A new scene materialized out of the dark as Lira's memories filled in the void.

A cavern. Hard to tell whether it was manmade or not. The layout of the space was circular and the rock that comprised the floor, walls, and ceiling were spotlessly smooth. Twelve concentric rings were carved in this space, and at the very centermost ring, there floated an orb, twin strands of iridescent energy flowing from either end of it and latching onto the floor and cavern roof.

The orb must have been around the size of a small house – a testament to how vast the cavern was considering the orb inhabited the smallest ring within it. Brilliant rainbow light shone from the orb in countless scintillating rays, providing a bright enough light source to completely light up the cavern.

In front of the orb sat a young girl, her legs crossed as she twirled her volcanic red hair in her fingers. She had on a plain black gown, and for a second, Li was reminded strongly of Tia. But he knew it was not her. No, this was Lira, and as that realization set in, the soul gaze became stronger, the dive deeper, and the memories began to flow entirely from Lira's eyes.

"I'm bored," said Liravalennan. She always was nowadays.

Every single day, it was the same thing. Eat and train and eat and train and eat and train. She liked the eating part more than the training part, especially because her bigger sisters and brothers always made sure to bring her the best food they could find, but by now, she found that boring too.

And she had a suspicion that her big sisters and brothers did not like her. Father always made them bring her the best food they found, and they always seemed to give it out begrudgingly. Especially big sister Valerykynthimos.

Well, atleast they got to explore the world. Meanwhile, she was just stuck here. Training with father to get stronger and stronger until she could control the gifts he said made her special.

Training was fun, too, at first. She liked to fight the monsters and creatures that father conjured up, and in the past year, she even started to spar with her bigger sisters and brothers. But now, after ten years of eating and training, she was bored.

Bored out of her mind. She never left this place, and big brother Thesselaval often told her stories about the world. He told her how big the oceans and seas were and how they connected everything together. That there were countless different people and creatures and beings all wonderful and interesting in their own right.

Well, he told her until father found out and he got punished. Now she did not see him anymore.

"I'm bored," repeated Liravalennan, louder.

Father spoke to her, his voice projecting from the orb. "Dear shining star of mine, what do you wish for?"

"I want to leave," said Liravalennan flatly. "I want to get out of here and explore. I know there is a lot more to see than what is in here. I know you may believe me too weak, but I am strong. I can spar with big sister Valerykynthimos now, and she is the strongest out of them all."

"You cannot leave. Not until you are capable of controlling the Omniscale," said father. "You know this already. Speak no more of this topic."

Liravalennan crossed her arms and stared down at the ground, pouting.

"Here, you desire exploration? Then tell me what you wish to see," said father. His magical energy crackled, and the cavern changed its environment instantly.

First, there grew a miniature forest. Then, when it did not grab Liravalennan's interest, a sandy desert. Then rolling seas.

Liravalennan shook her head, her two black horns flickering with fiery red light. "I do not want this. I have seen all of this a thousand times before. I want the real thing. The real world."

"Believe me, my shining star, you will see the world when you are ready. When it is time, you will be the greatest dragon that has and will draw breath. You will be my champion. Defender against the darkness to come. And naturally, ruler of all that is upon this world."

"Okay, but why can I not do that now?" Liravalennan said, her fangs baring as she grew agitated. "I am ready, I know it."

"Not until the Omniscale is fully within your control," said father. "And until then, it is far too great a risk for you to leave my protection, for the Omniscale is treasure beyond any in this world. It is the greatest hope of our kind, the reason why I call you my shining star. Within it lies the strengths that every single dragon before you have evolved."

Lira looked down at her sternum where a single large rainbow-colored scale lay embedded. Even now, it was hard to control, it was true. The amount of power in it was staggering, and she could not draw on it long until she lost consciousness.

But she did not need it to be strong. She was already strong with her natural fire and strength and speed. Strong enough for the world, she was sure.

"Dear shining star, you will come to understand," said father as he sensed Lira's discontent. "I have bred you from my own being. All other high dragons drink from my blood to reach their ascendant status, but you are blood of my own blood, flesh of my own flesh.

And your existence is far greater than simply yourself. You have a destiny to uphold. There will be great darkness to come, and you are the only star capable of standing against it.

For seven centuries, I have seen this world bicker among themselves, all its lesser, foolish creatures snapping their dull and primitive jaws at each other, knowing not that the darkest night to come will draw near.

For seven centuries, I have ensured that all dragons, all that are tied even to the thinnest to mine original Elder blood, desire from birth to become strong and ascend my body to reach my head. The head that you, my shining star, were born in to begin with.

Countless dragons have spent centuries attempting to scale my body so rife with danger, and in all that time, only twelve dragons have managed to become high dragons, ascending to this head of mine. These, your elder sisters and brothers, are still nothing to you.

Mere experiments of evolution. They are the twelve strongest bloodlines forged from centuries of conflict I have engineered all so that I may have the most powerful of bloodlines to gather into a perfect vessel – you, my dear shining star.

You are the strongest of us all. The best of us all. And you will lead us against the darkness even as the primitive world around my great body burns."

"Whatever, father. I'm going to sleep," said Lira with a sigh. She had heard that lecture perhaps a million times by now. Every single time she wanted to leave or do something other than eating and training. So much drivel about destiny and fate and how much of it rested on her shoulders and blah blah blah.

Why did she not ever get to choose her own destiny? Why did she have to bear the burden of her people? Why could she not live for herself?

=====Another scene.

Liravalennan clutched at her chest, her breath drawing in hoarse, choking whistles as she tried to repair the gaping hole where most of her lungs and organs should have been. She staggered through the forest.

She did not know which forest, just that it was a forest. But at the least, it was not the same magically generated forest she had seen far too many times with her father.

Was she going to die? The Omniscale at her chest glowed, but she could not draw power from it.

Maybe father was right. Maybe she should have stayed until she could handle the Omniscale better, that way, she could at least get herself to heal.

Was she not ready for the outside world? No, it was not that. If it had not been for her elder brothers and sisters attacking her when she tried to escape, she would have been fine.

She bit her lip and held back a tear.

They had attacked her because father told them to. He wanted them to kill her but to take care so as to take the Omniscale back intact. He never cared about her to begin with, only that complicated and far off dream he always talked about.

She was the vessel for that dream. Just that - a vessel. Nothing more. Replaceable.

She winced as she smelled the smoky char of her own burned flesh. She learned painfully today that big sister Valerikynthimos had always been holding back. The full brunt of her lightning was not something Liravalennan could handle.

Then, she could no longer hold her tears back. Thesselaval had come back for her, fighting off everyone else. He sent her off into the waters he controlled and bid them to carry her far away, hidden and out of sight.

And now, after days of barely keeping alive with a hole in her chest, the waters had washed her up to this forest. She could finally live her dreamed desire of roaming the world.

Maybe she would not live much longer to enjoy her freedom, but at the least, she was free. Free from the destiny her father had put on her. She crumpled down to both her knees, her vision blurring.

She knew Thesselaval, the only high dragon that ever truly cared about her, was dead, and soon, so would she be. At least she would get to thank him when she saw him.