by Katie Pottle
Cadin lost his breath as the large warrior ducked under Tsuyo and rammed into his torso. He felt himself falling out of the air, and flapped one wing to flip around and recover his flight. The boy who had knocked him out of the air was continuing quickly towards the girls who were still fighting for the summit.
Cadin flapped his wings and tapped into his reserve mixed Aura energy. He sent one of his fastest flying gins ahead. Sun’s face lit up as her opponent tumbled down the hill before she glanced up at the incoming warrior. Sun shot her last arrow which he dodged. Almost upon her, Sun steadied herself, and Cadin focused on his gin. Just before the warrior reached the hill, Cadin’s slice-gin pelted the side of the flier’s face. The boy’s head wrenched to the side and his body followed. Only his wing clipped Sun but she recovered and stayed on top of the hill.
Cadin landed next to Sun as she unsheathed two daggers. Cadin flinched at the sight of the boy, his eyes narrowed and blood-shot. “Oh, crap.” The third warrior whom Lep had been grappling flew straight at them, while the girl and the boy climbed up the base.
“Two-minute warning!” The announcer blared.
Cadin glanced at the scoreboard. They were up, but only by seconds. “Easier to take back the second hill than to keep this one.”
“Agreed,” Sun said.
They took off to either side of the incoming flyer. He landed on the hill, turning the light blue and their dominant time doubling and racing quickly to catch up to Dragon Fire’s red time.
“Lep!” Cadin shouted, waving over his friend who was sagging in flight. Lep redirected his path towards the second hill where the warrior was clinging to the top of their cone-shaped slick-trap. The boy held on with one hand as he tried to swat them out of the air with his sword-wielding hand. Cadin landed quickly to turn the light yellow.
“We have to get him off the summit!” Sun cried.
Cadin sliced with Tsuyo. The boy’s lips were purple, his teeth chattering. Cadin thought that his blue fingers might be stuck to the icy top of the mountain.
Cadin sliced not at the boy, but at the middle of the icicle trap, freeing the cold warrior as Lep tackled him down the hill. The light turned red, and Cadin sucked in a breath as he turned to the scoreboard.
There was twenty seconds left and blue had taken the lead before they dislodged the frozen warrior. Dragon Fire’s red score was racing forward as two blue warriors flew towards them from the third hill.
Cadin turned away from the scoreboard and braced himself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Breaking Barriers
“Time!” The announcer called. “What a way to kick off Round Two! And the winner by four seconds of dominance is Dragon Fire of Glade!”
“We did it!” Lep shouted as they cleansed their weapons in the Light Bay.
“Congratulations!” Instructor Kade said as he escorted them to the entrance of the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. “Wish I could celebrate with you, but Oblivion is up next. I will debrief all our Glade teams tonight at dinner.”
As they rounded the corner, Cadin’s dad walked forward while holding the Glade flag, followed by a very stoic Gregor and team.
“Tag, you’re it,” Tal said, handing the flag over to Instructor Kade.
Instructor Kade smiled and nodded before heading back towards the Light Bay.
“Good luck,” Tal said to the backs of Oblivion, who remained quiet. He wrapped his arm over Cadin’s shoulder and led them to the locker rooms.
“Did you see our round?” Cadin asked. He wasn’t sure his dad had time if he had been helping Gregor’s team prepare.
Tal turned to him, eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across his tanned face. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!” He gazed at all four of them. “What you did out there was awesome!”
“Heck yeah,” Lep said, throwing his dagger by the blade and catching the handle.
“You cut the timer a little close, though. Half the crowd was silent and the other half hysterical by the dramatic finish.”
“Really?” Sun asked. “I totally tune out the crowd when I’m competing.”
“Bart, why are you so quiet?” Lep asked, slapping him on the back.
