by Katie Cherry
“So, what happens now?” Nathan asks. “Will they let us recover before we have to keep training?”
“Yes,” Thaddeus responds. “In a way. You have the rest of the day to recuperate, and then you three will go to the square to receive your prizes because you are the winners of the First Challenge. Then you will have two weeks until the next Challenge, during which time you will be training with Vladimir and I. The details won’t be finalized until next week, however, so in the meantime, we will focus on general preparations. Any other questions?”
“Yeah,” Lloyd finally chimes in. “Can I hang out with Crystal and Nathan today? I don’t have anyone to hang out with anymore… provided you’ll have me, of course,” he adds to Nathan and I.
“Of course!” I respond with a soft smile. My heart hurts for him, having just lost his partner in an unfair and bloody Challenge.
“And,” he continues, “What will become of me in the Games? I’m out now that my partner is… gone… right?”
“Yes,” Thaddeus replies, sympathy in his voice. “I’m afraid you are now disqualified. You will, however, still be required to stay here and observe the rest of the Games and continue to work on finding your Gifts, although it seems you have already discovered one. Congratulations on your shapeshifting abilities! Ah, and you are, of course, welcome to do whatever you like for the rest of the day, the contestants are not required to stay separated.”
After that, Thaddeus leaves, and we get dressed and head out into the Village. We get far more attention than we’d like, so we quickly escape to the woods. I promise myself that I’ll leave if anything suspicious happens or if we get too drowsy this time.
We find a patch of trees to sit under, and for a while, we just lay next to each other in companionable silence. The grass underneath us is soft and green, the trees above us tall and beautiful, and the sky is free of clouds. Birds dance above our heads, singing happily. Everything is peaceful.
It feels too perfect and surreal after what we’ve now been through, and it sets me on edge. Before what happened in the arena, I would have no problem relaxing, but now… I just can’t let go of my worries. I can tell that my companions feel the same way- especially Lloyd.
We soon get up and begin moving deeper into the forest, exploring since we can’t seem to sit still anymore. None of us have the heart to explore, though, despite Nathan trying to cheer us up. He brings me some flowers he finds and gives Lloyd a cool looking rock as well. We smile and thank him, but we are still numb from the traumatizing experiences that we went through just the day before. He gives up after a while.
Around noon, we get hungry but have no desire to go back to the village. Luckily, Lloyd thought ahead and had brought a backpack with food in it, so we have a little picnic. While we’re eating, some birds fly down and begin harassing us for food. We toss pieces of bred at them, calming them momentarily- until other birds flock us, fighting to get the bread. Laughing, we quickly put the rest of the food back into the backpack and run from the birds, hands over our heads. After a minute or two, they leave, resigning themselves to the fact that they wouldn’t be getting any more food.
Turning, we find ourselves at the mouth of a vast cave. We impulsively decide to explore it. It’s dark inside, but I brought my glowing sword, so we can at least see immediately around us. Feeling reckless, Lloyd begins yelling into the cave, daring anything living in it to come out and face us. Nathan and I soon join in. When we stop, it takes a while for the echoes to finally come bouncing back to us. The cave must be enormous. The light from my sword doesn’t hit any walls or a ceiling, so we can’t really tell just how big it is.
A few minutes later, an animal’s cry comes echoing from deeper inside the cave. We don’t know what it is, but we’re ready to find out. The sound comes again. It sounds like something is wailing and mourning. It also sounds young.
After a while, the sounds suddenly cease. I’m then abruptly knocked onto my back as something hard flies into my stomach. My sword spins away and my breath comes out of my lungs in one massive gasp from the impact. Lloyd grabs it before it slips into a hole in the floor of the cave. I hear Nathan saying something, but I’m busy with whatever just rammed into me. Cautiously reaching up with my hands, I feel something scaly, yet soft; similar to a snake. I then hear the mourning sound again, only much softer. It’s coming from the creature on my chest. I call Lloyd over to me. When the sword is close enough, I can make out the figure in my arms; and so can Nathan. He gasps.
“It’s… it’s a baby dragon!”
