It turned out that getting soaked did very little to dampen Scorch’s temper. The other whelps were laughing, as he struggled to pull himself from the water. As soon as he was up on dry land, Blood Claw returned their attention to the trials. “Some of you have done well in this test. Others have demonstrated a need for more practice. The first part of overcoming one’s own weakness, is to identify it.” She let her words sink in a moment. For many of the whelps, that meant stopping to stare at the ground below them.

“Suck it up, young ones. You’ve only recently hatched and still have much to grow. We all have strengths and weaknesses. But if you let yourself be defeated by your weakness, rather than trying to overcome it. You will receive no pity from me.” Firebrand informed them. She had a unique way of being inspiring one moment, then mocking the next. The other elders must have understood her better, as none bothered to argue.

“Another fun life lesson, for our young whelps. The road ahead of you, is often just as hard as the road behind you. If you hadn’t noticed, there is but one way to leave this room.” Dark Flame stated, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. The whelps began to mumble to themselves, only the gray wyvern walked up to the ledge with haste.

“Fly, glide or step aside little one.” He told Darin, who still sat on the ledge. “I have no intention of missing my next trial.” Despite the bluntness of his statement, his tone was light hearted.

“Sure, I’ll go in a moment. Say, why don’t you try flying instead of gliding on the way back. You’ve got gliding down, so why not work on your next skill?” Darin suggested. Rather than wait for a response, he leapt into the air and began flying spirals and loops. He never caught the surprised look on the wyvern’s face, nor did he notice the jealous states of his peers. The elders glanced at one another, but none dared to speak or interrupt. A few moments later the air filled with whelps, trying not to be left behind. It was sheer chaos, cheerful cries and challenges passed between the whelps, though many such tries ended with water landings. But there was just something contagious about seeing someone fly around like a fool. All the while, the red whelp glared from the shore.

“Enough. You can play more later.” Blood Claw informed them, calling an end to the repeated attempts of some. At her command, everyone quieted down and landed. It was still a few moments, before the river returned to its normal slow murmur. “We must still see to the rest of the trials, no matter how much you enjoy this one. For our next trial, I believe we shall go to-”

“The battle room, for the Trial of Combat.” Dark Flame suggested. It was the fastest Darin ever remember seeing a room turn gloomy. A few of the elders glared at Dark Flame, but chose not to argue. The cheerful atmosphere of moments before was gone, as each of the whelps looked at one another. Most seemed nervous at the prospect of doing battle. They looked at their companions, wondering who they would have to fight. Scorch however, had perked right up. The leer he was giving Darin, made it all too clear whom he hoped to fight. Shit.

“Fine. That’s on the list you can choose from.” Blood Claw stated, far past caring what they chose next. If she was fond of standing on ceremony, today must have been a serious thorn in her side. I wonder if Greed will get stuck with her ill temper for this, he mused. “You lot, let’s go.”

The march to the next room was brisk, made worse for Darin with his smaller legs. Blood Claw hadn’t even waited for the elders to lead the way, she just marched them straight to the next room. When they arrived at the battle room, it looked odd to say the least. The upper regions, level with the door were wide enough for two adult dragons to pass. Below the lip of the pit, strange glowing symbols were carved around the walls, parting only were ramps sloped down. But no, a simple fighting pit would have been too boring. Instead the grand pit was divided into three separate regions, each large enough for a pair of adult dragons to settle their dispute. To the left, was a massive circle carved deeper into the stone. Just inside of the ring, was a decorative band of carvings. It seemed fairly familiar as many sports forced you to contend in such a space. In the middle, was something that could only represent a bridge. It stood like a stone slab, 10 feet wide by 50 feet long, though it was only 5 feet tall from the floor. A wide stone ramp at each end made it clear where you would start from. In the middle, on each side of the mock bridge was a long pit filled with dirt. Mud was intended to mark the loser that fell, but it seems no one had bothered to water it of late. The right most arena was full of staged broken rocks and jagged stones. Some had fallen over, and others had fallen together making crude arches. It reminded Darin of the harsh lands, near the old lava lake.

“Going to have some fun now.” The red whelp declared, eying the arenas with glee.

“Perhaps, or perhaps not.” Firebrand replied, as the elders finally joined them. It seemed that Tome had not come along this time.

“Good, we can finally begin.” Blood Claw stated, showing a poor mood. She turned to the whelps, and gave the abbreviated lecture. “It’ll keep it simple. You wont die in the pit, no matter how grave your wounds. You will however, lose your challenge and a bit of pride. If you haven’t figured out there are three separate arenas down there, then I’m sorry. I can heal, but I can’t cure stupid. Yes, you will have to fight in each arena unless the elders get bored again. No, you will not always choose your opponents. Traditionally, the elders select who should battle who, by pairing up those of similar stature and strengths. When they do that, we get to see your level of skill. But lets be honest, today is hardly a normal day in the trials and by all rights, we are at the mercy of their whims.”

“Ahem. Why don’t you vent less, dear Den Mother, and tell them more about each battle ground?” Firebrand suggested. The other two elders agreed, though Dark Flame was giving her dirty looks.

