"If she noticed. She probably thinks you're with some boy." John's voice was cold and unfriendly, but Crystal didn't really care as she was still angry that he'd pushed her in the stream.
"If I go home, I'll have to explain what happened. It'll be better if I go back to Jenna's."
"As you wish. What do you want me to do?"
"Go and get Jenna for me. I can't go in like this. You owe me; you did push me in the mud."
John shrugged. "I suppose I can do that. I doubt she'll thank me for interrupting her."
"Thank you. I'll wait by the fork in the road near Seth's house. Could you run ahead? It'll save time."
John looked uncomfortable with this idea. "Leaving you here on this road on your own? Is that wise?"
"You're worse than my mother," Crystal replied in exasperation. "I'll be fine. Just get Jenna."
John shrugged and jogged ahead back to the party, leaving Crystal to follow behind.
"Have you seen Crystal?" Seth asked Daisy, who was speaking to one of his cousins. "I haven't seen her for ages."
"Not for a while," Daisy replied. "Last I saw of her she was walking over there with John. She didn't look that well. Why don't you ask Jenna?"
"I haven't seen her either," Seth replied.
Daisy giggled. "Go down to the lake. You can rescue my brother from her."
Seth nodded and headed to the lake, and bumped into John who had just arrived back.
"John, I thought you'd left. You haven't seen Crystal, have you?"
John nodded. "She's not feeling well and is going home. Have you seen Jenna?"
"Unwell, really? Jenna's over there, by the lake. Should I go and see her? She could lie down inside if she wants."
John shook his head, heading towards Jenna. "Probably best not. She'll be embarrassed. Where's Jenna? Ah, here she is…"
Jenna and Arthur were lying down hidden under a tree and Jenna sat up as they approached, glaring at Seth and John, clearly irritated by the interruption. Arthur got up quickly as well, looking a little sheepish. "Yes? What do you want?" Jenna asked.
"Crystal is not feeling well," Seth replied awkwardly. "John thinks she should go home. I don't mind if she stays here—"
"I don't care what John thinks, or you for that matter. What does she want to do? Other than spoil my evening."
"She asked me to come and fetch you," John replied. "She's waiting for you outside."
Jenna frowned. "Why couldn't she come herself?"
"You'll have to ask her that yourself."
Jenna fixed her stare on John, looking unconvinced. "I don't like this. Arthur, come with me. I'm going to see Crystal."
"I'll come too," Seth added.
John shook his head. "Trust me, she won't thank you. Leave this to Arthur and Jenna."
"What about Daisy?" Arthur asked. "I can't leave her here on her own."
Jenna glanced at Daisy, who was listening attentively to Seth's tall cousin. "Seth, you can look after little Daisy, can't you?"
Seth glanced at his cousin. "Sure, she'll be taken care of. I'll make sure of it."
Arthur frowned. "Alright; my guards are in the house. Tell them to take Daisy home when she's ready. We'll go home on our own."
"Come on, John," Jenna instructed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the gate. "Take me to Crystal. And explain to me exactly what's going on."
Chapter 15: Ground Combat
"What happened to you at the party?" Daisy asked John as she sat down at school the next week. "I saw you there at the start, then you disappeared for hours. I thought I saw you come back later on but then you disappeared again."
John nodded. "Crystal was feeling ill, so I ended up looking after her for most of the evening. But what about you; did you have a good time? You looked like you were having fun."
Daisy laughed. "With Seth's cousin? I was, but I don't know why. We met up again over the weekend, and all he does is talk about himself. He seemed so charming at the party. I don't think I'll be seeing him again."
"I'm sorry to hear that," John replied, genuinely disappointed for her. "Did you speak to anyone else at the party?"
"No, not really. What about you?"
John shook his head. "Just Crystal."
Daisy paused, as if unsure to tell him. "I know you like her John, but I think she's with Daniel Thorne. I saw them together in town when I met up with Seth's cousin."