I nod, looking at the poor thing. It’s so small, I figure it must have been born not too long ago- maybe even as recently as the last day or two. It seems to be heartbroken; devastated. I sit up, taking it off my chest and setting it in my lap. The light of the sword sparkles off the dragon’s bright blue eyes as it gazes up at me. My heart instantly melts. It’s adorable, and clearly in need of help.
Lloyd then speaks up. “You know we can’t keep that thing, right? You can’t exactly march back into the Village carrying a dragon in your arms. Not only would Vlad never let you keep it; it’s a dragon. It’s not a pet in the first place. In fact, knowing how Vlad has been acting lately, he would probably put it to death right in front of you just to spite you.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” I plead, holding tight to the baby, which croons as if agreeing with me. “I can’t just leave it here to die!”
“Sure… but maybe it wouldn’t die,” Nathan says, joining the conversation. We look at him, confused. “It has to have a mom, right? I know the dads don’t always stick around to raise their kids, but Thaddeus said the moms do. So, let’s find the mother.”
“Yeah,” Lloyd agrees. “She’s probably just a little further in.”
I sigh, reluctant to let the baby go. “Wait,” I say, realizing something. “If the mom’s close, then wouldn’t she have attacked us by now?”
“Maybe she didn’t notice us yet,” Nathan suggests unconvincingly. “…Or maybe she can’t for some reason. Maybe it’s stuck somewhere.”
“Either way, we should find it and give that dragon back,” Lloyd says, settling it. I stand up, cradling it in my arms, and join my friends as they begin walking again. The little dragon settles into my arms, rubbing its head against my arm happily. I should name it so I don’t keep calling it… well, it. I think for a bit, going through names until I think of one that fits. Finally, I decide to name him Eric.
We find the mom only a few yards away from where the baby tackled me. As we draw closer, the light from the sword reveals the huge, unmoving heap of scales. Fearlessly walking forward, I gently lay my hand on her side. Nathan and Lloyd gasp, taking an instinctive step towards me. Her side is rapidly growing cold. She couldn’t have been dead for long. A terrible smell then reaches my nose. Gagging, I look to the right and see a bloody heap of raw meat.
“What is that?” Lloyd asks, covering his nose and mouth with his hand. “That doesn’t smell like fresh game should.”
“Maybe it was poisoned somehow?” I guess. “Whatever is wrong with it, it’s probably what killed the mom.”
The saddest part of the whole scene, however, we see only after moving around the body and take note of what she’s curled protectively around. Lying close to her belly are the two unmoving bodies of Eric’s siblings- they are different shades of green, although both are pretty close to Eric’s dark coloring. Distraught, I look away. Poor little Eric. He must have survived thanks to being the runt and being the last to get any food. He leaps out of my arms and races over to one of the small bodies, nudging it with his snout. He turns and looks at me pleadingly, but there’s nothing I can do. I pick Eric back up and gently pull him away from his dead family.
When we leave the cave, we see that the sun is nearing the horizon. I still have baby Eric in my arms, although I don’t know what to do with him since, as pointed out by Lloyd earlier, I can’t take him with me.
“I know!” I suddenly excla
im. “I’ll find a smaller cave closer to the Village where I can hide Eric. I can come and feed him, take care of him, and everything! I’ll come every morning, afternoon, and night!”
“Eric?” Nathan questions.
“I don’t know…” Lloyd slowly says, contemplating. “You could easily be caught. Not only that, but do you really think that the drag- Eric- will stay put? Plus, you don’t even know what it’ll eat.”
“Oh, stop being so pessimistic,” I laugh. “I’ll figure it out. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure that no one follows me when I leave. No one will even notice.”
“Yeah…” Nathan adds, slowly nodding. “And I’ll cover for you when you leave.”
“Really?” I say, pleased and surprised.
“Really,” he smiles at me.
Lloyd looks back and forth between Eric and I. “Sure, but that’s the easy part. How are you going to get him to stay in the same spot until you come back?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I reply. “And the only thing I could think of is that I could try to talk to him with my mind.” They both stare at me, but I block them out, focusing on the dragon in my arms. Kneeling, I set Eric on a rock in front of me. He cocks his head and looks at me curiously with his big blue eyes. Smiling, I send my thoughts toward him like I had when I had transformed into a dragon and couldn’t speak with my mouth.
