With the exception of Yu Liang, no one else had paid attention to her brother since the start of the bloody battle. And for that very same reason, no one else had noticed when the young boy’s body had been replaced with a small, exotic white dragon, no more than two meters long. Coincidentally, the young dragon’s roar of distress was overshadowed by Huo Wei Hu’s savage cry of despair.

Not a single soul had heard the first sound he uttered, not even he himself. All he heard was the earth-shattering cry of agony released from Huo Wei Hu. A cry he felt down to his very dragon bones.

Yu Tian watched the nine-tailed fox kidnapped his sister away, the first and only person he had familial, platonic love for. She was the mother he never had, the father he never met and the best sister he could ever dreamed of!

When he drank the life essence of the qilin, he felt a powerful ancient force pulled his subconscious into an unknown place that existed within him. In that vast space, a mystical qilin appeared before him, tall and mighty.

“What do you wish for, young dragon fox?” His archaic, majestic voice asked.

“Young dragon fox?” I asked silently without words, bewildered by how the qilin addressed me.

Am I not a purebred fox from the Huo Clan? From the moment I met concubine Huli, I recognized her right away. It was at that same moment, I realized I was Huo Wei Hu’s cousin and also part of the nine-tailed fox clan. Now, this ancient, legendary qilin referred to me as a young dragon fox?

“I can hear your every thoughts, young dragon fox. Your other bloodline was derived from your father’s lineage, but that is neither my place to tell nor my duty to disclose such information to you. Now tell me, what do you wish for?”

I bit back the urge to probe for more details. He was right, there was no reason for him to tell me and even less reason for me to learn about the father who never wanted me.

With a bright smile of a child brimming with anticipation, I replied, “Please, give me back my voice. For so long, I have desired to communicate with others verbally, to answer my sister using my own voice and sing together with the animals in the forest. I wish to argue and bicker, then laugh and cry when we reconciled. I wish to be heard.”

The mystical qilin was silent for so long, I started to worry if perhaps he couldn’t read my thoughts after all like he proclaimed.

“Young dragon fox, you’re eons too early to doubt an ancient entity like me. I’ve heard you loud and clear, but is that truly what you wish for? Once I grant your wish, my spirit will disappear and you can no longer alter it in any form or way. Think carefully and be careful what you wish for…”

I nodded my head passionately, so energetically that I was beginning to see stars circling above my head.

“Very well then…your wish shall be granted!”

His words were still booming in my ears when I felt an intense pain pirouetted through my body. Crackling sounds of bones snapping could be heard. My muscles were breaking down, then rearranging themselves for what felt like an eternity before finally, building itself again from the foundation.

And my throat, god my throat. An invisible hand must be choking around my neck, strangling me to the point of suffocation. The vocal cords were constricted so tightly, I was deprived of any source of oxygen. I don’t need a mirror to know my face had turned purple and blue from asphyxiation.

An absurd idea ran through my head, causing me to panic as I struggled for air. What if the male knot in my throat got destroyed? Wouldn’t I end up sounding like a little girl?

As the last spasm of pain ricocheted through me, I found myself back in the pagoda, on the eighth floor, in the same spot, like I was never gone.

Black fluids excreted from my body, gathering into a murky pool on the ground. The stench was quite overbearing, not even I could withstand the filthy odor. My nose scrunched up in unpleasantness and my face flushed in embarrassment. I waited for the looks of disgust and obnoxious remarks to be hurled at me, but no one spoke to me.

Lifting my head up, I realized everyone was too deeply engrossed in the battle between Huo Wei Hu, my mother Huli, and my half-brother Huo Jiu to notice me or wonder about the stinky smell reeking from my body. Everyone, except my sister, Yu Liang.

Big expressive eyes filled with concern turned to look at me. I wanted to shout her name, the first person I wanted to call with my voice, but before I could, I noticed something was very wrong with me. I was floating in midair!

I saw the shock expression on her face. The two beautiful clear eyes were opened so wide, I was worried for a split second they might pop out of her eye sockets. My body shook and vibrated as a brilliant, white glow of light encompassed me. Then, the same familiar feeling of my bone structure changing occurred again. Except this time, there was no pain. I watched speechlessly as my body morphed.

A long snout grew from where my nose used to be, followed by a set of whiskers. Short, sturdy horns protruded from my head. My human vessel was exchanged with the body of a long reptile, clad in thick, white armored scales.

Inspecting the dragon scales that covered my beastly skin, I was stunned in awe. I especially admired the unique, white furry fox tail swaying in the air instead of the normal dragon tail one should have. My eyes lit up in satisfaction, extremely pleased with the transformation.

This meant I could now start cultivating in both the path of the mighty dragon and the cunning fox. Excitement drummed through me as I twirled in the air. Finally, I could contribute, even if it was minuscule. With time and effort, I might even evolve to be a nine-tailed fox in the body of a white dragon! Now wouldn’t that be a grand sight capable of dropping everyone’s jaws?

As I raised my dragon eyes to call out to my sister, my startled heart froze in terror. A purple begonia hairpin was lodged deeply in her heart. Her robe was drenched in red, saturated in a puddle of her own blood. I screamed in grief as I shouted her name, but what came out instead was a loud dragon roar.

Another more deafening roar boomed in the air and overshadowed mine. In that barbaric voice, even I could detect the intense heartache, filled with deep sorrow and piercing grief.

That gutter sound reverberated with so much anger and devastation, it felt as if the man had his very soul torn apart and had lost his sanity. All those who heard it, couldn’t help but shuddered as a frosty chill seeped to their very core and nestled down into their trembling bones.

Author's Note: I want to express my appreciation to those who took the time to comment on my blog. Also, a shout out to those who left ratings for my novel, especially that one person who gave me a 5 star. I don't know who you are, but thank you because knowing someone love my story that much gave me a lot of motivation to finally finish this novel. The ending is posted on my blog already, go to the fiction index for the link or scroll down. Thanks!