John looked away, trying to avoid showing how hurt he was. "I don't think of her like that. I told you." He wasn't lying; he didn't think of Crystal in that way, but knowing that she was seeing his chief tormentor was still unpleasant.
Daisy nodded. "I know. I just thought I should tell you."
John nodded and opened his books, thankful that Professor Silver came in at that moment to call registration so that he didn't have to speak to her any more.
At the end of the day, Crystal left school quickly, expecting John to follow her and try to speak to her. To her immense irritation, he was ahead of her, waiting for her down the road.
"Feeling better?" John asked. His voice was a little cold.
"I'd rather never talk about that again, if you don't mind," Crystal replied irritably.
"I understand you were well enough to go out at the weekend," John noted. "I'm glad you made a quick recovery."
Crystal glared at him. "Little Daisy told you she saw me and Daniel together, did she? Not sure how that's either your or her business."
"I thought you'd be just a tiny bit grateful," John replied bitterly. "I thought you might at least be friendlier to me now. Instead you've decided to go out with the person who hates me and does his best to make my life a misery."
Crystal shrugged. "I thought I'd been clear to you from the start. I don't want to be friends with you. Please just leave me alone." She carried on walking, leaving John standing speechless. She felt a little guilty, but reminded herself that she was doing him no favours by encouraging him in any way.
Next morning, John didn't even look at her at registration when she entered the room. She smiled as she sat down next to Daniel. At last John was getting the message. Perhaps he would finally leave her alone.
"We have a special treat for you this afternoon," Professor Silver announced after registration. "Instead of your normal afternoon classes, we will have a special guest: Captain Blackcastle, who I'm sure many of you will have heard of. For the benefit of those ignorant of this man's great history, he was the champion of the Furnace Wresting Competition for six years in a row before retiring undefeated, and is still responsible for training all hand to hand combat instructors in Furnace."
"Why is he here, sir?" Seth asked. "We don't start hand to hand combat till next term."
"As I explained, Bragon, it's a special treat. He will be giving you an introduction to the art."
"Are you good at ground combat?" Daisy asked John politely as they got up to leave the room.
John shook his head. "No, not really."
Mia, who sat in front of John, looked surprised. "Oh, why not? I thought you'd been doing all of this for years."
John shook his head. "My father hardly touched ground combat. He tried teaching me the basics, but decided that it wasn't a great use of our time. He didn't think I had a natural aptitude for it, so we didn't spend any more time on it."
"But that doesn't make sense," Daisy objected. "You're so good at flying. Shouldn't this be easier?"
John shook his head. "To be good at this requires a lot of aggression. I'm just not naturally that aggressive. At least that's what my father thought. I didn't have anyone other than my father to train with, so it would have been boring anyway. I'd have just lost every time, and that's not particularly fun."
Crystal was walking with Joel, Daniel and Seth just behind John as they left the room. "Did you hear that, Daniel?" Joel asked. "Something our star pupil isn't good at. I think I'd like to see someone knock him about for a bit. Didn't you say you'd already learnt some ground combat?"
Daniel nodde
d. "My cousin has been teaching me. He's really good, and has won a few competitions here in Furnace. Yeah, I wouldn't mind challenging John if we get to have a go today. You wouldn't mind that, would you, Crystal? I know he has a crush on you."
"I'd rather forget he exists," Crystal replied, taking Daniel's arm. "But I don't mind you challenging John."
Daniel smiled at Joel smugly. Seth noticed Crystal holding Daniel's arm and looked away in dismay.
"What's up, Seth?" Daniel asked. "You aren't a friend of his, are you?"
"Me? No, of course not. Bring him down to size. Should be fun to watch."
"It will be," Daniel replied, smiling to himself. "It will be."
"Now, do any of you have any training already in ground combat?" Captain Blackcastle had the whole of their year gathered around the stage in the school theatre. A number of the students from Furnace were very excited to see him, as he was a bit of a local hero.
Daniel and a boy from Ash both put their hands up in response to his question.
