The ice dragon (Patreon)

Jon Eddardson, The isle of Mist

Jon was quite concentrated, for two days his only occupation was to practice the movements that the spirit showed him, in the words of the lady, he had to practice until the movements were as natural as breathing, at first Jon was really excited at the possibility of being able to throw lightning from his fingers

However, when Jon asked if they would start with that technique, the lady just laughed loudly, as if Jon had told the funniest joke in the world and replied

“You can't fly when you don't know how to crawl Jon! We'll start with basic fire bending techniques, and when you're ready, we'll continue with lightning”

At those words, Jon felt quite silly, the lady's words were full of reason, so he simply nodded and asked

“And how do we start?”

The lady simply smiled smugly and said

“Breathing”

Jon looked confused at the spirit as he mentioned those words, How hard could it be to breathe?

///

Apparently hard enough, Jon thought in frustration

"You are trying the wrong way, unlike water bending, where you use your spiritual chi to guide and move water, fire bending uses chi to release inner energy in the real world, a fire bender releases that power in the form of flames" replied the spirit as it flew very close to Jon, then began to whisper in the young man's ear

"Close your eyes, and concentrate, look for the spark within you, you have the heart of a fire bender and a spirit as strong as a dragon, concentrate and find your chi”

Jon obeyed quickly, closed his eyes and focused his mind, with his experience in water bending, Jon was able to feel the origin of his Chi, right in his stomach, the sensation was quite strange, Jon could only describe it as a flame that beat with force and vigor

Jon responded calmly, still focused on the activity at hand

"I can feel it, it's like a flame, it's beating and alive somehow, right here" while pointing to the pit of his stomach

“Perfect!” exclaimed the spirit while touching Jon's shoulders softly

“Now, focus on that feeling, that power is yours, take it and use it, you are a dragon, roar!” said the lady firmly

Jon tried to obey the spirit's words and roared loudly to heaven, however, to his shame, nothing happened

The lady's voice spoke with edge in her tone

“Don't hesitate, you're a dragon, now don't hesitate and roar!” shouted the lady loudly

 Concentrating more, Jon roared with even greater force than before, however, the result was identical to the previous one

Nothing

Quite frustrated, the spirit stared at Jon silently for a few seconds, until she suddenly began to speak

"Maybe my father is wrong, you are not capable of roaring like a dragon, what could someone as weak as you do against the deep one" replied the spirit with mockery

Viciously, the spirit approached Jon and whispered

"Poor Ned Stark, poor Robb, perhaps if they didn't have such a weak nephew and cousin, you might have been able to save them, what sort of man would rather stay in a prison than help their blood?”

Those words shocked Jon, who simply whispered

“Silence”

The lady continues

"Poor Lyanna and Rhaegar, placing their love and hopes in a weak son," continued the spirit without mercy

Jon, trembling with anger, looked up and replied in a low voice

“I said, Silence..." 

"Or perhaps poor Yue, a beautiful princess, destined to marry someone as weak and unworthy as you!"  such words went straight to Jon's heart, the chains broke into a thousand pieces

And the dragon roared

"I SAID SILENCE!"  Jon shouted completely enraged, the words were accompanied by a powerful roar, more like that of a dragon than a man, the fire of his Chi burned with force and was released forcefully from the young man's throat to the outside world

 However, instead of the fire breath characteristic of such a technique, Jon released a powerful blizzard, a blast of icy breath so powerful that he was able to shatter a huge rock at the top of the mountain, turning it into mere dust

The powerful attack left a path of frost in its wake, and Jon quite exhausted, the lady simply flew to Jon and responded casually

“Apparently there is a dragon inside you, after all, rest for two minutes and we will continue with your training, I can't wait!”

Jon simply looked at the woman in disbelief and gasped back

“That ice is different from the one I normally handle, wilder and more powerful”

The lady nodded wisely and replied

"It's normal, that ice is the manifestation of your Chi in the real world, it's alive in a way, just like a fire bender's fire, you must learn to control and master it, if you want to be able to tame lightning."

