It’s time.
A circle has been marked out in white tape on the grassy ground of the arena. The crowd has been told to stay on the outskirts of the field, as the circle takes up all the space but the corners. We’ve been told that there are four rounds to the competition, and the overall winner will be given a thousand pounds and their own office as a reward for their partner winning.
A dark blue collar has been put around Aqueous’ neck to symbolize the water element. I have to wear a matching scarf to show the same. There is no order to who goes when; names are randomly generated for each fight. If a dragon wins their fight in round one, they proceed to the next round, and so on.
The first fight was Asteroid against a dragon with electricity. Both dragons had bitten and swiped at each other until Asteroid flew up high and blew the other dragon to the ground, rendering it unconscious. It was a quick fight, over in less than a minute.
Each time they generated names in the judge’s box I’ve held my breath, hoping that Aqueous would never be called.
“Cerberus against Aqueous!” Ray’s voice echoes through the speakers.
No.
No.
My companion looks to me for guidance, but what can I say? He basically has to fight against his sister.
“Do your best,” I tell him. He presses his face against mine. “Don’t worry about letting me down. I’ll be proud of you whatever happens.”
With a flash terror in his eyes, he flies off to take his place on the field. Cerberus faces him, her teeth bared and tail lashing. She’s not afraid to hurt him, but I don’t know if he’s okay with hurting her.
I can’t see my brother in the crowd. Is he hiding from me? Is he upset?
“Hazy!”
I’m thankful to see one familiar face push through the sea of people. Braith grabs my hand and kisses it softly.
“Have you seen...?”
“Yeah. He told Cerberus not to bother with who he is, just to fight to the best of her ability.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
What have I led Aqueous into?
“I should have stayed home,” I whimper.
“No. Everyone had to do it. Ray would have just come for you anyway.”
We turn to the battle as the horn to begin blasts. Cerberus opens her mouth immediately and shoots electricity at my companion, but all she hits is empty air. Aqueous circles her in the sky, eyeing her for weak spots or injuries. Another bolt of electricity is fired; it misses his head by inches. With an angry roar, he swoops down and drags his claws along her back, making her scream in fury. He’s not fast enough to get away, however, as she grabs his tail tip. He convulses violently as electricity streams through his body and crashes to the ground, leaving a trail of upturned earth behind him. She jumps on him and clamps her jaws around his leg, shaking her head in a bid to get him to give up. He screams and whacks her in the face when he unfolds his wings. This makes her angrier, however. She digs her claws into his hide and drags them down his body. With a terrified screech, my companion kicks her off, but she gets up just as quickly as she goes down. Just as Cerberus opens her mouth to fire more electricity, my partner scoops dirt in his claws and throws it at her face. Blinded, she desperately paws at her face to recover her sight.
I know what he’s going to do before he does it: the move he learned from Marco.
He fires water at her legs, making her crumple into a heap. Then, he quickly rises to his feet and stomps them in the ground. With his wings spread and his eyes closed, he leaps backwards into the air, throwing ice-cold water at the defenceless dragon. After a few seconds she gets up, the water having washed the dirt out of her eyes. Out of rage she launches into the air to attack my partner, only for him to move out of the way and slam his tail on her head. Dazed, she falls to the ground and lands on her back, her foot twitching slightly.
It seems like a lifetime before Ray starts counting. Cerberus makes no move to get up; she just lies on the ground with her feet in the air.
“...Ten! Aqueous wins!”
Finally, Cerberus clambers to her paws, leaning on Aqueous for support as they limp towards the crowd. As soon as they reach the outskirts I throw my arms around my companion’s neck and he lifts a foot up to my back to hug me closer.
“Cerberus, are you alright?” Rocky runs up to Cerberus, holding her face up to his.
She blinks painfully and lies down, allowing him to see the three bloody lines on her back. He’s silent for a second, before turning his angry gaze to my partner.
“Before you even start,” I step in front of Aqueous, hands balled into fists. “Look at his leg and his back!”
