The Spare Dragon

10. Let the Games Begin

***Vanessa***

My legs shake as I step onto the courtyard, eleven golden chariots lined up with the exit of the castle, each one hitched up to two small dragons. All of the contestants are arranged by rank and stand beside their chariots as the knights finish preparing them. Zahra is up at the front of the line, a knight helping her up onto her chariot while I stand at the very end of the line, waiting anxiously to be handed reins despite having no idea how to drive a chariot. All of us appear to be wearing similar black leather armor, though each of us has a different crest on our breastplates. Mine has a howling wolf on it.

Remus wasn’t allowed to stop by and wish me luck or explain the first game to me, but having overheard everyone’s conversation, it seems no one knows what the first game will be but the Queen Mother herself. Still, Remus managed to sneak in a note with the maids, the note now tucked away safely in one of my pockets.

“I believe in you” was all the note said, butterflies swirling in my belly at the thought of those four kind words. No one has ever really believed in me.

“Lady Vanessa,” a knight calls out, holding his hand out to me.

I smile as I let him lead me to the chariot, when the knight suddenly pulls up the visor of his helmet, revealing Lachlan’s smiling face.

“Lord Lach—”

“Shhh, don’t say anything,” he hisses under his breath. “No one but the knights are allowed near the contestants.”

“What are you doing here? You’re going to get me in trouble,” I hiss back through a strained smile.

“Are you nervous?” he asks, ignoring my question.

“Go away,” I snap, Lachlan’s grinning back at me.

“Don’t worry, darling. You’ll be fine. Just pay attention. It’s all in the details,” he says, kissing my hand before closing his visor again to hide his face.

“What is wrong with you?” I whisper-yell at him as he helps me up the chariot and hands me the reins.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question since I first met you,” Lachlan replies softly. “And while I hope you don’t get hurt, I pray you don’t make it to the next round.”

I stare down at him in shock, my cheeks blushing at the gentleness of his voice. He places his hand over mine and curls my fingers tightly around the reins.

“Pull back to slow down. Pull up towards your chest to stop. The dragons already know the way so you needn’t steer them. When you get to the cliff, tighten your grip on the reins and whatever you do, do not let go.”

“What do you mean when I get to the cliff?” I ask, Lachlan stepping back from the chariot and giving the signal to the other knights that I’m ready to go.

The line of chariots begins to move forward, my grip tightening on the reins as my two dragons pull me away.

What did he mean by cliff? I ask myself, my legs once again shaking.

Relax, Paloma mumbles. We’ll be okay. Just follow his instructions. Don’t let go of the reins.

Right… don’t let go, I repeat to myself anxiously as we make it past the castle gates and out into a forest.

Several dragons hover above us, watching us closely as we make our way through the woods. I recognize the large blue dragon flying above me as Remus, Queen Evelyn sitting comfortably atop his beast. Once out of the forest, we reach the cliff Lachlan mentioned earlier, riding alongside the edge overlooking the dark sea crashing violently against cliff walls.

It’s a sheer drop to our death from up here, I mutter to myself.

We ride along the coast until we reach a runway that leads off the cliff and into the angry sea below. To my horror, Zahra’s chariot suddenly picks up speed as it races down the runway, the dragons leaping off and taking flight with the chariot in tow. My stomach is in knots as a second contestant races down the platform shortly after and also leaps off the cliff, flying in perfect sync behind Zahra’s chariot.

The other chariots follow suit and before I know it, there is just one chariot in front of me, Aroha’s. She turns to look at me, equally as nervous about the flight, before taking a deep breath and gripping onto her reins tightly. Her chariot rushes down the platform at top speed, the dragons leaping off the edge and taking flight with her.

Finally, my dragons line up with the runway, my heart dropping to my stomach as we suddenly zoom down the platform. I close my eyes as we leap off the edge of the cliff, a scream caught in my throat as I feel the chariot drop before suddenly jerking forward. I dare to open my eyes, seeing nothing by white mist before it all clears away to reveal a dazzling, never-ending, blue sky and a sparkling ocean below me.

