A Daily Life of a Fire Dragon

3.Snow

(fast forward about nine thousand years)

Shi Lang wakes up suddenly with a loud bang. The book on archery falls from his bed as he shoots up. What is Dayin doing out there? It’s too early for her to be awake if he’s still sleeping. The little squirrel sleeps half a day away, but today she chose to rise early? Or, is there something else amiss? He gets dressed and grabs his boots on his way out to the great room. The book stays where it fell. That’s probably the cause for his dreams about the past. He was reading that exact book when he first met Dayin all those centuries ago. The memories are not bad, they just stir up his longing. Even an immortal can run out of patience, and his is stretched to the limit.

He finds Dayin sitting in front of the fireplace. Her long black hair flows freely down her back. She is wrapped in a thick quilt, and trembling from the cold. The noise was not her doing. Shi Lang hugs her close to give her some of his body heat. As a dragon he doesn’t get so easily affected by the cold, but the silly girl who forgets to layer her clothes when she transforms is almost freezing. Her hands are too cold, even with her heart racing. She is frightened out of her mind.

“What happened?” He asks her, gently. There are not many things that can happen up here on his lonely mountain. People never come due to all the traps he has set to deter them, the only other option is weather, or an immortal that wants something from him.

“I don’t know,” Dayin whispers. Her voice is trembling, too.

“I’ll go look. Hide in the pagoda. I know you feel comfortable in there,” Shi Lang guides her over to the small wooden pagoda he’s built for her. With seven levels of fun in a scale designed for a squirrel, the pagoda holds everything she might need. It stands as tall as he is, so he can just deposit her on the top level with ease. But the squirrel is reluctant to let go of his sleeve. It must look hilarious to anyone but him. There is a woman's undergarment hanging from his arm, a tiny red squirrel clinging to his sleeve, and a quilt at his feet. “Go on. I’m not bringing you outside, if I don’t know if it’s dangerous or not.”

His path out is blocked half way down the corridor. It was just his careful planning of the cave system that he even put a corridor between the entrance and the grate room. It was done to confuse others in the first place, but the mass of snow is confusing him right now. The noise he heard before was that of an avalanche. It blocked the entrance of the cave. Was it a natural occurrence, or man made? Not many know where his home is. Half of them would never dare to come, the other half might cause some mischief. Since he doesn't smell anyone, he can leave this to chance.

But, first, he needs to clear the snow away. There is only one way in or out of his home. Melting the snow would be faster, but it would also flood the great room. A little magic goes a long way, but it’s not always the best solution. He decides to push it out with his dragon shield. It’s a magical artefact that can withstand anything, even his own fire. He leans on the snow with all his strength and starts walking. It’s slow. Almost like walking against the tide of the sea. Half an hour later, the snow burst out of the cave opening in a great explosion. Shi Lang can direct the way it falls to prevent another avalanche from forming. When the snow settles, he can admire the pristine mountain again. It’s not that he doesn’t like winter, it would be more enjoyable without the snow.

“But it does look great. So clean and innocent,” he murmurs.

“I don’t see what’s so good about it. It’s just white and cold,” Dayin chirps. The squirrel climbs up his robe to sit on his shoulder. Her tail tickles his neck, so he tries to shake her off.

“I’ll show you cold!” Shi Lang shouts. He spins around to make her fall, but her tiny claws hold on for dear life. When it comes to animal form, she is hell of resilient. Since he doesn’t want to get snow under his robes, he refrains from just diving into it. So, he scoops up a handful and rubs her with it.

“So cold!” Dayin chirps. She dashes down from him in a few leaps before she runs back inside.

He watches her go with a smile. She is damn cute. Her antics make him smile, despite his anger. Her claws can’t really cause any damage to his robes. It’s just a matter of principle at this point. He is not her climbing post. Or a tree that she can use to sharpen those claws. He spoiled her too much, because he was so happy to finally have her. Now, she doesn’t understand that there are boundaries. Rules that he tries to imply fly over her head in a minute. Not to mention her short attention span. Getting her to learn anything takes so much time it’s ridiculous. A stone would gather more knowledge than she does. But, it’s Dayin. If he can’t teach her enough to eventually stay human, then their relationship is doomed. And this is his last chance.

Shi Lang stays outside for a few more minutes. He likes the quiet and solitude. As much as he loves Dayin, he needs some time away from her. Who could have predicted that her last incarnation would be so annoying? Every time he has met one of her incarnations, she was gentle and kind. But also human, so their fate never aligned and she eventually married someone else. This time she came back as a squirrel spirit. He can finally have her for himself, but fate is making him wait for her. Cultivation is never easy, but it seems three times harder for her. In five hundred years, she managed to acquire human form and a bit of magic, but she can’t seem to hold it for any decent amount of time.

Being stuck with a tiny red squirrel is torture. Will all this waiting be worth it in the end? The few glimpses of her human body ignite his desire for her. He wants her so badly it hurts. His heart can hardly take the pain. It feels like death is taking her all over again every time she transforms back to her squirrel form. Is suffering really necessary? Can’t Heaven grant him this one small wish? He’s been diligent in his cultivation, staying on the right path even with all the trouble he found himself in from time to time. He always supported the greater cause and abhorred killing.

Did he still take too many lives? Thinking back on it, he never killed any innocent person. Even in times of war when he was forced to kill, he only took the lives of soldiers. He would prefer to stay out of it completely, but there was no right way with which he could decline. Telling himself that getting involved could save lives, or end the fighting sooner, he tried his best to advise a strategy that would cause the least casualties on either side. Negotiating peace would be the best way, but sometimes the hotheads just wouldn’t listen to him. It’s in human nature to fight.