Zay'ues sat on his haunches, staring at the horizon as though it was all there was of the world. Thunder rumbled in the overcast sky above him, the clouds as black and somber as his mood. There was still blue sky in the distance, turning the storm into its own island, as it gathered around the head of the drake. His blue and green mattered scales were pristine to the point that they took on the grey reflection of the sky above him, where lightning flashed with his thoughts, and wind howled with the flick of his tail.

"Honey!" the voice broke him out of his stupor, as he turned around to see a dragoness approaching from a hole carved into the plateau he had sat himself on, "Would you mind turning off the storm? It's making the hatchlings a little anxious."

"Oh, sorry," he looked to the sky, and with a simple breath of will, the stormy clouds faded away, leaving the sky painted orange in its sunset.

The dragoness gave him a small smile, before walking over and sitting down next to him, "Still worried, huh?"

He nodded his head, "I'm surprised you have remained so calm."

"I've just been better at hiding it," she chortled, amused, "One of us has to be."

"And I love you eternally for it," he responded with a smile, before sighing again, "I'm just trying to figure out a way to prevent it you know. No one wants to be thrown into the second Ashen wars."

"That might not be up to us."

"I know... but maybe... if we just give her what she wants... maybe it wouldn't end up as bad as the last one."

"And let her slaughter an entire species of dragons?" the dragoness tilted her head at her mate.

"Maybe not let her... but not stand in her way either. Her anger is not directed at us."

"The spirit dragons are part of our nation as well Zay'ues. We can't let them face this all on their own. They would be annihilated by the combined forces of Athaer and Lumiane. The shadow dragons might be able to hold out. But the spirit dragons... they have rather low numbers as it is. And you know that the king and queen won't stand idly by either."

"Always speaking truth, you are," he turned and gently nuzzled her head, "I know we will have to fight... I guess I'm just hoping that it all comes to nothing in the end. Maybe, as you said, Athaer is just trying to scare us."

The dragoness nodded with a snort, "She knows that the moment she makes the move that the rest of the dragon world will be against her. She may be a formidable dragon herself but even she doesn't have the power to face armies larger than her entire nation."

"At least the entire mental nation. I don't know if the other nations would be happy about going to war again."

"If they don't want war they should make sure that any that do exist end as quickly as possible."

"Maybe."

The two sat in silence for several moments.

"Oh, a messenger came by today. He wanted to talk about the new dragon of equilibrium... ah... Skyla? She is still tucked away in her cave."

He gave a solid nod, "Yes, I know. I've just had a few more pressing matters to deal with at the moment."

"More pressing matters? Zay'ues, we are on the precipice of war. I think bringing another dragon of equilibrium into the ranks would be incredibly important right about now."

He opened his mouth to argue but quickly shut it again as he realised she had a good point.

"Besides, the poor thing is probably beside herself with guilt. Her best friends and mate died when she reached the breaking point. She would need someone that knows how that feels."

He gave a slight huff, before nodding his head, "Alright. I'll go. I might be a while though, so I don't think I'll be back for dinner."

"I'll keep the hatchlings occupied," the dragoness nodded her head, "now go!"

He rolled his eyes before launching into the air with a flap of his wings. With the storm gone, a soft breeze was now blew, allowing a relaxing glide down into the mountains. There were still hundreds of weather dragons out, going about their daily tasks without a worry in the world. Hatchlings chased each other through stone ravines. Couples sat in ornate doorways, chatting excitedly while they waited for their offspring to return. Down even further below, milling along the valley floors, hundreds of humans went about, marketing their wares to each other, as well as several dragons that had chosen to land down below. There was no worry at all within their actions, no knowledge about the possible upcoming war.

Zay'ues allowed himself to sigh as he beat his wings, flying just above the ravine. He felt several gazes fall upon him, as he gave a smile to those that saw him. As the representative and leader of the weather dragons, he was a recognised figure. That accompanied by the raw swirling aura of a dragon of equilibrium made it difficult for him to go anywhere without being noticed. No one bothered him, however, which made him grateful.

His destination was at the very edge of the mountain range, at a lone peak some ways out of the valley. There was a lake down surrounded by a grove of trees, many of which had been knocked down. There were several hundred dragons gathered around the lake, either swimming, talking, or playing. But they stayed well away from the mountain. Rain clouds had gathered above it, causing a torrential downpour that obscured it from other dragons.

He flew without hesitation into the wind and rain, using his large size and heavy wingbeats to cleave through whipping wind, quickly falling down to a landing on a natural ledge at one side of the mountain. He ducked into a large cavemouth, shaking himself like a dog in order to get rid of the many water droplets clinging to his scales. He didn't mind getting wet, but water constantly dripping from him could get annoying, especially in a dry cave.