My brother considers this and turns back to Cerberus, though his angry gaze doesn’t waver.
“That was so cool!” Braith breathes. “You two were awesome! Throughout the entire fight, I thought you were equally matched!”
Cerberus chirps and stands up, allowing Braith to pat her on the head, though she winces when the girl gets too close to her eyes.
“Both of them need to be fixed up,” Rocky says, pointing to the team of vets running towards us with white bags. “Let them do what they need to.”
We all step back as the two dragons are treated. They’re able to pay close attention to Cerberus’ wounds, but seeing as Aqueous will be going into another round they can only dress his wounds and make sure they are heavily wrapped up so as not to be damaged further.
Rocky and Cerberus leave after she’s treated. He doesn’t look at me. It’s not my fault she lost. I thought they both fought well. Braith is still scared about Damayanti going for her fight. Every time they call names she grabs my hand and refuses to let go. Several battles are fought before it’s finally her turn.
“Damayanti against Hula!”
The colour drains out of my friend’s face as she turns to her partner. “Be careful. Don’t do anything stupid, please.”
The black and white dragon licks her cheek before flying into the arena. Her opponent has pale pink markings on its face that look like a sunset with a mix of green, white and red scales. Its tail is long and slim, but doesn’t have any spikes on it, so Damayanti doesn’t need to worry about grabbing her tail. The two dragons crouch defensively until the horn is blown to begin. Having the advantage of size, Damayanti rushes forward and knocks her opponent off their feet. Hula, however, quickly illuminates her entire body in a blinding bright light, making the black and white dragon stagger backwards with her eyes squeezed shut.
“No...” Braith squeezes my hand so hard I swear she’ll break it.
Come on, Damayanti. You can do it!
As the dragon is blinded, Hula sees her chance to land a few hits. Shooting up into the air, she comes spiralling downwards and slams onto Damayanti’s back, making her screech in pain. Before the dragon can do it again, a layer of ice grows on her wings and she falls to the earth, landing heavily and lopsidedly on her feet. Her opponent is up at this point, and is beating her wings quickly to blow the other dragon back with ice-cold air. Hula freezes in the harsh cold, a thin layer of frost spreading on her face and chest. The tri-colour dragon then collapses on the floor, motionless. Ray begins the count, but at three seconds Hula is up again, pouncing on Damayanti and pinning her down. The smaller dragon then bites and scratches her face and chest, with the bigger dragon powerless to kick it off at the angle the other dragon is sitting.
“Stop!” Braith’s eyes are tightly shut. “Give in. Don’t get hurt.”
Hula then jumps off and crouches with her teeth bared, daring Damayanti to get up. Ray counts to ten, and Hula wins. Braith rushes to meet her companion as she exits the arena with her head bowed in shame.
“You’re okay!” Her partner buries her face in her neck. “You’re okay...”
Aqueous says something to Damayanti, but the older dragon looks away, her orange eyes glazed over.
This is really taking its toll on everyone.
It’s been over an hour, and we’re finally on the
last fight of round one. Then we have three more rounds to get through.
“Finally, Drea against Poppy!”
Braith grabs my hand once more as Drea flies into the ring, looking determined to win. Her opponent is a small red dragon with red fireball markings on his wings. He looks terrified, almost as if his feet were trapped in stone. The horn is blown to start, and Drea wastes no time sprinting at the scared dragon. To everyone’s surprise, Poppy falls to the ground and lies perfectly still. For a few seconds nothing happens, but then Ray starts counting. Throughout this the poor dragon doesn’t move, its gaze locked on a confused Drea.
“Ten! Drea wins!”
As if nothing had happened, Poppy sprints through the crowd, running down the street as if a pack of dogs is chasing him. His embarrassed partner chases after him, calling and waving his arms crazily to try to get him to stop.
“What the hell? Did that dragon faint or something?” Braith watches the two of them run, an amused expression on her face.
“I have no idea. At least Drea is okay; her wound didn’t re-open.”
