"Not today."
Jian's eyes snapped open just as the massive black claws of Xenon's beast snatched him up a few meters from the jagged peaks.
He blinked in surprise. "Xenon?"
"Get your act together, Jian!" Xenon snapped in his mind. "Your life does not belong to you alone! How dare you accept your death?! Do you realise what I endured to come back to you?! You selfish, ungrateful bastard!"
Jian winced. Xenon's reprimand reminded him of those times, all those centuries ago where he had settled to live under Asrig's harsh treatments, and cast aside his own ambitions.
"My wing... it's ruined. Kirgan, Imagor and Cassian are barricaded on all sides by orcs. Distracting them for my sake would put them in danger..."
"And I tried to reach out, but no one was within range..." As Jian thought it, he understood how unworthy his justification was.
He was Dragon King. It was his responsibility to forge a path, if none was apparent.
