I made my way to the main entrance at the first floor of the building.
The Dragon Weaver Pavilion was consisted of two main sections.
The main house where the performers and the troupe staffs lodged. And the amphitheater surrounding the front of the building.
It was at the amphitheater that we held most of our shows in Lantern City.
And through the main entrance lied that amphitheater.
Our performers would use this path to enter the grand stage and began our performance. Our hope-inspiring art.
A white silk curtain was raised before the gates. It was supposed to conceal the performers waiting to go out the main house even after the gates were opened.
Women draped in colorful wide-sleeved dresses were lined up before the main entrance.
They were the dancers that would serve as the opening act of our performance.
After them, there were the other elementalists. They did not have as much talent as me in conjuring shapes, but they would be casting mists, sparkling lights, manipulating the grounds, and forming less-complex shapes to set the stage for the main act.
The acrobats would follow the elementalists. Serving as escorts for the centerpiece of our show.
The sound of a gong greatly echoed outside.
An orchestra of Tchakran instruments soon followed, played by the musicians placed on the special balcony at the second floor of the building.
Muted sound of Golden Dawn folk songs could be heard from inside the main house.
The gates of the main entrance then slowly swung open. The grand Tchakran music quickly flowed into the building.
Through the translucent fabric concealing the performers I gazed at the amphitheater outside.
Thousands of crowd were packing the bowl-shaped stone structure. All were eager to see the entertainment we had prepared for them.
With accurate timing on the music, the dancers glided through the silk partition and entered the stage.
They pranced gracefully in front of the audiences. Showcasing the elegant movements choreographed and rehearsed for countless hours.
Once the dancers were gliding around the stage in circles, a woman's beautiful voice echoed throughout the amphitheater.
She was the singer and narrator of the performance. Her voice was amplified by a magic instrument we specially ordered from a Tsahanam mage-engineer in the industrial city of Rodham.
[O Land of the Gods, I long to see…]
As the song began, the elementalists walked through the silk and began casting glittering mist into the stage.
The music had turned somber.
[O Land of the Gods, where the ancients roam free…]
I fixed my wide-sleeved stage costume.
It was specially manufactured to withstand mana radiation.
No matter how many times or how strong I casted my spells, this gown would never be ruined.
[O Land of the Gods, a paradise for me…]
I walked through the silk partition and began to cast a spell.
I gathered my mana to the front of my palms, condensing them into a huge bundle.
[O Land of the Gods, why must you flee…]
While they were compressed, I heated the particles, causing them on the brink of transforming into fire.
And using the special skill I had developed over the years, I rearranged the heated mana particle in a way that would alter their manifestation.
[Hear my prayer, O Dragon of Dawn!]
At the cue of the singer, I activated my spell.
A ball of fire manifested in front of me.
It then burst forth onto the amphitheater in the form of an elongated serpent with raging horns and streaming whiskers.
My great masterpiece!
[Answer my plea, O Dragon of Dawn!]
The acrobats followed the dragon conjuration and began to perform combat dance using fake swords and spears.
They then made two lines to escort me into the play.
I walked through the gates and stepped onto the stage between the rows of acrobats.
The crowd began to roar upon my entrance.
Men. Women. The elderly. Children. Mostly children.
All shouted in cheerful waves.
"Dragon Weaver! Dragon Weaver! Dragon Weaver!"
[Show me the way to paradise, O Dragon of Dawn!]
Upon the cheer of the people, I made the fire dragon soar above the amphitheater.
The other elementalists began to conjure other constructs to accompany the masterpiece.
The first was a row of trees. Their trunks were conjured with earth, their leaves by green flames. Smaller conjuration of colorful flowers and fluttering birds and butterflies were also scattered around.
[Through the garden of bounty, the Dragon preach!]
My fire dragon flew through the forest construct.
The dancers and acrobats flowed through the stage according to the dragon's movement.
The elementalists then reshaped the environment and conjured a burning mountain in the middle of the stage. Its slopes were made of ice while its peaks by raging fire.
[To the mountain of flame, the Dragon preach!]
The dragon encircled the burning peak of the mountain.
Meanwhile, the elementalists began to fill the stage with sand. The burning mountain crumbled into dust once the entire stage was fully enveloped with the earth grain.
[By the sun palace across the ocean of sand, the Dragon preach!]
The fire dragon roamed the sandy stage as the elementalists made beautiful towering structures rising from below.
The young children tried to reach out to the fire construct as it flew near their seat. The adults beside them fortunately quickly intercepted their eager hands.
The elementalists then made all the sand on the stage flew up to the sky, creating one massive ball of earth.
My fire dragon charged to it and consumed the bundle of earth whole.
At the same time, the elementalists began to pour water onto the stage with their spells.
The water flooded in just until it reached the ankle of the performers.
[Within the dwelling of the Great Mother, the Dragon preach!]
The dancers and acrobats began to glide through the stage in a large circle, forming a spinning current.
I made the fire dragon followed them by flying around the stage. A ring of flame manifested above the amphitheater.
The elementalists then made all the water on the stage gather at the center. It reshaped itself into the form of a giant tortoise with trees growing on its shell.
[The Wise Servant shall bring you to the Primal Masters, so the Dragon preached!]
I flew the dragon to the top of the Dragon Weaver Pavilion.
The conjuration nestled on the roof, right beside the golden statue of a dragon similar to it.
The elementalists then made the tortoise construct disintegrated into glittering mist as my conjuration roared a fountain of fire to the dusk heaven.
The sight of the dragon facing the setting sun, under the crimson-blue sky of Lantern City, decorated with thousands of lanterns floating about, and, most importantly, the crowd cheering joyously, made a wonderful scenery.
It was then the earthquake hit.