My eyes widen at the breathtaking view, a line of chariots flying in front of me. We’re flanked on either side by dragons I don’t recognize, but at the front, I see Remus leading the way. We circle what appears to be a small island off the coast of Alderon as we wait to land, and I take advantage to scope out the area.

The island is not nearly as big as Alderon, but there is a dense forest near the northern part of the island with a clearing in the middle and six stone towers arranged in a circle. A large lake sits in the center of the island and is flanked on either side by trees or icy mountains. To the South, there is a little building in a clearing, and about a mile past it are eleven pedestals. I don’t have the slightest clue what we’re going to be asked to do but the island alone terrifies me. So much can go wrong.

One by one, the chariots begin to land on a long runway to the south of the island. I watch the other contestants pull lightly on their reins, the dragons following their commands and slowing down as they land before coming to a complete stop. Tightening my grip on my own reins, I mimic their movements, timing the pull as I had seen the others do. The dragons slow down as I command, but my landing is not nearly as graceful as the others had been.

I hear some of the other contestants snicker at me, but I’m just grateful I didn’t crash and burn upon entry. The dragons continue to pull the chariots towards what appears to be eleven pedestals on the far side of the islands, all of them facing a building the same direction. Knights guide the dragons to the correct pedestal and help us out of the chariots before unhitching the dragons and releasing them.

The other contestants seem equally as confused as I am, all of us looking at each other suspiciously. A few of the dragons who had followed us land nearby while others remain in flight. Remus’s dragon flies directly in front of us, Queen Evelyn taking in a big breath to speak.

“Welcome all to Ludus Electia. You have all been brought to Nored, a small island dedicated to our god, The Sun. Take a good look at your competition ladies,” the Queen chuckles, gesturing to us all. “Some of you will not move on to the next round. Of the eleven here, only six will continue the games.” The Queen turns to me and smiles. “Some of you have not been formally introduced so allow me to do the honors.”

She goes on to name all eleven of us and the countries or provinces we come from. I had already met the Alderonian contestants at breakfast but the foreigners seemed far scarier than them. Princess Folasade is a gorgeous woman with thick black braids pulled together into a long ponytail. Her ebony skin is almost flawless despite the little make up she wears and her full lips seem fixed into a frown. Princess Cleo is the only one among us with short hair, but her pixie cut and delicate features make her look as ethereal as a faerie. Her eyes are an unnatural shade of blue, almost turquoise, and perfectly compliment her fair skin. Lady Garima is a beautiful dark-skinned woman with thick brown hair any woman would be envious of and her large eyes are a soft brown shaded by a thick pair of lashes. Lady Hiraya has narrow, yet rounded eyes and high cheekbones that give her an air of elegance and grace. Her full lips are curled into a soft smile unlike the rest of the contestants.

Lady Sparrow and Marchioness Raven are perfect examples of polar opposites. Sparrow has platinum blonde hair that almost looks white and icy blue eyes that pierce through your inner most thoughts and tear you apart. It’s unnerving how uncomfortable she makes me feel. Raven, on the other hand, has onyx hair against skin almost as white as snow. Despite her gothic appearance, she seems more approachable than Sparrow. Lady Juliana has a condescending smile on her near perfect face, not a strand of her luscious brown hair out of place. Her golden skin glistens under the sun and were this a beauty pageant, Lady Juliana would have won without contest. Lady Emelise is the hardest of the contestants to decipher. Her red hair is arranged in a loose braided ponytail, and she wears a neutral, yet determined look on her pretty face.

“Let’s begin,” Queen Evelyn announces. “The first game is the Game of Strategy. As previously mentioned, Nored is a place of worship for the Sun. To the north of the island is the Shrine of Light, made up of six towers arranged in a circle. Each tower holds a jewel and when the sun sets on the horizon of the island, the light lines up perfectly with all six jewels to illuminate the statue of King Aldemar, the founder of our great Kingdom. It is a symbol of the Sun God shining his light upon the Kingdom of Alderon. All six jewels have each been locked away individually in a box bolted to a table within the Tower of Jewels. There are several empty boxes on the table as well that will be indistinguishable from the jewel boxes. Your task is simple. There are six keys stored away in the House of Keys located just north of here. You must find one of the keys and travel to the Tower of Jewels out on Solis Lake. There, you will unlock the box corresponding to your key and unbolt that box from the table. You will then take the box with the jewel through Serpent’s Hollow to the Shrine of Light and place the jewel in its tower. The first six to place their jewel in the correct tower before the sun sets win this challenge and will move on to the second game next week.

