When Myths Meet Magic || 4

15|| Nico

Nico unsheathed his sword and set it on his lap, idly running his thumb over the edge. Perfectly sharp... perfect...

Fleur entered the tent, scorch marks on her silk blue robes. In her arms was the golden egg. Nico got up, twirling his sword around in his hand.

"Good luck." Fleur nodded at him. Nico nodded back and slipped through the tent flap.

Instantly, Bagman's booming commentary nearly blasted his ears.

"And there he is, folks! Our first Hogwarts champion. Give it up for Nico diAngelo!"

There was a roar of applause, something that surprised Nico greatly, since just before the task they were all booing and shunning him in the halls. Maybe they were excited to see him die.

"Oh, and he's got the Swedish Short-Snout!" Bagman said excitedly. "This is bound to be an interesting fight, folks... because for the first time in Triwizard Tournament history, our champion is not using a wand!"

There was a ripple of amusement, and Nico could just see more bets being exchanged. He smiled grimly and stalked forward. His sword glittered in his peripheral vision.

A deafening roar echoed through the arena, similar to the two before him. Suddenly he was aware of a massive blue and gray dragon in front of him, straining against the chain that held him in.

"Play nice now, dragon," Nico muttered as he readied his sword. "Play nice and you won't have a visit to Tartarus."

In response, the dragon growled and blew a pillar of fire.

"Okay then." Nico stepped forward. "You asked for it."

He darted forward across the rocks like a shadow, leaping closer towards the nest. Confused, the dragon turned and lurched outward, trying to catch the dark blur. Nico swung his sword in front of him, clipping the wings and the dragon roared as a golden dust poured from the wound.

A ripple of confusion spread through the crowd. Where was the blood?

The sand-like substance trickled onto the rocks as Nico struck again, sprinting between its legs toward the eggs. Then suddenly he felt a massive tug on his robes--

"Aaaaah!" Nico was swept into the air as the dragon bit down harder, puncturing his robes. Then he tossed his head upwards and Nico flew in the air, coming down with a crash. Luckily, the dragon had only snagged the hood of his robes, and Nico dropped to the ground unscathed. Or at least until he hit the rocks.

The dragon roared again and charged forward, its feet making the rocks tremble. Nico took a painful breath and felt his chest quake. Blood trickled from something that was protruding from his ribs. He must've been thrown from over a hundred feet in the air. His robes were tangled in a crevice in the ground, and Nico took valuable time to untangle them. Stupid uniforms. The dragon grew closer and Nico raised his sword--

The ground rumbled. Several students let out cries of surprise as a crevice opened in a boulder, cries that turned into screams as several skeletons crawled out of the hole, skeletal teeth gnashing. They all had long, bone swords with them. The dragon roared as it faced a new enemy, wings opening to appear larger and even more threatening. The skeletons didn't blink-- mostly because they didn't have eyelids-- and charged.

Everyone's attention was focused on the dragon and the battling skeletons. Nico caught his breath and focused on the sunlight streaming through. Then he rolled out as subtly as possible and crept around the dragon.

Crash! The last skeletal soldier fell to the ground, and the dragon let out a roar of triumph, something that turned into confusion. Where was the tiny blurry boy?