Wings Of Fire: The Dragons Of The Night Sky

Chapter Sixteen

As some Skywing guards dragged Oak back to his tower, some more guards brought Thunderwing down to the arena.

Fourth moons and fireballs! Thunderwing thought, eyes wide. They expect me to fight him?

Nightfire glanced at Thunderwing's opponent. It was a Skywing, but he also had a tail barb like a Sandwing. Nightfire guessed Cadmium didn't treat hybrids that well, due to the fact that the hybrid had many, many scars.

It also seemed that Explosion had returned from wherever he stayed during the matches. "Talons up, teeth ready, FIGHT!" He announced; starting Thunderwing's fight like any other fight.

Thunderwing's eyes rounded until they were the size of the moons as the hybrid, Adust, lunged at him. Adust seemed to wack Thunderwing away; seeming not to want to hurt another hybrid.

"Get," Adust snarled. "You are not worth my time."

"However," Thunderwing said, "Cadmium is making me kill you in order to protect Jade Mountain. And a lot of other stuff that's important to me."

"Jade Mountain, eh?" Adust said. "Good for you."

And with that, Adust lashed out at Thunderwing, narrowly missing his snout. Thunderwing let out a howl of surprise, and fell backwards.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry not sorry!" Adust called as he flared his wings; the latter of which reflecting the harsh sunshine that was down on the arena sands. Thunderwing's dark scales were bathed in light, and Nightfire could feel his vision going dark.

Thunderwing! Nightfire called.

What happened? I can't think!

Adust bathed you in some sort of light, Nightfire explained, and now I think he expected it to permanently damage your brain.

I sort of like my brain, you know. Thunderwing joked lightly.

Hold still, Nightfire said, I'm going to enchant your vision and your mind.

Nightfire mumbled the enchantment under her breath. Down in the arena, Thunderwing blinked. He rolled out of the way as Adust tried to slash his claws through Thunderwing's throat.

"What the-" Adust started as Thunderwing dodged his attack again. The Skywing-Sandwing clearly didn't expect Thunderwing's mind to be able to keep working.

"I don't want to kill you!" Thunderwing told the larger dragon.

"Too bad!" Adust howled. "Because I want to kill you!"

"For Three Moon's sake!" Nightfire snarled as Thunderwing pathetically dodged Adust's onslaught of attacks. "THUNDERWING!" Nightfire howled down at him. "DO SOMETHING other THAN NOTHING!"

"Easy for you to say!" Thunderwing shouted back.

He's right and I know it. Nightfire realized.

"STAY STILL!" Adust snarled.

"What if I don't want to?" Thunderwing wailed. Nightfire thought he was being pathetic, but Cadmium was watching Thunderwing with a cold look of interest on her peachy-yellow face.

You better not hurt Thunderwing in any of your twisted ways, Cadmium, Nightfire snarled to herself.

It seemed that Cadmium might have been able to read minds because - at that moment - Cadmium snapped her gaze from Thunderwing's to Nightfire's. Nightfire could feel the resentment coming off of the young Queen. You are an interesting one, hybrid, for Her Midnightness was right to choose YOU as her champion.

"Grahh!" Thunderwing howled. Scarlet blood was dripping down his scales from a wound on his shoulder; staining the already bloody sands a deeper shade of red.

"What?" Adust taunted. "The Hybrid's too scared to fight? Well, that's because of the useless inter-tribe relationships!"

"In case I've forgotten," Thunderwing snarled, "You're a hybrid TOO!"

Thunderwing lept at Adust, his claws drawing blood. "Ho-HOW!"

"Face it." Thunderwing smirked. "You just got Thunderwing'd."

"Thunderwing'd, huh?" Adust snarled. "Well, maybe it's time you got Adust'd!"

"Is this a fight with words?" Cadmium called from her seat. "Or is this a fight with blood and death! Fight, or I will have you both persecuted!"

After both hybrids stared at Cadmium for a moment, Adust reared onto his back legs, fanning his wings. It seems Adust really doesn't want to be persecuted.

As Adust fanned his wings, Thunderwing's movements slowed. Nightfire allowed herself to slip into Thunderwing's mind, only to come out moments later feeling as if she had been a cricket roasting under the sun for days.

Well, Nightfire thought, at least now I know how sun-baked crickets feel.

"Stop flapping about and do something!" Cadmium shouted.

"Well, you could stop yelling at me and let me finish him off," Adust countered.

"Yada yada yada!" Cadmium yelled back.

"Fight! Fight! FIGHT!" The assembled dragons below shouted at the fighting dragons.

After a moment, Nightfire blinked. She could have sworn she saw a midnight-black dragon slinking through the crowd, but as Nightfire blinked, the dragon disappeared. Am I illusioning things? Or was there really a dragon there?

"Well, come on and do whatever you are going to do, you bee!" Cadmium shouted.

"Working on it!" Thunderwing shouted.

"Not you," Cadmium stuck her tongue out at the checkered dragonet. "The one who is actually fighting."

"So in other words," Adust smirked, "she's talking to ME."

Adust leapt at Thunderwing, leaving thin lines of blood across Thunderwing's wings and spine. It was clear at this point that Adust was just playing with Thunderwing. Adust's a hybrid too. What in the three moons would Adust have against Thunderwing?

"What's wrong?" Adust challenged Thunderwing. "You too tired to continue? Or is that red on your scales more blood than your natural colour?"

"I don't want to hurt you." Thunderwing whispered. "You don't deserve this. Any of this."

"You think you can talk me out of killing you?" Adust snapped, but his meanish demeanor wavered.

"This is Cadmium's fault," Thunderwing continued. "And for that, I refuse to kill this prisoner."