Now, there are a few rules. You cannot shift and use your gifts until you reach the island in the middle of Solis Lake. That is to say that from this point,” the queen says, gesturing to our pedestals, “to the Tower, you must remain in your human form. There are weapons in the House of Keys that you may use to defend yourself, but gifts and powers are strictly off limits until you reach the tower. You will also have the added challenge in that you cannot kill your opponents. You may hurt each other, but your goal cannot be death. It’s very easy to simply kill and take out your competition, but what I want to see is how you use your strengths and each other’s weaknesses to get through the challenge. Kill, and you will be disqualified.”

I look around at the women, all of them having understood the assignment, meanwhile all I seem to have caught on to was that there are keys we have to find.

You’re just nervous, Paloma reassures. I understand what we have to do.

“One more thing, ladies. Just because you are a Lady, does not mean you have to be a damsel in distress. A true Queen protects her King and her Kingdom. Who among you can be the Queen Alderon needs?”

I look up at my mate as he starts to fly upward, remaining just above us so that the Queen’s voice is still audible. I cannot hear his dragon's thoughts, but I see the hope in his eyes. I need to be his Queen.

“Let the Games begin!” The Queen calls out, all of the contestants getting into running positions. I mimic them, not entirely sure where to go. “On your mark!”

Beads of sweat gather on my forehead.

The House of Keys. We must go to the House of Keys, Paloma insists.

“Get set!”

Remembering the lone building I had seen earlier about a mile or so ahead, I realize that must be the House of Keys, and start to formulate a plan.

“GO!”

I jump off the pedestal, my feet hitting the ground at a speed I’ve never run at. To my surprise, I manage to run ahead of almost all the other contestants, except Juliana, whose longer legs carry her just a second ahead of me. The two of us easily outrun the others, until we disappear from their view entirely. We hear roars up ahead and stumble upon the little dragons who had carried us here. They spit fireballs and icicles at us as they defend a small structure in the middle of a clearing.

That must be the House of Keys.

My wolf’s agility gives me an upper hand against Juliana, who reacts slower to the fire hurtling towards us, and I manage to dodge the flames quite easily.

I reach the door to the House of Keys first, Juliana close behind me, when a small green dragon slithers out from behind the building. Blue electric sparks ripple down the length of the dragon’s body, my legs stepping back as the dragon towers over me.

“f**k,” I gasp, the dragon opening its mouth in a roar.

I run away from the building as he spits out a ray of lightning after me, Juliana taking advantage of the distracted dragon to run inside the House of Keys.

Shit, what do I do? I think to myself, running straight into a fire breathing dragon.

I stumble backwards, the lightning dragon slithering up behind me while the fire dragon roars at me. My legs freeze in place as I turn between the dragons to figure out a plan. The lightning dragon opens its mouth to shoot lightning at me, and I stare at the ray as it races towards me, watching it inch its way closer and closer to me. Just as its sparks are about to touch me, Paloma takes control and dives out of the way, the ray of lightning hitting the fire dragon instead. The fire dragon roars in agony before snarling at its companion and shooting a fireball at it. Enraged, the two dragons lunge at each other, spitting fire and lightning as they fight.

I race back in the direction of the House of Keys, Zahra, Emelise, and Raven joining me inside the little building just in time to see Juliana grab the remaining keys and toss them all around the room. She smirks at us and rushes out of the room through the second exit, slamming the door shut behind her.

The House of Keys is a small stone structure with a single room and two exits located on opposite walls. A long table sits in the middle of the room with six empty plaques laying on it, all six keys missing thanks to Juliana’s trick. Both the walls and the floor are lined with shelves containing weapons such as different style swords, axes, and throwing stars and there is a mess of tools thrown about the room.

“That f*****g cunt,” Zahra mutters, diving into the many weapons to find a key.

