Commodore—or was it Jane? — stood across the circle from us.

You know what? This was confusing. Though I was in a deep rapport with Tiberius, I could distantly feel my own mind and body. In a true emergency, Tiberius could override me. So, I was going to refer to my opponent by their dragon's name. It made the most sense.

Anyway, the moment Sienna's countdown ended, Tiberius and I rushed forward with a surge of energy.

Having four perfect legs was amazing. We didn't have to think about where to place each step or watch for uneven ground. Tiberius' legs simply worked, and they worked well.

Before I could headbutt Commodore, the little house dragon flicked into the air. Tiberius had to pull us up sharply to avoid charging straight out of the circle. Ten seconds in and we had almost already lost.

Our giant ears caught the sound of a wing flap right behind us. We turned and leaped to the side just in time for Commodore to sail past.

The little dragon must have looped in the air to come at us that fast. Commodore turned again, practically flying vertically to avoid breaking past the circle.

With two flicks of his wings, he had righted himself and was lining up to strike again.

Damn it. No one warned me that we were facing an acrobat! Tiberius didn't have wings.

With my annoyance, fire rose in our belly.

... Ohhh.

The knowledge that we could use a fire bite on our opponent passed back and forth between Tiberius and me in a second. With a burst of understanding, Tiberius knew why I had him light the end of the stick on fire. And why I might ask him to do it again.

There were definitely some benefits to linking with your dragon to duel. After this match was all said and done, I was going to buy my own quartz crystal just to sit and have a chat with my dragon.

But now, we had a duel to win.

Commodore was still in the air, flipping back and forth teasingly just out of reach.

Tiberius wanted to leap after the little house dragon, but I told him to wait.

Commodore was trying to draw us in. So let's give him what he wanted — at a price.

Tiberius curled and jumped at the other dragon. But he came in at a low arc that took us forward instead of up high.

The feint worked.

The moment our paws left the earth, Commodore clapped his wings together. A wave of air rolled over us, so strong that our ears were pinned back against our skull. We were saved by remaining low to the ground. If we had made the full jump up high, that blast would have knocked us out of the circle for sure.

Tiberius took over as he was used to his nimble body. He twisted into a roll that took us under and through the edge of the wind blast. Then, as the worst of the wind passed us by, he leaped straight up.

It was the perfect moment. Commodore staggered in mid-air to regain height after the wind blast.

Don't let him recover, I thought.

Heat rolled again through our belly, exploding out in a tiny burp of fire as we clamped our jaws just below the little dragon.

I think, had Tiberius wanted to, he could have caught Commodore in his teeth. But the idea was to scare him.

The clack of teeth and the heat were enough. Commodore squeaked in alarm and jinked to the right, flapping in a wide arc that took him around the very edge of the circle. He was gaining speed and intended to come at us full out with claws extended.

Tiberius' instincts were to jump away from him again and come about with a snap of teeth. But that was clear that's exactly what Commodore and Jane wanted.

No. We would stand our ground.

I had never got the chance to play a full game of baseball. For some reason, no one wanted the girl with the gimp leg on their team. Whenever we played softball in P.E, I was allowed to step up to bat while the coach made someone else my designated runner to go to the bases.

But I had at least been able to swing the bat, and I was able to transmit that idea to Tiberius.

We firmed our stance, and just as it looked like Commodore was about to strike, we whipped around and struck the little dragon with our foxlike tail.

Commodore was struck dead on, hit the ground, rolled once, and skidded to a stop.

Commodore got to his feet, looked down, and gave a bizarre cheep that sounded like a curse word when he realized he had been knocked out of the circle.

"He's out!" Sienna yelled, a moment later. "Harmony and Tiberius win!"

We won?

No, better: We won.

Tiberius and I did a happy little fox trot. But the duel was over and it was time for us to say goodbye.

There were no words exchanged between us. Mostly, it was mutual happiness and affection and a sense of "We're awesome!" and "See you soon!"

Then I followed the quartz connection back to my own body.

With a feeling like exhaling, or stepping out of a satisfying warm bath, I fell back into my own skin. Instantly, the world brightened again into its usual rainbow of colors.

I blinked and dropped my arms where they had been cupping the quartz crystal.

Now that I was all the way here, I also noticed that I had notifications.

Ding!

Fennec "Tiberius” has reached level three.

Tiberius, who still stood in the middle of the ring, shook his head. His giant ears flapped each way.

Then, with a happy "cheep!" he turned and leaped into my arms.

I caught him, laughing, and staggering back on my bad leg. But it didn't matter now. "You were amazing, Tiber!"

Tiberius chirped in agreement and licked my cheek with a hot little tongue.

"You were both pretty good."

This had come from Jane who walked over to us. Commodore sat on her shoulder. The prim little house dragon had a sheepish expression on his face.

Jane, too, was smiling wryly, "I guess we got a little overconfident there."

Yup, but their loss was my gain. I didn't want to rub it in.

"I've never experienced anything like that before," I said with a shake of my head. "I wouldn't trade Tiberius for anything in the world, but it would be nice if he had wings. Hell, if I could fly with Tiberius, I wouldn't spend time in dueling arenas."

The vague lines of stress around Jane's eyes lifted. Now, her smile was more natural. "Who says that I don't fly with Commodore? We go out almost every morning before my duties for the day."

"So do Ferdinand and I," Sienna said. "He can fly a little, but he's a swimmer at heart. Have you ever been underwater for minutes at a time? It's like there's an entire forest in the deeper ponds."

"No, I've never tried SCUBA diving," I said absently, imagining it. No one in their right mind would lend a poor foster kid like me expensive diving equipment.

The girls gave me odd looks, but Jane recovered first. "Anyway, that was a good match."

She extended her hand. I did too, and we pumped our joined hands once before releasing.

"You too."

Jane looked at me mischievously. "Best two out of three?"

"Actually, I have another proposition," said a deep, male voice.