Long ago, before the stars dimmed and the winds turned cold, there were two dragons who ruled the heavens. A pair bound not only by love, but by the very breath of the sky itself. Hen Shu and his beloved were known as the Sovereigns of the Celestial Winds, their wings parting clouds, their roars echoing across mountains. Together, they were invincible.
But during the final battle of the War of Celestia, enemies grew desperate. They could not defeat the dragons together. So they tore them apart.
In a cruel, calculated maneuver, they isolated her — the queen of his heart — and drove her into oblivion. Hen Shu searched the battlefield for her cries, but they never came. She vanished, leaving no trace. And the sky… fell silent.
Centuries passed.
Hen Shu never stopped searching. He crossed every peak, tore through storms, wandered deserts scorched by fire and forests frozen by time. He would have shattered the world if it meant hearing her voice once more. But no spell could find her. No flame could reveal her. She had been swallowed by the Abysm — a realm beyond magic and memory.
Still, he waited. And every year, on the eve of her birth, he filled the sky with floating lanterns — each one a whispered prayer, each one a light to guide her back.
It was during one of these rituals, surrounded by drifting lanterns and sorrow, that he saw it…
A figure in the distance. Small, but familiar. Gliding through the air with wings he knew better than his own heartbeat. Hen Shu’s breath caught. His ancient heart stuttered in disbelief. He dared not move.
But the closer she came, the more the impossible became real.
She landed — and changed. Her form shifted from dragon to woman, radiant as the first dawn. The very wind around her bent in reverence.
Hen Shu approached as if in a dream, his footsteps uncertain. He raised a trembling hand and touched her cheek — warm. Real. Alive.
Then he fell to his knees, arms wrapping around her as if he feared she’d vanish again. Tears streamed down his face — tears the heavens had waited lifetimes to see.
“You returned to me. My love… returned to me.”