Soul of a Dragon

Epilogue

A joyful reunion and a week after Taehyung's return, the two of them decided to leave their companions. Jungkook's decision to leave was merely delayed for a time.

The journey was easy, and none of the hardships that had befallen before plagued them now. It was like the pains were being washed away from them all as they rode. The return of their once lost commander was like a breath of much needed air in a group that had been holding its breath for Jungkook's loss.

The day of parting finally came, however, when they crossed over into the main lands of the kingdom who had originally hired Taehyung and Yoongi to take care of its problem.

With happy and sad tears and hugs, the group said their last goodbyes, and parted ways, promising to return at some point. The now smaller group headed for the heart of the kingdom, while Taehyung and Jungkook had planned a meeting with a certain mother earth.

...

The journey for the four came to an end as they reached the gates of Drexel. It seemed like it had been a lifetime since they last had entered the city, and indeed, all four of them had been changed on their journey.

The High Lord of Drexel welcomed them back with a feast to congratulate the 'dragon slayers'. The trade routes were cleared, and commerce between the kingdoms was coming back to the peaceful level of before. As a job well done, the High Lord paid in full the original price agreed upon by Yoongi and Taehyung. They had enough to rest easy for the completion of their lives.

...

It was on the eve of the third day that they found him.

Riding the Equestrian's along a grassy trail, the earth suddenly opened up before them, and from the depths rose the familiar figure, robed in earthy tones. Dismounting, it was with a smile that Jungkook walked forward and took the slender form in his arms in greeting.

"I'm so happy to see you again." He said, leaning back to look into his ageless eyes. Gaia in return looked into the eyes of a once dear friend, and saw two friends now reflected back at him. He smiled, a smile so full of relief and happiness that it literally bloomed upon his face.

"I'm glad things have turned out well for you.... For you both." He amended, looking past Jungkook to where Taehyung stood. He nodded in greeting.

"I see you have found your true self my boy." he said, and walked past Jungkook, letting a hand linger on his shoulder in passing. "It is indeed a good thing. You have been made whole now, even as Yeouiju is whole. You are the phoenix, one of the first to be born in countless years." Taehyung blinked at his words.

"You mean, there really aren't more of them?" He asked.

"Oh yes, there are more. A small number, as with the dragonkin, but more. You are simply the new generation." he smiled, before him now, and reached up a hand to place it comfortingly on his shoulder.

"You will never die of old age. You will go on living, as Yeouiju has, forever." he paused, tilting his head to the side. "Can you feel it? The power inside you? It is much the same as it was before, but the range of your abilities has expanded tenfold." He locked eyes with him, leaning forward. "I want you to reach for it now. Feel that fire flow through and around you as it has never done before. Become one with it.." And he stepped back.

Taehyung looked momentarily confused, then closed his eyes, and searched inside himself for that familiar spark, only to find that he was right. There was no spark. He was the spark. His entire spirit was infused with the flames he'd always possessed. He did as Mother Earth commanded, and gave the power a tug, willing it into life.

Taehyung's body burst into a crimson flame. It engulfed him, and in an instant, he felt the change. It shaped his limbs, forming them into the form he'd taken once before, only now the change was consciously willed. Before, it had been instinct. Now, as he grew in size, the form of the phoenix, his birthright, took over his human form, and in seconds, he rested in his true-form.

It was exhilarating, so much power. This must be what Jungkook felt like when he changed. That thought led him to search for the other, and through golden orbs, the great golden firebird sought out Jungkook, who was smiling brightly beside Gaia.

They were both like this. Part of a whole, and wholly different from all. Yet, they were alike even more so now than ever before. The perfect pair. Perfect forever.

Jungkook's form melted away, and Yeouiju soon stood in place of the youth, ebony scales reflecting the light cast off of the flaming bird.

Yeouiju now regarded the flaming creature before him, having long ago accepted it as one of the great powers. Now, because he knew how Jungkook felt, he came to the grudging acceptance that the Phoenix was probably going to be around for a while, and he couldn't challenge the creature. It galled him only slightly, and he gave a short bow of his head to the Phoenix, who returned it in kind.

Gaia walked over to the great dragon, and stopped by his foreleg, placing a hand upon it in greeting. Yeouiju lowered his head until he drew nearly level with him.

It is good to see you again, mother. Yeouiju said.

The bright smile on Jin's face was overwhelming, and it was much like the air around him reflected happiness and increased it until the whole area was alive with it.

"My dearest child. I'm so glad you are whole again." he said, running a hand down the scales around one of his eyes.

Mother? Jungkook's voice echoed in Yeouiju's mind.

He is mother to us all. It is from him that we are all born. The dragon answered privately. Jungkook saw flashes of memory as the dragon remembered. Yeouiju and Gaia really had known each other for countless years, and Jungkook watched a montage of a million different times and places flash by him in a split second, his soul reeling from the amount of time he'd just witnessed.

And now, we will live this time over again. As he lives on, so too will we, until the end of everything brings the universe full circle once more.

It was almost too much to comprehend, but Jungkook saw that he and Yeouiju would not be alone in their never-ending journey. Jin would be with them... and Taehyung. And others of the long-lived beings would continue on, fading into the background of history, until they existed in the shadows of memory as myth and legend, caught in the corners of the eyes, phantasmal in nature; sleeping until the time came to rise again and once more claim the world as a land full of magick and wonder.