Draco’s heart pounded in his chest as the monstrous beast towered over him. Beneath it stood Ken, his arms crossed and a smirk in his face. Ken lifted his right arm up into the air, fist clenched, and the T. rex looked down and clamped its jaws around his forearm before vanishing in a whirlwind of sand. Ken now stood with his Spirit equipped; a bone white shield covering from his hand down past his elbow in the shape of the tyrannosaur’s skull, a sword handle extruding from the top of it, above his right hand. Ken grabbed the handle and pulled the blade out; a short sword with a sword-breaker back edge.
“Let’s go, kid!” He shouted to Draco, still smirking. “Show me just how weak I am!”
Draco placed both hands on his sword’s handle, tightening his grip and taking a deep, steadying breath. He knew he had to close the distance and try to catch this guy off guard.
“Right, here we go, Draco,” he said, both to himself and the Spirit. “Wyvern Rush!”
Draco shot forward, a trail of flames in his wake. He brought the sword up over his shoulder and swung. Ken’s shield came up and deflected the blow, the combined power of both of their strikes throwing Draco up into the air. The first-year backflipped from the momentum and landed on his feet, sword pointing forward in a charging stance.
“Wyvern Rush!” He shouted again with another lunge straight ahead. He thrust the sword forward and again met the shield, only to freeze in place. Ken swung up with the back edge of his sword and, with a flick of his wrist, yanked Draco’s blade from his hands. He then rushed in and planted his shield arm into Draco’s face, sending the boy flying back. Draco hit the ground and tumbled a few times.
“Well, kid,” Ken shouted as he tossed the sword back towards Draco where it landed tip first in the ground a few feet from him, “you want to keep going? Or are you ready to apologize?”
Draco pushed himself up to his knees and spat out some blood.
“Like hell I’m done,” he said, getting to his feet and pulling the sword out of the ground.
Up in the stands, Saphira placed her palm against her face.
“That moron,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Does he not realize that he is the one in the wrong here?”
“Not likely,” Arius said, calmly observing from beside her. “He has that noble’s pride that keeps him from seeing things from another’s perspective. He has most likely never had to reap the consequences of his words.”
“Well, he is reaping them now.” Elizabeth said as she hugged Jack close.
“I fear what may transpire when Sir Pendra is taken with us to public congregations,” Sebastian said, shaking his head helplessly. Willow tilted her head in thought for a moment.
“Muzzle him?” She suggested out loud, causing the entire squad to snicker.
Draco roared in anger as he swung his flaming blade over and over, striking from every angle he could manage, but no matter where he attacked, Ken kept blocking, not budging an inch as his sword and shield kept intercepting each attack. The sword’s breaker caught his blade again, pulling his weapon off to the side, and the shield bashed into his face once, twice, three times before Draco’s knees buckled and he dropped to the ground, blood running from his broken nose and cracked jaw. He panted heavily, his frustration mounting as Ken sheathed his sword.
“Come on, man,” he said, sounding almost bored, “just give up and apologize already. You should be able to tell by now that you can’t win.”
“No way…” Draco growled through the blood. “I am not done, not yet.”
Ken’s eyes flashed angrily.
“Are you that determined to spit on the memories of my fallen friends?” He said, raising the shield up and gripping the sword handle again.
“No,” Draco said as he rose back to his feet. “I just refuse to lose anymore.” In his mind flashed the face of Kled, then Saphira. “You hear me?” He shouted, taking a new stance, “I will not lose again!”
Flames erupted from the ground, swirling around him as the sword’s blade roared to life. Draco charged forward as Ken unsheathed his weapon. The first-year spun a full 360 degrees around, the flames twirling and intensifying with his movement. He closed the gap between him and Ken and swung with all his strength.
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“Draken Claw!”
As Draco slashed at Ken, the flames from his sword split to form a three-pronged claw of fire; Ken blocked the ones aiming at his face and chest, but the lower one struck him in the thigh. The third-year slid back a short ways from the hit and the stands went silent in shock. Draco panted, struggling to stay on his feet as he stared at Ken, who stared back in surprise.
“Like I said,” Draco said between breaths, “I’m not done yet.”
“Unfortunately for you, I am.” Ken said, irritated. He cocked back his right arm as the ground beneath them started to shake. Dust and sand began to swirl around Ken’s shield, soon joined by rocks and large chunks of dirt. The earthen debris formed into the monstrous head of the tyrannosaur, and Ken dashed forward.
