Zuko stood up and gave everyone a torch, then he took a torch himself and walked outside. The rest followed him outside. when they were outside, they looked amazed at the five women standing in a row, they looked very beautiful.
The women were dressed in a long red kimona made of silk. On the back an image of their dragon was embroidered. They all had their hair raised with beautiful pins in their hair.
Kaida had golden pins in her hair and the rest had silver. They had a red ruby necklace around their neck that seemed to glow. Kaida's necklace had several rubies.
Kaida stood at the beginning of the Row, Huli walked over to her and reached out his left hand. With her right hand she took his left hand and walked with him towards the golden altar.
The next in line was Kyona, excitedly Cuan walked over to her and reached out his left hand. Kyona put her right hand in his hand and smiled.
"You look beautiful my lady"
With a shy smile, she walked with Cuan to a silver altar.
Then it was Zuko's turn to reach out his left hand to a nervous Kimia. Shaking, she took her father's hand with her right hand. He rubbed her hand comfortingly
"I know you drew the short straw, but you will do a great job. You look beautiful, your mother would be proud of you"
Zuko pricked a tear away and walked with Kimia to a silver altar and looked full of pride at his three daughters.
It was now Zinan's turn to reach out to Kayra while he looked lovingly at her. With a big smile, she grabbed his hand with her right hand and together they walked to a silver altar.
Finally, Kyro walked over to Rei and extended his left hand to her. When she put her right hand in his hand, he gave her a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Do you know that every day i'm falling more and more in love with you?"
Rei answered his question with a loving smile and together they walked to a silver altar.
The area where the dragon ceremony was held was illuminated with lanterns covered with a red cover. On the left stood the people of the foxes, wolves and snake tribe, on the right stood at a reasonable distance the people of the dragon tribe.
All the people on the left wondered if they would actually have the chance to see the dragons today. Older people who once had the opportunity to see the dragons could not wait, while those that had never seen them had no expectations.
On the right, the people of the dragon tribe were ready to welcome their dragons. Here and there, parents were giving instructions to their children.
A mother told her five-year-old son
"you were only a few months old when your dragon went to sleep. Don't be afraid if he spits fire on you, the fire of your own dragon would never hurt you. "
A father told his four-year-old daughter
"my daughter when the dragon of your mother and mine arrives, they will bring a dragon egg. It's your job to make it hatch. You are already a little more skilled in controlling your heat, you will manage to make it hatch ".
Haya sat next to Nana in the seats at the front of the grounds. She looked at the altars with a snappy glance and laughed. She could not wait until Kaida embarrassed herself before the three tribes.
Nana looked at Kaida with a variety of emotions. The final was still fresh in her memory and although she did not want to admit it, she looked at Kaida with different eyes. It was clear that she was on the same level as Huli and there was more to kaida than could be seen.
This was also clear from how Salmus and Cuan's father treated her both with full respect. She decided to investigate to find out what her role was in the war.
The moment the drums struck, everyone became silent and looked intently at the five beautiful women on the altars. The men who stood beside the altars gave the torches to them.
The sound of the drums stopped and everyone was silent as they watched what the women were doing. Everyone on the left wondered how they would lit the torches without fire.
Kaida closed her eyes and started to give off a high temperature heat. The ruby necklace started to glow. When She opened her eyes she saw that she was standing in the middle of the cave where the dragons were.
When she looked around, she saw that the rest of the women were also in the cave and standing in front of their dragons
She looked up and looked straight into the eyes of Long
"are you ready my old friend?"
Long stood up and spewed fire. The rest of the dragons also spewed fire until the torches were well lit. The moment they were lit, the women opened their eyes.
Everyone on the grounds clapped when they saw that the torches were lit. Haya, however, had a sour face and was sweating a bit, she was wondering if she had made a mistake and the dragons would actually appear.
Kaida gave the burning torch to Huli. He took it and he noticed that the temperature and shape of the fire was different from normal fire. Was this real dragon fire?
When all the women had given the burning torches, the men lit the wood and the dried leaves simultaneously. Large flames of fire flew up within seconds.
Everyone was shocked when the women's long kimona caught fire and the left side of the terrain almost panicked. When they realized that it didn't hurt the women and that it was part of the dragon ceremony, they became quiet again.
The moment the women's kimomas were on fire, the drums were hit again and the women started to dance.
When the women lifted their left arm to the beat of the drums with a graceful movement sparks flew from the sleeves.
The moment their left arm gracefully came down, they moved their right arm gracefully with the rhythm of the drums.
They raised both arms gracefully to the beat of the drums and held their arms above their heads. They made graceful circular movements with their hands, while they gracefully moved their hips.
They lowered their arms again while they continued to make graceful circular movements with their hands.
They spread their arms and then turned their bodies in circles. While dancing, the sparks flew off their kimona.
All people looked at them carefully and were silent. The women looked breathtaking while they danced in their kimona that was on fire. The dance was so beautiful that some people had tears in their eyes while they watched it.
When the dance was finished, everyone looked at each other and wondered what would happen next. A few minutes passed, but no dragon came.
Haya sat smiling in her chair and looked satisfied at Kaida. She knew it, no dragons are coming. It feels so wonderful to be right!
Suddenly the drums were beaten again and this time it was Kaida who did the dance alone. Again the people were hypnotized by the dance and how beautiful Kaida looked. But when she finished dancing, nothing happened again.
Huli looked thoughtfully at Kaida and could not help feeling sorry for her
The people became restless and started to believe less and less that the dragons would appear. When the drums struck again this time the other four women were dancing, many had already given up hope and some wanted to leave the grounds.
In the middle of the dances it suddenly started to thunder while the sky was clear. The earth began to shake as if there was an earthquake. Many people could not find their balance and fell down. Panic arose and everyone but the left side of the ground tried to seek cover.
Haya looked around with difficulty, and it struck her that despite a severe earthquake, the buildings did not collapse. It seemed rather that the people themselves were shaking than the earth.