1
00:00:04,839 --> 00:00:07,759
Speaker 1: He Hello, friends from across the nation and around the world.

2
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,960
I'm Martin and you are listening to dad's bedtime stories. Tonight,

3
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,599
we're going to be headed back into the Dragon Knights

4
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,480
series for another episode that could honestly stand by itself,

5
00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,559
or it'll kind of fit in with the other episodes

6
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,199
you've heard about. This one will be the origin story

7
00:00:30,039 --> 00:00:36,079
for the Water Dragon General. In the last episode of

8
00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:38,399
the Dragon Knights, I asked people to write in if

9
00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:42,240
they had ideas for backstories for some of the other generals,

10
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,840
as we've done a story for the Fire General and

11
00:00:46,039 --> 00:00:50,280
you came through with this idea. Let's check it out.

12
00:00:51,679 --> 00:00:53,960
Speaker 2: My name is Millie, and if a suggestion for the

13
00:00:54,039 --> 00:00:58,840
Dragon Knights series for the Water Dragon and Nature general.

14
00:00:59,159 --> 00:01:02,159
A water dragon in General's called Splash and her mother

15
00:01:02,359 --> 00:01:04,560
was a Dragon Knight, but she was a bit mean,

16
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,359
so that's why she wanted to go with the Dragon Tife.

17
00:01:07,439 --> 00:01:09,840
Thank you. I love your podcast. I will give it

18
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,359
ten out of ten stars, and I think this is

19
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,000
the best podcast in the world.

20
00:01:15,879 --> 00:01:18,680
Speaker 1: You flatter me, Millie. That's a really nice of you

21
00:01:18,799 --> 00:01:22,200
to say, and it's a great suggestion for the Dragon

22
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:27,519
Knight series. I feel like it's almost a challenge that

23
00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:31,480
you gave me here to write a story about a

24
00:01:31,519 --> 00:01:35,200
person who joins the Dragon Thief because their parent was

25
00:01:35,239 --> 00:01:38,560
a dragon Knight and wasn't very nice to them. So

26
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,799
I took that challenge on. I hope you like what

27
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,359
I came up with, because I think it made for

28
00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:44,280
some pretty cool characters that we can use in the

29
00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:50,519
future here, especially when it's time to, you know, take

30
00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:55,079
on the water dragons in the next episode. If you

31
00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,159
have any other ideas for this podcast, I really love

32
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,239
getting voice messages and ideas on the Google form. Maybe

33
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,159
about dragon Knights, maybe about something else, maybe about a

34
00:02:05,159 --> 00:02:08,599
brand new series. You really can't do it wrong. I

35
00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:10,599
can only pick two or three of them a week

36
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,439
to make, and I get more than that. But I

37
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,400
really love getting them and I listen to every single one.

38
00:02:17,039 --> 00:02:18,960
I actually take notes on every single one and kind

39
00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,159
of write down what it's about for when I'm looking

40
00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:24,840
in the future. And aside from that, I just want

41
00:02:24,879 --> 00:02:29,000
to remind everyone that I just started another podcast, Dad's

42
00:02:29,199 --> 00:02:34,280
Anytime Stories, which will be going season by season. Each

43
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,840
season will be an entire novel, read chapter by chapter,

44
00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:44,000
starting with the Cards of Power. But I imagine that

45
00:02:44,039 --> 00:02:46,240
the Dragon Knights series, once I polish it up and

46
00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,400
turn it into a novel, will also be added to

47
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:57,400
that podcast anyway. You can find it anywhere you get podcasts, YouTube, Apple, Spotify,

48
00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,719
that sort of thing, And if you to head over

49
00:03:00,759 --> 00:03:04,120
there and listen to it and give me a rating

50
00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:07,240
on it, that would really help other people find the podcast,

51
00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:10,080
maybe people who have never heard Cards of Power before.

