While Fia glared at Talan, he smirked back at her. Her fretful mind entertained the possibility that she might lose. Her eyes stared at the rippling pool below her. Suddenly, it dawned on her, I don't know how to swim. She had only splashed in the surf with Arenis on the beach before. While she trusted her instincts would help her learn quickly, she would rather not put them to the test.

Her fiery eyes burned holes into Talan. Even though she had closely watched all his fights, she had not discerned his weak points. The only time that she had faced a metal mage before, she had been injured and needed Viliant to defeat him for her. Further, they had run away from their encounter with an ice mage. Fia had yet to come up with a proper strategy against the teen mage of both elements. I'll just have to do what I do best, she figured, burn everything. If only she had more flammable surroundings, Fia thought the playing field would be more balanced.

The aquatic arena with stone pillars required her to get a direct hit on Talan. So, Fia wasted no time when the gong rang. The dragonette spit a flurry of fireballs, hoping to get a quick hit on him.

As if anticipating this, Talan put up a metal barricade to encompass his platform in what looked like a cube from Fia's view. The shield deflected her flames. The heat dispersed evenly across the metallic layer. Her fire magic would require much higher and more persistent temperatures before Talan would even begin to sweat inside.

While her flames were not hot enough to melt metal, Talan's wall poppled like it had turned to liquid. A circular window opened up, putting Fia in his line of sight. The human's outstretched palm commanded some ice spikes to shoot out. While they flew toward Fia, Talan closed the hole in his defenses. The metal melded back into a flawless barrier.

Fia fluttered her wings and dodged with the icicle's cool air passing by. Fia landed on the other side of her platform. If she wanted to conserve her mana, she needed to evade as many of his attacks without casting a spell as possible. When she did use her magic, she dedicated her attacks to chip away at his defenses. Fia struck the same spot on his shield, hoping the metal would bend and break.

Talan returned every assault twofold. His twin icicle spears shot out from a slit in his metal wall. On occasion, Fia had to spit a fireball to intercept the ice. Both elements collided and nullified each other. Her fire melted his ice which in turn doused her flames. Their fight settled into a slow pace, and time was not on her side.

If Fia wanted to win, she needed to do something while she still had mana left. The dragonette enveloped herself in flames. Seeing nothing but the fire red of her own magic, she charged blindly in Talan's direction. Her wings beat furiously, and the hot air helped propel her forward. Fia collided with a hard object. She landed against the pillar of his platform and began to climb.

Since Talan also needed to conserve his limited mana, he had neglected to give his cube a floor or hind walls. Fia crawled onto his platform and flapped her wings to jump over the rising, metal slab. As the dragonette lunged toward his face, Talan reacted by bracing his feet to hold his ground.

Her teeth snapped onto the metal pauldron that formed over his shoulder. The dragonette funneled the last drops of her mana into fire, hoping to leave him with a deep burn. The intense heat which she created, combined with her impact, was enough to destabilize Talan. This knocked them both over the platform. Air blustered around them as they fell. Before either of them could get their bearings, they slammed hard against the water and plunged below the surface.

Since she had the human locked beneath her, he went into the water first. Fia hoped that this would count as her win. Satisfied, she released Talan from her jaws. So too, he let his metal armor dissolve. His arms reached for the surface and his legs kicked to help him get there.

Bye, loser, she thought smugly. Fia only wished she could say that to him over telepathy. Her wings drifted open by the flow of water, and she tumbled in a swirl of bubbles. How do I swim? Is it like flying but underwater? Fia tried to glide, but when she sunk lower, she floundered her wings out of panic.

"Hurk!" A choked sound caught in Fia's throat. Some water burned her windpipe as it went through her nose. I don't like this! I don't like water! Her parents were supposed to teach her how to swim. That way, someone who cared about her could pluck her out of the water when it started to go wrong.

Diwa? Viliant? she reached out to both of her friends. Even though the later dragonet likely had less experience in water than she did, Fia still thought of him whenever she needed help. She received no response from either of her friends. With all her might, she projected, Help! to any dragon who would listen.

Before any dragon could enter the water, Talan ducked his head below the surface once more. His hands and feet now propelled him downward. The boy grabbed Fia in his arms, orientated them toward the surface, and kicked back up. Their heads bobbed into the bright air together.

Fia sputtered and coughed. She tried to dry the unwanted water in her lungs by breathing fire with her mouth closed. Alas, not enough mana remained her ley lines to do even this. A sting coursed through her nerves instead. "Ugh." Fia lay limply. Her wings naturally floated toward the surface, and the rest of her body was suspended in the water by human hands.

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Talan treaded water with his legs while he held Fia in his arms. "Are you okay?"

She could barely hear his words as both dragons and humans cheered the loudest after the grand finale of the youth tournament. This left Fia confused. Did I win? Or the human? A series of blinks blotted her vision as she realized how close she was to the human's face. The dragonette did not understand his pinched brow or the tight, lifted corners of his lips. Since he did not have a tail nor wings, the human boy looked expressionless.

