CLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 6

"HEY WAKE UP!" Someone poked him in the snout, and Clay jerked awake. Peril was standing there smiling like she won the lottery. "Queen Scarlet wants to know which of you is the best fighter."

"Me," Clay lied. He didn't want Tsunami or Starflight to have to fight in the arena.

Peril sighed. "You fought yesterday. She wants someone new."

"Okay." Clay thought for a moment. "Tsunami, I guess."

"Oh, that's good," Peril said with relief.

"How come?"

"I've never fought a NightWing before," she explained. "I have no idea what it's like. Is it creepy-feeling when they read your mind?"

"Uh, no." Clay decided not to tell her that Starflight couldn't actually read minds or see the future.

"All right. Guess I'm fighting Tsunami today!" She spread her wings and took off.

"Wait!" Clay called after her, panicking. "Don't hurt Tsunami! We need her to fulfill the prophecy!"

Peril continued flying away. Oh no! She didn't hear me! What if Tsunami gets burned?

He saw Tsunami being taken off her tower. She managed to knock out two of the soldiers, but eventually she was dragged down to the arena.

A SandWing flew up to Vermilion and handed him a note. The SkyWing read it, then growled in frustration and said something to Scarlet, who sighed disappointedly.

"The TV guys will be late, so the fight won't start till after lunch!" Vermilion said. The dragons who had already shown up grumbled and left.

Several hours later, the minivan with the TV guys finally arrived. "The first fight will be Tsunami the SeaWing versus"- Clay held his breath- "Gill the SeaWing!"

"But they won't fight each other!" yelled someone in the bleachers. "They're both SeaWings!"

"Well, guess what, we thought about that!" Vermilion yelled back. "We didn't give Gill enough water, so he dried up and turned into a SandWing!"

"Wait he did?" Tsunami asked.

Vermilion looked surprised. "No, that was a joke. He just went crazy so we're hoping he still fights well."

"All right," said Tsunami, looking troubled. Clay figured she was probably going to have a fear of not enough water from then on.

Another portcullis opened, and a dry-looking SeaWing leaped out. He attacked Tsunami, but she pinned him down and looked up at Scarlet.

"Can I not kill him?" she asked. "I'd rather just give him some water."

"KILL HIM!" Scarlet screamed. She and Burn started chanting. "WE LOVE VIOLENCE! WE LOVE VIOLENCE!"

"Jeez, all right," said Tsunami. With a look of regret, she killed the other SeaWing. "Hey if you love violence can I kill Vermilion?"

"...no," said Scarlet, although she seemed tempted.

"I agree with that," Vermilion said. "Okay, since she won, she's fighting a NightWing! Yep, extra exciting today! But first, everybody sings 'Happy Birthday' to Queen Scarlet!"

All the dragons in the bleachers sang the Happy Birthday song. Queen Scarlet did not look pleased. "Whose idea was that, Vermilion?" she hissed.

"Um, that was... Ruby," the red SkyWing said quickly. "Definitely not me. No way. Er, on with the fight!"