordered. He shoved something into her mouth and she had no choice but to swallow it. His voice was cold and unfeeling. Not like how she'd ever heard him before. Why was he doing this? What had she done to make him this angry? Not angry. Psychotic. Insane. Vida was angry at her. Ryko was angry at her. But Yuso…Yuso was something else. Even they hadn't tried beating her, but Yuso was holding nothing back. And she saved his life. She saved his life.

She opened her mouth, trying to get the words out. I saved you…I pulled you out of the mud, remember? I kept your secret…I could've left you there to die or told someone about your secret…but she couldn't get any of the words out. Her mouth closed from exhaustion, her eyes becoming droopy, falling down into a restless sleep, along with her body.

Gasping, Eona sat up in bed. She'd let out the odd sound before she was fully awake, so to her it sounded quiet and distant, as though it weren't coming from her own body. She glanced over at the dark outline of Kygo's sleeping form in the early morning light. She could tell by his soft breathing that he was still asleep and hadn't heard her. Sighing, Eona folded her hands behind her head and slowly lay back down, trying to keep her breathing steady. Staring at the ceiling as though it were the stars and had all the answers, Eona wondered about the dream. Was that what happened? Had Yuso really said those things? Is that how it really went down? Eona couldn't remember details, despite it not being very long. What she did remember, was how the empire and everyone's lives had been restored shortly afterwards, and Kygo had taken his rightful place at the throne. Things had gone back to the normal order, for a short time at least. During that time, while Eona was alone in the privacy of her own chamber, she'd lifted up her tunic to find a bluish-purple bruise the size of her fist on her stomach. It could've come from Yuso…it could've come from Sethon. It could've come from falling down somewhere or from combat or from somewhere else. She'd always lost track of where or when or who the bruises came from. She was afraid to talk about it to anyone, including herself, though she always did find herself talking in her head…thinking about it…wondering. Wondering why it was on her mind so much more now than it ever had been before.

This dream, this nightmare, wasn't always Yuso. Sometimes it was her former master. Sometimes it was the whipmaster at the salt farm. Sometimes it was Kygo.

Eona broke her focus from the ceiling and glanced back in Kygo's direction. She bit her lip and sat up so fast she was dizzy. Within minutes she was dressed, had her swords strapped to her back, and was standing on the front steps of the relatively small cabin they shared, though it was bigger than most peoples' in the village. The cabin was somewhat set apart and isolated from the rest of the cabins, sitting on the far edge of the woods. Close by was another, uninhabited cabin. They'd all initially been uninhabited when they arrived at the ghost town. The whole group of them—the survivors of the empire, which had been reduced to about three hundred people—had been traveling through the woods and mountains for days, barely with anything to eat or drink, until they'd found the small and deserted village, obviously left behind by another group of people quick to get out of there as soon as possible. There was much debate and argument over whether they should stay there or not. Whether it would be safe or not. "They left this place for a reason!" one side said. "We won't be getting anywhere soon if we keep going in this condition!" said the other. Some people argued about survival of the fittest; others retorted with how absurd that was and that they were staying no matter what, to get rest, shelter, and food, which was fortunately abundant in the surrounding forest. There were also a couple freshwater lakes nearby and plenty of game to hunt. Eona never could tell if Kygo wanted to move forward or not. Ever since the empire fell, he'd been becoming less decisive than ever before. It was barely noticeable to almost everybody else, but to Eona, the subtle change was clear. But he'd decided they should stay in the village so as not to get separated or leave anyone behind. Or maybe all of her attempts to convince him had paid off. It was a better idea to stay, in Eona's opinion, so long as there was no visible danger. And so far, they'd been there for a few months and no problems arose.

Staring out into the open field at the silhouettes of houses and cabins and other buildings as the sun began to rise above the horizon, it was empty and quiet right now. Soon the village would be awake and bustling with activity, some people hunting, some gathering berries and firewood, some washing garments and hanging them out to dry…everyone each doing his or her part to contribute, to survive. Right now though, it seemed like Eona was the only person awake. And strangely, she did not feel lonely. Alone, but not lonely. In a brief moment of clarity, she realized that being alone was sometimes nice. For the longest time, it was her greatest fear come to life. She'd fallen into a deep depression over losing her closest friends, no matter how good she'd tried to be to them, no matter how much she tried to help them. She'd discovered that the more she tried to help people, the angrier she made them, and the more both she and them hurt. You don't get close to anyone, she'd decided, you don't hurt them. And then they can't hurt you. It sounded so simple. Would it work? So far, as she felt the sun's rays rising to greet her, it had. The sun warmed her face and made every muscle in her body relax. "You're going to have a good day today, Eona," she told herself quietly. Forcing a small smile on her face, she walked down the steps and toward the woods, making her way along the path. It was the first time she'd felt whole again since the end of the war. Or at the very least, whole enough to get through another day.