I’m not sure if it will work, but I try anyway. “Eric?” I think to him, hoping he with both hear and understand me. “Eric, can you hear me?” His eyes widen and his wings flutter. I feel his thoughts in my head. Since he’s a baby, he can’t talk with words yet, but I can feel what he wants to tell me. He’s happy with his name, and glad that I’m here with him. I then feel a sudden, intense hunger. It takes me a minute to realize that it’s Eric’s hunger that I’m feeling.
Turning to Nathan, I ask him to get me a strip of meat left over from our lunch, as well as the water bottle with milk in it. He pulls them out and hands them to me, looking more than a little skeptical. With meat in one hand and milk in the other, I extend both hands to Eric and offer him the strip of meat. He sniffs it, then pushes it away. I thought he might do this, since he’s probably too young to have meat, so I show him the bottle of milk.
Putting this beneath his nose, he sniffs at it, then licks it, trying to get to the milk inside. Laughing, I ask Lloyd to get me a plate. When he does, I fill it with milk and set it in front of Eric. It’s warm now, but he begins licking it up just the same, much like a cat. When he finishes, he happily climbs back into my lap and falls asleep. His thoughts tell me that he’s content and happy. Looking up at my companions, I see that Lloyd has given up. He sighs.
“Alright, fine. Maybe you can do this. …At least until the next Challenge. What are you going to do then?” I look at him, pleading with my eyes. He catches on to the question I’m trying to ask him.
“What? No! No no no no no! I’m NOT going to take care of that thing while you go on the Challenge! I’m not going to risk getting in trouble for a wild animal!” I continue to plead with him with my eyes. He finally gives in, sighing. “Huh. Fine, you win. But ONLY until you get back from the next Challenge. After that, we’ll have to see.”
“Thank you!” I exclaim, jumping up to give him a one-armed hug while still holding Eric in the other. He sighs again.
“Well, let’s just find a new home for the little guy- and fast!” I look up and see that the sun has almost touched the horizon. We have less than an hour left before we’re supposed to be back at the Town Square. We dash down the hill and through the trees. A five-minute walk from the edge of the trees, I finally find the perfect little cave. Setting Eric down, I wake him up and tell him, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back in the morning. Okay? Will you stay here until I come back?” To make sure he understands, I also send an image of me walking towards him once the sun has come up. With a sleepy yawn, I sense from his thoughts that he will wait.
Running with Nathan and Lloyd, we make it back to the Square in the nick of time. Panting, I stop before entering the crowd, attempting to fix my frizzled hair. Then, taking a deep breath, I plunge into the crowded Square with Nathan and Lloyd right behind me. The Villagers instantly identify me, and they all start talking at once, offering congratulations and asking questions. I ignore them, seeing Vlad coming up behind them. The crowd parts for him. Luckily, right then, Jake and Kat walk into the Square and are mobbed, leaving no one to pay attention to us.
Except for Vlad, that is. Coming up to me, he reaches into my hair and pulls out a leaf. Gulping, I look him in the eye. “I see that you went into the forest, although you have been specifically told to stay away from there, am I right?” He smiles sickeningly.
“I… um… I didn’t go very far, plus Nathan and Lloyd were with me…”
“Perhaps,” he sneers. “But now it’s time for you to get your prize for winning the First Challenge,” he says, leading Nathan and I up the stairs on the far right of the state with Nathan at my left. Lloyd sits next to him, then Kat and Jake. On the other side of the stage, Vlad, Thaddeus, and Zelda sit down. Stepping up to the front of the stage is Nehru, dressed all in dark purple- the color of the winning team. Looking over at the advisors, I see that they are all color coded to their team as well. Vlad is wearing blue since he advised Lloyd’s team. Thaddeus is wearing a dark purple suit, and Zelda is wearing orange. So Kat and Jake must have gotten the third egg. And their color is orange… I’ll have to remember that.
Clearing her voice, Nehru silences the crowd. “Welcome, one and all, to the First Challenge Rewards Assembly! We will start off by introducing your three winning teams! Please come up here with me… Crystal Shay!” My legs wobbling, I stand and walk over to stand next to Nehru. Smiling, she puts her arms around my shoulders comfortingly. She smells strongly of lilacs.
