Wings of Fire - Court of Lies

4 - A Breathless Fight

Sunny didn't want to fight, she didn't want to hurt the other dragonet and risk to cause her some irreparable damage.
But did she had any choice?
During his first visit, Morrowseer approved Clay and Tsunami because they showed no fear in attacking and fighting him, Glory proved her worth trough a duel and Kestrel always repeated to them how it was in a dragon's nature to fight and kill. She never approved that philosophy, she simply couldn't believe that intelligent and conscious creatures couldn't find other solutions beside fighting and killing, yet she didn't want to disappoint the one who trained her and she didn't want to appear like a coward and leave her friends.
"What will happen to me if I lose?"
Gulping, she positioned herself in front of the SandWing and tried to hide her fear, Viper was really big, more than her for sure, but her dark eyes were the scariest part, filled with a lot of hate and aggressiveness, something that Sunny never saw before, not even in Kestrel's worst days.

<< Sunny... >>

She noticed Clay trying to go and comfort her, he was probably the best "brother" a dragon could have wished for and she was grateful for his and the others' support.
"I won't disappoint them..."

<< I hope you're ready, half-blood, I won't hold back just 'cause you're a runt. >>

Growled Viper, her tail swinging dangerously, like she was impatient to use that mortal barb and poison her.
"Does she really want to kill me?"
Sunny dismissed that thought.
"The others wouldn't allow her."

<< When you're ready, I am. >>

Before Chameleon could give the start, Viper launched herself at Sunny, her claws stretched out in search of fresh blood and her fangs were shining in a dark grin.
The hybrid felt herself freeze on the spot, it was scary, that grin filled with a sick pleasure, it was like looking in the face of a wild beast and Sunny never felt scared like that.

<< Sunny! Snap out of it! >>

Her friends' voices took her back to reality just in time to feel Viper's claws pierce trough her flesh and draw blood out of her shoulders.
She was fast enough to block her head before the SandWing could take a bite off her snout, then lowered her own before hitting Viper with an headbutt right on the chin, the sound of maws getting shut togheter with such a force echoed trough the cave's walls and her opponent got back with a whine of pain to control that none of her teeth got damaged.
For her luck, Sunny didn't hit her with the horn on the snout.
Sunny charged at Viper, coming to a stop just a few steps before crushing into her tail and opening fire, her plan was to trick her so she could burn her (her fire wasn't that strong and she barely used it, but it was still something), but the other dragonet wasn't so slow and quickly jumped in air, using her wings to go in the perfect position and then letting herself fall right on Sunny. The young hybrid felt air getting pushed out of her lunghs in the most painful way, clawing at the floor, she tried to struggle away from under her opponent, but Viper quickly anchored herself at the dusty flooring with her own claws and then tried to press herself more on the hybrid to apply more pressure on Sunny's chest.
To those who were simply watching, that scene could have been almost funny, for a creature like a dragon, the thought of crushing something or someone was nothing more than a reminding to be careful to not kill animals that could have been the pets of someone, or maybe the simple gesture of killing an annoying bug. No dragon, not even one of the smallest species, would have ever thought of the possibility to be squashed to death by another one, even when Clay once ended up rolling over her while playing, if someone would have told her she would have been killed like that, Sunny would have probably laughed.
In that moment, she wasn't laughing for sure, she wasn't a dragon, she was a bug and was feeling what was like to be crushed, to feel her chest being unable to expand and contract correctly, to not be able to breath and to feel the pressure on her bones increasing at the point of hurting for real.
"Am I about to die?"
If she couldn't breath anymore, she wasn't going to live long and Viper was scary enought to make her doubt about her will to only make her unconscious.
She spied the others with her eyes, her friends were horrified and even on Kestrel and Dune's snouts there was clear disgusts for that scene, but not because of her, they looked like they were disgusted by Viper. She did notice sometimes that they were almost soft with her, at least they weren't as mean as they were with the others, she never understood why and she didn't want to die without getting an answer, not only to that question, but the every single one she had in mind about the world outside that cave and her family, she wasn't going to die and not even to lose.

