The Legend of Suemei

They say a sage once crossed her way
and left her only words:
“When the dragon stirs within your heart,
the heavens’ time will come.”
She bore them through the turning years
from songs of triumph into smoke,
from shining courts to broken walls,
while even prayers grew cold.

Then came the Tarkh,
wolf-crowned riders of the plains,
their warlord wrapped in bone and flame.
She rode with friends to meet their wrath,
and one by one their voices
fell silent in the snow.

Then came the final word:
to ride again where none return.
Its weight turned breath to stone.

That night, as thunder walked the vale,
the storm was split with light:
a dragon rose of molten gold,
its gaze a mirror of the sky.
Through every wound its radiance fell,
through every doubt it shone
revealing all as one design:
defeat and triumph woven whole,
her end the will of Heaven’s own.

Her fear grew still,
her sorrow bright as dawn.

In the final years of the Southern Realm, when the banners of Jin had begun to fade, Suemei was a loyal soldier who served her duties well.

Yet as one campaign bled into another, and victory turned to smoke, she began to wonder if the heavens still watched over the South.

Then came the ( riders crowned in wolf bone, their warlord cloaked in flame) sweeping down from the northern plains.