“Of course it bloody didn’t! She just stood there for ten seconds!”
“Are you going home? Now that you’re done here?”
“What? And leave you here by yourself?” Her arm snakes around my waist. “It’ll get cold out, and you need a heat source.”
“I’ll just get Marco to light a fire,” I tease.
“Not when you’ve got a better, more passionate option right here you won’t!”
“Round two is starting. All participants who lost in round one are welcome to leave.” Ray’s voice booms out of the speakers, making us both jump.
A few people leave, their dragons limping or flying beside them. Some of these fights were quite brutal; they should be happy they don’t have to fight further.
Neither of us really pays attention for the first few fights; we just listen out for dragons we recognize. Aqueous takes this time to snooze lightly. Unbeknownst to him, Damayanti has pressed up against him, her tail curved around his nose. After the second fight, Braith bought some hot food for us both. We shared a packet of chips, which kept us warm for a while when the cool night air rolled in. I presume Rocky went home, but I haven’t seen Marco or Wes. They’re probably further up the field somewhere.
“Drea against Wren!”
“Finally! Hopefully Drea actually gets to fight this time!” Braith stops picking at the grass, her eyes now glued to the impending fight.
When Drea enters the arena, I finally spot Marco on the other side, bolt upright and chewing his nails worriedly.
She’ll be fine.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Her neck is an obvious weak spot, which gives her opponent an easy advantage over her.
Wren is red and white, with dark blue water swirls covering his face and back. His wings are stretched out in an obvious taunt, but Drea doesn’t seem to notice. The horn blows, and time seems to slow as the white dragon steps back into a shadow and dissolves into the darkness.
Wren swings his head round in confusion, trying to pinpoint where his opponent will re-appear. A loud screech fills the air and Drea slams into Wren from behind, tackling him to the ground. Grabbing one of his wings, the white dragon twists her head to the side, making her enemy scream. A stream of water knocks Drea back, but she gets up and shoots into the air. The red and white dragon follows her, despite the damage to his wing. His sharp, straight horns puncture Drea’s leg and the white dragon drops. Both dragons fall to the ground, but at the last second Drea opens her wings and darts back into the air. Wren isn’t so lucky, and slams face first into the dirt.
Drea seizes her chance to strike and pins the other dragon’s head down while her back claws dig into his hide. They both stay still as Ray starts counting, and Drea sprints away towards her partner as she’s announced as the winner.
“Cool.” Braith’s mouth opens in a wide yawn.
“You’re tired already? It’s not even eight.” I jab her in the side as she starts to drift off.
“Huh? Oh... I know. I couldn’t sleep last night; my mind wouldn’t slow down. All I could think of was your boobs.”
“Braith!” Instinctively I cover my chest, even though I’m fully clothed. “You’ve never even-”
“Yes, I have. I peeked into your stall one time when you left it unlocked, and there was yesterday morning too.”
This time I don’t give her the chance to move out of the way, I just punch her fiercely on the arm.
“Ow! Hazy, why? You’re so abusive!” She sniffles as her lip quivers.
“Aqueous against Bumble!”
My partner shoots to his feet at the sound of his name, making Damayanti huff in annoyance. I don’t get the chance to say anything this time; he just quickly licks my cheek and flies into the ring. His opponent is also water, so he’ll have to rely on his wits. Bumble is a yellow dragon with a black vertical stripe running down his back. He looks surprisingly calm – unlike my companion, who looks nervous.
Be careful.
The horn blows, and Aqueous charges at Bumble, but the yellow dragon sidesteps out of the way and lets him shoot past. With narrowed eyes, my companion charges again, this time managing to hook his leg with his claws. He doesn’t cry out; instead he launches into the air and kicks my companion off. Aqueous quickly recovers, however, and head butts Bumble’s stomach, making the yellow dragon grunt in pain. Before my companion can get another attack in, Bumble opens his mouth and a cascade of water pours onto my partner’s head. The black dragon is forced back onto the ground, drenched to the bone.