52
00:03:10,879 --> 00:03:13,240
And yeah, if you want something to listen to on

53
00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,520
a road trip or some other time where it's not

54
00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,599
necessarily bedtime, though you can listen at bedtime if you

55
00:03:20,599 --> 00:03:23,599
want to. There's really nothing against it. Head on over

56
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,439
to Dad's Anytime Stories. I think the logo will look

57
00:03:28,479 --> 00:03:35,280
pretty familiar, honestly, but now it's that time again, after

58
00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:40,000
a possible word from a possible sponsor, because sponsors are

59
00:03:40,039 --> 00:03:46,280
how podcasts are funded. Sarah, guys, close your eyes, get

60
00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:49,479
as comfy as you can in that bed, and imagine

61
00:03:49,479 --> 00:03:55,520
yourself doing what the kid in the story does. The

62
00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:00,080
water Fortress was beautiful from far away. It looked like

63
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,800
a frozen sort of crown rising from the cliffs, all

64
00:04:05,039 --> 00:04:10,639
bright ice and white snow towers shaped like jagged spears,

65
00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:18,160
and ice bridges. Carving back and forth between them. Up close, though,

66
00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:22,199
it was cold in a way that went far beyond

67
00:04:22,319 --> 00:04:29,160
the weather. It was always windy, The floors bit through boots.

68
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:33,839
The walls seemed to hold no warmth at all. Even

69
00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:41,040
voices sounded colder there. Splash had grown up inside those walls.

70
00:04:41,879 --> 00:04:47,360
She was born there, raised there, and trained there. As

71
00:04:47,399 --> 00:04:52,720
far as she knew, the whole world was made of ice, discipline,

72
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,560
and people telling her to do better. Her mother was

73
00:04:57,639 --> 00:05:02,120
a true water dragon Knife, one of the defenders of

74
00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:07,519
the fortress in the seas beyond it. She was powerful, respected,

75
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:13,120
and always busy. Splash admired her more than anyone else.

76
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:19,279
She also feared disappointing her. From the time Splash was little,

77
00:05:19,879 --> 00:05:25,240
her mother trained her relentlessly. Again, her mother would say,

78
00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,079
Splash would lunge, her mother would redirect her with a

79
00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,800
twist of the wrist, turn her momentum against her, and

80
00:05:33,959 --> 00:05:38,480
send her sliding across the hard packed snow. Your balance

81
00:05:38,639 --> 00:05:39,079
was off.

82
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:40,040
Speaker 3: Again.

83
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:46,439
Speaker 1: Splash would get up and try again, and again and again.

84
00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,480
When she was seven, her mother began making her train

85
00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:56,079
with wooden blades, starting at dawn. When she was eight,

86
00:05:56,759 --> 00:06:01,040
she had to spar older students. When she was nine,

87
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,120
she was told she was wasting her motion, wasting her breath.

88
00:06:07,079 --> 00:06:11,879
She worked hard, harder than anyone else, honestly, and she

89
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,480
learned fast too. She became one of the best young

90
00:06:16,519 --> 00:06:20,079
fighters in the fortress. She was quick with her hands,

91
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:25,720
impossible to corner, and unusually good at reading other people's

92
00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:32,079
movement before it happened. Other children her age started out stronger,

93
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,920
but Splash always won in the end because she simply

94
00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:42,920
never stopped improving. And still it never seemed to be enough.

95
00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,639
You dropped your shoulder before the strike, you planted too

96
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:53,519
heavily on the tad. You won, but not cleanly enough.

97
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,800
Splash would nod, swallow the hurt and push herself harder.

98
00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,240
What she wanted was simple. She wanted her mother to

99
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:10,800
smile and say good job. But it never happened. The

100
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,360
other kids noticed, of course, they saw how good Splash

101
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:20,000
was and how much attention the instructors gave her. That

102
00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:24,639
should have made them admire her, but instead most of

103
00:07:24,639 --> 00:07:28,439
them resented her. She acts like she's already a knight.

104
00:07:29,319 --> 00:07:32,279
She only trains that all the time because she wants

105
00:07:32,279 --> 00:07:37,319
everyone to notice her. She thinks she's better enough. They

106
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:42,399
would say behind her back. Splash heard those whispers often

107
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,920
enough that eventually she stopped trying to make friends at all.

108
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,639
The only one who seemed to understand her was ice Thorn.

