"Contest completed. Simulation over. Please stay in your current location."
Celni couldn't move if she wanted to. She was stuck, frozen in that spot, in that moment, forever.
She had killed him.
She had killed him.
She had killed him.
He was gone because of her.
His family wouldn't see him anymore. They wouldn't get to twine tails with him, fly with him, laugh with him.
She had killed accidentally before. The miners. But this was different. She had killed Ashnule with her bare hands. She had killed him, fully knowing what she was doing.
She had murdered him.
Celni knelt down beside Ashnule's body. Reaching out, she closed his eyelids. His scales felt rough beneath her fingertips. She trailed her touch down his snout. His mouth felt hot, still stinging with his scalding tone.
You had no choice. There was no other option, she tried to tell herself.
But what if there had been another option? Had she even bothered to look?
There was movement outside of the volcano. Reinej stepped into the dark lava tube, followed by a group of his soldiers. As her father walked toward her, the soldiers grouped around Ashnule. After a "one, two, three", they hefted his body onto their shoulders with a collective grunt. They marched out without anything further, like all Ashnule was now was a sack of meat. Celni watched them go. Ashnule's scarlet tail hung limply over the last soldier's back. And then they were gone. And so was he.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over at her father. His eyes were bright, a smile underneath the hairs of his beard. "I knew you would be the one to do it," he said. "I'm so proud of you, Celni. My daughter." Reinej said that oddly, as if he had proved a point.
Anger riled up in her stomach, but Celni said nothing.
"You are finally ready to become the leader I knew you would be someday," Reinej continued, oblivious to her clenching her fists. "You have what it takes."
"If this is what it takes to be a leader, then I don't want to be one," she spat, pushing away from him. "I just murdered him! How could you make me do that?"
"I didn't make you do anything," he said, voice dangerously low. He grabbed her injured arm by the wrist. "I am tired of you fighting me, Celni. You will listen to me, and you will obey me. You will become a leader, whether you like it or not." He looked down at her blood stained arm and threw it back down. "Get that taken care of, and then come back to the Arena. I have an announcement to make." Reinej walked out of the lava tube, nothing but pride and confidence in his steps.
Pain bit at her arm, but nothing hurt more than the rage that pooled in her stomach. She wanted to yell at her father, at the world. What was the purpose of Ashnule's death? He died for what, a stupid contest? For entertainment? For her father to prove a point? It was ridiculous, it was cruel, it was so horrible it made her want to gag.
She stumbled out of the volcano. The lava had drained, leaving the air around her cold and dark. Celni gulped in the clear air, suddenly realizing how weak she felt. She didn't resist when someone came and took care of her. She was vaguely aware of them stitching and bandaging her arm before taking her back into the elevator.
Instant cheering exploded into the tight space of the elevator as the doors opened. The other soldiers in training gathered around her like insects drawn to a flame, shouting and whooping. Hyden and Dyfar instantly came beside her, supporting her weight. Celni craned her neck to look at the other elevator as it opened. Through the openings in the crowd, she saw Srenya being carried out. She was unconscious, claw marks scoring her chest and her right leg at an unnatural angle.
Celni bit her lip, almost feeling sorry for her. And then she looked down at her own arm, and all of that washed away.
Everyone quieted as a loud whistle brought their attention to Mawk, who was standing next to Reinej. "Listen up!" their trainer said. " Your General has something to tell you." He beamed proudly before stepping back to give Reinej the spotlight.
Celni fiddled with the bandages on her arm anxiously. What was he going to say?
"Recruits," Reinej began. "You have trained long and hard, and your hard work has not gone unnoticed. You have grown into strong men and women, capable of doing anything a soldier could do." He paused. "So that is why I am hereby declaring you as graduated. Welcome to the army, soldiers."
Celebration erupted once more. Everyone hugged each other joyfully, shouting and giving each other slaps on the back.
"But that is not all. You are now a company in the 31st Infantry Division." His dark eyes fell on Celni. "And Celni will be your Captain."
