“Young ones, we await your battle on the bridge.” Blood Claw stated, giving Darin and odd look. Scorch looked ready to attack him, then and there, outside of the no-death zone. Despite that, all the other whelps were looking at Darin. He hadn’t been one to back down from a fight, nor had he been one to go on a fools errand.

“At least they didn’t rule out my flames.” Darin stated, working hard to keep his voice relaxed. Being closer in size to a house pet than a human, he knew his odds were terrible. But he’d be damned if he let fear rule him. Without another word he walked off the ledge and spread his wings. Wary of their wording, he didn’t fly down, but glided in on a long spiral. As he landed, he called up his character sheet.

CHARACTER SHEETNAME:Whelp*RACE:DragonGENDER:MaleSUB SPECIES:PrimalLEVEL:2PROGRESS:10.00%FREE POINTS:0 Stat, 0 EvolutionHEALTH:16 / 16REGEN:HP +0.07, MP +0.45MAGIC:55 / 55STRENGTH:2~FORTITUDE:3~AGILITY:60DEFENSE:11KARMA:4RENOWN:41LOAD:5.0 / 18.95 Stones.SIZE FACTOR:0.25

A large roar sounded above him as the red whelp tried to make his way down by flying. As they watched, he managed to cross the pit on shaking wings. His landing, if it could be called that, was a bit abrupt. Maybe he knocked off a few hit points, and saved me the trouble, Darin mused.

“Are you ready to battle?” Firebrand called down. Darin gave her a nod, he hoped she could see from there and moved to his ramp.

“I’m ready to kill that little shit!” His opponent yelled back. Always such a charmer. A moment later, he took his place at the other entrance to the bridge. Darin use a few seconds to take stock of the scenario. The bridge was only 50 feet long, but it was 10 feet wide. It might have been possible to run past him, but Firebrand had warned about leaving an enemy at your back. Over, under or through then.

“Stop sitting around. Hurry up and fight.” Dark Flame urged them, putting an end to his planning phase. Darin never looked up, so he didn’t see that everyone else was watching them. Just like the when he’d been attacked in the Hatchery. Scorch had worn soot and burn marks for days after that encounter. The memory would have made him smile, if his beak could. With a steady stride, Darin began to walk toward his next painful demise.

“You’re mine now, pocket dragon.” Scorch called out as he began to rush towards Darin. Well, run may have been too generous a term for such crude and uncoordinated motion. Despite his haste, it was still near the middle of the bride when Darin came into range. Scorch skidded to a stop, reared back and pulled in a massive breath. Damn, he telegraphs worse than a boss mob, Darin mused. A moment later he hopped aside and dodged a crude fireball. It exploded somewhere far behind him, as he closed the distance. From above them, suggestions, taunts and cat calls rained down.

“Step on the midget.”

“Burn his face off!” Was that Greenie?

“Fight, fight, fight.”

“Prove yourselves…” That one sounded like Dark Flame.

“Bite him in half!”

“Show them what a real dragon can do.” Blood Claw’s voice echoed down. At first he though she was cheering on Scorch, until he remembered what she knew. Cute.

“What can I say,” Darin taunted, “they want me to bite you in half.”

“Die, snack-size.” Scorch snarled, then lunged at him. He’d aimed for Darin, but his jaws snapped shut on empty air. As skilled of an escape as it may have seemed, he was still close enough to smell sour breath and count teeth. It was hardly what one would call a margin of safety, but still it worked. From only inches away, Darin’s first attack shrouded his face in flames. He only got got a brief attack in, before Scorch yanked his face away from the fire. The numbers Darin saw in his combat log were so high, he froze in shock. His momentary pause, almost cost him a direct hit.

Attack, Critical Hit: You deal 28 damage, status inflicted Taste Loss, status inflicted Smell Loss.

“Damn…” Was all Darin managed to mumble out, before dodging another massive swipe. I only have 16 HP max, what the hell kind of attack was that? He wondered. Scorch reared back and attempted a slashing combo, as if he were some kind of giant boxer. With his low agility, he ended up looking more like a drunken bear. Still it had forced Darin to keep his distance. If the red whelp had been pissed before, he was seething now.

“Scorch his face, scorch his face, scorch his face…” Someone up top had started chanting. He wasn’t sure which whelp it was, and he didn’t have time to turn and look. Much to his joy, his foe was not so well disciplined.

