The Dragon's Seer (Wings of Fire fan fic)

Part 8 - the Arena

Alright, sorry I was gone for so long... busy with school :\ but I'm back, with another... uh... short chapter. -B

I cover my eyes.

"I don't want to see it."

"You'll be fine," Reef says, rather uncomfortably. "It's not Peril fighting today."

"Peril..." I remove my hands from my eyes and look at the arena.

There's a scarred SandWing, tail barbed pointed directly at the other dragon, and a faint drop of blood dribbling from one side of his mouth. His wings twitch wildly, like he's yearning to fly, but his wings are bound, and he can barely move them. His opponent is a large IceWing. Some of his scales are stained a pinkish color, probably dried blood from his last fight that never got cleaned. He's snarling viciously at the SandWing, and his hackles are up. He looks menacing, but he's probably scared, too. The SandWing just looks kinda guilty, like he knows he's going to win, but doesn't really want to go through the bother of killing another guy. Dragon. Whatever.

"Horizon of the SandWings, with one victory, going up against Frost of the IceWings!" Vermillion announces. At least, I think it's Vermillion, but I can only really guess. I hate that guy. My hands curl into little, human-sized fists. They must look tiny to Reef.

Then it registers. Horizon. This is Horizon, the guy Peril fights and kills easily. I remember he had a lot of victories before he fought Peril, but I'm not sure exactly how many. This must be one of his previous fights.

"Claws up! Teeth ready! And.... fight!" Vermillion's words echo across the arena.

"Give up now," snarls Horizon. I strain to hear. Although dragons talk abnormally loudly, they're still pretty far away, and the wind is rushing, and my little tiny scavenger- er, human- ears can't handle it.

"Just because you killed a little SandWing doesn't mean you can beat me," the IceWing, Frost, growls. They circle each other, snapping their jaws and snorting smoke and a thin layer of frost.

Horizon doesn't look like he's enjoying killing that much, so he doesn't gloat. He instead slashes a claw at Frost, who backs away. Instead of attacking, he pauses for a split second. His throat glows ever so faintly, and then he blows a bolt of frostbreath at Horizon.

Horizon doesn't try to dodge. He takes in a sharp breath and breathes out a big flame. The flame hits the frostbreath, and steam fills the arena. Horizon holds his throat- that big burst of fire probably hurt his throat. He whirls around and tries to stab Frost with his tail, but Frost jumps backwards. He growls dangerously and swipes at Horizon with his claws.

Horizon roars as the serrated, sharp claws scratch his side. He thrusts his talon forward and stabs the IceWing in the underbelly.

Frost roars, holding the claw-shaped hole in his chest and jumping on top of Horizon. Blue blood spills everywhere and stains the arena sand the color of IceWing blood.

Horizon grunts, rolling out from under Frost and revealing wounds where Frost's claws held him. The two dragons move as a blur as Horizon feints to one side and stabs Frost right in the heart with his tail barb, in the soft scales on his underside.

Frost tumbles onto the floor, blood spilling from his mouth and wound. His hands move quickly to his heart, where he got stabbed, and he rolls over and dies. His talons go limp.

Horizon, panting heavily and bleeding everywhere, raises one talon triumphantly. Two SkyWing guards come over and chain him, bringing him up to his pillar. He doesn't try to fight. There's none left in him, not today at least.

"I thought you didn't want to watch," Reef says softly. His tail twitches like he wants to twine it with my non-existent one- just like Clam.

I force myself to look away from the stained arena. "I didn't," I reply sadly. "That was horrible... I just wanted to see... I couldn't look away."

"Do you scavengers not do it? Killing?" When I shake my head, Reef looks down, ashamed. "We dragons- well, it's our nature... I know it's not right, but when you hold your enemy with your claw to their neck, you can't not do it. It's like some kind of killer instinct... I've only killed once, I promise."

"I-" I take a deep breath. "I hope that's not me... like with scavengers... I can't imagine killing anybody, evil or not."

"Maybe it's because you're young?" Reef suggests solemnly. "I never wanted to either. You've got to be like, four?"

"No, I'm thirteen," I correct. Then I realize, dragons age differently. "Never mind, my dragon speak got mixed up a bit. Yeah, I'm like four."

"Alright," Reef says, a bit confused. He curls up into a little ball and rests his head onto his talons. His tail slowly swishes back and forth.

"Reef?" I ask hesitantly. Reef turns to me, but I sigh slowly and look down. "Do- do you think you'll have a chance in the arena?"

Reef is quiet for a moment.

"Yeah," he says sadly. "Yeah, I think I will. And that's what worries me."

"If Scarlet puts me in the arena, I'll die and she knows it," I add.

"Yeah, I know," Reef licks his snout with his tongue. "Please don't die, Jahmes."

"It's James," I say. "I'll try not to die."