THE THIRD REALM: YELLOW — A little sun

“Your strength can feed your dreams, too,” Helio told her. “It can inspire, support, give warmth.”

Skyblue remembered how many days she had spent imagining revenge. All that energy had been busy returning to the same pain.

“I thought I’d be free when no one could defeat me.”

“And you grew more and more afraid of losing what you’d gained.”

Skyblue nodded, remembering how she used to sleep beside the torch, waking with a start. She looked at the yellow fugaíns. Their light reached the branches, the grass, and the paths without asking who deserved to receive it.

“Look at the Sun,” Helio said. “It shines on everyone alike. Your energy is renewed when you share it, too. It’s an inexhaustible energy, nourished by giving light to others.”

The dragon thought she could feel a little sun in the pit of her stomach. She understood the name of that part of her body in a new way: the solar plexus. The energy she had experienced as hunger could become warmth, the impulse to act, a light that didn’t have to crush anyone to make itself seen.

At last, she understood why the realm was called yellow.

There were still moments of fear, still times when she wanted to lash out. The difference was that she was beginning to recognize them before she acted. She could ask for help, wait a little, and choose a different response. Her friends were learning, too. None of them seemed offended by having something left to learn.

When the time came to leave, Skyblue said goodbye to them and thanked the acacia for those days of rest. It was hard to leave after finding so much peace there.

Helio suggested leaving by the same path she had taken in.

The dragon stood still.

“That way?”

“You’ll be able to see it differently.”

She picked up the torch. Its flame was small and clear. She put it in the satchel and began to walk.