Covered in red flames, the Halcon had its whole body and cage on fire. Its sharp fangs glistening in the sunlight, it let out a screech before running around rampant in the arena. Max almost tripped over his feet as he struggled to keep an eye on the beast. He recognized it as the one who tried to eat him during the last attack.
Racing along the wall, the Halcon shot fire towards the audience. Everyone quickly scrambled out of the way. The fiery dragon then slammed its body against the gate keeping it inside the arena. Screeching, it looked around desperately. Attacking the chain linked roof now, it shrieked in anguish. So close to freedom and yet so far.
Then it noticed Max.
Frightened, Max held his breath when the Halcon finally noticed him. Its light brown eyes narrowed to slits and its fanned red tail lashed around angrily. Dropping down to the floor, the giant beast hissed as it approached the human boldly. Max slowly backed away from the creature. He noticed that it seemed to be limping and it definitely wasn't calming down. All eyes were on both of them.
It was time to set the plan into motion now.
Barely even noticing what he was doing, Max dropped the knife and shield while he continued to slowly back away from the Halcon. It should've eased the dragon a little. However, it had no effect. The beast still had its chest puffed out and its head held high. Something had to be wrong. Either the dragon still felt threatened or it was a psychopath.
The Vikings, on the other hand, were affected by Max's decision. They were wondering what he was up to. Slowly grabbing his helmet, Max looked down at it. This was a helmet that belonged to a Viking, not him. Throwing it aside, he muttered, "I'm not one of them." Everyone gasped while the Halcon eyed the helmet suspiciously and growled.
Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with the dragon.
"Stop the fight..." Rooster murmured. Hearing him, Max declared, "No, you all need to see this." Noticing that Ripper was giving him a thumbs up from the crowd, he went on, "We were wrong about dragons. They are not ruthless killing machines. We don't have to hurt them." As he was saying this, he held his hand out towards the Halcon in an attempt to get it to calm down. It hissed, its crest of feathers flaring up menacingly. Having enough, Rooster shouted, "Stop the fight!"
That was the last straw as the Halcon snapped. Screeching, it went on the attack.