Her mouth opened in utter shock.
There was already too much blood on her hands. Now she had to worry about others' hands, too?
She had never hated her father more than in that moment. No matter how hard she struggled, he would keep trying to push her into the shape he wanted her to be.
And he wanted her to be someone who led an army out to slaughter dragons.
"Wow," Rozanel said, beaming at Celni. "This is incredible!"
"What an honor," Dyfar said. His blue eyes were wide with shock.
"I guess we report to you now." Hyden straightened up and gave her an exaggerated salute. "Captain." His eyes twinkled. "I guess you're going to need a right hand man. You know, I think I could be really useful as—"
"Oh, shut up," Rozanel said, giving him a shove.
"Actually, he will be her right hand man." Reinej stepped up to their circle. For a moment, his gaze locked with Celni's. They stared at each other for a moment, an unspoken challenge flickering between them. Then Reinej turned his gaze toward the others and continued what he was saying. "You all will become her right hand men—or so to speak," he said, nodding at Rozanel.
"I knew someone would see my boundless potential," Hyden said, puffing out his chest proudly.
"Sorry, but to what are you inferring?" Dyfar asked with a confused frown.
"There will be platoons within the company. And each of you, including Srenya, will be the platoon leaders," he said, pointing at Rozanel, Dyfar, and Hyden. "You will report directly to Celni, but you will be in charge of those in your platoon."
"Thank you sir," Rozanel and Dyfar chorused. Hyden simply stood open-mouthed.
Celni felt a poke on her shoulder, distracting her from glaring at her father. She turned and saw Dyrnen.
Dyrnen stepped beside her, looking at Reinej. "Would you mind if I borrowed Celni for a moment?"
Reinej narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "I will see you at home," he said to Celni, his voice cold.
"Can't wait." Her voice was just as icy.
Dyrnen turned her around, pulling her out of earshot from the group. "Are you alright?" he asked. He looked her up and down and grabbed her arm. "Oh no, you're not, you're injured! I am so, so sorry, Celni! This is all my fault. I had the robot completed, but Mawk pulled the live audience thing on me last minute, and I couldn't get to you to tell you, and I am so sorry that you had to..." He stopped. "Why are you crying? Is it your arm? Do you need me to get help—"
Tears had escaped from both sides of her eyes, rolling down like soft waterfalls, slipping down her wavering chin. Her anger was gone, leaving her weak and vulnerable. There was no stopping the crying now. She couldn't if she tried. So she just moved forward, pressing her head into Dyrnen's chest. "I killed him," she whispered. "I killed Ashnule." Eyes squeezed shut, mouth distorted with grief and regret, she sobbed.
Dyrnen wrapped his arms around her, holding her upright. Swaying her gently, he patted her back, easing the painful breaths that shook her body. "It's alright," he murmured. "It gets easier. It gets easier."
She stayed like that for a few moments. But suddenly, she pushed Dyrnen away. She was angry again. "And then my father thinks it's a good idea to make me be Captain, on top of it all. How am I supposed to do that?" Celni began pacing, clenching her fists. "Who does he think he is? Don't answer that," she said, before Dyrnen could speak. "I know he's the Almighty General and no one can defy him, but that doesn't mean he can control me and who I can be! I am an adult, with my own thoughts and opinions and my own destiny, for crying out loud! I can't save everyone if he's trying to make me this--this leader!" Her tears had dried sticky on her skin. Celni rubbed her cheeks with her shirt sleeve angrily.
"Why is being a leader such a bad thing?" Dyrnen asked. His sky blue eyes looked at her curiously through the lens of his glasses. "If you're a leader, you don't have to answer to anyone. You can make your own rules."
"But I do have to answer to someone. A lot of people, actually," she muttered, sitting down on a rock sulkily. "I'm only going to be a Captain."
He pushed his glasses up his nose and then folded his arms with a sigh. "You're missing my point. I'm saying that this role could be a good thing. You could use your position however you wanted. Even if that might be protecting the dragons. It's all up to you."