109
00:07:53,639 --> 00:07:58,319
Ice Thorn was her mother's dragon, a massive water dragon

110
00:07:58,399 --> 00:08:03,560
with pale blue scale and long icy spines running down

111
00:08:03,639 --> 00:08:08,720
his neck. He was powerful in battle, but when he

112
00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,519
was resting in the lower caverns, he was calm in

113
00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:17,800
a way that no one else was. Splash often sat

114
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,480
beside him when her mother was away. Ice Thorn would

115
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,959
lower his head to her level and let her lean

116
00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:31,720
against his cool scales. Sometimes he would watch her practice

117
00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:36,720
with the wooden blade. Sometimes he would show her small

118
00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:42,039
things her mother never had time to explain. Your mother

119
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,639
fights like a storm, he told her once, after watching

120
00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:48,679
her spa an older kid.

121
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:57,799
Speaker 4: Fast, direct, overwhelming. But that is not your way.

122
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 1: Splash wiped sweat from her forehead. Then what is Ice

123
00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:14,399
Thorn's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. You fight like deep water, quiet, patient,

124
00:09:15,399 --> 00:09:19,080
You pull people where you want them before they know

125
00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:25,919
them moving. Splash liked that. Another time, when she'd lost

126
00:09:25,919 --> 00:09:29,440
her temper during practice and thrown her blade across the yard,

127
00:09:30,159 --> 00:09:33,559
Ice Thorn nudged it back toward her with one claw.

128
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:41,320
Strength is not the same as worth, he said in

129
00:09:41,399 --> 00:09:47,600
his deep, steady voice. Splash frowned. You've said that before,

130
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:55,240
because you still do not believe it. She didn't, not really,

131
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:01,799
but she remembered it when her mother was a fighting ice.

132
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,600
Thorn was the one who made the fortress feel less lonely.

133
00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,360
He was the one who noticed when she was upset,

134
00:10:10,639 --> 00:10:15,000
the one who listened. He was the one who told

135
00:10:15,039 --> 00:10:19,559
her she was doing well. And because of that, Splash

136
00:10:19,799 --> 00:10:25,879
loved him. The day the dragon Thief attacked, the skies

137
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:33,200
turned red. At first, Splash thought the sunset was strange.

138
00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,799
Then the alarm sounded. She ran from the training yard

139
00:10:37,879 --> 00:10:41,399
to the outer wall, just in time to see fire

140
00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:47,840
raining down from the clouds. Not ordinary fire. The fire, somehow,

141
00:10:47,879 --> 00:10:52,080
burned hotter than anything the fortress had ever faced. It

142
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,159
hit the outer towers and melted ice that had stood

143
00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:03,600
for generations. Snow turned to steam. Defensive walls cracked and sagged.

144
00:11:04,399 --> 00:11:08,840
Water dragons surged upward to meet the attack, blasting arcs

145
00:11:08,879 --> 00:11:13,799
of water and freezing power into the shields. But the

146
00:11:13,919 --> 00:11:19,039
fire punched through. Splash had never seen anything like it.

147
00:11:19,879 --> 00:11:25,960
No one had The sky was full of dragons, fired dragons,

148
00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:32,679
elemental dragons, and a few Earth dragons, all with riders

149
00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,960
in black and red armor. The fortress shook under the impact.

150
00:11:38,759 --> 00:11:43,360
Inside one of the instructors shouted, but Splash was already

151
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,000
running the other way. She needed to find her mother.

152
00:11:48,159 --> 00:11:52,840
She found her near the western gate, already armed in

153
00:11:52,879 --> 00:11:58,679
her dragon Knight armor, standing beside ice Thorn. Her mother's

154
00:11:58,919 --> 00:12:02,600
armor looked like it was coated with frost and sea water.

155
00:12:03,799 --> 00:12:06,960
Ice Thorn roared as a blast of fire hit the

156
00:12:07,039 --> 00:12:12,440
wall behind them, sending up a cloud of steam. Stay back,

157
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,320
her mother shouted. The moment she saw Splash, I can help,

158
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:24,759
Splash yelled, no, get below the wall. Another dragon screamed overhead.

159
00:12:25,399 --> 00:12:29,360
Ice Thorn turned and blasted a wave of seawater upward,

160
00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,879
freezing at mid air into a jagged shield. A second later,

161
00:12:35,039 --> 00:12:40,000
the shield shattered under a blast of blazing fire. Splash

162
00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:47,120
stumbled backward. The heat was almost unbearable. Now huge chunks

163
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,519
of the fortress were melting. Water dragons circled through the

164
00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:56,240
clouds of steam while defenders shouted to each other across

165
00:12:56,279 --> 00:13:03,919
collapsing bridges. Then saw something worse. One of the water

166
00:13:04,039 --> 00:13:10,200
dragons stopped mid flight, not frozen in ice, but frozen

167
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:16,320
all the same. Its wings still beat, but awkwardly, as

168
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,399
if someone else had taken hold of them. Its head

169
00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:25,679
jerked sideways, Its eyes went blank. The rider on its

170
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:32,480
back screamed and then stopped screaming. The dragon turned and

171
00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,159
blasted a jet of freezing water at its own allies.