Eyeing each other suspiciously, we each start rummaging through the tools and weapons to find our own keys. Emelise is the first to find one, stuffing it into her pocket and reaching for a weapon to defend herself with until she gets to the lake — a bow and a quiver full of arrows which she slings over her shoulder. Raven reaches for a pair of swords, one of which she puts away on her belt.

As I rummage through my side of the room, I silently breathe a sigh of relief to find not one but two keys, stuffing both as sneakily as possible in different pockets within my armor.

Just in case, I tell myself, readjusting my armor.

Having secured my ticket to the finish line, I reach for a long spear on the wall; it's the only weapon I have any real experience with and get ready to leave. Zahra steps towards the wall to grab a set of small daggers and quickly puts them away in her utility belt.

Emelise turns to the exit opposite the one we entered through, grabbing the knob and pushing it forward only to discover that Juliana had blocked it with something on the other side.

“For f***s sake,” she grumbles, turning her attention to the door we all entered through.

Before any of us can mumble in agreement, Sparrow and Hiraya stumble inside, both of them caught in a fist fight. Hiraya manages to get the upper hand and slams Sparrow against the wall, only for Sparrow to fight back and push her off against the table. Realizing there's no keys left, Sparrow scans the room, before lunging at the person nearest her: Raven. Garima also stumbles in, Emelise pulling out her bow and arrow and aiming at her.

Garima ducks, but Emelise points her bow at a shelf just above the door with a number of cans lined up and shoots, a green gas dispersing as the arrow pierces through two large cans. The gas spreads throughout the room instantly, blinding us all with a thick fog and awful stench. I can’t even smell my way out of the room, the scent overwhelming my senses. I feel a hand wrap around my wrist and pull me away, my instincts kicking into fighting mode.

“Shhh, it’s me!” Zahra hisses in my ear, dragging me away through the fog.

I hear snarls and screams behind us as Zahra and I finally find our way out of the House of Keys. My eyes flutter as I try to blink away the haze and as I regain clarity, I see several of the little dragons spit fireballs towards us.

“Look out!” I shout, shoving Zahra out of the way, a flame grazing my thigh as we both crash onto the ground.

I roll off of Zahra, wincing in pain and cursing under my breath when I see the small burned wound on my thigh. Zahra gets to her feet and grabs onto my hand, pulling me up and dragging me away towards the trees for cover.

“Why the f**k did you do that?” She hisses under breath once we find a safe place to hide in the forest.

“I’m gonna be honest here,” I pant, shaking my head as I lean against a tree. “I don’t know.”

“Well, can you still run? We’re nowhere near the finish line,” she asks, ushering me forward with a gentle shove.

A small surge of pain ripples up my leg but it's manageable so I grit my teeth and nod. “I-I’m fine. Did you get a key?” I ask, growing relieved when she nods. “Good, me too. Now let’s go,” I say, nodding in the direction of the forest.

Following her lead, we rush through the sparse forest, listening for any sounds of the other contestants or dragons. I hear a rustling sound above us and pull Zahra’s arm back towards me, a feeling of uneasiness settling in my stomach, as if we were being watched. She stops, turning back to give me a bewildered look when suddenly, Folasade jumps down from the trees directly behind Zahra, taking a tree branch and placing it around Zahra’s throat to pull her back in a choke hold. Zahra grips onto Folasade’s arm with one hand, the other feeling around for her daggers on her hips.

Grabbing each end of my spear, Zahra instantly understands my idea and holds out both hands in front of her. I press the spear into Zahra's hands and push both women as hard as I can until Folasade’s back slams up against a tree. As quickly as I pushed them both, I twist one end of the spear and swing it against the side of Folasade’s head while Zahra jams her elbow into her chest.

At the same time, I hear footsteps thundering in our direction and turn to find Garima and Emelise sprinting ahead at full speed, both wounded but running right past us without batting an eye our way.

They must both have a key, I think to myself, making a mental note of all who have a key.

Running just behind them is Hiraya, who sprints at full speed with a sword in her hands. The look of determination in her eyes tells me she has no key and is willing to fight tooth and nail to take mine. I brace myself, grabbing my spear with both hands while I hear Zahra continue to struggle against Folasade behind me.

