The next two dragon duels wrapped up before an intermission was called. Now that was watching, it was clear the opponents weren't putting in their all. The duelers conceded the fight once their dragon became more than mildly injured. Or at a moment of drama. Whichever came first. That was good. I was uneasy with the fact the dragons were fighting for our enjoyment. It felt a little like watching a back alley cockfight. The only thing that soothed my nerves was the dragons received immediate medical attention and that they entered the arena under their own power. Tiberius was clever, so the other dragons might be as well. They likely knew what they were going in for. But the way the human trainers all stood silent and unmoving on the podium once the fights began… it was eerie. Were they lending magical power to their dragons, somehow? Directing them on the sly? As the intermission began, most of the audience rose to stretch their legs, go get something to eat, or head to the row of outhouses. The two girls I'd noticed earlier had stayed in their seats. I glanced over to the blonde who sat next to me to get her attention. She was about my age and pretty, with a little upturned nose and freckles dusting her cheeks. She glanced at me quizzically and I nodded with my chin over to the podium. "Hey, what's with those crystals?" She gave me a startled look. "The… Sapphire bonds?" She gestured to the dragons from the last fight — both of whom were receiving medical attention. They had glowing blue eyes that nobody could miss. "Sapphire against Sapphire is always a good matchup, don't you think?" I pointed again. "I meant the white crystals up on that podium." "You mean the quartz?" she said, puzzled. I wasn't asking the right questions. Whatever they were, it was so obvious to everybody else from this world that it felt like I was asking someone to explain what was the point of a dinner plate. "Yeah, those crystals that the trainers were holding right before the fight started. I've never seen a dragon dual before." Then, at her astonished look, I invented, "I grew up in the mountains." "Those must have been some backwoods." The new voice came from a man who sat on the bleacher row above me. He was in his late thirties and was one of the few people without a dragon companion nearby. I didn't like the way he looked at me. His eyes were a bit too sharp, though his voice was pleasant enough as he said, "The trainers put their hands on the engagement crystals when they're ready to duel. It creates a link between themselves and their dragon. That way, they can fight, and the dragon doesn't run wild all over the arena." I had wondered about that. The wooden fence surrounding the arena didn't seem to be that sturdy of a barrier. Plus, a lot of the fights took place up in the air. "So, it's like an invisible leash?" I asked. He gave a so-so shrug. "Quartz is the most basic of crystals. All other crystals have an element of quartz within them. So it makes for the perfect binding medium. It helps the bond." I was pretty sure that wasn't how elements or crystals worked, but I nodded along anyway. "If I were to go down and put my hands on one I could, what, direct Tiberius to fight?" I asked and gestured to my little fennec who was currently curled up dozing on my lap. The man's gaze sharpened. "You aren't from around here, are you?" "No, my family lived up in the mountains. We were a total commune—" "I meant, you're not of this world." My smile froze. He then raised his hand and gestured to his own ear. I copied the gesture for my own ear, and that's when I realized that some of my ashy blonde hair had shifted in the wind. The tips of one of my pointy ears was sticking out. Quickly, I covered it again. "I— Oh… yeah." I shrugged and turned from him back to watch the last of the dragons, now completely healed, clear out of the arena. Its trainer stood by it with a bored expression on his face. Wow, not even a "Well done" pat on his dragon's head for getting slashed up on his behalf. Jerk. The sharp-eyed man didn't try to continue the conversation with me. However, I could feel the gazes of the two girls. They openly gawked. "Are you really a Traveler?" the blonde asked. "Of course she isn't," sniffed the second girl, a brunette with an oval face. I shrugged. I was a little torn on revealing my greatest secret to a couple of random girls, but on the other hand, I didn't see a reason why I should lone wolf it. No one was their own island. "I woke up here yesterday. In the forest." I jerked my chin back in the general direction. The second girl scoffed again but the blonde's eyes widened. She didn't seem to notice or care that I had lied to her before. "All alone? What about your family?" "They… weren't around even before I came here," I said, then I gripped Tiberius and held him up under his arms. "He's my family now, I guess. I'm Harmony, and this is Tiberius." Tiberius cheeped and wagged his triangular tail. Instantly, the two girl's attention was captured by my little dragon. As if, by introducing him, I'd given permission for them to stare. "He's cute," said the brown-haired girl, grudgingly. "Ohhh. I've never seen a dragon like