172
00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:44,519
No Splash whispered. They'd heard rumors of the Dragon Thief's

173
00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,240
control spell, but now she was sure she'd seen it

174
00:13:49,279 --> 00:13:54,919
with her own eyes. One dragon after another faltered as

175
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,360
they came in contact with the Dragon Thief. Some thought

176
00:13:59,399 --> 00:14:02,759
it for a moment, moment twisting wildly in the air,

177
00:14:03,519 --> 00:14:09,000
but the spell took them anyways. The sky became chaos.

178
00:14:09,759 --> 00:14:14,000
Dragons turned on their own nights, Water slammed into ice

179
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:20,159
walls from the wrong direction. Defences shattered from within. Splash

180
00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:25,559
saw her mother look up, sharply run. Her mother shouted.

181
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:31,360
Ice Thorn shifted, moving protectively in front of Splash. Then

182
00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:37,879
the spell reached him. Splash saw the exact moment had happened.

183
00:14:38,639 --> 00:14:43,480
His body stiffened, his eyes widened. He let out a deep,

184
00:14:43,679 --> 00:14:49,960
pained sound she'd never heard before. Then it was gone.

185
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:58,639
The warmth in his face was gone. He stood still, silent, waiting.

186
00:15:00,159 --> 00:15:06,080
No Splash ran toward him. A blast struck the platform nearby,

187
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,960
knocking her off her feet. Snow and shattered ice rained

188
00:15:11,039 --> 00:15:15,159
down around her. By the time she looked up again,

189
00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:20,320
her mother was gone and all of the chaos. All

190
00:15:20,399 --> 00:15:24,919
Splash could see was ice Thorn, standing there with empty

191
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,399
eyes as enemy riders closed in around him. The fortress

192
00:15:30,519 --> 00:15:36,720
fell that day. By nightfall, the dragon Thief had taken

193
00:15:36,799 --> 00:15:42,559
the stronghold. The dragon Knights and other loyal warriors were

194
00:15:42,679 --> 00:15:49,120
rounded up and dragged away. Some dragon stood under new control,

195
00:15:50,279 --> 00:15:56,440
soldiers wearing black and red armor. The dragon Thief didn't

196
00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:02,440
take everyone, though, he left anyone willing to swear loyalty

197
00:16:02,519 --> 00:16:02,840
to him.

198
00:16:03,799 --> 00:16:07,159
Speaker 3: He gave them a choice.

199
00:16:06,159 --> 00:16:14,039
Speaker 1: Train serve and be free, Refuse and we'll be taken.

200
00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:19,440
Splash wasn't proud of it, but she chose to be trained.

201
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,639
After all, saying you were loyal to someone didn't actually

202
00:16:24,759 --> 00:16:28,639
mean you were. And well, she figured she could do

203
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,720
more if she was free than she could if she

204
00:16:31,879 --> 00:16:36,879
was locked up. At first, she was determined to hate

205
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,720
every minute of it. She hated the new banners and

206
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,360
the new commanders and the dragon thief that now called

207
00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:52,759
himself the Dragon King. She hated watching controlled dragons obeys strangers,

208
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:59,559
and most of all, she hated seeing ice Thorn still alive,

209
00:17:00,399 --> 00:17:09,279
still powerful, but utterly silent unless commanded. But something strange happened.

210
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:15,240
The Dragon King's officers actually treated the young trainees well.

211
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,880
They were fed well, they were trained, they were given structure,

212
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,839
and for the first time in her life, Splash found

213
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,720
adults who didn't just tell her what she'd done wrong.

