The Titanium Cup

~Chapter 1 - Of All the Eels in the Universe...~

Hey guys! To those of you who have read the first chapter, you might be a bit confused. Well, this is the new first chapter, but rewritten. Please read this, because the first half was just edited, but the second half was deleted then entirely rewritten, and it takes you to a whole different spot in the story, you you need to read it if you don't want to be confused when I finish the second chapter.

Love ya guys,
Scatter

In her younger years, Addilyn would have squinted almost to the point of no visibility as not to be blinded by the thrashing wind that pounded against her face, but now her eyes were wide open thanks to the miracle of goggles. Flight goggles, to be specific. Those cheap pool goggles lasted possibly five minutes against the atmosphere.

But dragon racers needed all three of their essential senses - sight, hearing, and touch - to be fully operational, and she wouldn't dare to avert her attention for more than .03 second.

Setting aside the fact that she had left almost all of her competition far behind her tailwind, Addilyn braved a quick glance to her right, warily keeping tabs on her only remaining threat, Falak and his rider Logan.

Don't let your guard down. Falak is a breed of earth dragon, she reminded herself. He's a stronger and more agile when he's close to the ground like we are now.

She let serious frown consume her face as Falak flew on, seemingly a part of the trees as he raced through the wooden course, entirely unhindered.

Just because Azura's an air dragon doesn't mean that we don't have our own methods of dealing with forests. Don't you dare forget that, Mr. Smartmouth.

"Make a sharp left around that Elm, Azura!" Complying immediately, Azura let out one of the leathery fins that lay atop each of her legs, nimbly steering herself out of the path of the oncoming tree. If they were able to gain even a couple wing-beats on Falak, they'd be home free. However, instead of veering right as anticipated, Falak twisted with the agility only an Earth dragon in a dense forest could master. Rolling over from the right side of the tree so his belly scales lightly grazed the wooden obstacle, Falak made the near impossible curve of fully crossing to the other side of a thick trunk within a span of four feet before falling back in the rhythm of flying a mere three feet above Addilyn's head.

Addilyn gritted her teeth as icy wind from Falak's wings beat down on her and poor Azura. Sure, Azura was faster than most other dragons, but she was also smaller than a great number of other breeds with a head to tail tip measurement of nine feet, and a wingspan of only eleven and a half. With her opponent's wings beating down on her, there was very little that she could do but get pummeled.

"Fall back!!!!!!" she ordered, throwing in all last resorts in an attempt to salvage that race. Flying backwards out of the trap would give Logan the lead, but it was her only chance. And with each foot that Azura lost, Addilyn cursed the forest.

She was a fool thinking that Azura's nimble design was enough to match the benefits that an Earth Dragon gained. In fact, if large Furs and various other evergreens weren't forming iron-like walls on each side of her, she could have just timed the best moment to dodge Falak's wings and soared safely beside the threat.

If Azura were any breed of earth dragon, she could just become a part of the trees and slither out, flying within centimeters of the painful Oaks, narrowly avoiding colliding with them as Logan and Falak had done.

Instead, she'd guessed at Logan's movements without taking into account some of his sly stunts, and in return, he'd read her flight path like she was a one trick racer. Straight and true.