“Shut up!” Scorch yelled at them, taking a moment to stare daggers at the crowd. He was used to being at the top of pecking order. This taunting and insolence, it was not something he would tolerate. In his moment of distraction, Darin made a mad dash. With his crazy agility, the smaller whelp might have made it to the other side of the bridge. But instead of running for the exit, he ran under the red whelp and began his next attack. From his chest to his tail, Darin ran beneath his own personal Goliath. For the length of the run, Darin’s head was held high. It wasn’t a simple matter of pride, it was so that he could breathe flames the entire way. Above him, the angry red whelp screamed in pain. It was already a satisfying attack run, but once he passed the sheathed nether regions, the scream went up an octave. His combat log, told all.

Attack: You deal 14 damage.

Attack: You deal 14 damage, status inflicted Burning.

Burning: You deal 7 damage.

Attack, Cheap Shot: You deal 28 damage, status inflicted A Man’s Pain.

Burning: You deal 7 damage.

“Bastard…” Scorch squeaked out, before dropping down to the ground, trying to crush him. Darin managed to dodge to the side, but not without getting kicked by a flailing leg.

Dragon whelp has dealt you 5 damage.

Burning: 7 damage.

Burning: 7 damage, target is no longer on fire.

Staggered by the blow, Darin came to a stop with his back left leg hanging out over the air. A quick flick of his tail confirmed he’d reached the edge of the bridge. For a brief moment he made eye contact with his foe, it was a terrible mistake. Both of Scorch’s eyes were bloodshot from pain. Even with the reduced pain filters, having your chestnuts over an open fire must have hurt. There was something savage, angry and desperate in the way he looked at Darin. Only one thing was certain though, an unspoken promise of pain.

“Scorch them off, scorch them off, scorch them off…” The chant echoed down from above. The chanter, no chanters had changed the words in response to the battle. A moment later, Darin was forced to jump up to dodge a lashing tail. He was careful to keep his wings closed, lest he be disqualified. As he landed, Scorch shifted his posture to bring a back leg into play as well. It seemed odd to see him attack while laying down, but he did have his reasons. Still keeping your nuts out of the line of fire. Smart, for once.

“No where left to run. I’ve got your cornered, and it’s time to pay for that.” Scorch declared, with less bravado than before. He was still angry, but he seemed to be using his head now. Over all, that didn’t bode well. Scorch kicked with his hind claws, cringing as he did. Must still hurt. Seeing no other escape, Darin jumped onto the attacking leg and ran on top of his foe. The cheering and jeering from above was distracting, so Darin did his best to tune it out. Seeing no good targets to attack from Scorch’s hip, he did the only thing that came to mind.

Mighty Peck: You deal 1 damage, status inflicted Armor Break.

Mighty Peck: You deal 2 damage, status inflicted Armor Break.

Mighty Peck: You deal 3 damage, status inflicted Armor Break.

That has got to be the most embarrassing attack in the whole damned game, Darin grumbled in his head. He’d managed to slam his face into his foe 3 times before being forced to dodge a puff of flame. He got ready to breathe fire on his foe, when a tail smacked him in the back. Stumbling forward, trying to regain his balance, his claws sank into Scorch’s wing and got tangled.

Tail whip: Dragon whelp has dealt you 6 damage.

Attack, Critical Hit: You deal 4 damage, status inflicted Wing Damage.

“Just die already!” Scorch snarled at him, his voice filled with both anger and desperation. Darin had trouble getting his claws free, which seemed to cause more pain. In a desperate move, the larger whelp began to roll over, fully intending to crush the pest on his back. Darin hit him with a quick gout of flame, but it wasn’t enough to stop the roll.

Attack: You deal 14 damage.

The stone of the bridge rolled towards him fast, at the last moment Darin opened his beak in surprise. He rolled the wrong way. Instead of being turned into a fine paste below his opponent, Darin found himself dangling over the edge of the bridge. As the rolling continued, both whelps fell to the dirt below. Much to Darin’s relief he ended up beside the red whelp, rather than under him. A system notification greeted them both.

You have fallen off the bridge into the mud and been disqualified.

. . .

Your opponent has fallen off the bridge. Update: Draw.

