LAN

Lan is a highborn hero intelligence-based support hero of the Draconis faction.

Lan walked across the scorched earth, heading east. The desolate landscape under the blazing sun made it hard for her to guess when she'd reach her destination.

It was the year of the great drought. Since winter, not a single drop of rain had fallen. At first, people could survive on stored water, but as the wells dried up and riverbeds cracked, despair spread. People frantically searched for new water sources, digging deep into the dried riverbeds but finding nothing. Some even tried squeezing the last drops of water from gnarled grass.

The resulting famine forced people to dig up withered crops to barely stave off hunger, not even sparing dry branches and leaves. As a sense of gloom took hold, the once-united community began to fall apart, much like the cracked land.

Lan had lived with her grandfather since childhood. Though they didn't have much, they lived contentedly. Now, in the face of the drought, despite their efforts to conserve water, they couldn't escape the fact that their supply was running out. While Lan, being young, could endure, her grandfather might not survive the summer...

"Grandfather, I'm going to the Dragon Pool to find the dragon." Lan clenched her fists, determined.

The frail old man looked at his granddaughter with fear in his eyes, "Do you know the price of seeking the dragon?"

Lan recalled the familiar ballad, "Seek the dragon where secrets hide, in its wake, a silent tide. Its rain, a blessing, a gentle hand, in century's slumber, it guards the land."

It was a legend passed down in Riverbend Village for centuries: every hundred years, the Transcendent Dragon would hide in the Dragon Pool, and once it slept, droughts would follow. Lan's clan was tasked with seeking the dragon; in times of famine, they sent someone to the Dragon Pool to summon the divine creature. But the journey to seek the dragon was perilous, and despite bringing the dragon back, none from the clan ever returned.

"Those who seek the dragon must offer themselves to bring it back to the mortal world..." Grandfather's voice trembled, "Your great-grandfather also went to seek the dragon, but he never came back..."

"Grandfather, I know the price of seeking the dragon... but if I don't go and call it back, everyone will die!" Lan understood the perils of seeking the dragon. With the land ravaged by drought and her loved ones suffering, she couldn't remain idle any longer.

"Grandfather, I'll leave at dawn tomorrow. I can't wait any longer."

The old man held his granddaughter's hand, his heart heavy with sorrow. "Child, if only I weren't so old, I'd go with you..."

Under the night sky, they didn't speak again. Their hearts were full of words, but in this final moment together, silence was all they could manage.

Lan lost track of how many mountains she had crossed. The pain from the blisters on her feet had long since gone numb. It wasn't until she felt the damp mist that she realized she had climbed a steep cliff and was now standing at its moss-covered peak.

Below was the Dragon Pool. She looked down, trembling. The raging vortex and bottomless darkness seemed ready to swallow her whole.

Whether she was smashed on the rocks or devoured by the dragon after jumping, it all meant a gruesome death awaited her. But thinking of the suffering brought by the drought, she couldn't hesitate any longer.

"If I jump, the drought will end."

Taking a deep breath, Lan leaped into the Dragon Pool, like a small stone tossed into the vast ocean, making tiny ripples in the vortex before vanishing without a trace.

Lan had no idea how much time had passed before she opened her eyes. She found herself in an underwater realm, shrouded in mist. Curtains of water surrounded her, seemingly still yet slowly flowing, creating an ethereal, dreamlike scene.

As she stood up shakily, wondering if she had entered another world, a dragon's roar echoed through the vast space, startling her to the ground. The curtain of water beside her reflected her terrified expression: a pair of dragon horns had grown on her head!

Before Lan could recover from her shock, a wisp of blue smoke rose from the direction of the dragon's roar. Focusing her gaze, she saw eyes glowing like torches within the smoke, and majestic horns rising proudly from the dragon's head.

Standing before the majestic and awe-inspiring dragon spirit, Lan felt a mixture of fear and exhilaration. She had succeeded! Awakening the dormant dragon meant the drought would soon end. Yet deep inside, fear told her that being devoured by the mighty dragon awaited her fate.

"Child, do not fear," the dragon spirit's voice offered Lan a moment of reassurance.

"I am your great-grandfather, who has long awaited your arrival."

"Great-grandfather? But you're not..." Lan couldn't believe her eyes; her great-grandfather, who had sought out the dragon, now appeared as a dragon spirit before her.

Seeing her confusion, the dragon spirit explained, "Our family has always borne the secret bloodline of dragons in the human world. Above the Dragon Pool lies the Dragon Gate. Leap through it, and our bloodline will awaken, transforming us into true dragons.

"So... I have become a dragon too?" Lan hesitantly touched the horns on her head, finally convinced it was not an illusion.

"Only those willing to sacrifice for the world can become dragons. Your arrival here is fate's doing." The dragon spirit's serpentine form wove through the curtain of water, revealing to Lan the flourishing landscape after the rain.

"Go now. It is your turn to bring prosperity to the world." With these words, the dragon spirit vanished like smoke at the bottom of the pool.

A loud thunderclap echoed through the sky, and rain poured down from the clouds. The drought-stricken land finally welcomed the long-awaited rain. People heard the sound of rain and joyously emerged from their homes.

Lan flew westward, returning to the skies above Riverbend Village. After a long wait, she finally saw her grandfather, his aged body slowly stepping into the rain. The old man looked up, welcoming the long-lost rain with a relieved smile. However, moments later, he turned to gaze at the empty room, his eyes filled with sorrow and loneliness.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed across the sky. A cerulean figure shot through the clouds, dancing gracefully as if one with the heavens, riding on colorful clouds. The old man watched as the cerulean figure vanished into the swirling auspicious clouds, leaving behind a steady rain that revived all living things with new vitality.