Bart stared at something on the wall. Cadin stepped to the side to see around Bart’s wings. It was a poster of the tournament bracket. Cadin stepped up next to Bart. The winners of each round were filled in to the next bracket slot—bringing them closer towards the Finals. Bart picked up the red marker hanging by the bracket and wrote “Dragon Fire” in the next slot. The loser’s names of several rounds were crossed out or creatively drawn over, but Bart left Hot Shots’ name alone. Instead he looked up at Cadin and Lep. “Guess who our next opponent is if they win?”
Cadin examined the bracket and cringed.
“Who, who?” Lep asked.
“Oblivion,” Sun answered nonchalantly from the bench behind them.
“What? Gregor, eh!” Lep squinted at the bracket to confirm.
“Well that will make for an interesting round,” Tal said. “And a battle to make it to the Semi Finals! A highly-coveted spot.”
“You competed in the Warrior Games, right, sir?” Lep asked Tal.
Tal nodded. “My team made it to the Semi Finals before losing to a talented team from Lance.” He smiled at Sun. “Never underestimate a team of focused archers.” He shook his head and smiled. “I learned that lesson in school, and it saved my hide twice in the field!”
“Was it a big deal for you to make it to the Semi Finals?” Bart asked. He had pulled his eyes away from the poster.
“Actually, yes.” Tal sat down and looked up at the worn ceiling. “My parents didn’t have a lot of money, and I knew I was going to have to pay my way through any advanced schooling that I chose. Making it to the Semi Finals earned me some much-needed free credits. On top of that, I had made some armor at the Competitors’ Village for credit and wore it through my last couple matches. It performed well, and I was offered a small scholarship at a Trade School.”
“So, you competed in Warrior Path Games and ended up going to Trade School?” Bart asked.
“Yep, life is funny that way. It worked out well for me too. After my enlisted time with the Core, I had a skill that I loved to fall back on.”
Cadin paused to think about that. They all did.
“Sun, you’re bleeding,” Tal said, pointing to trickle of blood slowly running down her arm. “I’ll go and grab a healer.”
“No, it’s fine, really,” Sun said, wiping the blood up to the cut on her shoulder.
Cadin sat next to her. “Can I try to heal it?”
Sun blushed and nodded. “Yes, but it is really not that bad, promise.”
“Well, it may be worse by the time he gets done with it,” Lep said, jumping out of the way of Sun’s whipping towel. “How did you even manage to get cut with blunted weapons and full armor?”
“Ice,” Sun said.
“Stop aggravating her, Lep.” Cadin turned to Sun. “I need you to hold still.”
She nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Cadin wished he had her ability to call upon calm so quickly. He lifted her sleeve slightly and saw that the gash was deeper than she had let on. He felt the others in the room move away and give them space. He had been practicing minor healing on all of them ever since his healing seminar the previous year. They knew the results turned out better if they left him alone to concentrate on his charge.
Cadin let a small amount of energy out of his hands, assessing the damage. “Sun,” he said quietly.
She opened her eyes and raised a brow.
He met her questioning gaze. “This is bad enough that I think you should see a real healer.”
He swore the blue of her eyes lightened a shade. “No. Besides, you are a real healer. Just a beginner. Practice is good for you.” She smiled before closing her eyes again.
He let out an exasperated breath before re-focusing. He marveled in the flexibility his mixed Aura afford
ed him when tapping into the energy he needed to heal. He wrapped warm and cool flows together and guided them towards the separated skin and muscle. Shoot, it is deeper in the muscle than I realized! Cadin thought. Then he had an epiphany and starting weaving the energy and muscle together. It felt right as power left his hands and wove along the sinew. The gap closed at the deepest level and the skin reformed before his eyes.
“I think I did it!” He said, slumping down.
“Finally! You took half an hour!” Lep said, bounding over.
“What, really? It didn’t feel that long,” Cadin said.
“Yep, we had to keep Gregor’s team away from you guys when they came back in.”
Cadin turned to Sun. “Are you alright?”
“That depends,” she said as she slowly rotated her arm. The bright pink area was all that remained of the gash. “How did Oblivion do?”
Lep shook his head. “They won—by a lot.”
