Burning Embers

3

   Zafira knows what to do. She immediately spirals upward, pushing hard against gravity. My ears pop as we hover just below the cloud cover, watching as Jaren spirals after us. I see his dragon inhale, and we dive down, I feel heat bellow behind us. This is where I belong. It's no secret to anyone in the dragonriders, I love the Arena. The rush of the wind and roar of the crowds gives me an adrenaline rush like nothing else. They call me a crowd pleaser, but, I mean, is there anything better than hearing 70,000 people cheering your name? Plus, the king knows me and Finn are the reasons the crowds go wild. So, I don't think he minds.

Me and Zafira are preparing for our favorite move. I'm just about to give her the signal and draw my bow when I feel something slam into us behind, and then are we are falling.
Dragon claws scratch and flame billows through the air as we free fall, tangled together.
I growl in frustration, feeling Zafira's panic spike as we continue falling.
100 feet from the ground, Zafira lurches free, and we hover above Jaren as he hastily regains his balance. Then we take higher to the skies as  I send her the signal. I wrap my arms around her neck, feeling her tuck her wings against my thighs. We dive under Jaren, and enter a dizzying corkscrew. I see the green blur that is Jaren's dragons underbelly, and then clear sky. I nudge Zafira and she unfolds her wings slightly. We come out of the barrel roll upside down, but with one forceful push of her wings, our back is to the right side of the stadium, as Zafira arches her neck proudly and delivers the kill shot. It hits Jaren full force in the back of his armor as he struggled to spin his dragon around in time.  I whoop as the trumpet sounds, and the announcer comes on.
"Samara et Zafira end it with a kill shot! Jaren, please head to the infirmary. Samara, please head down to claim your prize."
I nod, but urge Zafira higher to the top of the stadium, and we begin a slow decent. We begin circling lazily down, Zafira's wing almost skimming the railing as I wave to the crowds, grinning under my helmet. When I land on the sand and slide off Zafira, the announcer, Xander, is waiting with a laurel crown in his hand, a grin brightening his features. I slide my helmet off, shaking my curls out.
"Nice flying today, Samara." He winks, his eyes wandering, and I force myself to not grimace.
"Thank you. I've worked very hard, and I can't thank all these people enough."
The crowd whoops, and Xander raises his arms, setting the laurel crown on my head. Out of sight of the crowd, he trails his hand down my face and neck, to rest low on my hip.
I can't control my face this time, and step back into Zafira. She lets out a low, almost inaudible growl.
I bow stiffly.
"Thank you." I force the words out, my tongue feeling dry in my mouth.
Zafira spreads her wings, having to go back to the Roost, even though I sense her hate for having to leave me with this man.
I scratch her chin and nod, and I hear her wingbeats as she rises, as well as the Oooooooo from the crowd.
"I'm afraid this will have to be all Xander. I have other matters to attend to, like making sure I'm ready to kick Finn's ass next week." I bow again, and Xander glares daggers at me as I wave to the crowd, before half walking half running back into the tunnel to the Underground.
I hear Xander say goodbye to the crowd, and pick up my pace, laying my hand on my pocketknife at my hip. I hear footsteps behind me in the dark tunnel and spin around, heart hammering against my armor. He's right behind me, white teeth glinting in the low light.
"That was some nice flying today." He says, voice low.
"Thank you." I hear my voice shake and I hate myself for it.
"I should probably get going, get out of this sweaty armor."
"Oh, I don't mind."
I try to turn away but he grabs my wrist and shoves me against the wall, brute strength tearing my knife from my hands.
"Let me go." I growl, and try to shove my knee up.
He shifts slightly moving so he pins my knee against me.
I open my mouth to scream when he clenches his hand over my mouth.
"I don't mind, at all." His breath brushes my neck and I start shaking.
"Oh I do, I can smell the sweat down the hallway." A new sarcastic voice echoes through the tunnel, and Xander steps away, still gripping my wrist.
Finn steps out of the shadows, his face a cool mask.
"Let the girl shower, Xander. Geez." He quips, never looking at me.
"Go away, Finn." Xander growls, twisting my arm painfully when i try to free my wrist.
Finn observes this with a crinkle of his nose.
Then he's in front of Xander, throwing a clean punch to the bottom of his jaw, and he releases my arm as he crumples to the ground.

My legs are shaking so hard I can barely stand, much less walk. But I make the effort anyways, and almost fall flat on my face.
"Here." Is all he says, looping an arm around my waist.
"I can do it myself." I mutter, and he squeezes tighter, pressing me to him.
"Sure."
A moment of silence passes.
"Thank you." I murmer, as we reach the door to the armory.
"What was that?" He smirks, blue eyes glinting down at me.
"Thank you." I scowl, and he laughs, shoving open the door to the Underbelly armory with his shoulder.
"Can you stand?" He asks as we get to my armor cubby.
"Yes, I think." I respond, feeling steadier on my feet.
His eyes flick up and down my body but he slips his arm from around my waist, moving behind me to undo the straps of my armor.
His fingers are light and quick, and he steps back to the door, leaning against the frame.
I feel him tracking my shaking hands as I peel off the flamesuit, wrinkling my nose at the sweaty inside. ( NO YALL- shes not naked LOL, the flamesuit/armor goes on over like leggings and a undershirt.)
I sit down on a bench to peel off my bracers, and Finn comes over, pushing my weak arms (okay... this sounds like its supposed to be like in a pick me way, but after you go through something as taxing physically and mentally as that, you usually feel weak, so thats what im trying to get at here LOL)
off of the bracers and sliding them off my hands instead.
"Anything else?" He asks, glancing over at me.
I shake my head.
"Okay, I'll walk you back to your dorm." He says as I stand, dropping a heavy arm around my shoulders.
He walks me down the hallway and out onto the pathway to the dorms, seemingly oblivious to the weird looks we are getting.
When we reach the spiraling archway of the girls dorm, he drops his arm from his shoulders.
He nods as I turn, before turning himself to walk away.
I grab his arm, and he spins around again.
"Thank you, Finn. I don't know what woul-" My voice breaks and as I take a deep breath to try again he cuts me off.
"Don't mention it, Sam. You may hate me, but I'm not a horrible person." He breaks into a quicksilver grin, before wagging his fingers at me.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend too."

He saunters away, back towards the entrance to the Underbelly, leaving me standing in the entrance to my dorm, deep in thought.