"Excellent," Captain Blackcastle replied, relieved that he had at least two. "Please come forwards. Is that all? Any others have any training?"
"John Wood, sir," Daniel replied. "I heard he'd had some training."
"Wood?" Captain Blackcastle called loudly. "Stand up, boy. Have you had any training?"
John nodded. "A little; not much though. I don't claim to be any good."
"I'd be very surprised if you were at sixteen. Come forwards; join these two. Right, what are your names?"
"Daniel Thorne."
"Brandon Moore."
"And you're John Wood. Right, Daniel, Brandon, you two may go first, and the winner can then compete against John. Go and transform both of you." Daniel and Brandon trudged off towards a large door to change. The Captain continued addressing the students. "Right, while they're changing, I'll show you the equipment. To prevent serious injury, they have to wear these rubber teeth and claw guards. They're a bit strange to walk in at first, and the teeth guards are uncomfortable, but they're essential to prevent you killing each other by accident. I'll get some of you to help them get these on. You two; and you two." He pointed to four students who walked to the front. "Pick up the teeth guards first. I will talk you through this. Ah, here they are. Daniel, stand over there, and Brandon, you stand there. Right, lower your heads, open your mouths and stay still."
The two dragons stood perfectly still while the Captain showed the students how to attach the rubber inserts into their mouths, covering all of their teeth, which were then tied to their jaws, allowing them to still bite and grip, but with no ability to inflict injury. He then instructed them to attach the claw guards, which were essentially shoes that prevented them from using their claws.
"Right, so as you see, they can still use their feet and mouths, and will gain points for doing so, but can't injure each other. Not badly anyway. There are three different competitions, but the one you're taught at school is the most useful, as its purpose is to teach you how to defend yourself on the ground."
A boy from Ash raised his hand. "Sir, is there much point in learning this? I mean, once you're on the ground, you're pretty much dead, aren't you?"
The Captain nodded. "Good question. Most of the time we only fight in the air, and generally if you do get injured, you'll fall, and unless you're very low, you're going to die. We don't usually bother even trying to actually kill our enemies outright in the air, as it's far easier to rip a wing and let the fall kill them instead. But occasionally an enemy survives the fall, and gets into a building where they can't be attacked from the air. Or, just as likely, they deliberately land to attack people inside buildings, and you may need to follow them in to prevent them killing those in a building. That's where these skills are going to keep you alive.
Now, Blue Dragons are a bit smaller than us. Their necks are much shorter and their jaws less powerful. They'll still use their teeth, but they'll rely on their claws more than their teeth. They're faster than us in the air, but on the ground I don't think there's much of a difference."
"What about ground combat with a Rhino Dragon?" another boy from Ash asked. "Do we learn how to fight them?"
The Captain laughed. "I don't think anyone has lived to tell us how that would go. I would suggest that if you find yourself on the ground with a Rhino Dragon, that you run. Fast!" The class laughed along with the Captain, although more out of politeness than anything else, as none of them had any real idea of what a live Rhino Dragon looked like.
"I think we've had enough talking. I think we can get more out of watching. Now, both of you have been taught the etiquette?"
Both dragons nodded, standing opposite each other, eyes fixed on their opponent.
"Alright, both of you bow to me. Now bow to each other; begin!"
Both dragons approached each other cautiously at first, sizing each other up. Brandon swiped at Daniel's head, but Daniel backed out of the way and Brandon slashed at empty air. Daniel lowered his head, and Brandon lunged at his neck, excited by the opening. Daniel quickly turned and swung at Brandon's own neck, catching him just beneath the jaw and knocking his head away. Brandon tried to correct himself, but before he had done so Daniel seized his neck in his mouth and pushed his head down to the ground. The Captain rang the bell.
"We have a winner! Well done. That was a good contest. Don't be discouraged that it was so quick, Brandon. We normally go on a best of five rounds, but we're just giving people a taste here. Please, move off the stage and we'll let John have a turn."
