Fire Proof

Chapter Twenty-Three

The crowd cheers and everyone springs from their seats. Before I can understand what's really happening, parents grab their children and everyone shoves past one another to get out of the cavern. Aislee raises her eyebrows at me and gestures for me to follow them.

Hesitantly, I follow the dragons through the tunnels until we reach outside. The blinding sunlight catches me off guard and I stumble a little. Aislee gives me a gentle shove from behind to keep going. When I don't, she grabs my arm and we push through the crowd to the front.

I gasp when I look down; if I hadn't been led by my sister, I surely would've fallen into the giant crater I am now standing on the edge of and staring at. This definitely was not here before.

The crowd fans out to surround the crater, and so everyone can see. But at first there's nothing to see. Then at some gesture from Aislee I miss, two figures slide down the sides of the bowl and shake hands in the center. The crowd cheers, but I just stand there dumbfounded.

Wait where's Jupiter? The thought crosses my mind and I start to panic. I have no idea if he followed us out here. I start skimming through the crowd, looking for his spiked-up blonde hair. My heartbeat increases when I can't spot him.

"He's safe." Aislee assures me, seeing the panic in my eyes.

I reel on her, "what did you do with him?"

She rolls her eyes. "He's fine, Azari, calm down. He's being watched by an elder dragon with the other younger kids."

I just growl and turn back around. Suddenly I'm being lifted into the air by a force I cannot determine. Everyone's eyes are on me, making it extremely difficult to pinpoint the Wind that's using their telekinesis.

"The two Fire's standing before us today go by the names Cirtron—" the crowd cheers as the muscular dragon with carrot-orange hair raises his hand to his name. "And Kenneth!" The crowd roars again as the other guy in the crater raises his arm. This one is ever so slightly taller than Cirtron, but has a very different figure. He's sort of gangly, not quite a twig, but his muscle does not even compare to Cirtron's.

Or Bryce's. I find myself thinking. Instantly, my face reddens at the thought, but no one seems to notice. Their attention completely focused on the red head, freckled boy in the center.

When the crowd dies down, Aislee continues, her voice carrying across the pit. "These two men have made it clear to me that either would make a good match for my sister, Azari." I cringe as both dragons — as well as everyone else's — eyes drift up to my hovering form. "They stand before us, under the heat of the sun, to fight for the privilege of becoming her mate."

A startled yell escapes me and I try to fight out of the hold that Wind has on me, to no avail. The power of the mind can not be defeated by physical strength. I know that. I cannot believe Aislee is having these two men fight — possibly to the death — over me. I have a mate! Whom I have grown quite fond of in the last few weeks, and who is probably freaking out about my disappearance by now.

I try to shriek my sister's name but nothing sounded through my lips. This telekinesis thing was preventing me from speaking too! If one of these guys mates me, and Bryce finds out, he'll kill me! Actually, I take that back. He couldn't hurt me if he tried, he loves me.

He loves me. The thought rings through my mind without my consent. But he does, I know he does. I may not have quite as strong of a mutual feeling yet, but thinking back to the moments we've shared in the last couple months, I know he loves me. And that was something to fight for.

I come from my paralysis of thoughts to see the fight has already begun. The two boys' size difference makes it not as fair of a fight — or so I thought at first. After a few minutes, I realized Kenneth's thinner form made him quick. He was dodging almost every blow Cirtron handed him. While he isn't necessarily handing out his own, he's at least avoiding hits.

Fight for Bryce. Kenna tells me, and I snap myself from watching the fight in The Ring. Be brave. She whispers, and I know there's a deeper meaning to that and it takes me several long minutes for me to figure it out.

I think back to a movie I watched with Jupiter, Mason, and Jasmin once. It was about a girl with fire-orange hair and a bow. The main plot of it was saving her mother, but that's not what Kenna was talking about. I think she's referring to when the girl enters a competition for her own hand. That way, she won't get married off to anyone she doesn't like. And it essentially works.

Be Brave. Kenna says again, knowing I've got her hint.

A new kind of fire erupts from the pit of my stomach. A burning desire to fight for myself and stand up to my own sister. The only way to stop those boys, is to defeat them myself. I don't plan on killing them, just fighting enough that I win myself, and unknown to anyone else: Bryce.

The fire burns inside me until I'm pretty sure it's becoming real. Being a Fire, it doesn't hurt, it just feels like a kind of power I haven't experienced before. I feel the mind hold on me cracking, but everyone is so focused on the fight below me, I don't think they notice. Red-hot flames break the barrier at my fingertips and toes. I urge them forward, tell them to consume me, break the hold that Wind has on me. I grin as they start licking their way up my arms and legs, and I can see my hair has set ablaze too.

Finally, the flames all meet at my heart, and then I burst from the bubble, tumbling down to the crater in a ball of fire; I barely hear the crowd gasp at my sudden disturbance. Hitting the ground, I realize I've managed to land right between the two opponents. They both freeze in shock as I stand up and face Aislee, who's on the edge of the bowl and looking furious with me. The crowd gets hushed.

"Azari what are you doing?!" Even from this far away, I catch a glimmer of fear in her eyes. I don't think she knew I could get as powerful to break a mind barrier. I didn't know that I could!

I snarl at her. "I am fighting for myself! I have come to realize the Caves are not my home any longer. So I will not be taking a mate that you chose for me! Have them surrender, and I will back off, but if you don't, I will fight, and I will win!" For Bryce. Because if he were here, he'd beat these two to a pulp!

The people don't dare move after my speech. They turn to their leader for a response. Aislee's eyes still show hints of fear as she stares down at my flaming form. She knows this is a fight I will win. She knows the men she's picked have no chance. Especially not after the stunt I just pulled in front of everyone.

Cirtron, the obvious stronger of the two steps towards me and I make no hesitation to flip him to the ground, and leave awful burns across his skin behind. Kenneth widens his eyes and takes several steps away from me, and Cirtron makes slow, painful movements to return to his feet. He, too, steps away from me.

I give my sister a pointed look and she sighs,  crossing her arms across her chest. "Fine! You win, Azari; you don't have to accept either of them as your mate. Maybe in a year or two, we'll come back to reconsider." She doesn't give anyone time to respond before she spins on her heel and heads back to the Caves, her mate on her heels.