The path was littered with pebbles and fallen leaves. The sun played hide-and-seek with the trees, shining through the branches, creating small patches of light here and there.

Ever since the end of the war, both before and after the catastrophes started, Eona had grown distant from everyone. Dela, Chart, Rilla, and even Kygo…she could feel the distance between herself and all of them, people she once spoke to and smiled to on a regular basis. Even if they were in close proximity of each other. Even if they were close enough to touch, she might as well have been on the other side of the empire. She felt less now, less than them, less than everyone. She even felt less than Eon, who'd been her lowest point in life because he'd been poor and crippled and no one had liked him either. But Eona got even less respect. Because she was the land's last savior, everyone was customarily respecting—they bowed and kowtowed to her, and regular citizens did the same, who had no idea of the history she'd had with those once close to her. But she knew, every time she looked at Lady Dela, she could see in her eyes, that she was the reason Ryko was dead. She knew every time she looked at Chart's worried glances and guarded expressions, that he wondered when she would compel him. It didn't matter that she never planned to do it, and that the one time it did happen, it had been an accident due to Ryko's interference.

She was a curse to everyone. Everyone she came near got hurt somehow.

Which was why she was going to be a lot more careful from now on.

Sure humans were interactive beings by nature, but one could do that without getting too involved. Do what you could to help, but keep people at arms' length at the same time. And don't try too hard to help—or you could end up doing the opposite. These were all things that she'd learned from first-hand experience. But the most important thing she'd learned of all was that as long as something was there to wake up to every morning, it was all worth it. If something could make you smile, or make you feel good, even for a moment, life was worth it. For Eona, it was the sun. It was the sound of the birds. It was the rustle of leaves in the wind and the comfort of the breeze. It was knowing there was still beauty left in this world, even if much of it had already died. She would cling to it until she herself died. Sometimes, she could even swear she heard the distant roaring of a dragon somewhere.

In the distance, she could see the pond. From where she was, it was simply a small round dark green area surrounded by bright green plants. The water that ran lightly from the waterfall over the rocks was bright blue with rolling white patches. It almost looked like a painting the way they melded into each other. Eona stepped over the moss-covered rocks, through hanging vines, making her way deeper into the forest. The sound of the water got louder. She sat down on a relatively dry surface. Much of the area was moist and smooth, and the ground was made up of rich mud, probably silt—if that was it, it was no wonder the area was so green and alive and healthy. All she could hear was the soft sound of fresh water coming down the steady waterfall into the pond. A couple of times she'd come here alone and bathed in it. As far as she knew, no one else knew about it and she could see why. It not only veered off the path, but was also isolated by the thick trees and shrubs. In nearly every direction there was just green, and it was quiet enough to hear any slight movement that would result from someone entering, disrupting the peaceful balance. The light that hit the trees lit up the area, accentuating every color in sight, but not bright or blinding.

It was heaven.

The catastrophic disasters had caused them to continuously move west, and thus further away from the Celestial Empire. They were starting to cover ground that Eona didn't recognize anymore. No one did, not even Emperor Kygo. There were less mountains and rocky terrain, more wooded areas and flatlands. The air grew colder and more frigid. They had not seen anyone, though Eona had heard stories from time to time ever since she was little that there more people out there—some with darker skin, some with lighter. Some with hair as white as the sun. Some with eyes that were different colors, like black, blue, even purple. She'd never known whether to believe these stories or not, as most people didn't venture out of the empire very often, and were for the most part dismissed as being insane or hallucinating things. Still though, there was so much she'd found out only recently that she hadn't known about before. Why should this be any different?

They were adjusting quite well. It was a bit of a struggle, many people having to crowd together in one cabin, some families needing two or three. At first there was much confusion over who should do what and how to evenly ration out the food, or as evenly as possible anyway. After about two months, things started to settle down though. They were getting used to their new place. Eona didn't think of it as home yet, and didn't quite know if she ever would. But for now it was the closest thing. She hoped nothing else happened soon that would disrupt that, now that they had found it.

