Chapter 34

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After the war was resolved and Princess Kouren ascended to the throne, the dark dragon and the happy hungry bunch all settled down across from the wind tribe while the dragons all recovered from their injuries. It was not like they had much of a choice, as none of them could move even an inch without the help of others.

Azumi watched from the branches of an ancient tree as her friends interacted, watching the weird actions of Yona, the slightly depressed Hak and the quiet dragons. Something was going on, but Azumi was too tired to truly take notice of her surroundings. Her wound from the Kai forts was healing nicely, but they would leave very obvious scars across her spine and shoulder blades. Large white tears across her once porcelain skin would leave Azumi thinking of that moment, where she felt truly hopeless for the first time in a long time. King Il had instilled hope within her being and she had used this to step forward without fear of what would happen, but as Yona's group progressed forwards and their minor acts of heroism became known to the public, Azumi became slowly tenser. She knew firsthand what it was like to deal with those truly passionate to a cause, whether from helping the homeless to finding out every single fact about a person they admire, the broad scope of an entire kingdom was terrifying, and Azumi knew that soon she would be in the limelight once again and would have to face previous scars that she had left behind with the help of a supportive king and unknowing friends.

At this thought, Azumi flinched when a loud caw resounded from the cloud above. The entire camp froze and glanced up to find Azumi's hawk circling the encampment, cawing loudly to catch its owner's attention. Azumi leapt out of the depths of the tree, landing soundlessly on the balls of her feet and walking towards the hawk with a frown on her face. She shouldn't be receiving a letter, after all, she hadn't sent any out since the letter to Soo-won about the war with Xing. Holding out her arm, Azumi watched as the hawk spiralled down from its position high in the sky and landed on Azumi's arm with a happy chirp, its head bobbing up and down in a greeting. Azumi smiled slightly at the sight, before untying the letter from the bird's ankle.

"Azumi? You sent a letter to someone?" Yoon perked up, running over to her side as she unfurled the letter. Her eyebrows steadily rose as she saw that the elder of the wind tribe, the war hero Mundok, wrote it. What business did he have with her, and why was it sent with her own hawk? Azumi disregarded Yoon's question as she hurriedly read the letter, a frown slowly erupting on her face the further she read. That was until she reached a certain sentence, the mere word sending a shock through her entire system. Her eyes dilated as her hands shook, vivid images thrashing through her mind. The letter fell from her fingertips, making Yoon frown and step in front of Azumi, only to gasp at the expression on her face.

"Azumi? What's wrong?" Yoon tried again, only to flinch as Azumi's expression morphed into one of pure hatred, an expression he had never seen on her before. His eyes widened as her eyes glanced up from the letter on the floor, her eyes glazed with a burning rage that made her body tremble and her fingernails dig into the palm of her hands.

"I need to leave, right now" Auzmi spoke up, making everyone across the encampment flinch in shock. Hak was on his feet at once, walking over and grabbing her wrist before she could do something rash. However, at the touch, Azumi's entire body jolted as she flinched away from him, making the thunder beast's eyes widen. Not once had Auzmi reacted that way, not since she was a child and had just arrived at the castle.

"Azumi? What are you talking about? Is everything okay?" Yona asked, stepping up beside her best friend and frowning nervously at the unusually quiet brunette. Azumi ignored her and turned towards the tree once again, picking up her small pack and hoisting it over the shoulder a bird didn't occupy.

"Azumi, explain to us what's happening. We can help, you know?" Hak asked, frowning at her sudden change of character. At his words, Azumi's eyes snapped wide as a single image entered her mind.

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