A burst of light shot up from the temple’s main building and the collapsing buildings fixed themselves. Even the paint repaired itself and the temple started to look brand new again. Leila and Guangfeng stopped their conversation and the prince ran up the stairs and into the temple to find Yuelan with Willow and Leila following right behind.

Exhausted to the point she had fallen unconscious, Yuelan was being carried out of the hidden passage by Seiryu just as the others came in. The dragon in human form nodded his head to them. “There are rooms here you can all rest in. It will take Yuelan some time to recover enough to travel again and I must stay here to maintain the temple and take charge of the creatures of these lands again.”

“Is she alright?” Guangfeng asked, his eyes studying Yuelan’s pale face. She looked exhausted and somehow thinner since he’d seen her five days before.

“Of course. She’s only tired. Even with the support from Byakko and I and the moldavite she had to work hard with little time for rest. And her work still is not complete. This is only the first step of what she needed to accomplish here. Once she has rested and had a good meal I have things to teach her and items to give to her.” Seiryu headed toward a door behind a statue of himself. “Guangfeng, correct? I’ll show you to your room later. The two ladies may come with me to help Yuelan bathe and go to bed.”

Willow quickly followed after Seiryu and Yuelan, but Leila snorted. “I’m not a servant.”

Seiryu paused and looked over at Leila. “Have things changed so much among humans that serving the priestess is no longer an honor even royals would fight to have?”

Leila raised an eyebrow. “Being a servant is still being a servant, no matter who you’re serving.”

“Perhaps. But I cannot help a young lady bathe and change her clothes and I do not think this young woman here is able to do it on her own.” Seiryu remained calm as he spoke. “And Yuelan is exhausted after her work to restore the magic keeping this world together. What purpose does your pride serve if you do not exist? This world is supported by the magic of the priestess who created it. That it has lasted this long without being maintained is miraculous. Now Yuelan must go and fix the very fabric of our world in order for us to continue to live. Without the work she is doing, none of us would survive.”

Leila frowned a little. “What do you mean?”

Seiryu smiled a little. “When my daughter, the last priestess, separated the two worlds she did it by using her magic to create a second world that was supported by magic. It took the efforts of all four divine beasts and my son and daughter to accomplish it. You cannot have a world without magic that is supported by magic, and so this world is where all those who use magic or need magic to survive were sent and the other is the original world where we all lived together. Since this world did not originally exist, it is a magic construct. The temples are the pillars that support it and the condition they are in indicates the strength and stability of the magic supporting our world. They are on the brink of collapse and if Yuelan had not come when she did then our world would have disappeared. Whether we would return to the world we came from or just disappeared along with the world is unknown.”

Leila stared at Yuelan with a solemn expression. “So what you’re saying is our existence is relying on this girl who is too fragile to walk for a day?”

“Precisely.” Seiryu nodded his head and turned to head through the doors with Willow following behind.

Leila thought for a moment, then followed after. “Alright. I’ll help take care of her then.”

Willow gave Leila a half bow. “Thank you, Miss.”

“You’re welcome.” Leila returned the bow with a nod.

Seiryu led the two young women to a set of rooms not far from the main room where the blue jade statue of the Azure Dragon was. When they all went inside, he set Yuelan down on the cushioned, wooden daybed. “I will leave her to the two of you then.” He turned and left the room to show Guangfeng to a room.

Yuelan was so tired that she didn’t wake at all as Willow and Leila removed her clothes, bathed her, and helped her into clean clothing and then put her to bed.

Willow bowed to Leila. “I can watch over her while she sleeps, Miss Leila. Thank you for your help.”

Leila nodded. “I’ll be going then.” She headed out of the room and found Seiryu was waiting for her.

“I’ll take you to a room where you can rest,” the dragon explained before turning and heading down the hall.

Leila followed after him and frowned. “Why didn’t you go mad like all the other creatures here?”

Seiryu gave her an amused glance. “I am the Azure Dragon. Divine beasts are more resistant to such things. Also, I stayed close to the temple and was able to keep my mind by staying closest to the strongest magic source in this area. Now that the temple is restored and the area is filling with magic again Yuelan will recover as will the creatures who live here.”

“What about those that had bonds with humans?”

“The bonds have not broken. So long as they aren’t dead, they will return to their contractor.”

Leila looked relieved. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“It won’t be immediate,” Seiryu warned. “First, they must recover from the loss of their magic. And the magic has to spread out from here. It will take time.”

“That’s alright. As long as things will go back to the way they were before, it’s all fine.”