214
00:17:28,519 --> 00:17:34,599
They noticed what she'd done right. She excelled quickly. She

215
00:17:34,759 --> 00:17:39,119
beat the other trainees in nearly every martial test. She

216
00:17:39,279 --> 00:17:44,240
moved through the drills with sharp, fluid, precision, and sparring

217
00:17:44,279 --> 00:17:49,839
tournaments she won cleanly and then one again when challenged

218
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:54,880
by the older recruits. During one of those tournaments, the

219
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,960
Dragon King himself came to watch the whole training yard

220
00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:05,319
when quiet. When he entered, Splash fought three opponents in

221
00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:10,720
a row that day. She didn't lose once she redirected

222
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:15,200
the first opponent's charge, trapped his arm, and threw him.

223
00:18:15,599 --> 00:18:19,839
She slipped underneath the second one's attack and ended the

224
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,640
match with a strike to the chest. The third lasted longest,

225
00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:30,279
forcing her backwards across the ring. But Splash had justed.

226
00:18:31,039 --> 00:18:34,880
She parried his attack, shifted her weight, and sent him

227
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,319
flying into the corner instead with a sweep of her foot.

228
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:46,960
The Dragon King stood and applauded. Well done, he said

229
00:18:48,039 --> 00:18:53,000
two words, that was all. But they hit harder than

230
00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:58,440
any training strike her mother ever landed. The Dragon King

231
00:18:58,599 --> 00:19:03,400
studied her for a long while. Moment, you have discipline,

232
00:19:04,039 --> 00:19:13,319
control precision. Now what is it you want? Splash swallowed

233
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:20,920
to be a dragon knight, she answered. The king smiled,

234
00:19:21,759 --> 00:19:27,559
I can give you that. He raised one hand and

235
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:34,640
the guards brought ice thorn forward. Splash's breath caught the

236
00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:37,319
dragon she'd grown up beside.

237
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:38,400
Speaker 3: Was right there.

238
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,720
Speaker 1: He looked exactly as she remembered, and at the same

239
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:48,160
time he looked completely changed. He looked at her, but

240
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,599
he didn't seem to know her at all. This dragon

241
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:59,079
obeys the spell. He can be assigned to any knight.

242
00:19:59,000 --> 00:19:59,680
Speaker 4: I chew.

243
00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:08,720
Speaker 1: Splash's stomach tightened. Any knight, some cruel stranger could have him.

244
00:20:08,759 --> 00:20:13,680
Then some fool who knew nothing about him. He used

245
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:19,960
to belong to your mother, I'm told, the dragon King continued.

246
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:27,079
Now he can belong to you splash, looked at as

247
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:32,079
Thorn again. She knew this was wrong. She knew the

248
00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:37,359
control spell was well a mockery of the true bond

249
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,960
that humans and dragons were supposed to have. She wouldn't

250
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,319
share his power as she was supposed to, but she

251
00:20:47,519 --> 00:20:52,200
would be able to command him. She almost refused, but

252
00:20:52,279 --> 00:20:57,160
then she imagined another rider on his back, another rider

253
00:20:57,279 --> 00:21:03,279
shouting careless orders, another rider using him like a weapon.

254
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,759
Her hands clenched, she took one step closer to ice

255
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:15,400
Thorn and laid a trembling hand against his scales. I'm sorry,

256
00:21:16,079 --> 00:21:21,200
she whispered, so only he would hear. But if this

257
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,599
is the only way to keep you with me, I'm

258
00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:32,799
taking it. Then she straightened, do it, I accept The

259
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,839
Dragon King placed a hand against her forehead, and the

260
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:43,279
spell hit like freezing water. She gasped, and suddenly she

261
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:51,720
felt the connection. Not warmth, not trust, but command. She

262
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,319
thought of the dragon lifting his head, and he did.

263
00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,119
She thought of him drawing water from the sea, and

264
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:05,079
the sea outside surged upward in a twisting column. She

265
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,680
thought of the water freezing, and the column hardened instantly

266
00:22:09,759 --> 00:22:14,799
into ice. She stared at it. She'd done it, or

267
00:22:15,599 --> 00:22:20,440
rather she'd made ice Thorn do it. She turned to

268
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:26,599
ice Thorn again, she felt the hollowness. No voice greeted her,

269
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,799
no quiet reassurance, no rumbling words about strength and worth.

270
00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:34,440
Speaker 3: He just waited.