Celni frowned slightly. "I guess you're right." She straightened. "Yeah. This could work."
"There you go," he said, smiling. "There's that hope I was looking for."
Her gaze traveled to Reinej. He was talking with Mawk, both studying a piece of paper. They would each point to it from time to time, sometimes shaking their head. They were probably planning the platoons. Great. "What do I do about my father? If I defy his orders he'll—"
"He'll what? Celni, you've got to stop being afraid of people." Dyrnen shook his head, a lock of silver-blonde hair falling over his forehead. He swept it away with a hand. "Do you even realize what kind of power you have? If what you say about yourself is true—I wouldn't know, you haven't even shown me your dragon self—then you aren't just a human and a dragon combined, but you are every breed of dragon as well! You have incredible abilities, probably some that you don't even realize you have yet!"
"Careful, your nerd is showing," Celni joked. She paused. "Thank you. I needed that." She raised an eyebrow. "So... do you want to see me in dragon form?"
A grin spread across his face. "Can I?"
She grinned too. "Is there a quiet room we could go?"
He led her through the trees to a door in the wall. Beyond it was cold tile floor and concrete walls, so vastly different from the Arena's forest. "This should be big enough for you to turn, right?"
It was an average sized room, just a simple square with only one dusty window letting in sunlight. The outer edges of the room were cluttered with various mechanical bits and machinery. "Is there where you work?" Celni asked. "I thought I saw you building your stuff at the weapons manufacturing building."
Dyrnen bent down, shoving some of the larger metal pieces off to the side. "I only go there to use the more advanced tools that I don't have myself. Otherwise I build everything here."
Celni touched something that looked like a cannon with her foot. The pieces fell apart at contact, and she edged away quickly like she hadn't done anything. "Does Mawk ever help you make things?"
He laughed. "Mawk wouldn't know a nail from a screw even if I showed him. No, I do everything myself."
"That's a lot of work."
"It's worth it."
Celni nodded. "Well, the things you make are pretty cool."
"Thanks. Now." He put his hands on his hips. "Are you going to transform, or what?"
"Right." Celni went to the center of the cleared-out area and knelt down. She bit her lip. "I've only ever done this once in front of someone. So just... give me a moment. And—don't freak out. Okay?"
"Take your time."
She closed her eyes, trying not to picture him there. Breathe. In, out. Pressure built up inside of her, then released into her limbs, stretching them out and twisting them into a new shape. She gritted her teeth, feeling bits of pain spark in her body as it transformed. She dared to open her eyes. It was almost like the room was shrinking—but it wasn't, she was just getting bigger. Dyrnen grew shorter and shorter until she stopped growing, stopping a foot and a half above his head.
His eyes were wide. "Wow."
Celni shook herself like a dog, getting rid of the tingles of pain. "Ow."
Dyrnen frowned, eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement. "It hurts still? I mean, has it always hurt?"
"It hurt worse at the beginning. It's lessened the more I use it," Celni said with a shrug of her folded wings.
He began to step closer to her, slowly at first.
"It's okay. You can touch me."
He reached out a hand, sliding it along her back as he walked around her. "You're magnificent," he breathed.
"Thanks," she said with a half smile. She felt incredibly awkward.
"So you're an... ice dragon? But... not."
"I think so. Lunar—my friend on the dragon side I told you about—he said I can breathe ice and fire. I also have the fangs for venom and acid and the horns that water dragons have, and I can camouflage like forest dragons. Apparently there are other types of dragons too, from a place in the east. My scales are hard like rock, so a sword can't hurt me. My tail is weird too, see—" She lifted her tail so he could see it. The end snagged on a piece of sheet metal resting against the wall and sent it crashing to the ground. It clattered loudly against the floor, echoing loudly in the tight room.
They both froze.
"Oh no," Celni mouthed.
"What was that?" Reinej's voice. "What's going on?" His voice was getting closer.
He was coming into the room.