“Mud?” Darin asked, looking at the cracked dirt below them. As the battle was over, he took a moment to separate himself from his opponents wing.

“Sometimes it is mud. They just didn’t water it today.” Scorch informed him, sounding both tired and defeated.

“You’ve done this before?” Darin asked. The look it earned him, made him realize it was a stupid question. Scorch sighed and seemed to deflate.

“Yes. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. After I performed that badly, I doubt I’ll earn my name this week either.” He complained. It was surprising how swift he’d gone melancholy. “If this keeps up, I might just delete and make a squishy.”

“A squishy?”

“A human, an elf, you know anything small-” Scorch paused and looked at Darin a moment. “Well, smaller than most dragons and poorly armored. They tend to squish if you pounce on them.” Darin winced, recalling his episode with Greed in the hallway.

“I see…” Was all he could manage to say as he got up. Wondering about the flight rule, he began walking towards the ramp at a slow and steady pace. To his surprise, the red whelp joined him a moment later. The larger whelps jaw muscles were clenching and shifting, as if he were chewing on something. It was a few seconds before either spoke again.

“So why do they like you so much? And why do they hate me?” Scorch asked, giving a voice to his inner monologue. The question caught his companion off guard.

“I don’t-” Darin paused to gather his thoughts a moment. “I don’t think they hate you. I think they are getting pissed that you wont listen. They’ve given us a lot of hints during the trials, but it seems like only a few of us are even listening.” Darin admitted, as they began walking up the long slope.

“They did?” He asked.

“Exactly. You’ve been too busy telling them things, but you haven’t listened to them. Like they pointed out how honor is important to dragons, and you seemed to ignore them.”

“No I didn’t!” Scorch protested, his tone growing more defensive as they talked. “I’ve been doing all of this to build my honor up, and earn my reputation as a powerful dragon…”

“You haven’t been building up your honor. And you haven’t been working to protect your honor.” Darin stated with a sigh. When the larger whelp gave him a confused look, he decided to elaborate. “You’ve been focused on your Pride, not your Honor. An honorable dragon would do their best during each trial. A proud dragon would try to make themselves look the best during each trial.”

“But you didn’t even push the stone in the other trial.” Scorch countered.

“Okay, that’s true. But in my defense, I had no way to move that large of a stone. The direct test was impossible for me to complete, so I did what I could to pass the indirect test.” Darin explained.

“Indirect test?” Scorch asked. He’d never heard them mention another test in that room.

“I knew my limits. I couldn’t move the rock, and the elders all knew it.” Darin stated, getting a nod from Scorch. “So I chose not to bring Shame on myself. If I’d spent the test throwing myself at the stone, I’d have looked pathetic. You can’t argue against that one either.”

“Okay, you have a point. But how does that relate?” Scorch asked, still looking for the point to all this.

“I knew my own limits, which is a good thing. I had no choice but to fail the test. So I chose to fail it with my honor intact. Rather than fail the test and bring shame on myself. A lot of the other tests had little things like that as well.”

“Like what?” Scorch asked. It seemed that Darin had his full attention.

“For instance, I think you slipped up in the fire breathing test. Sure you managed a fireball, but your aim was terrible. You barely hit the stone, which showed that you hadn’t been practicing. And you tried to fire another and couldn’t, which told them you had no idea of your own limits. It was pathetic.” Darin told him, only realizing afterward that he probably shouldn’t have added the final judgment. Anger flared in the larger whelps eyes, but only for a moment.

“I’ll think about it…” Scorch muttered, as they neared the top of the ramp. As they neared the top of the room, they realized that everyone else had gone quiet. Every dragon in the room seemed to be looking right at Darin. Not all of them were giving him favorable looks. He realized then, that their little private conversation had been anything but private. Can I go one day, just one day, without sticking my claw in my beak?

- - - - -

Author’s Notes: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, sorry it was a little late. Yes, I know he did a ton of damage to Scorch. Size matters with endurance and endurance matters with HP. He actually did pretty well, considering that he was fighting someone with 10x his HP. Thank you for all the feedback and encouragement. It was really neat to see so many people discussing what would happen next. I always have to be careful when I reply. I don’t want to give spoilers or ruin a good surprise. Once again, thank you all for the reads, replies, follows, favorites and reviews. It helps to know I’m not just posting into the void. Advertisement Previous

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