271
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 1: At least you're with me, she said softly. He didn't answer,

272
00:22:40,599 --> 00:22:44,319
but when she told him to follow, he did, and

273
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:50,400
for now that was enough. She rose quickly through the

274
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:55,079
water dragon ranks. She was already an excellent fighter, the

275
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,200
best there was, and now she had a dragon she

276
00:22:59,319 --> 00:23:03,880
knew almost as well as she knew herself. She understood

277
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:10,119
his range, his speed, his possibilities. She knew the kinds

278
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,880
of attacks he could give, the openings he'd leave. She'd

279
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:19,559
watched him battle with her mother hundreds of times, and

280
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,920
well she didn't share his connection to the water like

281
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:29,279
a true dragon knight would have. She could command him

282
00:23:29,319 --> 00:23:34,000
to do the things that needed to be done, and

283
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:40,200
that made her dangerous and slowly it made her forget

284
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:47,160
the promise she'd made to herself about not truly giving loyalty.

285
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,640
It was during the campaign against the Earth Dragon's stronghold

286
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:58,640
that she truly distinguished herself. The Earth Dragons had retreated

287
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,759
into the mountains their fortress was monstrous, thick walls of

288
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:08,640
stone reinforced with steel towers, carved directly out of the

289
00:24:08,759 --> 00:24:14,319
mountain side gates, so large that three dragons could stand

290
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:19,160
between them shoulder to shoulder. The Dragon King had already

291
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,039
taken some Earth dragons and the earlier fighting against the

292
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:28,559
fire dragons, but the main stronghold held the rest. The

293
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:34,359
army tried attacking from above first, but it failed. Fire

294
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,920
scorched the walls but couldn't break them fast enough, and

295
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,160
the uh Earth dragons were able to turn the earth

296
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:47,720
into bullet like projectiles that shot out in every direction.

297
00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:54,279
The Dragon King grew impatient. He called a war council.

298
00:24:55,039 --> 00:24:58,839
Splash stood among the officers and generals while a map

299
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,319
of the mountain fort lay spread across a table. We

300
00:25:03,559 --> 00:25:10,000
need a breach, the Dragon King said, a real one.

301
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:15,640
Splash studied the map, and memories from her mother started

302
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:20,799
to pour back into her. Memories about her battles against

303
00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:27,359
other Earth dragons. Her mother once explained that she learned

304
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:33,359
if she saturated the earth itself and froze permafrost directly

305
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,799
into it, that well, it sort of gave her control

306
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:43,839
of the earth too. When Earth dragons or knights attempted

307
00:25:43,839 --> 00:25:48,119
to use the earth against her, She would have control

308
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:53,200
over it as well, at least in part, she could

309
00:25:53,279 --> 00:25:59,480
fight against their control redirect their attacks. She remembered her

310
00:25:59,519 --> 00:26:06,119
mother's explaining that water had the power to erode almost anything.

311
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,079
Speaker 3: And an idea.

312
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: Came in to Splash his head, an idea so great

313
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,079
that well, she just wanted to share it, even if

314
00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:23,279
she didn't fully think about the consequences. What if we

315
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:31,480
attack from below, she said, Explain the dragon king answered,

316
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,440
Splash pointed, from the coast of the base to the mountains.

317
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,359
We use the controlled earth dragons to tunnel from the

318
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,720
ocean deep enough that the defenders won't feel it. Then

319
00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:48,440
we bring the water dragons through the tunnels and flood

320
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:54,720
the ground beneath the fortress. Water under rock won't break

321
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,880
a fortress, one of the fire officers said, not at first,

322
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:08,359
Splash said, but saturated ground will lose stability. Eventually the

323
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,359
fortress will collapse into a giant sinkhole. And at the

324
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:18,000
same time, we'll seep the water into the earth above

325
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:27,440
saturated completely and freeze it into permafrost. That way, when

326
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,839
the dragon's attempt to counterattack, will be able to have

327
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,759
control over the earth as well. With the ice inside it,

328
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:43,359
we can deflect the attacks, break apart more of the ground.

329
00:27:43,519 --> 00:27:49,680
Perhaps the room went quiet, and the dragon king thought,

330
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:58,240
then smiled, I say we do it, he responded. The

331
00:27:58,279 --> 00:28:05,559
tunnels took days. Earth dragons and elemental dragons dug huge

332
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,240
tunnels all the way from the ocean to the underside

333
00:28:09,279 --> 00:28:16,599
of the fortress. Then the water dragons followed the tunnels inside.