"Help," she called again, her voice weak. Fia ignored Talan and looked to the dragon guard who flew immediately overhead. "Get me out of the water! And away from this human."

Her weight suddenly shifted. Fia squirmed and yelped. The drips of water rolled down her scales as Talan lifted the dragonette up.

The guard took her in his claws and freighted her back to the sidelines.

Talan clambered onto a floating piece of ice and skated over the bridge that he made.

"I have to announce the official winner," the attendant said as he stood before both Fia and Talan. His terse eyes gazed down at the dragonette. "Fia, I'm sorry to say this, but you've disqualified yourself by physically attacking your opponent."

"Huh?" Fia gasped. "But I used magic the whole time!" Her breath hitched and her heart cinched. Did I just throw away the second place prize, too? She wanted the guard to give her answers over telepathy.

Talan spoke up. "While she did make contact, she also used magic the entire time." The teenager slipped his untorn shirt over his shoulder to reveal the blackened skin of a nasty burn.

The adult dragon nodded. "Go to the healer. Congrats on winning the tournament, two years in a row."

"Thank you." Talan bowed. The boy glanced back to Fia who remained in place, unmoving. He wandered off to find the healer.

Fia was left with a sinking heart. Did I really throw away my prize money, just to hurt that human? He would not even stay injured as a dragon cast a green, glowing spell on his shoulder. The pink dragonette fumed and wanted to cry, but her eyes did not steam up like usual. She glared at the guard who did not take her side.

The announcer flounced his wings for the final time in front of the crowd. "The champion of the youth league remains undefeated. Please give a big hand and roar for Talan the ice and metal human! Fia the fire dragon takes second place. And third place is…."

"Ah." A big sigh of relief huffed past Fia's jaws. I thought 'disqualified' meant I wasn't going to win anything. Fia hobbled back over to Ori and Bagwis. She collapsed in front of them, grateful but too tired to share in their enthusiasm. Now, the dragonette only hoped the second-place award money was generous enough to buy Viliant's passage on the same ship.

***

Fia stirred with the familiar, palliative feel of nature magic. Though she did not need any injuries healed, she felt more energy return to her muscles. Fia sat up to see Ori and Bagwis hovering over her. The dragon healer, accompanied by Talan, finished casting his spell.

"That should make you feel better," the dragoness said. Her scales were peppered with the vibrant colors of lemon and lime.

"It does. Thank you."

"I'll let you celebrate with your friends," the healer said and trotted off.

The dragonette's feisty, blue eyes focused on the human who was definitely not one of her friends. "Why are you here?" she spit at Talan.

"I just wanted to say: thanks for putting up a good fight!" Talan barred his teeth, making Fia think that he wanted to start a real one. "I was hoping I'd get to face you in the tournament. That was the first time I got to see the mythic fire element! I'm sure you'll win even more times than me, if you keep it up."

Fia realized that Talan seemed genuinely happy, even if the human flashing his teeth had confused her. "Oh, um, thanks. You too?" She did not want to compliment the human who made her lose the first place prize, but Fia did not know what else to say. Her bashful tail curled around her hind feet.

Fia pouted with her wings laid flat against her sides. I suppose it was a play fight. Just like I always did with Arenis. Just like how I tried to play with that boy…. Fia's memory flitted to Citrio's dead mom whom Viliant had killed. An old wave of confusion returned to her, wondering if all humans were bad. At least Talan did not seem so bad.

"I hope we can face each other again next year." Talan extended his hand down in a fist toward Fia. His hand stayed there, dangling in front of her face like he wanted to get bitten again.

Since the pink dragonette seemed clueless, Bagwis jumped in to explain. "You touch your horns against the human's fist. It's a gesture of goodwill." He bowed his head to give Talan's knuckles a controlled bump. "Thanks for going easy on my daughter, during your first round."

"The mold dragon!" Talan exclaimed and laughed.

"Eep!" Ori moved from behind her father's leg to behind his tail. The timid dragonette did not perceive his chuckle as good-natured, and neither did Fia.

She rammed the flat of her horn against Talan's fist to make him go away.

The boy shook off his hand and bid his farewell.

All the while, Ori's demoralized mind tumbled about. I fought Talan too. But he didn't say anything to me—just laughed!

He liked your element too, Ori, Bagwis reassured his daughter. You could tell because he showed his teeth. Humans do that when they're happy.

The mold dragonette did not listen. Ori could not withhold her frustration anymore. She dashed forward as Talan walked away. "I'm gonna beat you next time!"

Talan turned back enough to show off his smile. "I'll look forward to it."

Fia nodded her chin in fervent agreement. "You have to be the one to put him in his place, next year," she told Ori. "I won't be here."

"Huh? Where are you going?" Ori opened her mouth with the tilt of her head.

"Home." Fia lifted her eyes to the sunny sky. It was high time that she collected her prize.