The School of Dragon Riders

18

The next day, someone knocking on my door awakened me.

“Who is it?” I called out, as I tried to untangle myself from the covers. It wasn't dawn yet.

“It's me,” someone said. I recognized the voice as Jack's.

“What is it?” I said, moving to open the door. He was still in his pyjamas as well.

“They moved the Tournament! It's today! The team fighting is today! First match starts after breakfast. It’s us against Earthquake, then Earthquake against Tornado, then us against Tornado! Hurry up, Josh wants us in the dining hall now, then straight to the roof to prepare ourselves and a dragon- a morning flight,” he said urgently.

“Why was it moved?” I asked. The competitions were usually in the middle of the year.

“I don't know! Now go!” he said and ran off to his room. I closed the door and dressed quickly, and then I ran to the hall.

Josh, Maria and Felix were already there, and I sensed Jack not far behind me.

“Eat! Now!” Josh ordered, stuffing food in his mouth. I nodded and began eating. I wasn't hungry, and I was nervous.

“Eat something- all three matches are today, so you'll need it even if you're in dark form,” Jack said as he sat down beside me. I nodded again and started eating faster, but I ended up eating less than I usually do.

Josh stood up when we were all done, and we followed him to the roof. We arrived there at eight, just as the morning alarm went off.

“Earthquake and Tornado aren't informed yet. We are thanks to Snow. Now mount and we'll fly,” he said. We all nodded and everyone ran to their dragon. I reached Areton quickly and saddled him. He was happy to see me and wanted to lick my face, but I told him that there was no time. He felt my urgency and let me climb on.

Josh took off, and so did we. I was last, since everyone was flying quickly, and Areton had to struggle to keep up. I tried sending him energy from myself, but he didn't want to take it. I sensed that he enjoyed the fast flight, so I let him fly.

We finished our flight soon and went straight to the arena. Students were already gathering, trying to get the best seat. Every part had its seats, and Fate was already cheering loudly. We landed, and Earthquake students hurried towards the arena. The Headmaster was standing in the middle. Jack motioned for me not to get off Areton as Josh got off his dragon.

“Josh hid the flag before breakfast; maybe you'll see it. He didn't have time to hide it well. I know where it is, and you'll probably find the Earthquake's flag fast. They didn't have much time either. When a team hides the flag, it becomes invisible until the match starts. That is so that the opposing team doesn't find it before the start,” he said.

“Okay,” I said as Josh and Earthquake's leader shook hands. Josh climbed back onto his dragon, and as the Headmaster blew the whistle, he took off. The rest of the teams did the same. Areton and I flew up, until we were above everyone else. I saw their archer targeting me, so we dived down and the arrow missed me. I saw Jack's arrow miss their guardian by a hair.

I shifted myself into a hawk, which improved my vision and mobility greatly. I flew a bit lower, and their team thought that I was still on Areton.

I flew lower and lower, dodging Josh or someone's sword as I spotted the flag. It was hidden by the very edge of the arena. I sped up, and changed into myself as I was above the flag. I grabbed it before I landed, and fireworks went off, signalling the end. Fate cheered, and Earthquake were quiet. Areton landed beside me, and licked my face when he felt my excitement. The others landed beside me, congratulating me. It was a short match, but that was because none of the teams had time to prepare. Jack managed to get one of their chargers down, so Felix got their archer.

“And Fate wins! As you know, all three matches will be done today. In thirty minutes, Earthquake will face Tornado,” The Headmaster's voice rang over the arena.

“Tornado is probably prepared already. Look at the way all of them are smirking,” I said, pointing to the Tornado students. Josh looked and frowned.

“They always play dirty,” he said. “But let's not worry about that. Take a seat, and you will be brought something to eat. Watch the game closely and try to see their tactics,” he added.

I spotted Snow and Tanya waving at us, so I pulled Jack towards them. They saved seats for us, and Tanya hugged me as we got close.

“Good job! You did it! By the way, the fighting is tomorrow,” she said, sitting back down. Snow congratulated both of us, and Jack thanked him for warning them about the match being early.

“I was doing something for the Headmaster, and I overheard it, but not from any of the mentors. I heard the Tornado team talking about it. They knew, somehow,” he said.

“They must've eavesdropped on the Headmaster,” Jack said angrily. I nodded. Tanya pulled out some sandwiches and offered us some. I took one gladly and began eating.

“Medea, Tornado are good players. Use your Darkness; the shades are thick now. Can you use it while you are shifted?” Jack asked. I hadn't really tried using Darkness while I was shifted, but I thought I could do it.