Gregor’s eyes flashed as he watched them like a wrath hunting its prey as they landed in the condo courtyard. Gregor stepped up to Cadin and smiled. “Are you ready for a re-match from the Qualifiers, firsty?”
Cadin smiled back, determined not to let Gregor get to him. “Hi to you too, Gregor. Oh, and congratulations.” Cadin tried to side step, but Gregor shifted his bulky frame and leaned down, lowering his voice. “I will not hold back.”
Cadin was saved from responding as Gur spit a tight fireball directly at Gregor’s eyebrows.
“Ouch! Water, get me water!” Gregor ran off and Cadin rubbed Gur’s smooth head.
“What’d he say?” Lep asked, handing Cadin a roll.
Cadin shrugged. “The usual.”
Lep gave a piece of his bread to Gur. “That guy really doesn’t like us—especially you.” Lep rubbed his chin. “I think we should keep an eye on him and his minions until after the Quarter Finals.”
Cadin was about to say he was a bit paranoid, but the chill down his spine when Gregor glared at him said otherwise. “I think you’re right.”
Lep nodded. He glanced up at the sky. “Uh, here comes Instructor Kade; I’ll be right back.”
Cadin made his way over to the table and sat across from Bart and Cora. He wanted to ask how Cora’s team did, however, they were engrossed in conversation and didn’t look up as he sat down. He didn’t mind, and just laid his head on the smooth wood, enjoying the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of nearby trees. He felt a gentle hand on his back and sat up to his mom’s smiling face.
“I wanted to say congratulations and make sure you are okay. How are you feeling?” His mom’s olive skin shone a gold tone in the evening light.
“I’m doing good. What time is it?” The sun was not in the position he had expected.
“It’s nearly dinner time. You’ve been asleep out here for a while.”
Instructor Kade wiped off some white dust from his pants as he walked over and sat down at the table. “Oh, good, you’re up. I wanted to update everyone on the next round.
“How did The Strikers do?” Cadin asked as Cora and Bart no longer sat across from him.
“They too won. Glade has three teams in the Quarter Finals! That has never happened in the history of the Warrior Path Games!” He looked around the courtyard. “Can you two help me gather everyone please?”
“Sure, no problem.” Cadin stood up and realized Gur was gone. He gave a sharp whistle and the dragon shot out from a nearby bush.
It took a while to gather up the necessary team members. Araina’s team had gone into town to get their hair done and hadn’t wanted to come back for announcements that ‘didn’t concern them’. Instructor Kade was not happy about that, but didn’t say anything more to Cora and Sun, who had traveled into town to fetch them.
“You all are rocking it here at the Games and have represented Glade well!” Instructor Kade said. He let everyone cheer before continuing. “There are only eight teams left standing in this tournament and any one of you could win the whole thing! The good and bad news is that no matter what, after the Quarter Finals, Glade will have at least one team in the Semi Final Round!”
“Why is that bad news?” Freddy asked.
“Because that victory will come at the expense of one of our other Glade teams,” Instructor Kade said. “I know this is not an ideal situation, but I expect all of you to play fairly and honorably. I also expect you to keep your focus, so I have decided to change your room assignments a bit so that team Oblivion and team Dragon Fire will no longer be together.”
Lep caught Cadin’s eye and winked.
Brilliant! Cadin mouthed.
Instructor Kade held up his hands at the mumbling. “The Quarter Final round incorporates my personal favorite Warrior Path challenge—Total Damage!”
“Yes!” Gregor cried.
That did not sound so thrilling to Cadin as he considered the collective bulk and muscle of their opposition.
“Your armor,” Instructor Kade continued, “will have unlimited hit points and record total damage done to you.”
Gregor smiled and cracked his knuckles.
“In addition to armor damage, there will be a plethora of Energy Cubes.”
Cadin felt Sun’s energy react, but she kept completely silent.
“The Cubes will have limited points per their size. It will be up to you to determine whether they will be worth your time and effort to attack. One third of the Cubes will be the same color as your armor and only attackable by your opponents’ weapons. One third will be a neutral gray and attackable by anyone.”