Jon looked at the woman cautiously and spoke

“Is lightning much more complicated than fire or ice?” Jon didn't know about that technique, so he wanted to have more information

The spiritual lady nodded and replied

"Something you must understand is the nature of lightning, unlike fire or spiritual ice, which can be controlled to a certain extent, lightning is energy in its purest state, lethal and dangerous, only people with an iron will and a stable mind are able to master such a technique" spoke the lady as she watched Jon catch his breath

Jon stood up and looked at the spirit, then spoke

"Your words hurt more than I would like to admit" there was a certain reproach in the young man's voice

The lady nodded and replied

"Your enemies will use even dirtier tactics against you, if a few simple words are enough to make you lose concentration, then you must meditate more, words are simply that, and they are carried away by the wind as quickly as it does, if you are not able to control their impulses, you are destined to be manipulated."

Jon found wisdom in such words, so he simply nodded and replied

"I understand, I imagine that the imprisoned spirit did not hesitate to use such tactics in battle."

The lady nodded without replying, pleased by the young man's quick mind

Jon took a deep breath and concentrated, apparently, he would be up here longer than he thought

Exhaling the air, Jon looked at the spirit, bowed, and spoke

“What is the next lesson, master?”

The lady just smiled

Princess Azula, The fire palace, Caldera city

Azula knew that she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman of the four nations without a doubt, there was no maiden more beautiful than her and consequently, Azula had a huge list of suitors

However, they were all unworthy, completely weak, noble children who used the family fortune and believed that this was power

The imbeciles did not know what real power was, many believed that gold, land, soldiers and ships were synonymous with power

All this had meant little to the royal power

for Azula, her father had power, a powerful and ruthless fire bender, a cunning politician who could send men and ships to die as a simple distraction, and no one said anything to contradict him, her father's power was absolute, if he commanded, the rest of the fire nation obeyed

And then, the white wolf appeared, and the meaning of power changed completely

A gifted water bender, a spectacular commander, who took the primitive northern water tribe and molded it into something the fire nation had never known before.

A rival

With each passing day, the influence of the white fury grew, admirals and generals moved further and further away from the north, and the influence of the white wolf increased

A new kind of power, Azula thought, that only your title is capable of inspiring men and winning battles

That kind of power that his father's name lacked

Azula was interrupted when a servant entered, who was carrying a scroll in his hand

Reading the information, Azula simply sighed

Zhao had destroyed the port that had been ordered to be taken, apparently the locals put up quite a fight, and it was all a distraction, since, when they took the city, the chamber of commerce was completely empty

Azula looked at the woman and asked

“Do we have more information about this?” To the princess's surprise, the woman nodded

"Yes princess, although the city was taken, most of the resources were moved or burned, however, Commander Zhao reported that the looting was a success, apparently, he will use his own funds to replenish the treasure."

Azula raised an eyebrow at such a stupid move, apparently the imbecile Zhao really wanted to attack the north, Azula knew that her father would accept, receive gold and have his distraction, for the fire lord, it would be a win win situation

“Anything else to report?” Azula asked, seeing that the woman shook her head, Azula gave her a gold coin and sent her back

The princess had to prepare, most likely her father announced the attack to the north at tonight's meeting

Sighing, Azula called her servants and ordered

"Prepare a bath, boiling water, and bring me a plate of fruit with a jug of wine."

The women nodded and withdrew to carry out the princess's order, after all, Princess Azula was not known for her patience or piety, so they simply obeyed the princess

Azula sighed and sat on the balcony of her room, staring at Hari Bulkan, where the insignificant subjects of her family moved like mere ants, living their boring lives with all the calm in the world

On the one hand, Azula envied them, they were born, grew up and died in their monotonous and boring lives, oblivious to the whims of the powerful

The world was changing, Azula truly believed that attacking the water tribe was a mistake, a few months ago she would have supported such a plan, a devastating final blow to a tribe of savages

However, ...

The exploits of the white wolf were numerous, an adversary as fearsome as an Arctic leviathan and as cunning as an ashy fox, an undefeated commander who humiliated the fire nation twice, such a character required great strategy and planning, not a simple arrogant commander

His father was sending Zhao to his death, a gift with bow and all for the white wolf

Azula simply sighed, although she did not agree, there is nothing she could do, they were her father's orders, and she would obey the orders like the good daughter she was

No matter how silly they seemed to him

After a while, the maids returned and informed the princess that her bath was ready

Not bothering to thank, Azula stood up and headed for the tub, perhaps relaxing in boiling water would calm her turbulent mind

One thing I was sure of, turbulent times were coming, and only the strong would emerge triumphant

And she was the strongest of all