<< Should we... >>

Started Chameleon, but his colleagues stopped him and pointed at Sunny with a claw.
The green-eyed dragonet took a little breath (not that she could do that much about it) and prepared herself for a move that wasn't exactly pleasant, not even for her, but she didn't have many choice to escape that situation: Viper was facing in the opposite direction when she fell on her, so when Sunny looked up, she could see her hind paws and she didn't need an expert to know that hitting the spot between them was really painful, both for male and female dragons; she wasn't in the position to use her fire, since she could hardly breath and black spots already started to dance in her vision, so she gathered the remained strenght for another headbutt and hit between Viper's legs with her horn, right where it would hurt the most.
The scream that erupted from Viper's mouth was so loud it could have been probably heard by miles, even with the cave closed, many of the spectators put the tails in front of the same spots in a protective way and with expressions that were clearly saying: "Damn! I felt that!".
The SandWing rolled off Sunny and held her groin as the hybrid tried to stand and took deep breaths, coughing and shacking on her paws.

<< You... motherfu-ah! >>

Growled and then whined Viper.
Sunny took the opportunity and slammed into her side, it wasn't difficult since she was still having difficulty with standing and her body gladly accepted to just let it's full weight on something else, it wasn't that much since the size difference was pretty huge, but still worked to not make Viper stand.
But the SandWing still had the strenght and the will to fight.
Sunny avoided the poisonous tail by rolling aroud like a rock, but being still a bit dizzy and with the rolling adding only the sensation of nausea, she had barely forced herself to stand up before Viper could and waited for the tail to come back, then she bit it right at the base of the barb, to stop it and avoid being stung. Viper retracted the tail and Sunny didn't resist, she followed the movement with a jump and used her wings so she could hit her side again, when the opponent prepared for the impact and used them as shields, Sunny "fell" on the floor like she was sitting and slipped her feet under Viper's ones, making her lose the balance and taking the advantage on her surprise to grab her neck and then completely lie down, pulling the other one with her. Viper found herself trying to not fall, her tail blocked and her neck pulled in a way that didn't allow her to stand up without damaging it, it was so humiliating and she was on the verge to let herself fall on Sunny's chest to try to suffocate her again until she would have passed out, but the risk of the other one scrathing at her belly and damaging her was pretty big and the hybrid already showed to have no problem in "playing dirty".
Yet she didn't want to lose, it was a risk she was ready to take.

<< Alright! You can stop! >>

Said Chameleon going near them.
Sunny immediatly released the other dragonet, she felt a bit bad but was happy to be the winner of the challenge, Viper on the other hand, she was fuming and almost tried to attack the hybrid again.

<< He said stop! >>

Roared Morrowseer running to Chameleon side and shoving Viper in the dirt.

<< Calm down boy... >>

Commented the RainWing, patting the NightWings head like he was complimenting a dog.

<< ... nobody likes to lose. >>
<< Especially against someone smaller than you and with less... will to fight. >>
<< Thanks Marianne and I'm sorry, Viper, but you should remember to never underestimate your enemies. >>

"And even if won, you got so much on my nerves with that I'd have helped her for every time you didn't obey."
The green dragon looked at the remaining dragonets, then to Morrowseer.

<< You said you already tested Clay and Tsunami, right? >>
<< Yes, they are good and it would be a waste of time to try Squid... >>

Answered Morrowseer looking at the male SeaWing with an annoyed expression.

<< ... he's a real disappointment. >>
<< Yeah, no jokes on that. >>

Commented Ochre, the darker MudWing and Flame and Viper joined him (even if she was still cursing under her breath), only Fatespeaker didn't join the laughs.

<< We still have the MudWings and the NightWings. >>
<< Starflight doesn't like to fight... >>

Said Webs and Flame added a disgusted: << Even Fatespeaker sucks at being a dragon >>, something that annoyed almost every adult in the cave.

<< Well, this is a bit... annoying. >>