The yellow dragon sees an opportunity to strike and grabs one of Aqueous’ horns and starts yanking. My partner cries out in pain and can do nothing but keep up with his opponent as he proudly trots backwards around the ring, dragging my companion with him.
I’m relieved as Ray starts the count, but at six seconds Bumble drops my companion. Instead of waiting for the end of the count, he continuously scratches his back, ignoring his screams of pain.
“Ten! Bumble wins!”
Bumble finally stops attacking my partner and trots off, but not before kicking dirt into Aqueous’ face. Braith pulls me back as I try to run out onto the field, screaming for Aqueous. At the sound of my cries, he clambers to his feet and sprints over to us, a trickle of blood running down his face.
“I’m so sorry!” I throw my arms around his neck as he approaches. “I shouldn’t have let you do it...”
With an eye roll he shakes his head sharply and nuzzles my cheek, lifting his foot up to my back again in a hug.
“See? Even he thinks you should stop blaming yourself!” Braith pats my back softly. “It’s all over now. Neither of our companions has to fight anymore. Let’s go home, yeah?”
“What about Marco and Wes?”
“Wes was being a grumpy little shit yesterday and Marco can man up for once. It won’t kill them if we leave.”
With a little more encouragement, we push through the crowd after Aqueous has been treated. Damayanti hasn’t left his side; she even offered to let him lean up against her. Braith took a picture of that little scene, and exclaims how adorable they look.
“Um, excuse me?”
We swing around at the sound of a new voice. A handsome brown-haired boy stands behind us sheepishly.
“Is something wrong?” Braith scans the ground, lifting one foot up to check underneath it. “Did we drop something?”
“Uh, no. My name is Tyson, and this is my partner, Pine.” A small light brown dragon steps out from behind him, with dazzling green eyes and a short spiked tail. He has indigo markings on his chest and feet, so Tyson must be a dark Elemental. “You’re Scar… Sorry, Hazel, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
My heart quickens as he smiles at me, and my face heats up. What am I doing? I’ve never acted like this before!
He is cute, though.
“I saw your dragon fighting, and it’s just... I’
ve never seen a black common dragon before. I’ve seen you around school a few times, but I’ve never seen him up close.”
Aqueous immediately nudges Damayanti away to stand up on his own. He puffs his chest out and eyes Pine carefully.
“Oh. Um...”
Say something!
Anything!
Really, nothing?
“Pine’s a common dragon too, so I recognized his lack of ‘desirable’ features, you know? I just wanted to see if he was real, or a trick of the light.”
I don’t have to say anything, as Aqueous steps forward and allows Tyson to stroke his nose softly, making both him and Pine relax [and drop their tense statures].
“It was a surprise when I got him.” Inwardly I breathe a sigh of relief as I finally say something. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
“Yeah, I can guess. Do you want to meet up for dinner tomorrow, Hazel?”
His request is quite sudden, and his gaze drops to the ground as I meet it. He looks embarrassed.
For a second my mind flickers to Marco, and what he’d think. But why do I care about what he might say?
“Sure. Where?” My fringe falls over my scar. It’s not the most attractive thing in the world.
“Um... We can meet up in the park and decide from there, if you want.”
“Yeah, that sounds cool.”
Is this a date? Or am I just being optimistic?
“Cool. I’ll see you at six, then. Bye.” He hurries off, his companion trotting behind him looking amused by his behaviour.
It must be a date!
My first date! What am I supposed to do?
As the two of them leave Braith taps her foot on the ground angrily. I’m surprised she stayed quiet throughout.
“Oh! I see how it is! I give and I give but I don’t get a date! Not even one!” She fumes, turning her back on me.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I reply: “Well you don’t need a date.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“You’ve already seen me naked; you skipped a few stages.”
This gets her thinking. After a moment, she perks up and waves her middle finger behind his back. “In your face, Tyrone!”
Elemental Dragons Book 1: Blood and Water Page 18
