Ashes. A promise beyond death

Chapter 10: Beneath a Silver Sky

The moon hung high above the Water Palace, casting a silver hush over the tiled rooftops and lush gardens below. Everything seemed still, caught between breath and silence, like the world had momentarily forgotten how to move.

Yu Bin walked alone down a narrow stone path, the soft rustle of her robes barely louder than the wind. Her limbs ached from the day's drills, yet her mind refused to rest. Too much lingered—Bao Fang's quiet scrutiny, her own stumbles, the weight of every correction. There was no praise, only silence. And yet, somewhere deep inside, something yearned to be seen.

She passed her chambers but didn't go in. The soft candlelight behind the door felt like a prison rather than a sanctuary. Her feet carried her somewhere else—toward the gardens behind the palace, where night itself often came to breathe.

The garden was ancient, older than the palace itself. Winding willow trees whispered secrets to the wind. Stone lanterns stood like sentinels beneath them, casting halos of silver light across the winding paths. Yu Bin's footsteps slowed. The cool air was laced with the scent of plum blossoms and damp moss, grounding and ethereal all at once. Stars blinked above her like distant, patient eyes.

But something changed.

A red glow shimmered ahead, barely visible between the branches. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat—or a warning. Curiosity tugged at her, quiet and insistent. She followed it.

It led her past the koi pond, where silver fins flickered beneath the surface, and past the weeping cherry tree whose petals had long since fallen. And then—through a grove she'd never noticed before—she stumbled upon a hidden clearing, cloaked in shadow and moonlight.

There, in the center of it all, stood Xian Chen.

He held a book in both hands—its cover a strange crimson that seemed to bleed light. It didn't look like ink lined its pages but something older, alive, flickering like embers on the edge of burning.

His lips moved in silence, his gaze locked in reverence. She stayed hidden behind a flowering bush, unsure why she didn't speak. The air was heavy, thick with something she couldn't name. Then, he spoke the final word.

The world shattered.

A spiral of red light tore upward into the sky like lightning in reverse. Wind slammed through the clearing, bending trees with a force that felt summoned from another realm. Leaves scattered like birds.

And then—

With a roar that cracked across the heavens—a massive shape burst into the air.

Yu Bin gasped, stumbling into view without thinking.

A dragon.

Not a painting. Not a carving. A dragon.

Its wings spread like stormclouds. Its scales shimmered like moonlight melting across metal. Its eyes—piercing, glowing blue—looked not at the world, but through it. When it opened its mouth, the sound wasn't just a voice. It was a tremor in the earth.

"You summoned me, Master."

Yu Bin's hands flew to her mouth. "Xian Chen! Xian Chen, that's a dragon! A dragon!"

Xian Chen calmly shut the red book. "Yes. He is."

"And he can talk?! Did you hear him?! He talks!"

The dragon snorted, a swirl of smoke rising from his nostrils. "Do you think I flap my wings and grunt like a beast? Please."

She looked from dragon to boy to dragon again, trying to determine if either of them understood how not normal this was.

"Why are you not more surprised?!" she shouted.

"I'm not the one who stumbled in screaming," Xian Chen replied, serene as ever.

The dragon straightened. "My name is Longwei. I serve the House of Heaven. And this—" he gestured with one great claw "—is my bonded master."

Yu Bin could barely speak. Her chest fluttered with awe, disbelief, and something older than either.

"I've never seen anything like you," she whispered, eyes wide.

Longwei tilted his great head and regarded her with a gaze that shimmered with… something. Not judgment. Not curiosity. Recognition.

Xian Chen stepped forward. "She's never flown before."

Longwei's eyes widened in visible shock. "Never?"

Yu Bin took an involuntary step back. "Wait. What do you mean, 'flown'?"

"Climb on," Longwei said, lowering one foreleg with royal dignity.

"Absolutely not—"

"You said you couldn't sleep," Xian Chen cut in, walking toward Longwei with ease. "Might as well do something unforgettable."

Somewhere in her mind, Yu Bin knew this was insane. That climbing atop a summoned dragon in the middle of the night broke several unspoken palace rules.

But her feet moved anyway.

She climbed carefully, aided by Xian Chen's firm grip. Longwei's back was warm, his scales rough with time. When they both settled into place, Longwei let out a deafening roar and launched into the sky.

The ground vanished beneath them.

Yu Bin clung tight, breathless as the palace shrank to a painting below. The koi ponds shimmered like scattered stars, and the tiled rooftops curved like sleeping dragons of their own.

"Breathe," Xian Chen's voice murmured behind her.

"I am breathing!" she yelled. "Just not calmly!"

Longwei ascended higher, the wind slicing past them in sharp whispers. The moon looked so close now. Yu Bin wanted to reach out and touch it. Everything smelled like clouds, stars, freedom.

"This is—this is incredible!"

"It is only the beginning," Longwei rumbled.

They soared beyond the palace grounds, over forests that stretched like oceans and rivers that glowed silver beneath the moon. The world was a map of beauty, and for once, Yu Bin wasn't looking down with questions.

She was simply… flying.

After a long silence, she leaned forward. "Why do I feel like this isn't the first time I've done this?"

Longwei said nothing for a moment.

Then: "Some things are remembered by the heart before the mind."

The words didn't explain anything, but they left her quiet. As if her soul, not her ears, had heard them.

Eventually, Longwei returned to the clearing and touched down like a whisper.

Yu Bin dismounted in a daze, her legs barely steady.

"Thank you," she told the dragon. "That was… I don't have words."

Longwei dipped his head. "We will fly again, Princess."

Xian Chen helped her step down fully. "You should leave before someone else sees," he told Longwei.

With a shimmer of light, the dragon disappeared, leaving only starlight and rustling branches in his place.

Yu Bin stood still, staring at the empty sky.

"I'll never sleep tonight," she whispered.

"Then tomorrow's training will be interesting," Xian Chen replied, already walking.

She turned toward him, stunned and breathless. "You're really full of surprises."

He paused just long enough to glance back. "You have no idea."

And so they walked side by side, back toward a palace that hadn't changed—but something in her had.

The sky had opened.

The world had grown larger.

And Yu Bin…

Yu Bin had touched the wind.

And she had met a dragon.