He turned to John. "Please go and change, young man, and be quick about it; everyone is waiting."
John nodded before performing his usual somersault, landing as a dragon. He removed his bag and put it to the side.
"Whoa, that's a nice trick! Not one I've seen before. Let's hope your fighting is as good as your transforming."
John shook his head before springing up onto the stage.
"Let's see if that is false modesty or not. Right, you know the drill. Bow to me, then to your opponent; begin!"
Daniel began more confidently this time, buoyed by his previous victory. He moved quickly towards the centre of the stage before rushing at John and swinging at him wildly. John sprung out of his way, dancing to avoid the attack. Daniel connected with John's tail, but missed his body.
"No points for striking the tail," the Captain declared loudly.
John circled the stage to face Daniel again, the two having switched positions. Daniel paced towards him, sensing John's reluctance. John circled the stage again, walking sideways, trying to avoid being pushed off the stage. Daniel followed him, swiping at him in a more measured attack. John continued to back away, not offering any counter attacks.
"Come on, boys," the Captain urged. "Fight each other. Don't just back away."
Suddenly, Daniel launched himself forwards, reaching with both front sets of claws and lunging with outstretched neck, jaw ready to clamp onto John's neck. Instead of retreating, John leapt forwards and to the right, dodging Daniel and hooking his left foot under Daniel's left front leg before flicking his foot upwards, deftly flipping Daniel over onto his back. Daniel landed clumsily on the edge of the stage before rolling off and crashing to the floor.
"Very nice move!" The Captain shouted, clapping. "Thank you, boys. We will stop it there."
Daniel, however, was not ready to stop. He sprang back onto the stage, clearly furious with wisps of fire appearing from his nostrils. He charged at John, swinging his claws wildly, snapping at him and ignoring the Captain's protests and demands to stop. John back-stepped quickly, dodging the flurry of blows, and then as Daniel lunged he reared onto his back feet and brought both front feet together quickly as if clapping them, striking Daniel's head hard from either side. He grasped hold of Daniel's head after striking the blow, holding him firmly in his claws and then shifted his weight back to his front feet, slamming Daniel's head down onto the floor with his full weight behind him. John released his head and
backed away from him, still watching him warily.
"That is enough!" the Captain shouted angrily. "What's wrong with you? I told you very clearly to stop! John, come over here and let these two remove your equipment. Daniel, are you alright? Can you stand?"
John quickly moved off the stage and held out his left front foot to have the claw guard removed while Daniel groggily rose to his feet. He was clearly a little dazed.
"Your head will clear once you transform," the Captain told him. He turned to two students standing near the front. "You two; go up on stage and remove his equipment."
The two students climbed onto the stage and hesitantly approached Daniel, who eventually held out his feet for them to remove the claw guards. John retrieved his bag before transforming, and moved into the crowd of students. Eventually, Daniel left the stage, snarling as he walked, and went to transform and get dressed. The Captain tidied away the equipment before addressing them.
"Well, students, that was an interesting demonstration. I think it's fair to say that none of these three have had many lessons, with perhaps the exception of John. Although, John, you would benefit from being taught formally as well. Ah, here comes Daniel. Thank you for taking part, all three of you, but please, next time, stop when instructed, and remember this a competition, not a fight, and definitely not a place to settle grievances. We always bow to our opponent at the end to show that there are no hard feelings. Understood?"
"Understood, sir," John replied. Daniel merely nodded, a look of loathing on his face as he glanced at John.
"Right, now back to the lesson…"
After class was dismissed, Joel and Daniel left together, talking quietly to each other.
"What are you going to do, Daniel?" Joel asked. "You can't let that stand."
"He said that he wasn't any good at ground combat," Daniel snarled angrily. "I bet he was hoping someone would challenge him so he could show off, yet again. He's not going to get away with humiliating me this time."
"What are you going to do?" Joel asked.
"Challenge him on a more level playing field," Daniel replied. "Here he comes now."
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