The Dragon Games

Rhy's Lucky Break II

I reached for my quiver, only to realise it only contained four arrows, which did me no good. If even one of the seven birds reached Edmond, the message would be delivered regardless of how many of the others I killed.

"Come on!" I said.

We broke into a sprint, doubling our pace. Suddenly, a shadow plunged us into darkness, dropping the weather fifteen degrees. We looked up just in time to see the massive hydra shoot by in a blur of talons and grey scales.

It was Greyback, and to my amazement, Edmond Balthasar was riding on top ... along with eight other Balthasars. Not only had Edmond stayed in the arena after bonding with a dragon; he had enlisted a quarter of his squad to help kill Rauuk.

"We can't fend off nine of them."

I whipped to Rhys, startled. He was backing up, frantically shaking his head. While he spoke to me, his stare was pinned over my shoulder, and he looked five seconds away from pissing his pants. Or puking. Or both.

"I can't do this," he said.

I scowled. "Of course you can. You want to walk out of this arena with nothing but a burnt arm to show for it?"

He lurched away and started sprinting.

"Rhys!" I burst out, my voice sharp with panic.

My plan was being ripped out from under me, but he didn't stop. Without thinking, I yanked Rhys back with my divine. He shot up the hill and slammed to a stop a foot in front of me. When we locked stares, his face contorted, and pure terror flashed across his eyes.

Not for the Balthasars, I realised suddenly, my blood going cold. For me.

A blush spread across my face. This wasn't a kill-or-be-killed situation where Rhys posed any threat to me. I was taking advantage of him simply because he was weak and I was strong. I unfurled my hands, releasing him.

"I don't need this," Rhys rasped. "I can find another dragon with a decent prize."

"You can," I said. "I won't stop you. But ask yourself – will the other pledges honor your agreement, or will they read your letter then toss it aside out of carelessness or spite? Do you trust an elite with the rest of your livelihood?"

As I spoke, a fire built in Rhy's eyes. I wondered what he was thinking of – how quickly his friend had cast him aside or the hundreds of other injustices dealt to pledges like him on the daily.

"Better yet," I said slowly, realising how deep his hatred of the elite went, that he'd probably do what I want if I played into it. "Do you even want to help them?"

His eyes flashed. "Hell no."

We kept running, one hill bleeding into the next. In the back of my mind, I was aware that there was no way in hell we could compete with the speed of a dragon. By the time we arrived to the scene, Rauuk could very well be dead.

Rhys' good arm shot out in front of me. I stopped and followed his stare to five Balthasars with crazy, wind whipped hair scanning the hillsides. A second later, they noticed us. The Balthasars charged, a battle cry ripping from their throats, Rhys staggered back with a gasp, and I flicked my wrist with all the enthusiasm of swatting a fly.

All five Balthasars flew back in usion, plummeting head over ass down the hill.

"Well I didn't know you could do that," Rhys said.

A gust of wind knocked into us, so powerful it threw our hair back and nearly swept us off our feet. A couple of fields away, Greyback was pulling its wings, descending from the sky. It landed with lethal grace despite its lumbering size, more than ten times bigger than Rauuk.