that before." The blonde was much more effusive and held out her hand for Tiberius to sniff. "What kind is he?" "Fennec dragon." "A desert biome! Oh, forgive my manners. I'm Jane and this is Commodore." Jane gestured to the little bitty chocolate brown dragon on her shoulder. Up close, he reminded me of a sparrow with a beaky little muzzle and prim, sharp wings tucked in close. "What kind is he?" I asked. "Just a common house-dragon," Jane said with a slight shrug. "I received an emerald crystal for my twelfth birthday and I tamed him from the egg myself." "Emerald is the second crystal on the basic list, right?" I asked. "I've been reading this book—Actually, why doesn't anyone use any quartz crystals? I've never seen a dragon with white eyes." The brunette who still hadn't introduced herself or her dragon, snorted. "Quartz are as common as clay, and half as useless." "Can you upgrade a crystal once you bond a dragon to it?" "Wow," said the brunette, "she really doesn't know anything." And this girl was really asking for a slap in the face. I shrugged. "Well, you don't know until you ask, right?" Jane turned to scold her friend. "Don't be mean! She's Sienna," she said returning to me. "She's nice once you get to know her, but she likes playing the cynical brat, first." The brown-haired girl, Sienna, flared up. "I do not!" Then, as if to prove Jane wrong she spoke to me. "This intermission's going to take a while. Let's get something to eat at the booths. Our treat." "Your treat," Jane said, "For being rude to our new friend." I was their friend? More likely, she was trying to buddy up to the Traveler. Well, whatever, I was up for a free meal. Sienna huffed in exasperation but didn't argue. Judging from the gleam in Jane's eye, getting a meal out of the other girl had been her plan this entire time. My estimation of Jane went up a notch. I had always admired cunning people. Nodding, I stood. The sharp-eyed man was gone. Huh. When had he left? Anyway, the narrow set-up of the bleachers made it awkward to move and I noticed that the two girls took note of my hobbling step. They exchanged looks. "Do you need help down?" Sienna asked with a sigh. She sounded put out, but she did ask. "No, the ground isn't far." It took a minute to scoot my way down off the edge of the bleachers, and I was painfully aware a few people were waiting in line behind me, but no one shoved, so they could just deal with a little bit of a wait. The only times I had ever truly been injured was by pushing myself too fast and too far. Finally, I made it to ground level with most of my dignity intact, Tiberius in my arms. I turned to Jane and Sienna. "Okay, weird question: I noticed those dragons over there were healing dragons. I don't suppose they can do anything for a club foot?" Jane and Sienna exchanged startled looks. Jane answered tentatively. "No… I don’t think so. They only work on other dragons, don't they?" "She means the dragons heal dragons," Sienna said with a roll of her eyes. "Humans only work on other humans. There might be a human with a healing attribute from a very powerful dragon—with, like, a legendary crystal or something— but you'll only find them in the big cities like Ashberg, and they're… prohibitively expensive." "Story of my life." I was disappointed, but even back home the leg cost too much money and effort to fix for a ward of the government. Now that I was off the bleachers, and we walked to the food vendor booths, I took a look at Sienna's little dragon companion. I’d been mistaken before: it was different from Jane's Commodore. Patterned black with a white head and wings, the muzzle was flat as a duck’s bill and the chest was much deeper. It also had webbed feet. "That's not a house-dragon?" She blushed. "Ferdinand is a Bobber. He’s more of a fisher than a fighter. Not like Commodore." I looked back and forth between the sparrow dragon and the … duck-like dragon. "Wait, you two duel your dragons?" "Of course," Jane seemed shocked that I had to ask. "It's how you know who's right, you know?" "Look at her face. She doesn't know," Sienna said. “That’s so weird. How do other girls resolve conflicts in your world?” "Mostly through social torture," I said. The two girls giggled like I had made a joke. I had to be crystal clear on this. "So, you guys fight your dragons… and they're okay with this?" "Oh yeah. They are dragons, after all, even if they are tiny cute ones." Jane raised her hand to the back of Commodore’s tiny head to stroke her finger down his spine. "Commodore was on a brilliant winning streak… until the last battle.” "It was a stupid fight," Sienna scolded. “You shouldn’t have challenged him.” “I had to!” Jane flared up at her friend. “I couldn’t let it pass.” I broke in before they could continue snipping, or maybe challenge each other to a duel. “So, how does battling dragons work? It just happens all the time?” Jane seemed to be relieved for an excuse to turn away from Sienna. “No, it’s only for when there's a really important argument. And both parties have to agree to it, of course. So, let's say somebody cuts in line—" Sienna cut in. "Or starts a rumor that says you really like him—." Jane gave her