“As you wish, elder. The left most ring is simple, strike your opponent down or knock them out of the ring to win. The center is a bridge, simple and yet not. Often a battle is drawn out in a choke point. Be it a bridge, a narrow valley, a stone cleft or any of the like. You may do well in such a battle by holding your foe back, defeating them, knocking them off or passing them to reach their exit. However in a true battle, to simply pass your foes by would mean to leave an enemy at your back. To the right is the broken lands. Some parts of the world still hold the-” Blood Claw paused and thought a moment. After choosing her words with care she continued. “The scars of times long past. Such places, were harsh to survive in and scarce of food. The dragon who could master such places, was far more likely to survive and produce young. Thus, to not lose the value of their lessons,” she glanced at Darin from the corner of her eye, “we too practice battle in such a place. There is only one way to win in the broken lands, crush all that oppose you…”

“The rules are set by mutual agreement, or by those that oversee the battle. Now who shall we have go first?” The blue dragoness asked. The red whelp turned to her, full of excitement, but was too slow to speak.

“Lets see the little black one and the wyvern in the ring. They each have wider breath attacks and seem a fairly decent match.” Dark Flame suggested. When no one protested, Blood Claw clicked her claws and gestured towards the ring. With a sigh, the wyvern glided down with a spiral. Only to have to wait for Spikey who took the ramp. Darin was unsure of their levels, and started by watching with care. This should be good, he hoped. But alas, the two of them spent more time dodging one another’s attacks and very little time attacking.

“Enough!” Firebrand called out, ending the fight with no clear victor. She seemed disgusted that neither had even harmed the other. Darin had doubts that either would pass the test. “This is a battle grounds, not some squishy human harvest dance. Show me a real fight next, lest I fail you all.” She threatened, turning to the remaining hatchlings.

“Perhaps a match between-” Dark Flame began. Rather than angry, he seemed bored by the poor display.

“I’ll gladly show you a real battle.” Scorch stated, not even caring that he interrupted an elder. With a soft growl, he turned and stared at Darin. His pride had been injured in the last test, and it seems he was not one to let insults stand. Funny, the first one to toss insults can’t take them.

“Fine.” Darin said with a resigned sigh. He knew what Scorch had in mind. If he ran away now, he’d just look like a coward. The others looked between them, wondering if he’d gone insane. “If you wish to fight that bad, we can fight again. This time I’m level 2, so I’m sure it’ll be a better match than the last time you attacked.” Darin’s barb hit the mark. The elders looked between the two, concerned with what may have transpired before. Scorch seemed to shrink under the additional scrutiny.

“He attacked, a hatchling…in the Hatchery?” Firebrand asked, looking at Blood Claw. She paled a bit, and then nodded. “And you allowed this to occur?” The second question, seemed far more pointed.

“I was in another room, helping a whelp when he first exited the Hall of Dreamers.” The Den Mother explained, a touch of fear in her voice. The elders all looked at Darin, who nodded at their silent question.

“But then why did he hatch in-”

“Muse.” Darin stated. There was an instant look of recognition on the faces of the elders. He was beginning to wonder how many woes in life, were going to be traced back to her. He offered a shrug, wings and all, and the elders moved on.

“Very well, little red whelp.” Firebrand began, causing him to cringe. “You may have a battle with the foe you have chosen. The fact that you have selected to battle someone of half your level, has already enlightened us to your measure.”

“I-” He started to protest. His words, did not get very far.

“But we will have to make this a fair fight, so what arena shall we choose and what rules?” The blue dragoness asked. The railroading had already begun.

“Well I think we’ll have to make them fight on the bridge. The red one does seem to take things head on, rather than think them through. We must be fair after all.” Dark Flame suggested, getting in on the act. There was something savage in his tone of voice.

“But we must take into account the skill level of each. And the handicaps that would create.” Blood Claw stated, trying to keep things fair. Thank you!

“Oh, of course. Given how pathetic one of them has performed so far. We must surely even the playing field. I mean, on the bridge we can’t let this be a one sided battle. So I suggest we rule out the use of flight.” Firebrand stated, looking right at Scorch. The idea thrilled the red whelp, until he realized the implication of her words. If the little one wasn’t the pathetic one…

“Hey-” Scorch started to argue. Torn between his advantages and his pride.

“Agreed.” The other adults said in unison. Darin felt betrayed that even the Den Mother had been eager to set the odds against him. His opponent was ready to go into a rage at all the insults.

“But I-” The red whelp tried again, only to have his protest silenced by the elders.

“The match is already set. You don’t have to win, but you have to compete. So go ahead and impress us, oh biggest of the brood. With how you can hold your own against an opponent half your level and unable to fly. Unless you intend to withdraw from the rites, that is…” Firebrand told him, her voice dripping with venom.

Darin had to close his beak, he’d not even realized he had left it hanging open. The odds were stacked against him, the match was anything but fair. Or was that the point? If Scorch won, he would still look pathetic for picking on a weaker foe. If Darin won, then Scorch would suffer a great deal of shame. There was just one problem that came to mind.

He’s so angry, he’s going to fucking kill me…

- - - - -

Author’s notes: Keeping it short as I should have gone to sleep an hour or two ago. I didn’t cover as much as I liked, but I did move the story ahead. So I’m a bit torn on this chapter. On the other hand, the ending felt natural in my own impish ways. Thank you for the feedback and encouragement all.