Regal Of All

Chapter XII

A shrill screech flew out of my mouth. A scaly, green tail slammed down on the brush-covered earth, sending stones soaring through the air, scattering in all directions. It didn't move any more. I ducked behind a bolder. She had taken cover somewhere else nearby, probably behind a tree.

We made a fairly good team, at least a good enough pair to capture the most famous beasts. Which I was very excited about, except I did not exactly want to kill it- as in watch the life be sucked out of it's eyes and great big body go limp. Luckily, Acacia did the honors nice and quick and as clean as possible. She'd fired one of her famous poisonous arrows from her "splendid" crossbow (that was her word) so it died without pain in as it was enchained in it's metal bonds. First dragon down, a lot more to go. It was noon, day one and Acacia and I were currently about one mile up of the rocks of the mountain.

I stretched up; Acacia appeared from behind a tree, her eyes were illuminated with pride. It was our first dragon catch and kill, I was elated. "Hey-y. We did it! First one down. Would you like to do the honors?" she said bubbly.

I planted a flag (it came up to my shoulder) beside the dragon. It was grey and purple with a hexagon emblem on it, it symbolized that our team had killed it. We left the chains on the dragon, since we had no way of getting them off. Every quarter of a mile there was multiple sets of trapping-chains for dragons, they were optional. If this first dragon had went well, Acacia and I chose to not use them any more.

After planting the flag (every team's flags were also with the chains at the markers) I etched something into the wooden stake.

Emeris

Dragons don't have names unless a human names them, either as a sign of ownership or respect. This was out of respect coming from me, even if it looked like ownership from anyone else's point of view.

"You ready yet? You're taking so long," Acacia's voice sounded out from a dozen paces away.

"I know... I'm coming!" I called back. I caught up with her and we walked away.

After walking for a while and scouting for any trace of a nearby dragon, I thought heard I muffled voice in the wind. "Hey Acacia... Do you hear someth-" My voice got cut off by a loud "ahrgg!"

Just as we looked at each other I heard a muttering of a complaining whiny person, "It always moves last second, and you can never just hit it with your sword. Or the blade just skims right off of it's hide. Oh, my golly, it's skin is so gross and awful to try and puncture through." The voice's owner appeared by crashing through a hedgerow which just so happened to be right next to where I was walking at the exact moment. Of course me, I think as I stare up into the sky leaning on the tree that had caught me before I fell since the white-haired boy had slammed into me. What a fool.

"Oh, KK. I'm so sorry he just walked into you like that." Lea (cool, we can help each other out now!) told me as she sprung out of nowhere from behind- Nixon... "Nix can never focus on anything but himself," she muttered under her breath. Meanwhile Acacia was trying her best to reason with Nixon, or make some sort of "deal".

"So Nixon, for say we, us four, help each other out by searching for a few more dragons and helping each other out?"

He looked appalled, "What?! No way, I can manage perfectly on my own, thank you very much."

She looked like she was trying to decide something, "Well... there's a bit more to it than that, Nix. Here why don't I draw you an example, a visual...?" She crouched down to draw something in the dirt, but never got to that point.

Nixon stormed away, his white-hair blinding as it caught sunlight. Everything had a green tint to it, the leaves a rich green. "You must be crazy! Thinking that I'm gonna help any of your lot- psh, you're my competition, my enemy. Come on Leenara!"

I threw a pitied look at Lea. She groaned and made the best oh-goodness-help-me-I'm-going-to-slap-someone-this-is-so-annoying face I'd ever seen. I felt so bad, he couldn't even get her name right. I wish she'd do something about it. As Acacia came to walk beside me (continuing on our path) we saw Leonora's braid disappear into the trees well ahead of us.

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Over the course of the rest of that day we crossed paths with Lea and the day after that, we had very good success in our dragon hunting. About an hour after dusk we were settled down to sleep under this a willow tree, thoughts of my time so far in the Games were mulling around in my head. Off in a tree down yonder I heard a songbird sing a sweet, fading melody.

The first dragon we'd caught and killed by the green one, Emeris. The next one was a gold-plaited one, I named it Aurora. I was entranced by it's magnificent beauty, so it's death brought me a bitter-sweet feeling that quickly over came me until our next dragon encounter. It was a fierce, blue-scaled beast that put up one mean fight. I used so many of my arrows and Acacia's crossbow lost of lot of arrows poison too, and even still we were covered in bruises afterwards... I called it Hyacintho; all I felt was numbness, like a protective bubble surrounded me for a while before it faded that kept me from any deep emotion. So it had no affect on me, no directness of any feeling hit me hard- unlike the next dragon. It's name was Ostrumine, it wasn't a bad dragon. It didn't even give a strong fight, we'd set up a trap and it easily worked, like a charm. The shimmering purple scales seemed to have lost it's attractive glow as it drew it's final breath. My arrow had pierced through it's hide around it's heart, I hope it didn't feel any pain, it was undeserved.

Suddenly, as I had planted the flag beside its great head, all the lingering excitement and rush of energy in being in the Pugnam Games, the competition so famous it fit the fame of the creatures that were destined to die- all faded. Not into a distant coolness or a hot flash of raging red anger, jut into a sadness that latched onto my heart and clawed at my existence. This unless killing, no matter of animal nor person, was cruel and sickening. It was not in the name of vengeance at all, just hunting for sport. And I hated it which such a deep ferocity that my mind splinted into blankness, I fell into treacherous abset-mindedness. However, I was in the Games with two days left. I couldn't weep, now wasn't the time to cry. Wait another 25 hours and it would all roll over, KK, just deal with your frustration in silence. Breathe in, breathe out. So I was became teary-eyed in my heart-breaking solemn silence. Just as I am now, as I re-live those same emotions here under the willow tree in the cold, shady dark.

But surely there had to be a reason, right? What was making the dragons fly South, to where they know the Games will take place and even where the villages are. The question was WHY?

It'd do most people and dragons to know why, then I remembered something. From the Prince's speech at the Banquet, there was a dragon, the evil one that still lives on today, what was it's name? I had to remember to ask Acacia at dawn.