The cave itself was rather dark, with none of the usual flaming torchers or ornate decorations and mirrors that many weather dragons favoured for their homes. The only evidence of anything living there were the many scratches of sharp talons against the cave floor. If he didn't know any better he would have thought it was the home to some large mountain lion, but a moving shape toward the back of the cave quickly proved that false.

"Hello," Zay'ues began, "Skyla... isn't it?"

Skyla was a young dragoness, late into her third decade Zay'ues guessed, with beautiful pristine blue and green scales. Glowing yellow eyes filled with pain and sorrow peered out toward him. Anxious wings were held close to her body while her tail curled around behind her, the tip flicking in agitation. The most prominent aspect of her however was the deadly aura that entrapped her. The feeling of a cold snap of air right before a hurricane.

"Who are you?" she growled back defensively, opening her wings slightly as if prepared to fight.

He was slightly surprised she didn't recognise him, though he supposed that spending a month in self-imposed exile within a cave was enough to warp nearly anyone's memory.

He gave her a friendly bow of his head, "I am Zay'ues."

"Zay'ues..." she hesitated, before her eyes widened in recognition, "Oh... I'm sorry elder."

She threw aside her aggressive posture with a deep bow of her own, her wings spreading lightly in polite gesture, even if her tail flicked even more nervously the before.

"No need for formalities young one," he smiled, "this is an informal visit."

She sat back on her haunches, eyes turned to the ground while her tail nervously curled around her right hindleg. He could see the anxiety swirling around her. The nervousness. The guilt. It made his heart ache for her.

"W...what do you wish from me... elder?" she asked hesitantly.

"To talk," the drake replied innocently, looking around the cave with mild interest.

"Talk?"

"Yes," he replied.

When Zay'ues didn't elaborate she asked, with slight trepidation, "Am I in trouble?"

The elder drake looked back at her, "No, you are not in trouble. The only thing I could ever reprimand you on is your choice of home. How do you live in such a dark and dingy place? And with that constant storm cloud over your head as well? It's outside of city limits, so I suppose you can make it rain all you want, but surely it just leaves you feeling depressed and sad all the time."

She didn't reply, keeping her eyes looking at the ground while she absently scratched at the stone beneath her feet.

Zay'ues sighed, "I have actually come to offer you a position."

She blinked, looking up at him in surprise, "A position?"

"Yes, as part of the elite forces. In-training of course."

"The elite?" she stammered, "But I... I don't qualify for that... surely."

"You are a dragon of equilibrium young one. It gives you a free pass into the upper parts of society."

Her eyes fell back to her talons, once again filled with pain, "But I... But I..."

A tear dripped down her snout, which she quickly wiped away with the corner of her wing.

"But you...?" Zay'ues asked.

"But I don't deserve that."

"Why not?"

"Because...because..." her claws scratched against the ground, "Because... I'm a murderer."

"What?"

"Because I'm a murderer!" she cried out, tears now falling from her eyes, "Because I killed... thousands... my friends... my mate. I should be thrown into the darkest prison and starved! I deserve to be... I deserve... nothing."

She lay down on the ground, covering her head with her wings as she shuddered with sobs. Zay'ues let out a soft sigh and gently lay down next to her, covering her with his own far larger wing as he felt the dragoness's body shudder. Her pain tempted old guilts and long-gone sorrows to well up in his own heart. A time centuries ago when he had been in the same position, with the same guilt.

"How did it happen?" he asked softly, knowing some of the story already, but knowing that if she was willing to talk, it would be good for her to do so.

"I... I," she sniffled, "It was late. We wanted to... we wanted too to go out and practice creating a combined storm. Well... well... I did. Ru'ak didn't. He... said it was late... that we should rest."

"Ru'ak was your mate?"

She nodded with another sob, "I convinced him otherwise. We got our friends... and went out. But we lost control of the storm. It went wild."

Zay'ues nodded his head softly. A combined storm was a dangerous thing for a group of inexperienced dragons to try. As powerful a technique as it was, multiple dragons trying to work in tandem to control such a force of nature was dangerous. The average storm was easy to fly through, but a storm made from the combination of dragons was rivaled only by a dragon's equilibrium.

"I got caught and dragged into the air. Ru'ak tried to save me... and was struck by lightning. And... and I don't know what happened. I know how to fly a storm... but something inside me just broke... when that happened. And I pushed against the wind... and I pushed... and I pushed... and then... then..."

"You don't need to say anymore," rumbled the elder drake.

"I killed him," she sobbed, "I killed them all. I barely remember... anything. All I remember was... was..."

"The feeling of being everywhere at once, and an enormous power swelling through you... like you were the storm. Flashes and thunder. Tearing gales. And the screams... broken and disjointed as they were," murmured Zay'ues.

Skyla looked at him in slight surprise, before nodding her head softly, looking back to the ground, "Yeah..."

