If I Were You, I'd Run

Chapter Three

I felt the sand shift under my feet, and nodded to each of my temporary "teammates". We had had two minutes to plan, and we were mostly ready.

The dragon was pulled out of the cell it had been resting in, and was dumped in the middle of the arena. We fanned out, raising our weapons. I nocked an arrow, aimed, and fired.

The arrow shot across the arena, plunging into the dragon's throat with a wet thunk-squish. I grimaced.

The dragon keeled over, landing on top of a couple of "teammates".

I climbed up the tail of the dragon, using a pair of arrows to help get a grip.

When I reached the head, I hooked my bow off my shoulder, nocked a pair of arrows, and fired at the two remaining adversaries.

One ducked, while the other flew backwards, landing with a thump on the sand.

The last part. I drew my sword, and assumed a defensive position.

My opponent raced up towards me, raising their daggers.

I met them with my sword, kicked out my leg, and tripped up my opponent.

I slashed at their throat, missed, and hit their chest instead. My sword got stuck in the ribcage.

I shuddered, and tried to drag my sword out.

Eventually, it was freed. It came out with a crack, dragging a few things that looked horrifically like ribs along with it.

I stumbled back a step, tripped on the dragon's eyelid, and accidentally stabbed it in the eyeball.

Silence.

Then, the Great Blue exploded into a cloud of lightning, which spread across the arena, targeting each of the bodies of the fifteen "dead" combatants.

Every door around the arena burst open, and hundreds of captive dragons soared or raced out.

Liaka walked out, and vaulted onto the back of a lime green dragon. She flew it over to me, and pulled me onto it's back, sitting behind her.

"Thanks for frying the locks!" Liaka shouted over the rushing wind.

"Anytime!" I yelled back, the wind snatching my voice away.

"It's not over yet. Get ready!" she called.

I got out my bow, and shifted the quiver of arrows to my lap.

"Keep us steady." Liaka told the dragon.

I started shooting down our opponents, as Liaka led the dragon into a series of evasive manoeuvres.

The combatants seemed to have one purpose: to kill me.

One rider remained.

They were on another Great Blue, and were speeding towards us.

"Watch out!" Liaka screamed, then guided the dragon into a tight barrel roll.

"I swear by the Shadows that you will die, Princess!" the rider yelled, swooping dangerously close.

"Princess?" Liaka asked.

"Long story, not important. Duck!" I replied hastily.

I shot my last arrow at the Great Blue, hitting it in the chest.

"Thanks!"The rider jeered, raising their spear.

Their dragon seemed to hang in midair for a moment or two, then slowly started to fall.

Liaka groaned.

"We're screwed."

"Why?" I asked.

"Great Blues aren't dragons. They're lightning spirits. When they're killed, their powers become unstable. When you stab them in the eye it releases a cloud of lightning that electrocutes all of the stabber's enemies within a certain range. Though, taking the scorch marks into account, you already knew that." Liaka explained.

"No, I didn't. Wait... you're right. We're definitely screwed." I sighed. "Take us down. If we're going to die, we might as well go out with a bang!" I forced out, as cheerfully as I could.

Liaka whispered something in the dragon's ear.

The dragon opened their mouth, and roared.

I slammed my hands over my ears.

There was lament in the roar, as well as anger. The dragon had been captured two years after their egg was laid, and she had been taken to this warped place. She was a sky spirit, allied with the Rekindlers, eager to kill the leader of the Shadow cult, the ones who smashed her egg, and killed her half-formed child.

The rider screamed in agony, and fell off the already-falling Great Blue.

The rider hit the ground with a sickeningly sharp crack.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the little princess finally knows how to fight."