The Dragon's Bounty

Chapter 6

          Duros sat at a table, twirling a thread protruding from his finger while Kai skipped around humming carefreely.
          "Hey, we're here!" Khan shouted, walking in from the deck. Everyone looked out the front window to see a vibrant town with various explosions and magical bursts arising from various parts of the village.
          "What is this place?" Aro asked.
Khan smiled. "This is Sparsel, the city of magic. This is where you go to train your magical power and see how strong you are compared to everyone else. Maybe you could learn something."
Aro smiled and nodded. "I can finally use my power."
          Andrew sighed. "Surely I'm not far enough along in my training to be helped here."
Duros patted his shoulder. "Well, you can always try." Andrew smiled and nodded.
          Kai dove out the window with a shout of "Weeeeeeeeeee!"
          "Kai!" Aro and Emma shouted. Duros rolled his eyes and sent a bunch of threads toward him, stringing them together and coiling it around his waist.
          "He could have died!" Aro shouted.
Khan laughed. "No he couldn't have. That's nowhere near enough to kill him, even in his current state." Aro looked down at Kai and then shrugged. The tavern hunkered down on a hill overlooking the town. Khan whispered into the pole and the tavern became invisible.
          "Woah! Since when can it do this?" Aro asked.
Khan shrugged. "Since i said so." He walked out of the tavern with everyone else on his tail. Kai spun around and hummed while he loosely followed everyone else.
Andrew watched him with a concerned look on his face. "We need to get him fixed." He said. Everyone nodded together with a sigh and a "Yeah."
Khan plucked a poster from the wall and smiled. "The Grand Magus of the town is holding a magic festival where folks fight for a chance to ask her for anything." Duros laughed.
          "What's so funny?" Emma asked.
          "Nothing." Duros and Khan said together before laughing again and continuing on.
Khan showed the poster to a woman who was standing in front of the entrance to the arena in the center of town. "We have two entries."
Kai shoved Khan aside. "Three." He said with a silly grin on his face. The woman nodded.
           "And what for your names?" Khan pushed Kai aside before he could open his mouth.
           "Well, I'm Lhan, this is Daris, and that over there is Kyle." Kai growled at Khan, who motioned for him to stay quiet. The woman pulled the curtain aside and let them inside.
           "The rest of you go up those stairs into the stands." Duros whipped around a strand of thread as he walked with Khan and Kai through the tunnel leading to the waiting room of the arena. The three looked out the large window at the two fighters preparing to jump at one another. Kai spun around and hummed as the other fighters in the waiting room began to chuckle.
Kai glared at one and dashed over, grabbing his collar. "Whatcha laughing at, bub?"
The man took a moment to admire Kai's attire. "Tell me you bought that outfit." The man said.
Kai laughed heroically, pulling the man's head next to his own, moving his hand across their vision. "No, friend, I have defeated a mighty dragon! Would you like to hear the tale?"
The man smiled. "I'm alright, thanks, kid." He pushed Kai off of him.
           "I'm not a kid! I'm one hundred seventy-six! I'm in my prime." He swished his tail back and forth. The men around him started laughing.
          "This guy's a nut job." One said. Kai began frowning as he listened to all the insults. Khan and Duros looked on in horror as they knew what Kai could do when he was angry. But instead of bursting into flames, Kai knelt down and buried his face in his knees.
           "You guys are mean." He said. Duros and Khan breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Kai shot upward. "And for that!"
            "Oh no." Duros said, slumping over.
            "There goes our cover." Khan said, slumping over beside him.
            "You shall pay!" Kai shouted, lighting his fists on fire. All the men held up their hands.
            "Woah, woah, man! We didn't mean it!" One shouted.
           "Yeah, just put the fire away till the fight, huh?" Said another.
Kai thought for a moment and extinguished his hands. "I suppose I can wait until we are on the battlefield for me to settle this." The men around him all breathed a sigh of relief.
            "Attention everyone!" A voice boomed across the arena. "The fighting will start at the buzzer! Please take your seats and get ready for the show!"
Aro put his chin in his hands. "I should have been out there." He said. Emma laughed. Aro glared at her.
           "Well, I mean you fight with a bow. These guys fight with their fists, something you aren't exactly the best at."
            Aro sighed. "I guess you're right. Maybe during this stupid festival I can train up my magic power."
Emma nodded. "And maybe Andrew can come along, too!"
Andrew looked over. "Me? No, I'd rather watch the fights. But if you two want to go, I'm sure they'll announce when it's Khan, Duros, or Kai's turns." Aro nodded and stood up, quickly exiting the arena. Emma was quick to follow.
           "First up, Armen and Rabana! Get ready!" A loud sound echoed around the arena and the fight began.
Aro reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around. "Now, where would one go to unlock one's magic power?" He tapped his finger against his chin.
Emma walked up behind him. "I guess we could ask around."
Aro shrugged. "If we must." Aro tapped someone on the shoulder. "Excuse me, where would I go to train my magic power?"
The man smiled. "Come right this way. I'm sure Madame Olwitts would be glad to teach you. How far are you along?"
Aro frowned. "All I gotta do is find a way to distribute my power."
The man nodded and smiled. "Madame Olwitts is great at figuring that out. Right in here." Aro and Emma followed the man into a large building. At the center of the room, there was a woman sitting cross legged and hands pressed together. The man bowed. Emma bowed next to him, pulling Aro down next to her. "Madame Olwitts." The man said. "This boy wishes to learn to distribute his power."
The woman smiled. "Come here, child. I can help you." Aro slowly walked over to Madame Olwitts. She looked up at him. "What is your name, boy?"
           "Aro." He responded, scratching the back of his head.
           "What do you do for a living?"
"Well, I'm a licensed hunter, but now I work with a tavern." The woman nodded. "So your magic power could easily be related to one of those. You see, magic power is often derived from repeated activity nowadays. Give me your hand, young one." Aro slowly put out his hand, showing her his palm. Madame Olwitts placed her hands on both sides of Aro's hand. She said a few words Aro didn't understand and a small ball of blue energy appeared above Aro's hand. "Now, child, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?" Aro thought for a moment and the energy changed into the shape of an arrow. "The easiest way for you to distribute your power is through a bow and arrow, but you require a word. Now, I cannot tell you the word, but I can tell you that the word starts and ends with the letter E."
Aro rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to figure that out?"
Madame Olwitts laughed. "That is something you have to do yourself. I have helped all I can." The blue energy dispersed and Madame Olwitts put her hands back together. The man from before grabbed Aro's shoulder.
           "It is time to let the next patient in." Aro sighed and nodded. He and Emma exited the building and Aro looked down at his hand.
           "What words start and end with E?" He asked.
Emma thought a moment. "Well, there's Eagle, Edge, Escape, Empire, Exchange, Experience, Explosive-"
           "You're not helping." Aro said.
Emma frowned. "I am, too! I'm rattling off words you can try until you find one that works."
           Aro sighed. "Thanks for trying I guess."
           "Attention citizens! Armen has won the fight! The next fighters are Lhan and Harmik! Get to your seats to watch this fight when the buzzer sounds!" Emma and Aro rushed to their seats where they looked down on Khan and his opponent. Khan stared harshly at Harmik, who glared back. The sound echoed around the arena and the two launched at each other.