Unlike the little dragonette who needed assistance to take her fighting stance on the pedestal, the young, human teen needed no such help. He strode over to the water's edge in his bare feet. His feathery anklets flounced as he jumped onto the water. A sheet of ice materialized the moment that he touched the surface. With his eyes closed in a concentrated effort, a pillar of ice rose to match the height of the platform. The human named Talan stepped into his place and smiled at Ori across the pool.

"He's a lot older," Fia commented to Ori's father. "Is that fair?"

The dragon shrugged his wings. "It's fine if Ori loses. They seeded the tournament and placed her last. I just want her to try her best and practice using her element."

"What does a seedy tournament mean?" Fia asked her question in an odd way due to her unfamiliarity with the concept.

"They order you based on how you're expected to perform. Normally a human does not get the first seed, but he won last year."

"That's unfair—definitely a seedy tournament," Fia judged. Her eyes narrowed with concern as she observed Ori who cowered alone on her pedestal. The tremble in the gray dragonette's frame was visible from here. Relax, Fia advised her. You're way too tense! You won't be able to cast magic that way.

Right. Ori's chest rose and fell with a big breath. She widened her stance to stop her knees from knocking together.

The gong resounded for their bout to begin. When Ori flinched, her wings flapped back with her tiny jump. In contrast, Talan was unfazed by the gong. The human watched his opponent from the corner of his eye while he focused on adjusting his clothes. He took his time rolling up the cuffs of his feathered sleeves.

Now's your chance! Fia watched with all expectation to see what a mold dragon could do.

Ori marched her giddy feet. Her mouth opened to cast a spell, but her elemental breath looked more like barf. A black and brown mass tumbled from her maw. A sickly green haze emanated from it, proving that this was, in fact, her magic. It fell immediately at Ori's feet and splattered across her claws. The clumps of mold floated in the water.

The crowd was silent aside from a few stray laughs. Most of those reactions were distinctly human rather than dragon.

Oh…. Fia looked down to her own claws, feeling a wave of embarrassment on Ori's behalf. The other dragonette had blocked herself off from telepathy out of shame.

The eyes of Ori's father bore into her intensely, most likely trying to reach her and reassure her.

Talan waited no longer and raised his hands to send out magic of his own. Although Fia had been confused when two elements were announced for him, he proved his capacity to use them simultaneously: metal and ice. The iron shards moved with the icy wind, swirling as flower petals might on a breeze. The razor-edged wind assaulted Ori, clinging off her scales and slicing a few of them open.

"Mmh!" Her scream was muffled by her closed mouth. She also kept her eyes squeezed shut tight. Ori stumbled backward and slipped off the platform.

Fia turned away so she did not have to watch the splash of water. The slap reached her ears, causing a shudder to run down her spine.

A chorus of cheers soon followed, once again more human than dragon. Since Ori was underwater, she was mostly spared this racquet. Her head resurfaced once it had quieted down. The gray dragonette's snout barely poked out of the water. Her wings lay over the surface to help her float, and her tail slinked like a snake as she swam over to the edge.

Fia hurried alongside her father to meet Ori.

The dripping dragonette clambered onto solid ground. She wrapped her wings around herself like a blanket. Ori coughed once, then tossed her head back and wailed, "I did so bad!"

"No, you did fine," her father countered.

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"Yeah, you were just nervous," Fia added. "I'm sure your magic is much more impressive, normally!"

Ori received little consolation from their kind words. Her tears soon joined the wet scales of her face as she broke down. "That was so embarrassing! My magic didn't work! Wah!"

Fia flitted her tail back and forth, wishing that she knew what to do. There isn't much to cry about, she reflected to herself, even though she often had a similar reaction to her problems several months ago. Ha… Fia thought, Viliant probably thought I was so silly for whining about every little thing back in the coliseum. A few tears still welled in her eyes as she watched Ori get cradled by her father's wings. Fia's throat burned more like acid than fire. I'll see my parents soon, she told herself.

"Up next," the announcer called as he hovered in front of the arena, "please welcome Fia the fire dragon and Marwat the nature dragon!"

Some murmurs lifted from the crowd, more so in awe at the fire element than the two which belonged to the last human. An energized thrill surged through Fia. She beat her wings a few times, lifting several feet off the ground on her own. "I'm ready!" she roared to the attendant. With his permission, she glided onto his back and jumped off when he spirited her up to the platform.

The other, lime green dragonette was old enough to fly herself to the other side. Marwat saved her roar for Fia, trying to intimidate her after the crowd seemed to favor the exotic element.

Some smoke curled over the tongue of Fia's closed mouth. A plume huffed out of her nostrils after she inhaled and released a confident breath. I'm gonna burn her out of the sky. Fia would prove to everyone impressed by the mere mention of her element that it was more than hot air. Ori's father had said that contestants liked to show off for their first round, so the pink dragonette intended to do just that.

Already, she closed her eyes and began centering her power. To do this, she used the meditative technique which Diwa had taught her. At the ring of the gong, Fia's eyes flung open. Now, she applied what Rokirith taught her. Fia let her ferocity amplify the magic in her veins.

A single jump and flap of her wings carried her higher than it normally could. Her fire energy swelled and destabilized as she rose into the air. A circle of fiery balls orbited around her in a dance which became faster and more chaotic with each rotation. They each lifted higher into the sky before they exploded, turning the sky into the color of sunset. The reds, oranges, and yellows billowed and rivaled each other for supremacy, rushing downward to meet Marwat who had just taken to the air.

Her yellow eyes flashed upward out of fright. Long before the flames reached her, Marwat recoiled from the heat. The limited bounds of the arena precluded her from flying around the inferno. The nature dragonette could also not pass through the fiery ceiling either. The flames' intensity would cause her to burn up like a dried leaf. However, the unhurried pace of the fiery descent gave Marwat ample opportunity to retreat. A quick yelp announced her decision to flee.

Marwat dove lower. Her eyes constantly monitored the flames' procession, searching for a gap which did not exist.

A pleased shiver raced down Fia's spine as she passed through the fire. Her spell made her scales feel warm and tingly. This was her next most powerful display since her encounter with the Dragon Slayer, but this time, she had achieved it in a controlled environment through conscious effort. I did it! As much as Fia enjoyed the thrill of accomplishment, she also noticed her mana reserves running low. I'm tired. She lay down on top of the platform, careful to balance herself with her wings on either side. Fia needed to make sure she did not fall off.

The layer of fire raced down the stone pillars. The flames gathered speed as they moved lower.

The green dragonette glided along the pool's surface, skimming the water with her claws and tail. Marwat laid her head down so that her chin nearly touched the water in hopes that the fire from above would let up. However, the unrelenting heat grew too intense. Marwat submerged herself underwater with nary a splash. The wavering shadow of the dragonette disappeared deeper so that she could avoid the steaming, bubbling water as the blazing fire collided with the surface.

Fia jumped up to look more lively. A victorious roar bellowed from the depths of her belly. She flailed out her wings and jumped up and down. This was her celebration, just as she had learned from Viliant in the coliseum. I did it! I did it! Ori, did you see that? Fia reached out to the awestruck mind of her new friend.

Yeah…! Ori started to pull away. You're so much better than me.

What? No— Before Fia had a chance to come up with a new compliment for Ori, the other dragonette buried her face back into her father's wing and refused to engage with her over telepathy.

Instead, a different dragon reached out to Fia while she was waiting for the guard to help her down. Fia! The unfettered emotions of Diwa's mind were a mix of anger and worry.

Hi, Fia replied abashedly. The tips of her claws scratched at the stone platform as the dragonette knew that she had nowhere to hide.