“Well, Ms. Shay. That was very impressive out there, I must say. Especially with the werewolves! You were so brave! Please, tell us. How did you feel? Were you even scared at all? Because it sure didn’t look like it!” she chuckles.
I swallow hard, trying to find my voice. “I… well, I certainly didn’t feel fearless. I was scared to death. I just did what I had to do, I guess.” Nehru smiles.
“You sure did, and you were, once again, very impressive. I’m sure all the girls out there would love to be as brave as you were- am I right?” At this, there’s a surprisingly loud cheer from the crowd. I can’t believe that many people look up to me. “And boys… who wouldn’t want her? Pretty as a flower, smart, brave, talented, determined, and loyal.” At this, there is an even louder cheer. I’m blown away. I’ve never been liked before, but here… everyone seems to. They don’t even know that I’m supposedly their lost Princess, either. I’m overwhelmed for a moment, but shove it down so I can concentrate.
“Thank you, Ms. Shay. You may have a seat. And will your partner now come up? Nathan Anderson!” I stumble back to my seat as Nathan stands and does pretty much the same thing I had to with Nehru. After him, Lloyd goes up. I was too numb to really hear what was going on with Nathan, but I’m a little better now, so I listen to what questions she asks Lloyd. “Well, Mr. Jewkes. That was quite an amazing performance there. I’m sure you also have many admirers now. Am I right?” The crowd explodes even more than it had for me. When they quiet down, Nehru continues. “And when Miss Hernandez died right in front of you… that must have been so hard.”
“Yes,” he responds, looking at the ground. He speaks so quietly, the mic has a hard time picking up his voice, so everyone goes silent and leans in, trying to catch his words. “Yes, it was hard. I had grown to know Roxane better than I thought I would in such a short time. We had even become friends. And I thought… I thought that maybe, after this whole thing was over that we could… still be friends.” His voice diminishes even more, and we all strain to hear. “But then… that monster… it attacked while I was distracted by what happened to Crystal… and it…” he breaks off with a sob. Nehru lets him retur
n to his seat.
Next, she calls for Kat. I don’t listen closely to what she says, but there are some wolf whistles from the crowd. She tells Nehru that one of her Gifts had indeed grown in while she was in the Games. I discover that it was Charm. I’m not surprised. The same thing happens with Jake, and he tells her he predicts that one of his Gifts would be Strength once it officially grew in. Looking over at Lloyd, I see that he has collected himself and is no longer crying softly- which is good, because our advisors are now done being interviewed as well, and have each been given two packages- except for Vlad since there’s only Lloyd left on the blue team. The advisors place the containers in a group before us. Thaddeus comes up to us.
“Now you pick. As the winners, you two get to go first. You each will pick one package, and then sit down and wait for the rest to select theirs. You will all open them at the same time. Okay? Oh, and be careful with it,” he adds with a wink. We nod, stepping up to the packages. Not knowing what to grab, I close my eyes and take the first one I touch. When I pick it up, it seems to shift a little- though it may just be my imagination. Nathan follows me, selecting the nearest box. We sit and watch as Lloyd goes up and picks one, followed by Kat and Jake. At Nehru’s signal, we all begin opening our packages. It’s a box with holes in it. Curious, I lift the lid and am stunned by what I see inside. Reaching in carefully, I pull out my gift. I hear a collective gasp from the crowd as the red-tailed hawk on my arm flaps its wings and lets out a cry. I suddenly feel its thoughts enter my mind. I’m surprised by how intelligent it feels.
“Greetings, Crystal Dragon. I can see that you are confused. Allow me to explain. I am your reward for completing the First Challenge. My name is Nora, and I am here to help you on all of your future Challenges- in the Games or otherwise. I am trained as an advisor, message carrier, spy, and hunter, although I can and will do anything else that you are in need of assistance with.”
…Wow, I think, amazed at the bird on my forearm. Looking at it with my eyes, it seems normal, but talking to it with my mind, it’s evident that it’s not. No ordinary bird is that smart. Looking over at Nathan, I see that he has a large rat. Lloyd has an adorable puppy, Kat has- go figure- a cat. And surprisingly, looks exceptionally dismayed by it. Jake is just pulling out a flying squirrel. It appears we all have a new pet.