The Celestial Way

Chapter 14.3 - Small Way

"Oooh, a comeback!" Alomar roared in mock surprise. He turned his head. "Hey, broodmates, this one can at least bite!" The other dragons rumbled with laughter again. Veralla shrank a little, yet kept her stare on Alomar.

"Honestly, I can't see why you're so special," the white-and-blue dragon continued, his words dripping contempt. "Everybody praises you and your pitiful attempts at becoming a Knight, while I, the fiercest of all surviving dragons on this deusforsaken planet, get completely ignored. It baffles my mind. What, do they expect you're going to win the war? You can't even fly or breathe fire. There's no way you are more important than me."

"Well, it is simple," Veralla said plainly. "You are very incompetent at being a Radiant Knight. That is why you are being ignored."

Alomar flinched as if she had slapped him across the snout, and raised his head back, momentarily silent.

"Void damn, the whelp touched a nerve," a yellow-scaled dragon guffawed behind Alomar. "She's probably gonna start lecturing you any minute now."

"Keep your maw closed, Rebel!" Alomar hissed, casting a murderous glance. The yellow dragon bowed her head, cowed. Alomar turned his attention back to Veralla. "Don't dare provoke me, little runt. I can smother you with merely a wingtip."

"Why? Because you are too stupid to defeat me with words?" she challenged.

Alomar snarled furiously. His wings flared, making his figure look enormous and terrifying. "I told you," he growled. "Don't. Provoke. Me. Or I shall put you in your place, you insolent whelp."

For a moment, Veralla became afraid. But that fear lasted only for an instant, banished by a much more powerful feeling. It surged like a tidal wave, sweeping her whole being. She recognized it; it was her battlefury. She fought the sensation down, focusing her mind as Glawlrhain had told her. She did not want to hurt Alomar, even if he was bad to her and said nasty things. Yet at the same time, she would not let him hurt her. She stood upright and raised her foreclaws in the fighting stance she had learned during training, staring with determination.

Alomar hrrr–ed deeply, amused. "My, my! Are you going to fight me, runt?"

"No, I will not fight you," Veralla said, "because I do not want to hurt or kill you. But I shall defend myself."

Alomar's expression suddenly became dark. "Spoken like a true Knight," he said, baring his sharp teeth. "Very well then, let me show you what happens when the heroic talk is over..."

He was interrupted by a whipcrack of leathery wings. The small, sinuous form of Glawlrhain rapidly descended toward the lake, and landed between them. "That's enough, Alomar," the training master said, voice stern. "Have your drink and be gone. Until I say otherwise, you're going to satiate your thirst only from a maker."

"Or what're you going to do, Glawlrhain?" Alomar hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Raise the alarm and hope someone who's actually a match for me comes in time?"

"I'll warn you only one more time. Leave. Stay away from the gardens from this point on."

"I'm not scared of you, coward," Alomar said. "I've heard the stories that are talked behind your back. How you'd remained behind during the Starblaze, and hadn't been on an off-world mission for decades. How you've refused to fight, because your feelings have been hurt. You're a tiny, insignificant excuse for a dragon, just like the runt you're trying to protect. The elders probably made you a training master as some form of a joke."

Glawlrhain did not say anything. Instead, he bent low, spreading his wings slightly, holding his tail high for balance, his whole body communicating he was ready for battle.