A Dragon's Redemption [Book 2 in Rising Dragons]

Chapter XX: Withstand

WARNING: Suicidal thoughts.

Some days I woke up with the scent of burning flesh and a deep ache in my bones, and the sensation that I'm missing something; that if I tried a little harder I could move my wing. Most days I woke up feeling tired and wondering what would happen next. What was left for Mark to take?

I went into the arena once more after I had figured out that I could use the chains to help me fight. The so-called training sessions had stopped as well, and I could almost sense the tension in the air. It felt like there was something in sight that we were hurtling towards.

A lot of my time I spent sleeping or working on my control over my limbs, because I needed to be able to control every twitch and movement of my muscles. Furthermore, it was a task that took my mind off other things and ensured I concentrated on the present. It kept me from reaching for something at the back of my mind that wasn't there anymore. It kept me from ruminating on memories of a better time, when life was simpler, nicer – or maybe when I was more ignorant of the real world.

Some days I woke up and remembered words someone once told me that if you're breathing then you're alive.

Some days I woke up and I just wanted to die.

***

The arena was starting to become a familiar place in both my nightmares and my reality. The cheers and jeers of the crowd felt like something from a half-forgotten memory, familiar and unfamiliar. I ignored the crowd – they were useless to me. I didn't want to meet myone'smybeautifulone's Mark's face.

I looked across the arena to see my opponent; a maybe-green dragon. They snarled, loud and angry. They knew me, obviously, had fought against me based on their emotions. They probably blamed me too.

The other dragon launched forward with a loud roar and I had no time to dodge. I dug my paws into the ground and tried to hold my position as the other rammed me. I gave no ground, but the other dragon strained, desperately trying to push me back. A second later, they took to the air and I huffed, eyes flickering to watch the other dragon. I had no chance of climbing quickly enough to keep up with the other as they flew. My best bet was to wait from the ground and dodge when necessary.

The other dragon dropped towards me, I reared up on my hind legs and let fire burst into life, streaming high into the sky. The other dragon swerved around the flames and kept diving down. I shifted out of the way, moving out of their reach. With a frustrated growl, the green dragon pulled out of their dive and spiralled higher.

Instinct or maybe thought told me to look closer, but I ignored it and concentrated on the other dragon as they dived down once again. A half-thought formed in my mind, and I crouched on the ground and waited for the other dragon to get closer. When they were about five metres above my head, I leapt up vertically, my hind legs being the last thing to leave the ground and pushing me higher.

We clashed briefly, barely touching as I reached out with open jaws. The other smacked my head away with one paw, and I used my own momentum from the blow to spin and hit the other with my body, before I fell back to the ground. I landed awkwardly, but wasn't too hurt from the crash landing, and was quick to get back onto my paws.

I blinked and – STOP. Look beyond, beyond green, look and see – forced my wandering thoughts to stay away from what I guessed was a past memory or a recollection of something, focussing as the other dragon as they came down to attack again.

Something sparked in my head, I leapt away as the other dragon landed heavily where I had only stood less than a second ago. Wild and anger-filled eyes watched me, but still held intelligence, indicating that they were in control of their self rather than their emotions controlling them. We charged at each other, and met with dust rising beneath our paws and claws scraping scales. I head-butted the other dragon, sending them reeling backwards, and pressed on my advantage, but before I could, the other dragon was up in the air with a beat of their wings.