Legacy's Prince

Chapter Twenty-One: The First Tournament

The rest of the week goes by rather uneventfully. Somebody must have had a stern talk with Drark because he doesn't bother me outside of a few snide, but harmless remarks, and some glares in passing. Even his manticore glares at me. 

Finally, the final day of the week comes and with it the first tournament of the year.

Dezden and I wake early to meet Axellia and Seana before going to the arena. As we step outside our dorm we find both of our kelpies basking and sleeping lazily in the sun. 

"Come on," I mutter as I go up to my kelpie and pat him on the flank. "Time to get up."

Nothing happens. Hold on, is he even breathing? Don't tell me the poor beast has died on me! 

"Hello?" I ask as I poke my decoy in the belly. "Hello? Don't tell me you're dead! Hello!"

With a snort and a whinny that sounds more like a cough the poor beast bursts back to life, stumbling to his feet. He trips, stumbles back to his feet and stands. Well, "stands" might be a strong word. The poor creature's legs tremble before he finally decides to plop onto his rump and sit while panting. 

"Well, at least you're alive," I grumble as I shake my head. While a part of me feels sorry for the poor thing I sencerely wish I could have something, anything else as my decoy! This scrawny thing is making me look like a fool!

Still, the crisis of being without a proper decoy put to rest I glance over to see how Dezden is doing. 

"Mortigan!" Dezden huffs as he pushes agains Mortigan's back. Mortigan snorts angrily as he lies on his side, still trying to sleep. 

"We've gotta go, Mortigan, c'mon!" Dezden huffs as he keeps pushing against Mortigan. Mortigan huffs, rolls onto his back, and stretches his legs. Dezden, probably assuming his kelpie is now getting up, stands to his feet, brushes his hands together, and begins to walk off.

Dezden assumes wrong. 

Mortigan rolls onto his other side, knocking Dezden over in the process, and goes to sleep. 

"Oh, you lazy bum!" Dezden grumbles as he stands up, only to have Mortigan unfurl his sea-horse-like tail, knocking Dezden over again.

I take a moment to suppress my laughter before asking Dezden "Having trouble?"

Dezden shoots me a glare as he brushes himself off. "Oh, you t'ink? What gave dat away!"

I can't hold back my chuckles this time. It does feel better knowing that I'm not the only one having  familiar trouble. 

Dezden goes back to trying to wake Mortigan, muttering under his breath, swapping between Landolin and Melanese. I'm starting to notice that Dezden's accent becomes stronger the more frustrated or excited he gets. He also seems to swap between his two languages, creating an odd mixture of the two, when he has elevated emotions or when he's thinking out loud, which he does a lot. 

After a bit more tugging and pushing Dezden lets out a loud huff. Glowing green magic covers his body as he grows, shifts, and turns into Rugrell. He then scoops Mortigan up and throws him over his shoulder. The poor kelpie bleets in scared shock as Dezden begins walking off. 

"You gonna behave now?" Dezden asks.

Mortigan pouts as Dezden sets him down. Defeated, Mortigan trots behind me and Dezden, now in his normal state, and we head towards the arena. My decoy stumbles along behind Moritgan, panting all the way. I sigh deeply as I try to put the rather chaotic morning behind us and focus on getting to the arena before the tournament starts.