The Sapphire of War

Chapter 7

It looked like most of the contestants' first instinct was to charge straight into the center of the arena. This was Daybreak's first instinct, too, but she forced herself to suppress it. I have to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. None of these dragons know about my training. I can't give them a reason to target me.

Daybreak slowly moved to a back wall of the arena, and watching the lightning-fast, super-strong MistWings dart around the arena, she was glad she did. At first it was total confusion, with dragons flying everywhere, trying to size up their competition. Then, Silver jumped onto Precipitation's back and jabbed at her wings with her claws. Precipitation roared with fury and shook her wings vigorously, but it was too late. "Precipitation-Eliminated!" boomed Queen Monsoon. Silver sneered in triumph -- and Cumulus used the opportunity to pin her by the tail and whack her with his own strong tail. Silver moaned and fell to the ground. "Silver-Eliminated!" called the queen.

Wait a minute, something's wrong, thought Daybreak. None of the contestants were using weapons. Downpour had definitely told her there would be weapons... She carefully surveyed the arena of lunging and dodging MistWings, until finally she saw it -- a sack of spears, hanging against the wall in the last place anyone would look.

Carefully, Daybreak edged her way around the arena until she reached the sack. Not hesitating for a moment, she picked up a spear and threw it straight at Bluster, who was standing alone within range of Daybreak. The spear hit him right in the leg, and he yelped in pain. "Bluster-Eliminated!"  crowed Monsoon. "Just five contestants left!" To her surprise, Daybreak felt a pang of guilt, though Bluster was not injured too seriously. Hundreds of dragons will be killed in the war if I don't do this, she reminded herself.

By then, several other contestants had noticed Daybreak's spear, and were searching the arena for weapons of their own. I can't let them find the spears or they'll have an even greater advantage, she realized with a jolt of panic. She swiftly grabbed a single spear in one talon and lifted the sack with the other. She then flew up until she was adjacent to the spectator's balconies and threw the sack straight out of the arena. 

Daybreak heard an indignant growl behind her, and she turned around just in time to dodge an attack from Cloudburst. Thinking quickly, Daybreak thrust her claws forward and dove like an arrow to the ground, pushing Cloudburst down with her. She shoved him onto the sand, right next to Zephyr. Cloudburst angrily whipped around and stomped a startled Zephyr in the tail. "Zephyr-eliminated!" called Queen Monsoon. "The remaining contestants are Storm, Cumulus, Cloudburst, and Droplet!"

Daybreak surveyed the arena. Storm and Cloudburst were locked in a fight, bearing their teeth and claws at each other. Cumulus -- was walking straight toward her. Daybreak defensively brandished her spear, remembering how effortlessly he had defeated Silver. To her surprise, Cumulus flew right in front of her, grabbed the center of her spear -- and snapped it in half. Daybreak stared in shock as he dropped the broken spear to the ground and looked her straight in the eye.

The queen suddenly yelled, "Cloudburst-Eliminated!" Both Daybreak and Cumulus instinctively turned their heads. Storm, who had evidently won her fight with Cloudburst, was bounding toward them, grinning triumphantly. Cumulus flew forward and clawed Storm in the wing. He turned back to Daybreak.

Defensively she flew up off the ground, knowing that an air fight would give her an advantage. Living on the run with Paradise had taught her a thing or two about flying. Cumulus roared and flew after her, claws out. Daybreak easily dodged his lunge, leaving Cumulus to force his enormous wings to a stop. She pounced onto his tail, but Cumulus easily shook her off, sending her plummeting to the ground. Even after Daybreak regained balance, she continued to let herself fall. She had to force herself not to smile. Now she knew his weakness.

Meanwhile, Cumulus had never seemed happier as he shot down after Daybreak. Right before his claws touched her tail, she slipped out of his way. Cumulus gasped and tried to stop himself, but he was too late. He hit the ground hard, sending sand flying up around him. He moaned softly but couldn't get up. Daybreak grinned and looked up at Queen Monsoon. At the sapphire on her crown.

"The winner of the tournament and my new bodyguard: Droplet!" announced the queen. "She will meet me at the Storm Palace tomorrow to start her new position immediately." The crowd exploded in cheers as Daybreak walked out of the arena, dizzy with pride and relief. 

"Congratulations, Droplet! You did it!" cried Gale as she and Downpour flew down to join her. Gale paused for a moment. "There's just one problem."

"What is it?" asked Daybreak, turning to face Gale.

Suddenly, Gale pounced onto Daybreak, pointing her claws inches from Daybreak's neck. As she continued speaking, her voice changed dramatically. Daybreak recognized this new voice. It was a voice she had been trying to forget since she had first heard it in the DarkWing caves.

"The problem is," said Midnight, her once-gray scales shifting to their original pitch-dark color, "how could you have won the tournament when I was the victor from the start?"