The Dragon Riders

Chapter 12

It didn't take that long to realize that I didn't have much to pack.

I mean, seriously, I threw a few changes of clothes and some toiletries into a bag and I was done.

I heard a creaking outside my door before Mike was unceremoniously shoved into my room. Followed by Liam, Des and Gray, who walked in normally.

Mike went over and elbowed Des in the gut while Gray turned to me,

"Is that all you're bringing?" He asked, sounding surprised. I then noticed that I by far had the least amount of luggage of us all. Des seemed to have the most as he struggled to lift his two bulging duffle bags.

"Yeah, not really much to bring. Some clothes and that's about it." I answered back nonchalantly.

"Alright yeah, fair enough. We were gonna go hang out at the pit with the dragons, seeing as we have like four hours before we need to leave. You coming?" Gray asked, shifting his weight to his left foot.

"Sure, sounds fun." I replied, grabbing my bag and standing up.

"Yes! This is gonna be sick!" Des shouted, fist pumping the air excitedly. His happiness made me slightly afraid to go with them but I didn't exactly want to sit around in my room for four hours.

***

"Alright, care to tell me what we're doing now?" I asked for the thousandth time as we reached the pit. I was surprised to see that there were several people already gathered around it's edge. Some were chatting idly, while I could've sworn that some were discretely exchanging money.

"It's kind of a thing now. Every so often we'll head on over to the pit to destress a bit. You know, nothing like beating your friends into the ground to calm you down. People started showing up to watch and place bets, and before we knew it, we were doing this every week or so." Liam explained, smiling.

"Wait, so you expect me to fight against you guys again? I barely survived last time." I asked, regretting not listening to my instincts earlier on.

"It'll be fun Maryssa, Avem's fully grown now and he actually somewhat knows how to use his powers." Gray said, bumping his shoulder with mine.

"Plus, I heard that some people are actually betting on you to win," Mike added, "even though that's never gonna happen, you can't just let the people down like that."

I sighed in defeat, knowing I didn't have a way out of this.

You up for this Avem? I asked him, turning to face him.

Don't worry, this is gonna be a piece of cake. He answered back, grinning as well as a dragon could.

"Fine, we'll do it."

***

I lifted my hand to my eyes, shielding the sun from my face as I looked up at the small crowd around the edge of the pit.

I looked back down and glanced at everyone else, already in starting position, each standing in front of their dragon.

Des was on my right side and I did not appreciate the fact that he was grinning at me like some crazed lunatic.

Grayson was on my left and seemed overconfident in his chances, rightfully so. According to Mike he almost always won.

Liam looked calm and focused, as always. While Mike was a mirror image of Des, except looking towards Liam instead of me.