friend a hard look. Then she shrugged. "Yeah. Let's say some stupid boy starts an unfounded rumor…" "And let’s call him Todd, for example,” Sienna added with a grin. Jane rolled with it. "Then you go up to Todd and challenge him to a duel to regain your honor. And whoever wins… well then he has to recant his story." There was definitely more on than what was being said on the surface, here. It sounded like Todd needed to be put in his place, but although Jane had lost, she didn't seem too upset. "And anyone can be challenged," I said, not sure I liked the sound of where this was going. "Sure, you gotta defend your honor." "But what if you don't have a dragon?" "Then you get someone else to fight on your behalf. People make good money that way." I hugged Tiberius closer to me. "No offense, but Tiberius has just hatched. So if anyone tries to duel me, I'll just punch them in the nose." Jane shook her head, wide-eyed. "No, that would be disrespectful to your dragon." Sienna nodded to her friend’s words, looking solemn. "That's what they do. You take care of them, and they fight for you." I fell silent for a few steps, thinking. "Where I come from, animal fights are looked down on." "Well, you're in our world now," Jane said and then bounced. "I can't believe I'm speaking to an actual Traveler. What do you like most about our world? Oh! Wait! What are the dragons like where you come from?" "They're only in stories," I said and found that I was stroking Tiberius between his long ears. I could tell the other girls wanted to ask more, but something in my expression must have warned them off. I heard what the other girls were saying, but regular dragon duels still seemed very weird to me. I also wasn't sure if I should take them on their word or not. After all, I had haggled with the tanning crafter and he hadn’t, like, challenged me to a duel or anything. There were temporary booths and tents set up around the arena, meant to cater towards the watchers for the dragon duels. There were many people around, some riding on dragons like people back home would ride horses, others strolling along with families and their dragons in tow. The whole area had a country fair vibe. Weirdly, though there were dragons everywhere… I didn't see anyone flying with one in the skies. "Does this happen all the time?" I asked. "Or is it the weekend or something?" "The… what?" Sienna gave me a look like I had a screw loose. "The town seems festive," I clarified. "Oh, it's for the professional dragon duelers," Jane explained. "They only come by a couple of times a year so we make a holiday for it." She pointed ahead. "That's the booth we should eat at. It has the best—" An animalistic scream tore through the air. I'd been hearing all sorts of dragon sounds all day — grunts, low grumbles, a few distant roars. Something about the quality of this sound hit me like nails on a chalkboard. Tiberius, who had been gazing around lazily, tensed in my arms. I stopped and looked around. "What was that?" "It came from the breaking booth." Jane looked uneasy and pointed to a large blacktopped tent at the end of the current row. The sides were covered by black fabric, shielding what was going on within. "The what now?" I didn't wait to hear her answer and hobbled quickly forward to see. As I came closer, I noticed one of the sides of the tent was open. Men called to each other from within. "Oh, no, Harmony, that place is terrible." Jane hurried to catch up to me, though Sienna stayed well back. "What is it?" I asked. As I came around the tent, I stopped in place. There was a low fence that separated the tent area from the crowd. Beyond, under the fabric stood a half dozen men. All gripped thick chains which were attached to a pony-sized dragon. Heaving together, they tried to pull the dragon into the tent. The dragon was magnificent. Its scales were red and orange and shimmered like living fire. A plume of shocking red scales came off its head like a crown. The wings —which were currently pinned down to its body, had black accents which reminded me of banked coals. Its eyes were a clear, empty white. Not blind, but as if nothing were behind them. Jane let out a tiny little, "Oh," as she came around and spotted the dragon. "What kind is that?" I breathed. "It's a phoenix dragon. I can't believe he managed to… oh, that jerk!" She stomped her foot in frustration. I followed her gaze and saw she was not looking towards the dragon, but the man standing next to it, watching the procedure. He was strikingly handsome in that classic all-American, square-jawed, light brown hair and blue-eyed way that reminded me of a modern day Disney villain. The type of guy who was so good looking you just knew he had to be evil inside. The fact that he was watching his dragon being dragged unwillingly into the tent while he counted a thick stack of silver coins didn't help. "Two questions," I said. Jane was scowling at the guy, but then turned to me. "Yes?" "Why isn't that dragon flaming people to a crisp? Or… clawing them, I guess?" The chains were impressive, but I don't think it could have stopped the phoenix dragon from bringing some pain if it wanted. "A tamed dragon would