“I'll try it,” I said. We kept talking until the game started.

During our match, I hadn't paid much attention to other people. My main focus was the flag and dodging arrows. I also never watched a match. Now that I'm watching it, I look at it a lot differently that I did before.

The Tornado team charged at Earthquake at the same moment the Headmaster whistled. I noted that, preparing to get ready to fly fast. Jacob, who was the charger, immediately attacked their charger with fire. His eyes were full of fury, and I didn't know why.

I didn't use Darkness in the last match, but there was no need to. I looked at their assassin, who jumped of his dragon as he summoned the wind to carry him. Arrows flew towards him, but he managed to change their curse so that they missed him by a hair.

I switched my attention toward the battle. It looked brutal. The charger Jacob was attacking defended himself with water, but while he was doing that, Jacob jumped on his dragon and put a sword through him. He yelled triumphantly, jumping back to his dragon.

However, he didn't see the Earthquake guardian approaching, and he was hit with the shield and started falling. He switched into a crow, but before he could fly away, wind pressed him downwards and he fell to the ground. All of Earthquake brightened up, and their Assassin seemed to have spotted the flag. He was charging towards it. I looked around, and saw Tornado's Assassin speeding towards Earthquake's flag. Arrows flew around both of them. Everyone was quiet as tension was building up. Who would arrive first?

A lucky arrow of Tornado's arched and hit the Earthquake assassin's shoulder, and he had to slow down to recover. During that time, Tornado's assassin was taking the flag.

I frowned as the fireworks flew off around him.

“Why does that make you angry? They won, fair, and shall be celebrated so,” an unfamiliar voice said from beside me. I turned around and saw a thin girl sitting beside me. She had short brown hair, matched by brown eyes. She was right- they did win fair.

“Who are you?” Tanya asked. She never hesitated to ask. We exchanged puzzled glances, and when we looked at her, she was gone.

“Farewell,” a whisper could be heard, but that's all.

“Where did she go?” I asked. Did she use Darkness? But no, I was the only Datonx.

“I saw her a few times. She visits the Headmaster often, and goes on quests a lot. I don't know who she is, though. She disappears like that often,” Snow said.

“Medea, we should go prepare. I hope you learned something about their tactics, although they are likely to change some of them,” Jack said. I nodded and we left to join our team.

We assembled in the field corner. As always, Josh had already hidden the flag.

“They move fast. Their new charger is too hot-headed, though. Use that. Their assassin uses Air to fly. Jack, that's the best time to shoot him. Their archer uses heavy arrows, they aren't stopped by the wind easily, but they are loud, so Medea, you might be able to dodge them in time. Remember what you saw, and do your best,” Josh said. The match was about to start, so I walked with Areton to the middle of the field. I was nervous, but Areton's excitement soon overwhelmed that. I climbed on and got my knife ready. I was ready to de-materialize if needed, and my shadow was ready to jump to my aid.

The Headmaster whistled, and both teams flew up fast. Jacob charged at Felix, but he dodged. It took all of my will to concentrate on the surroundings and search for the flag. I remembered that their assassin flew low, so I decided to fly low as well, so that I might stop him if he found the flag before I did.

I saw him at the other end of the field, and got an idea. I jumped off Areton, turning into a raven, as I made my shadow emerge on Areton. From a distance, it looked as if I was on Areton. I told him to fly towards their Assassin, as I made a circle to go behind him. He noticed Areton and jumped off, letting the wind carry him. Jack was shooting arrows at him, but he managed to dodge them. However, when he got closer to Areton, he saw that I wasn't there. That's when I shifted into myself and jumped on his back. I was about to slit his throat so that he would fall down, but I heard an arrow.

I was, however, unable to dodge since their Assassin was the only thing keeping me in air. It hit me in the back, going through the other side. I saw red and my vision started to fade, but then I felt warmth. Jack was healing me. I knew that the only thing he could do was make the pain easier to bear, so I called Areton over and jumped off their Assassin onto his back.

I was in pain, but I wasn't going to lose because of it. I tried to shift my eyes, but I was too weak. Luckily, Areton spotted the flag for me not far away. Their Assassin realized that I saw their flag, so he flew behind me. He was catching up, but I urged Areton forward, giving him some of my energy. I felt like I was going to pass out, but I kept myself awake.

I slipped off Areton, gripping the flag in my fall. I looked up and saw Areton hitting the barrier. Their flag was in the very edge of it. As soon as the flag and I hit the ground, the pain stopped and I was greeted by fireworks.