“ What did I just do? And why are people cheering for what I did? ” Tekana thought. They liked seeing innocent creatures die for the sake of the “ Magnificent Runes ”. “ What an excellent sacrifice, was it not? ” The High Priest asked her. And the reaction from the crowd was astounding to Tekana. She had committed murder. And they were cheering. She then after feeling guilty for what she had done, and as pale as a pufferfish, she walked off the altar, left the temple, and returned home.

Once she got there, she stormed to her room and got back in her normal clothes ( which was an old brown shirt, dirty black boots, and dark blue pants. ). Once she was done with that, her parents arrived. “ Tekana, where are you? We want to talk to you! ” her mother shouted. “ NO! You just want to tell me who I’m sacrificing tomorrow! ” Tekana yelled from her room. “ If you don’t come down here, then I’m going up there! ” her mother yelled back, becoming quite annoyed. “ Then do it! ” Tekana screamed.

After arguing for a few hours going back and forth, back and forth, until finally, “ THAT’S ENOUGH! ” Her mother yelled from the top of her lungs. “ I’m coming up! I just want to tell you something. ” Her mother said coming up the stairs. Then a few moments later, her mother opened the door, her face was bright purple from her anger. “ You are going to listen to me! The way you acted before the sacrifice was unacceptable! And if you don’t shape up, then I’ll dis-own you… ” Her mother said with her tone rising. “ Fine! I don’t want to live here! It’s horrible and if I could leave Skyflame, then I would. ” Tekana seethed. “ You wouldn’t dare. No one can leave this place, and even if you could, you would be dead before you reached the first Floating island. ” Her mother recoiled. “ Then I’ll go live on the streets, me and Yukata could get by. ” Tekana replied with a burning anger in her voice. “ Then you and your dragon are leaving, right now! Get your things, and leave. We don’t want you in our lives anymore! ” Her mother said with absolute superiority. “ Wha- what?! ” Tekana asked, dumbfounded. “ Go, now! ” Her mother said again.

After that second response,Tekana was still starstruck about the fact that her parents actually dis-owned her, but then Tekana got her pack, gathered her things, and then went to the stables to get Yukata. But when she got there, Yukata wasn’t there. Tekana went into a panicking frenzy. She was thinking of places she could have gone, but then she saw her. She saw Yukata. In a cage. On a carriage. Heading towards the temple. And there were lots of people going to the temple. Her former parents as well. “ Of course! It was them! They’re going to make a second sacrifice because of me! They gave Yukata away to the Priests! ” Tekana realized instantaneously. Tekana ran to the temple. She ran to the temple as fast as she could. She could not let Yukata get sacrificed. Once she got there everyone was inside. She had to act fast inorder to save Yukata. “ Of course! ” Tekana realized. “ They haven’t brought her out yet! I need to get to the holding cells! ” She thought to herself with utmost desperation.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Once she got there, the Priests were just barely rolling Yukata’s cage onto the altar. “ Yukata!!! ” Tekana shouted. The dragon replied with a roar of desperation. Tekana started running toward the altar. “ Stop her! ” The High Priest screeched. Two Priests appeared right in front of her. She ran up, took her knife out of her pocket and stabbed the first Priest in the gut, and the second Priest responded with a spell that froze her entire body, head to toe. She was then lifted into the air by the Priest with a hand gesture going up. “ Uh-oh… ” Tekana thought. The Priest then cupped their hands and started pulling them the opposite way from each other. After that began Tekana could feel her arms being ripped off her body. She could feel her skin being pulled apart. “ Aghhhhh!! ” Tekana screamed, she could see the blood dripping out of the base of her shoulders.

When she thought it was the end, when she thought she and her dragon were going to die, clapping was heard. It didn’t come from the crowd, it came from the gate of the holding cells“ Well, well, well… killing innocent children and dragons, are we Goaden? ” A strange man wearing a tuxedo and a mask that only covered their eyes said. “ It’s none of your business, Satire. ” The High Priest said. “ It’s Yuta, now. And I believe that I need that girl and her dragon. ” Yuta said. “ Then you’re going to have to take them by force. ” The High Priest said. “ Okay then, pick a card, any card, and I choose this one! ” He threw a Jack of Clubs at the Priest holding Tekana up, and it exploded upon impact, knocking the Priest out and dropping Tekana from the air. He caught her and threw another card at Yukata’s cage and then the cage split in half.

Yukata was free, but she didn’t know what was happening, but she did know that the man needed some help, so she ran over to him and gestured for him to get on her back. He said “ Thank you ” and hopped on. Once he was on her back she took off and flew through the roof. They landed at a shop Yukata didn’t recognize and went inside. He then told Tekana to get some rest. And Yukata laid there by the cot waiting for her to wake up, because she had fainted upon falling. Now all they can do is wait…