334
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:21,440
Led by Splash, they used the power of water to

335
00:28:21,599 --> 00:28:26,160
see bend the ground above them to erode it into

336
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:32,599
a giant sink, coal and well underground lake of sorts.

337
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,559
They seeped the water into the earth above, getting it

338
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,920
as wet as they possibly could, and then freezing it

339
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:49,240
solid into permafrost. When it was time to invade, Splash

340
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,880
gave the command, and they broke apart the rest of

341
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,640
the ground. Water dragons and earth dragons tugging at the

342
00:29:00,079 --> 00:29:08,599
now frozen earth until a catastrophic collapse began. It sent

343
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,160
the earth dragons into a panic as the fortress below

344
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:17,119
their feets began to sink. At the same time, fire

345
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:22,519
dragons surged from above. Water dragons burst upward through the

346
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:28,680
broken stone and rock and flooded into the halls. The

347
00:29:28,759 --> 00:29:33,119
Earth dragon knights fought back. Of course, they were powerful

348
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,519
and they knew the terrain better than any invader, but

349
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:43,319
they weren't expecting the earth underneath their feet to be

350
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:50,000
compromised by water and ice. They attempted to fire bits

351
00:29:50,039 --> 00:29:54,319
of the earth at their attackers, but the Water Dragons

352
00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:58,960
simply deflected it around them. They pulled water from the

353
00:29:59,079 --> 00:30:04,680
underground lake they'd created and blasted the Earth dragons with it,

354
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,839
freezing them in place. At the same time, the dragon

355
00:30:10,039 --> 00:30:16,799
thief made the rounds, connecting to dragon after dragon and

356
00:30:17,039 --> 00:30:21,759
turning it on the others. It didn't take long before

357
00:30:21,799 --> 00:30:26,720
the defenders broke, before every single one of the Earth

358
00:30:26,839 --> 00:30:32,440
dragons and riders were either captured and frozen water or

359
00:30:33,079 --> 00:30:39,319
turned against their brethren. When the fighting finally stopped, Splash

360
00:30:39,359 --> 00:30:43,920
stood at the edge of the fortress on ice Thorn's back.

361
00:30:45,079 --> 00:30:51,200
The Dragon King landed beside her on his gigantic elemental dragon.

362
00:30:52,319 --> 00:30:57,000
You have done what my Ahmi could not, he said.

363
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,960
Splash said nothing, Her hands rested lightly on ice Thorne's neck.

364
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,119
The Dragon King turned to the assembled officers and raised

365
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:08,759
his voice.

366
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 4: From this day forward, Splash will be the Water Dragon

367
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:23,640
General the army knelt splash, looked out over the ruined

368
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,000
fortress and felt something she'd wanted for years.

369
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:37,240
Speaker 1: Recognition, praise, status. She'd earned it all, and yet when

370
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:45,039
the army dispersed and the cheering faded, she felt empty inside.

371
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:50,640
Something about this just wasn't right. Was this what she

372
00:31:51,119 --> 00:31:59,119
really wanted? That night, she laid in bed, She closed

373
00:31:59,119 --> 00:32:03,880
her eyes, pulled the covers up over top of herself,

374
00:32:05,559 --> 00:32:10,599
and did her best to drown out the thoughts. The

375
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:15,079
secret was to focus her mind on something simple instead

376
00:32:15,119 --> 00:32:18,640
of the whole thinking thing that she did too often.

377
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:25,359
She focused on her breath, She noticed as her stomach

378
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:30,680
rose and fell with each one, and she let go

379
00:32:30,799 --> 00:32:35,160
of the tension and her muscles, starting with her legs,

380
00:32:36,119 --> 00:32:42,720
her arms, her shoulders, her neck, and even her face,

381
00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:51,920
until she lay silently in bed, sinking down deeper with

382
00:32:52,079 --> 00:32:57,759
each breath, and she allowed her mind to wander off

383
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:04,079
to thoughts of new dreams and new adventures to come.

384
00:33:05,960 --> 00:35:14,599
Speaker 3: Night. Everyone, mhm.

385
00:34:41,639 --> 00:43:04,719
Speaker 5: Union name in the New York More Union No no no,

386
00:43:06,320 --> 00:45:04,400
no assas