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

Chapter XXVIII: To Fail Is To Die

Adrenaline pulsated in my veins like some kind of beat that I was marching to. The darkness consumed my vision, and I focussed on putting one paw in front of the other. I couldn't see anything that surrounded me, but I kept moving forward – it was all I could do, and so I did it.

A pinprick in the distance – light of some kind. I picked up my pace, fire roaring through my body, and with each step I took, the vibration rolled up my leg and it was my strength. This was what I had – strength. The light grew bigger and I wondered how long I had been running – wondered whether this was all a lie and just some twisted illusion.

As I neared the exit, I thought about my choices. I could either continue running out – do something that would send a message – or I could halt by the exit point and check my surroundings. That would be the smarter option. My position required me to think first, except... Except sometimes you needed to send a message. Sometimes you needed to act on impulse.

I skidded to a halt in the large arena – larger than any I had been in before – sand kicking up around me. I found Mark in the audience; well, not quite in the audience, but an onlooker. Someone watching. I roared, loudly, and this was my challenge. It was all I had left to say to Mark.

Mark barely glanced at me, but it didn't matter – it didn't! I didn't care. There were other dragons coming into the arena, some – like me – raced in, showing their strength and doing their best to intimidate others. We all knew what was going to come. Others hesitated on the edges and skittered in like prey.

There were roughly thirteen dragons in the arena when there was a rumbling sound and metal portcullises slammed down, separating the shadowed tunnels from the arena. I narrowed my eyes and sent a stream of fire down the tunnel, watching as it lit the tunnel before slamming into a stone wall and dying.

We were locked in the arena, meant to battle for our lives. We had been conditioned for this, to fight to the death, to fight until there was only one survivor. Mark hadn't bet on the fact that we would think past this though, that we would find something else to fight, that we would plan and that they would escape. Mark had forgotten to think about the underdog in this fight – and that would be his mistake.

We were going to win this.

I looked around again, but this time I didn't focus on what was in the arena, but rather what was around it. The arena opened up into the sky, like the other ones had, complete with chains criss-crossing like a net. There were stands along half of the circular arena, wooden and crowded with people. The few top rows had people wearing finery in bright colours and jewellery that gleamed and glittered. The other rows had common folk, wearing dusty travel clothes with sun-browned skin with hard faces and lean bodies. These people knew what survival was like – but they were here for a reason, and I would forever hold that against them. They were here to view us as entertainment.

There would be entertainment, but I doubted they would see it as such.

The other side of the arena was flat ground for a few metres, stone of some kind. The arena was constructed on the top of a building, and it reminded me of a castle with its high-rising towers of stone. I guessed that the flat stone area was made for dragons to land on.

"Opposite the crowd," Seeryath roared, and I knew it was Seeryath with how everyone heeded to her call. I glanced at Mark and bared my teeth at him, grinning because this was their escape, this was Mark's failure. This was his loss. This was our battle won!

I spun and raced towards the chains were the metal was already glowing bright-bright-bright red-red-red, slowly turning orange to yellow to white. It gave off its own light – but it did not give. I added my own fire, my own strength, to the other dragons' flames as we tried our best – desperate with hope and fear – to melt the iron so we could escape. However...