Tears of a dragon

29. ELECTRIC CLAWS

Thin rays of sunlight had entered our new cage. Their gentle warmth settled on my body, and had begun to wake me from my sleep. This was no regular morning. I noticed I was... Happy, to put it in simple terms. Never had I imagined that a life in the arena could bring me anything positive. Last night's joyful memories of tickle-wars with my friends were still fresh, and filled me with heartwarming, blissful happiness. It was now clear to me that these friends were here to stay, and needed to be protected by all means necessary. I stood up. The happiness I had felt was, like any other feeling, fleeting. As I slowly came to my full senses, an awful feeling of concern hit me. Something was wrong. I heard muffled footsteps draw nearer and nearer, until suddenly the gate rolled open, and five or six humans entered our cage. I had to smother my inner urge to lash out into combat. Skyfall and Dusty were awakened, and I could see in their eyes that they too felt the uneasiness that I did. Four armed humans approached Skyfall, and gestured for her to stand up. She complied, although reluctantly, and they led her out to the arena.Why just her? Why not the whole team? She walked slowly, hesitating with each step. Her face turned back one last time before she was pushed out to the arena, alone. Her troublesome eyes had met mine for just a split second, but that was all I needed. I couldn't bring myself to watch any longer. The image of her in the pale sand, and the implication of danger that came with it, instilled in me an urgency to act now. I leaped towards the gate in an attempt to stop what was happening. But the gate shut abruptly, and my action came to a halt. The image of her eyes, fearful and uncertain, lingered with me, and I could not accept the unfolding situation. "No!" I shouted and rammed the gate with my side. "No! Dusty, William, we have to do something!" I urged, as my anxiety reached its peak. But it was all for nothing. All I could do was to hold my head against a crack in the gate to observe the upcoming fight. I was breathing fast, and my heartbeats were rapid. The panic had gotten the better of me. Dusty and William did their best to calm me, but only managed to make my breathing slower. The feeling of utter hopelessness stuck, I couldn't shake it. "Hey, look at me. She is going to be alright." Dusty said in a reassuring tone. I avoided his gaze, and looked down on the floor. I couldn't connect with the words he spoke. He lowered his head to meet mine, looked me in the eyes and said; "I know Skyfall and she is going to be alright." Although he had said so with a certain calmness, I could see the worrisome gaze which he tried to mask. The unsettling thoughts about SkyFall still flowed through me. I turned my head to face Dusty, but didn't manage to stand straight. Instead I pushed my back against the stones and slowly dropped down against the wall. I curled up into a ball, covering my head with my wings and hugged my blue maned tail hard. I didn't want to watch, I didn't want to hear. I tried to ignore everything and retreat to any old memories that could calm me. But my mind being in such a negative state only brought the worst that I could think of. Nightmarish images of my father in his last moments played on repeat, images which I had suppressed so far down I had started to wonder if they were even real at all. But they were- almost hyperreal. The scene of his death, with that arrow eerily stuck in his neck, was so real I could touch and smell the surrounding forest. It was real because I had been there.

~SkyFalls POV~

Why had I been forced out here alone? Why just me, and not the rest of the team? Questions like these were floating around in my head, longing for an answer I knew I would never receive. I buried my scaly hands in the sand of the arena. I knew this wasn't going to be an ordinary fight, because the humans had secured a heavy, iron muzzle around my jaws. There was no way I'd be able to spit acid with this thing on. They had taken away my strongest weapon, but also my primary defense. Its tight grip made my jaws sore, and the weight of the bulky piece became tiresome quickly. I could feel my muscles tense up just to keep my head straight, but in the end it still hung down slightly. My draconic ears recognized the characteristic sound of an opening gate and I turned to face my opponent. To my dreadful surprise, I was familiar with them. It was the electric dragon from before. I examined her from snout to tail, but failed to find any devices that would hinder her performance. Why that decision had been made I could not say, whether it had been intentional or not. Maybe her skin was so charged with electricity that attaching any devices would harm the humans doing so? Or maybe the higher ups simply held a positive bias for this particular champion. It made no difference now. My eyes fixed on her feet, which featured a double set of claws, one placed above the other. They were deterring to say the least, and the sand slithered between both rows as she phased her way forward. Now I realized what was going on. We were fighting as a team. We were facing another team. We were just not doing it together. I felt a deep sense of unfairness, and cursed under my breath. One could tell that she thirsted for revenge after what Blueberry had done to her, even though Platinum had healed her and thus undone most of the damage. One could, if looking closely, see small pink stripes from where her skin had been cut open. I could only imagine how badly that must have hurt... Or did I have to? Maybe I was going to experience that exact pain now? She can't hurt Blue, but she could definitely hurt me, or rather, she will hurt me. As my odds were right now, I could not see a future where I would walk away unharmed. The yellow dragon looked at me, growled and proceeded to leap into the air and fly towards me. I tried to do the same, but the metallic muzzle held me down with its weight. I could not fly with my head down like this.I heard her ear-cutting roar as she dove through the air, and I was struck with an intense electric shock. The sound of a miniature thunderbolt echoed between the walls, and I lost control over any muscles which had kept me standing. She landed on me with her claws tearing into my skin. She had four fingers, which meant eight electric claws were buried into my flesh with each paw. I couldn't even open my mouth to let the pain out, tears had started to fall down my cheeks. I looked at her in agony as she raised her right hand for another blow. I blocked her strike using the very metal which was meant to hold me down. The clash with her claws made a clang, and small sparks scattered from it. Being pinned to the ground, I could feel the softer material of the muzzle's back pressing against the tip of my neck. I figured it must be leather belts holding the device strapped to my head. Anticipating the next strike, I leaned to my left, and the swing of eight vicious claws which were meant for my neck now tore through the leather. It sliced right through it, as well as my skin below. I flinched in pain, placed my hindlegs onto her chest and pushed. She recoiled, and I was freed. As I stood up, panting, the metal device fell onto the sand with a thud. Small drops of blood from the fresh wounds soon accompanied it. She was as shocked as I was, and quickly made a distance between us. Fuming green liquid dripped down from the glands within my mouth onto the sand, corroding and discoloring it. I could finally lift my head up to face my opponent fairly. I could see fear in her eyes, as she knew this would be over soon.----------------------------------------------Very late update because I have been busy as always Cx But I want to keep this at the best quality I am able to make, so I hope it is okay <3----------------------------------------------