Burning Embers

6⭐️

I hear Finn behind me as I jog down the hallway that leads to the arena. We have 45 minutes until we have to be in the ring, and those 45 minutes will be spent preparing ourselves for the task ahead. I push through the doors into the "locker room" as we call it, but it's really just where the two competitors regroup, if you had been apart before. I laugh as Finn takes off his helmet, seemingly having forgotten that we had another almost hour until we compete.
I take a seat on the floor, stretching out to warm up my muscles. Finn sprawls out on one of the chairs in the corner, a book in his hand.

We stay like that for a while, silent as we both go about our pre-tournament routines.
Suddenly he perks up, eyes flicking to me.
"That was the bell."
I nod and stand up. That's our 15 minute warning. He slides his helmet on  and flicks up the visor, grabbing mine off the floor. I grin and reach for it, but he yanks it away, placing it over my head gently.
"I have something for you." He grins, and my eyes widen.
"A good luck gift." He grabs my hand, pressing something into my palm. In one movement, he flicks my visor down and sweeps out of the room with a wink.
I stand there for a minute, blinking, my heart skipping in my chest. What the heck was that?? I open my palm, and feel my cheeks heat when i see the small dragon charm laying there. I clip it onto my necklace, and tuck it beneath my flamesuit.

Forcing all thoughts of boys out of my head, I adjust my helmet and head into the dark tunnel that will lead me to the Arena. 

I peer out into the glaring sands, still hidden from sight of the crowd by the tunnel entrance. I adjust my helmet one more time, a nervous habit, as I hear the trumpet thats our signal, and roaring of the crowd, touching my new charm and grinning. I flick my visor up so they can see my face, before taking a deep breath and stepping out onto the scalding sand.

~Glory and Gore by Lorde~

Far across the arena, I see the speck that is Finn do the same. My heart pounds in time with the roaring and stomping of the crowd, as we walk towards the middle of the ring, both of blowing kisses and waving as we go. We've been trained for this our whole lives, and I'm sure Finn loves it as much as I do. We reach the middle and make eye contact, both our faces cool masks. I can see the hard resolve in his eyes, reflected in mine. Any... moments earlier have disappeared. This is what I've looked forward too for half a year. We shake hands, his palm warm against mine, before we turn back to back. If the roar could get louder, it does. We raise our scarred hands to the sky, and I see and flashes of red and blue barrel out of the Roost. I feel Finn drop his hand behind me, and I do the same, flicking my visor down.

There's a cloud of smoke, and then Zafira and Falkor are landing on the sand and I'm climbing on and just like that, tournament has begun.

Zafira pumps her wings and sand billows below us as we lift off. I take a quick loop around the Arena and spy my family, and waving. I pump a fist at them and shake my head as I feel my eyes water. I haven't had a real conversation with my parents or sisters in 6 years. I could win it in this tournament. I force my brain into tournament mode. This is all the matters.

I glance behind me, and me and Zafira hover about 100 feet off the ground, eyeing Finn and Falkor as they skirt around the edges. All of the sudden i hear a sharp inhale and a burst a flame is coming straight at us. Zafira ducks, weaving around a column and firing straight back. Falkor slides out of the way, and they start spiraling upwards, forcing us to follow them. The crowd was silent, watching on the edge of their seats as we felt each other out.

All i can hear is the wind rushing in my ears and we dive and weave, shooting flames at each other. A nudge tells Zafira to tuck her wings, and we spin into a tight barrel roll, spinning under Finn and Falkor. But they know all our tricks, and Falkor spins on his tail, narrowly avoiding the flame blast right at his belly. As we spin to face them, I hear a whoosh and move instinctively. Too late. I feel heat along my ribs and curse. Looking down, I see the fabric along my ribs turning from black to a stark white, reacting with the heat.
I hear the announcer explain what happened and
wheel Zafira higher, assessing my situation. I moved out of the kill shot, so Finn sur Falkor haven't won yet. Suddenly, a lightbulb switches on in my brain. What I've been working on for months.