I live high in the mountains with my other half. We are more than friends, more than lovers, more than mates. We are literally two halves of a whole. My mate is joined with me at the soul. It is typical of any spirit animal.

Our lingering cousins, Ran and Shaw, are the last firebending teachers. The humans think that they are the only dragons left in existence. While that is a false consensus, it is true that they are the last teachers. I, Shua and my mate, Irik no longer teach the two-legged's the ancient ways of firebending. It is simply because we are all but unknown to them.

A few of the purest firebenders know of our existence, but even then it is still speculation. We have not had contact with a human for over two hundred years. In fact, the closest we came to a human was Avatar Roku. One of our children was his animal guide. We could feel the closeness of his spirit through our child but we never actually met the man.

Our den is on the most severe east side of the ancient volcano. Irik and I carved it out ourselves when we became life-long mates, when we were young. Recently, a firebending man took up residence on our dormant volcano with his mate. I think he knows we live here. I can sense he has been taught by Ran and Shaw. Other than that, I know nothing of him for I have not met him.

I was dozing in our cool den when I heard soft footsteps approaching, perhaps half a mile away. I knew it was not a human with fire in it's blood. I untangled myself from Irik and left the den in a flurry of steam and smoke, claws ripping along the hard sides of our cave.

It took me seconds to smell out the intruder. It was a female, and I wondered for a brief moment if it is the firebender's mate. I crashed down through the limbs of the trees, snaking through the largest of the branches. The young woman was horrified at the terrifying sight of a red dragon swooping down upon her. She dropped the basket she was carrying and stumbled away in shock, avoiding the hot air that is my breath and the deadly talons of my feet.

A waterbender! She is a waterbender! I felt it in the air, in the aura around her. A growl erupted from deep within my chest, shuddering out of my throat as a snarl. Our purpose as the last dragons is to protect the ancient ways of fire, and it would be the blackest of evils for one void of flame to become privy to our existence!

She has to be destroyed.

Every cell in my body screamed for me to take her in my jaws and devour her. A feral, unbridled roar ripped loose of my mouth, smoke and wisps of fire curling from my nostrils. My wings rose up high and I made myself as huge as physically possible. The female cowered against the tree, frozen in fear. It will be easier for her this way. My fangs were bared and cutting through the air to take her flesh in my teeth, when I felt it...and froze. How was it possible?

My wings drooped and my lungs deflated. She was breathing hard, her breaths coming in gulps as I snaked my head close to her.

It was very faint, but strong.

I collected my skull back close to my body. I did not understand how I missed it before, the gentle swell of her body. I was unaware that this anomaly was possible.

It was the hot, tiny, spark of fire in her rounded belly that saved her life as I flew from the trees.