"But that isn't the worst part. The worst part is the feeling you get afterward. It's... it's like an empty hole in your chest, as though some part of you has been ripped out forever, and you don't know whether it will come back. You don't know if you will ever be whole."

She nodded again, with another sob, "How... how did it happen with you?"

"Oh... it was a long time ago now. During the Ashen wars. I was a bit younger than you are actually. Around fifteen or so," Zay'ues let out a breath, it was never easy to recount the story, "Just finished my training and was going to join the front line along the earthen border. I'd always had a habit of pushing myself a bit too hard. Just as we got to the front line we were attacked... by an earth equilibrium if I remember correctly. I managed to get into the air. But during the fighting... my closest friend's wing was trapped by a boulder. I couldn't leave him, so... I flew down, landed on the shaking ground, luckily we were on the very edge of the battle and tried to get it off him. He begged me to leave... but I was stubborn. I couldn't bear the thought of him dying, and I pushed, and I pushed. But it was too heavy. Still... I tried until it felt like my very mind broke with the effort. A good portion of our frontline fell before me before another storm equilibrium managed to wrangle me and defeat me... and thousands died. Not many of that was the enemy."

"Does... does it get better?" she asked, "This... this pain."

"You never forget," he said softly, "But it gets easier... over time. And in time... you learn how to forgive yourself. That and... well... the more you use your equilibrium the less that pain affects you."

She shuddered softly, "For the longest time... I wanted to be a dragon of equilibrium."

"Many do. The power you get... it's amazing. It's entrancing. You feel like you have become one of the elements themselves," Zay'ues rumbled.

"It's... it's an evil... destructive thing," growled the dragoness, lashing her tail, "And I wish it never happened."

"Many wish that, young one. But equilibrium isn't evil," he smiled kindly at her, knowing he had much felt the same way at the beginning, "Its essence derives from pain, suffering of the highest order. Where you push your mind and body to the brink of death, and you tear open your soul for that slightest bit more energy to continue. Where your mind can no longer comprehend your action, and your body is no longer equipped to strive alongside you. It's not emotion. It's not rational. It's instinctual. Where you become one with the attribute you were hatched to, and fully envelop it. The balance of soul and element, with no heart or mind to hold you back. The perfect being. Do you know why that is Skyla? Why it requires so much to get to?"

She shook her head.

"Because it is only through suffering that we can become the strongest we can be. The greater the suffering, the greater the strength. Equilibrium is the greatest power, and thus must incur the greatest suffering."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Can you imagine a world where equilibrium was easy? The world would be destroyed," he exclaimed, "Even during the Ashen wars, with only a few hundred of us, the world shook under our power. I don't want to imagine more."

"It feels like a huge responsibility."

"It is. But that pain you feel, it can only be fought by facing that responsibility."

"I...I just don't want to hurt anyone else."

"I understand, young one. Really... I do. But I also know that I needed to repay my wrongs. So, I fought... for my species and my nation, to make sure that I could save as many as I could, to repay the ones that I had taken from this earth. And... well... we emerged victorious from the Ashen wars. I can't say that I had a predominant role in doing so, but I helped. That was enough for me."

Skyla fidgeted with her claws as she listened to what he said.

"And Skyla... we may need all the help we can get," the elder drake said softly.

She frowned as she looked at him, "Why?"

"I have yet to tell the public this... as it is not a definite thing yet... but the fire and light nation have declared war against the spirit dragons, and thus against us. It is yet to be definitive... but I believe it is coming."

"War?" she exclaimed rather nervously, "Why would they declare war against us?"

Zay'ues shrugged, "All I know is that something happened to queen Athaer... and she blames the spirit dragons for it. What it is and why she is so angry at them... I don't know. But if it comes down to it we must prepare. Can I rely on you for that? To fight for us, and take responsibility for your power?"

She hesitated, and he could see a new emotion in her eyes. Fear.

"I don't expect you to answer me now," Zay'ues got to his feet, shaking out his wings, "Think about it. Would you rather stay in this dingy little cave, or make right a wrong?"

He walked to the entrance, where the rain was now beginning to dwindle as Skyla lost concentration on the storm. He looked back at the dragoness, who was still looking at the ground, slightly overwhelmed by the prospect of a new war.

"Just remember young one, no one blames you for what happened. No one but yourself. I assume you know where to find me once you make up your mind."

The elder dragon stepped out of the cave, back into the rain. With a single beat of his wings, he was once again in the sky, flying back towards his home in the now darkened night sky.

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Hello everyone! Chronicle is a little late this week as I was busy finishing up assignments. I hope you enjoyed reading this.  It was quite an interesting one to write actually. Zay'ues was an interesting protagonist, and I hope you all learned a little more about equilibrium through this story. The next one will be 'The Perfect Mate', and then after that will be the next sect of five. Vote and Comment! See You all next week. 

Pennator^^