“You only have three days to prepare before the Quarter Finals. Good luck.”
The Competitors’ Village was packed.
“Now that most of the teams are out of the competition they won’t be training as much,” Tal said as he shoved through to his booth.
Aaron smiled at Sun, but was helping a customer and stayed put.
“Maybe we should move on before he can come over and start flirting with Sun,” Lep said around a mouth full of buka cake.
Cadin nodded.
“Who—what?!” Sun said, blushing bright red across her light cheeks.
“Oh, he’s finishing up, let’s go!” Lep said, grabbing Cadin’s arm and Bart’s shoulder. Lep turned to Sun. “Stay and flirt if you want, or you can come with us to the Main Stage.”
Sun stomped after them. “I do not—have not—flirted with him!”
They approached the large stage in the center of the Competitors’ Village where angels hustled to get seats. There were not four seats together, so Lep sat with Bart, and Sun dragged Cadin a couple of rows away, scowling at Lep.
Sun sat with a huff and rearranged her bow. “What are we watching anyway?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. Bart mentioned something as we entered the C.V., but I don’t remember what he said.” Cadin was attempting to shake off how uncomfortable he got when seeing Sun around Aaron.
The stage lights began flashing and everyone settled into their seats. Wings lowered out of respect for those sitting behind and a beautiful woman dressed in outlandish clothes took to the stage.
“Cadin?” Sun whispered.
“Uh, yeah?” He was still trying to figure out what the heck they were watching. He glanced over at Sun who was looking down at her hands that were fiddling with the arrowhead necklace he had made her. “What’s up?”
“Well, you don’t think I have been—flirting—I mean with Aaron, do you?”
“I, um, well I think he has certainly been flirting with you.” Cadin hoped he was saying the right thing, but he felt unprepared for this conversation.
The crowd ohhh’d and awww’d around them. Cadin glanced up to see a man fly through a ring that appeared far too small while the exotic woman danced with fire on the side. Sun was still rubbing her necklace but had focused on the show.
“Why do you care if I think you were flirting with him?” Cadin asked before he allowed himself to stop.
She turned to look at him,
her expression hopeful before blushing and turning back to the stage. “I am not interested in Aaron.” She turned back to him, her sapphire eyes determined. “I—well—I would rather be spending my time with you.”
Cadin’s breath caught in his throat. He felt heat rise to his cheeks. He smiled just as she was turning away. He caught her chin gently in his hand and turned her back to him. “Sun, I feel the same way.”
Her lips pulled into a full-blown smile while a small tear collected in the corner of her eye before Gur raced down Cadin’s outstretched arm and chirped loudly in Sun’s face.
“Gur, quiet!”
“Hey, people are trying to watch the show,” a man said from behind them.
Cadin turned back to Sun who was now giggling and holding a squirmy dragon.
“Do you want to ditch this show and go get some food?”
“Yes, please.” She grabbed Gur who was now perched on her head and they shuffled out of their seats.
Cadin grabbed her hand, leading her to an uncrowded area, and opened his wings.
“But I thought we were getting something to eat,” Sun said, glancing back in the direction of the Food Corner.
Cadin smiled. “We are, but not in the Competitors’ Village. I’m taking you on a date—dragon chaperone and all.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Fruit Skewers
Cadin and Sun landed outside Ramia-Oh. He reached for her hand and tingles ran up his arm as she slid her warm fingers into his. The callouses on her fingers contrasted with the smooth surface of the rest of her hand.
She didn’t ask where they were going, and did not even glance towards the café her mother had taken them to for brunch. He was grateful, because though the café was scrumptious, it was not his style. They wove through a couple of back streets until they came upon a quaint flower-lined road with small shops squished together in an unorderly fashion. The cloud-buildings melded together like overcrowded marshmallows, some with entrances a few stories up.
She let go of his hand to bend down and smell the bright blue flowers that popped up everywhere including the wedges between some of the buildings.