In the meantime that Eona didn't spend wandering the woods, she spent it in one of the abandoned buildings they'd found in their new civilization. A building filled with scrolls, drawings, books, and artwork. Paintings, blank parchment, quills and ink. Kygo and many others had inspected it for a while now. There were numerous thick books on the shelves with different writing from their own. There were some translations for the symbols into their own language, and Eona had spent countless hours learning about this strange new language. She was not fluent in it—but she knew a great deal about it already. There looked to be other scripts in there too, but no translations. This one was far different from theirs, and must've been used in the far west, where many things were bound to be different.

Anything she could do to keep from thinking about the past. There was no point in dwelling on it. But she knew she was contradicting herself every time she thought that. For every time she thought about the past, she could almost feel it in her hands again…the smooth, warm pearl with the gold flickering flame against her skin, changing her life, giving her something she'd never had before…power…hope…respect…

Respect?

Was that what it had been?

Or was it forced tolerance because the Mirror Dragon had been the one hope left of the resistance?

Now that she no longer had the connection with her dragon, she could see the painful truth much more clearly—she was useless to people. It shouldn't have hit her as much as it did, because it shouldn't have been a surprise. Was she anything before she was the Mirror Dragoneye? Or was she just a mere cripple, a poor person, a little nameless girl on a salt farm who couldn't move fast enough or work hard enough or wasn't strong enough? Having no prior knowledge of her existence, her family, where she came from…

Perhaps people were even relieved her connection had been lost. When she thought back to the war, the resistance, and all that had taken place, she could see the disapproving, sour, resentful faces much more clearly than she ever had before. Before they hated her because she was nothing. Then they hated her because she was something. There was never any way to win.

But now she remembered...all of the horrible things she had done. How she lied about her identity, how she destroyed an entire village, how she killed thirty-six villagers, how she hurt Ryko…

A hot searing anger crashed through her body. No. That was not true. She never intentionally hurt Ryko. She hurt him, but not intentionally. Yet they'd drilled it into her head that she'd meant to control him and take his will and make his choices for him. But people had always taken her choice away too, and there was no protest against it. She never wanted to masquerade as a boy. Who wants to live their life pretending to be the gender that they're not? She never wanted to kill anybody. She never wanted to be stuck with the stupid, hideous power of compulsion. Did they think any of this was easy for her too?

With a sigh, Eona got up and walked back over the rocks toward the path again. Today she just couldn't keep the bad thoughts away. Maybe some other time.

As she rounded the path that began leading up a hill, a cliff came into view where a large oak tree sat just at the edge of it. Under the tree sat Dela. She leaned sideways against the tree, her feet dangling off the side of the cliff. Even though Eona only saw her back, she could tell Dela was crying. Her shoulders shook slightly and her head was down. She'd been this way since the end of the war. There were periods where she would just go off anywhere to be alone, not wanting to talk to or be around anyone, not even her father. She had not smiled in a long time, something she used to do quite often, even when times were rough.

Over the cliff was a steep drop of at least forty feet into a shallow creek. There were sharp jagged rocks along the way.

Slowly but swiftly, stopping when she was still feet away so as not to startle her, Eona approached Dela and quietly said, "Dela, don't do it."

Dela's head whipped around in Eona's direction. She had not been expecting her. Eona must've been quieter than she thought. Or maybe it was just because most people were not up this early.

"I wasn't going to," said Dela. She looked at Eona like she was seeing a ghost. The ghost of a girl—or boy—she used to know. "I was just remembering him. That's all."

"I'm sorry for what happened."

"You should be. You were the one who killed him."

Her eyes dropped to the ground and she walked away, hearing a small gasp behind her, followed by the pit-patter of feet. "Eona," Dela said, "Eona." There such a heavy amount of grief in her voice that Eona stopped and turned back. "Please…I—I didn't mean it. Not at all. I'm sorry—it's not true. It was Ryko's choice—"

"No, it's true. I'm a murderer. Just ask Vida."

"Just ask Vida what?" Vida said, stepping out of the trees. She looked from Dela to Eona to back to Dela, clueless. More people must've begun waking up by now.

"Eona, please—"

Dela grabbed her arm but Eona shook her off. "Get off me," she snarled. "You and Ryko and everybody made it perfectly clear. Not knowing that it was all already perfectly clear to me as it is."

Eona turned and walked back through the woods the way she came, knowing that if she were a dragon, she would be breathing fire right now.