never strike out against a person," Jane said in that shocked way that made me think I'd just uttered a blasphemy. “Not unless the tamer was deranged and ordered it.” Another heave and the unwilling dragon was pulled a few more steps. It tossed its head and let out a shrill shriek like it was being led to the gallows. I saw no knives or anything in sight. What was going on here? Was it being overdramatic or was it in real danger? "Second question." I nodded to the guy with the coins. "Does he happen to have twelve other brothers?" "What?" "He has a 'muahahaha villain' vibe going on." "What?" Jane repeated and shook her head. Reaching up, she brought Commodore down from her shoulder and hugged him tight. The little house-dragon chirped and rubbed the side of his head against her hand in a comforting gesture. "No, Lennox's the best trapper in the village, and he knows it." Another scowl. "He finds them, bonds them with a quartz bonding crystal so they have no special attacks then brings them back to the village and sells them to the highest bidder. It's terrible." "But if they bond to him, how do they—" I stopped, remembering this was called the Breaking Tent. Not breaking, like breaking a horse, I assumed. "They break the bond?" Jane nodded unhappily. "Yes, then the new owner steps in and bonds the dragon with a new crystal. It's awful," she said suddenly. "I hate it." "You don't have to watch," I said. "I'll meet you and Sienna back at the food booths. But I want to see what this is about." And make my own decision, I didn't add. From the outside, it didn't sound awful, but my gut said otherwise. I was majorly skeeved out. I realized that Jane wasn't the only one clutching her dragon close. I held Tiberius, too. The thought of breaking my bond with him made me feel sick, like I was on the verge of vertigo. "No, I'll stay." Though Jane looked ill. The dragon was nearly into the tent anyway. Its chains were secured to poles that were driven in the dirt. It thrashed but stopped dead at a sharp word from Lennox. The dragon never struck out but gave his tamer such a baleful look I thought it wanted to. Wow. So a tamed dragon didn't necessarily have to like its owner. Good to know. A couple of the men had grabbed sacks and were pouring loose, gritty sand around the dragon. I glanced at Jane and she said, "Diatomaceous Earth." But she looked so pale and miserable I didn't ask what that was supposed to mean. Once the phoenix dragon was encircled, trapper Lennox nodded to another man who held a red crystal in his hand. It was one of the trainers I'd seen battling before. The owner of the Death Strike. Wasn't his name Terry or something? I couldn't remember. Ah, now it made sense. Lennox would break his connection to the phoenix and then this guy would swoop in and re-tame the dragon using his ruby crystal. If I had a shot at a dragon like that I would have picked a better quality crystal. That dragon was worth more than something from the basic set. Plus, red eyes would look hella tacky on a phoenix dragon. You don't deserve that dragon, I thought fiercely. Neither of you. Once everyone showed they were ready, Lennox stepped forward holding a wooden staff. Tied at the end was a huge quartz crystal. He stood well out of reach and extended the tip of the crystal out. The phoenix dragon screeched another nails against the chalkboard cry. It twisted its head, denying what was to come. Trying to break free. "Hold still!" Lennox barked out in a whip-crack voice that made me jump. The phoenix dragon froze as if compelled. Lennox touched the tip of the crystal to its forehead. There was a snapping sound as if something broke. The dragon roared again — angry, full-throated. In a flash, its eyes were yellow vertical slits. Animalistic and enraged. It thrashed hard against the chains and only the deep-set poles kept it in place, but from here I could see chain links bending. "Now!" Lennox yelled. Terry the trainer had more bravery than I gave him credit for because he leaped forward with the ruby crystal in hand. I think he meant to press it to the enraged dragon's forehead. But before it could touch there was a 'pop' sound, like a soap bubble exploding. The phoenix dragon was gone. "What—" I started. "It's a mimic!" one of the men yelled. "Run!" That was when I realized the phoenix dragon wasn't gone. It had been replaced by a tiny emerald green house-dragon, no bigger than Commodore. It hovered in place, wings flapping so fast they were nearly invisible. The men scrambled from it as if it were a living horror. I didn't understand… … Until the mimic changed again. Another soap bubble pop and the tent all but exploded as a huge form erupted into a very small space. Olive gray color, with warty brown scales covering its body like armor plating, and a cruel snapping turtle like muzzle. It turned around, stub tail sending men flying right and left. The mimic dragon was free. Free of the bonding crystal. Free of the chains, having shed them the moment it turned small. Now it just needed to escape and be free of these people. It turned and dashed forward faster than something that size should move. And Jane and I were right in its path.