“Feast of the King!” Ken shouted as the monster’s mouth opened, letting out its ear splitting roar before slamming into Draco, sending him violently flipping through the air before he crashed into the wall behind him with a sickening crunch.
“That’s enough!” Professor Horn shouted as Draco dropped to the ground, his eyes rolled up in his head as his sword returned to the lizard’s form, which walked up to his face and gently nudged him. “The winner is Ken Granite!”
The stands erupted in cheers as Willow and the others rushed down to check on Draco. Willow rolled him onto his back as Elizabeth knelt down beside her and started looking over him, feeling his neck, ribs, and placing her head against his chest.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him,” Ken said, walking over to them. The lizard and Jack both growled at his approach. The group looked at Ken cautiously, both Arius and Saphira taking a defensive stance. Ken ignored them and looked down to Willow. “When he wakes up,” he said, pointing at Draco, “tell him I don’t want to hear his apology until he actually means it.”
With that Ken turned and walked away, his sword and shield vanishing from sight. Elizabeth finished her check and sighed.
“Nothing serious. From the look of it, that third-year held back just enough to not actually cause any lasting harm.”
“That’s because he didn’t mean to hurt him,” Arius said, watching Ken walk away, “he only meant to teach him a lesson.”
“Oh, a lesson was indeed taught this day,” Sebastian said, posing with his arms crossed, an open hand resting against his face.
“Question is, did Dumbass here actually learn anything?” Saphira asked, looking down at Draco’s bloodied face.
“That depends on if that pride of his will let him,” Arius said as Willow gently wiped the blood from Draco’s face.
~
Draco slowly opened his eyes, feeling his head pounding in agony as his sight took in the underside of Willow’s chest. He slowly sat up from her lap and held his throbbing skull as she opened the pouch and offered him a potion.
“I lost again, didn’t I?” He asked, ignoring the potion. Willow did not answer, instead pushing the bottle into his cheek.
“Drink,” she said, pouting in frustration. Draco closed his eyes and took the bottle from her hand, pulled the cork with his teeth and downed it in one go, cringing from the taste. As he set his hands in his lap, Willow finally answered him.
“Yes, you lost. He completely pounded your butt.”
Draco shook as his grip on the empty bottle tightened.
“Damn it…” he whispered, his bottom lip quivering.
“Draco?” Willow asked, leaning forward in concern. The bottle shattered in his hand as tears began to run down his face.
“Damn it!” Draco cried, hugging his knees to his chest and placing his head against them. “Why am I still so weak? I am a Pendra! My family’s lineage is that of strength! Yet I keep losing to mere commoners!”
Willow puffed out her cheeks and chopped Draco on the back of the head, bringing an end to his sobbing as he rounded on her.
“What the hell was that for?” He snapped before she grabbed his nose and squeezed it.
“You are being a stupid head!” Willow retorted, twisting his nose before letting it go. Draco winced as he touched it while Willow huffed her chest out, arms crossed. “You forgot your promise, didn’t you?” She asked angrily. “The vow you made that day in the forest!”
“I what?” Draco asked, confused as he tenderly checked if his nose was broken again. Willow’s eyes flashed angrily and she whipped her arm out, pointing at his Spirit.
“You disgrace him and you disgrace yourself!” She snapped, and Draco looked to his Spirit, locking eyes with it as his words came back to him.
“From this day forward, I denounce the name Athurious Pendra! I shall live my life by the name of my Spirit, until the day that he deems me worthy of my Household's name once more!”
“That’s right…” he said, reaching out and picking up the lizard. “I completely forgot about that. I did not just give up the name Athurious. I also gave up my family name too. I have kept acting like my old self because I keep thinking myself a Pendra. But I cast off my name the day you told me yours.”
The lizard blinked at him and stuck its tongue out the side of its mouth.
“I am sorry, buddy. I am Draco. Nothing more.”
“People will still call you Pendra, and Maria will never call you Draco,” Willow said, smiling. Draco nodded and set the lizard on his head.
“Let them.” He said, his eyes red, yet his lips spread in a smile. “I will earn back my right to my name one day. Until then, I will be as a commoner. I will be humble, earnest, and…” He turned to Willow as she started to double over in laughter. “What’s so funny?”