Hiraya raises the sword above her head, charging at me and jumping as she swings the sword down. I block her strike, swinging my spear to one side and then back to land a blow to her face with the blunt end. She stumbles back, but kneels as I spin with my spear and swing it in a full circle above her head, missing my strike. Hiraya gets back up, her sword clashing with the metal bar of the spear. We fight in a dance of blocks and strikes, neither one of us able to gain the upperhand.

Finally, she comes at me from the side and I see an opening to sweep my spear at her ankles, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground. She falls with a grunt, scrambling to roll over on her feet in time to avoid me slamming the spear over her.

She takes advantage of my lunge forward and swings her sword at my hands, missing me by mere millimeters as I let go of the spear in time. Now weaponless, Hiraya circles me, looking for a good angle to catch me off guard. She swings at my stomach but I stand on the tips of my toes with my arms above my head to keep my balance as I avoid being sliced in half. Just as she goes in for a second swing at my stomach, I follow her movements and grab onto her wrist with one my hand to avoid being skewered and jam my elbow into her face. I then grip the handle of the sword with both hands and using my weight, spin her around so that her arm is bent awkwardly. I shove the base of my palm against her bicep, hearing an awful crack as she screams.

She falls on her knees facing away from me, and I crash the end of the sword handle against the back of her head so she faces plants into the ground. I point the sword to her head as she lays still, panting violently as the adrenaline pumps through my veins.

“Come on, let’s go!” Zahra says, grabbing onto my wrist as she pulls me away.

“But is she—”

“She’s not dead,” Zahra mutters. “But we shouldn’t wait for her to get up again.”

Zahra drags me away from the scene, blood spilling down her nose and from several cuts on her arms. Before I can ask if she’s okay, we stumble past Folasade screaming her head off, both her hands pinned to a tree with daggers through her palms.

“Oh my gods,” I gasp, Zahra muttering under breath.

“They said we couldn't kill each other,” Zahra grumbles. “There were no rules against crucifixion.”

“You’re insane—”

“I don’t know what made you believe the contrary,” Zahra shrugs as the lake finally comes into view through a clearing.

We run despite our exhaustion, and as we approach the water, we see two women fighting on the lake shore. Two boats are already docked on the island with the Tower of Jewels, but there’s a third and final boat still sitting at the edge of the water.

The two women roll around the ground, and I realize it’s Aroha and Juliana caught in a battle of fists. Aroha manages to gain the upper hand and sits on top of Juliana, grabbing a fistful of her hair with one hand and smashing Juliana’s face with the other until she finally stops fighting back. Aroha breathes heavily as she lets Juliana go, searching her pockets as the poor girl groans in agony. Finally, Aroha extracts the key Juliana had been hiding and quickly stores it away. She looks up at us as she pushes her hair away from her face, her lips curled into a snarl.

We hold our hands up in surrender, Aroha stumbling onto her feet and walking towards the final boat.

“Looks like we’re swimming,” Zahra snaps at me, rushing towards the water.

“Wait!” I call out, running to Aroha as she starts pushing her boat out onto the water.

“What are you doing? We’re wasting time!” Zahra shrieks.

I tentatively place my hands on the boat, Aroha growling warningly at me.

“We already have keys so there’s no need to be aggressive,” I huff, Aroha rolling her eyes at me. “What if we work together to get to the island? The three of us can row much faster than just you on your own, and once we get our jewels, we can all go our separate ways. Deal?”

“Why should I trust you?” Aroha scoffs. “How do I know you won’t try to drown me once we’re out on the water.”

“Because the game is called the Game of Strategy,” I reply honestly. “And right now, three against eight seems like much better odds than ten against one.”

Aroha stares silently at me, the sound of screeching dragons drawing our attention to the Tower of Jewels.

Out on the lake, we see two dragons take flight from the tower.

“That’s two keys,” I say urgently. “That means there’s four jewels left to go. So, deal or no deal?”

{A/N: There are images with the map of Noren in my F.B group and on I.G. Also, do not forget to join the Earth Witch giveaway to win a signed copy of the original book!}