The Dawn Will Come

Ever heard of a thermal? It's what you get when heat rises beneath you, creating an updraft. And as an updraft lifts itself, it can lift you with it.

What can create a thermal? It could be anything. Heat rising from rocks; heat from boiling water. Heat from a giant explosion?

Most definitely.

The fuse ended and the tower exploded, and with it came an updraft as I knew it would. It carried me up so high I could see for miles in every direction. I aimed towards the largest building; I thought it was the most likely place to hold Volteer.

As I flew, I had nothing to think about but what had happened so far today. I realized that I was killing and not giving it a second thought, not even a fair chance. They would do the same to us if they got the chance, but that didn't make it right.

I stopped and landed on the branch of a huge pine tree to think.

Sparx flew up next to me. "Cynder, what's wrong?"

I found a huge hollow next to the branch I had perched on and curled up inside it. These trees were ridiculously big.

"I'm just tired, Sparx," I said, giving him a wavering half-truth.

It had been a long day. And that was the understatement of the century. I curled up wordlessly, Sparx leaning against my leg, and slept.

I dreamed I was in the temple. Ignitus was there, staring into the pool, but he didn't seem to notice me. I walked past him, confused. Standing there in the next room was the black spirit dragoness from before.

'You again?' I said quietly.

She nodded. 'You called me.'

'I did?'

She nodded once again. 'You are worried, and you lack resolve with that worry.'

I remembered what Ignitus had said. "In times of crisis they will come to you and teach you."

I looked at her. 'Do I really have the right to kill like this? It's not fair...'

She sighed. 'If life was fair, someone so young would never have been roped into this.'

I nodded slowly in agreement. The dragoness stared into thin air, and then looked at me. 'What do you fight for?' she asked.

I stared at her. 'Huh?'

'If fighting causes hurt,' she said, 'then why do you do it?'

I thought for a long time about that. It felt like an eternity to me. But at last I replied, 'I fight because I must. The Dark Master is hurting innocents.'

'But,' the spirit replied, 'in war still more people, including innocents, will be hurt. How can you justify that?'

I thought for what felt like another eternity. 'Because without us it will never stop?'

'It needs to be a statement, not a question.'

'Without fighting now, peace will never come, this war will go on and on, and so will the killing,' I said, any last remnants of uncertainty washing away.

The great black dragoness nodded. 'If we truly want peace to come, we must fight for it. And hopefully, one day, we will be strong enough to return our race to what it once was. A whole species dedicated to keeping the land and its people safe.'

'But what if the fighting never stops?'

The dragon shook her head. 'All we can do is try. And, honestly? I think that we are strong enough to accomplish anything.' She turned her head to look at me. 'However long the night is, we have to believe the dawn will come.'

The sun was beginning to rise.

'Now it is time to awaken, little one, and to fight. But continue holding onto hope, because it will never fail you.'