by Logan Jacobs
the small blue dragon, with black blood smeared across his face and neck,
landed at the bottom of the steps in front of us and sat down.
A loud clap nearly startled me as Beyer began to laugh and cheer for
the little dragon.
“Well done, little one!” the councilman hollered as he continued to
clap.
Soon, everyone joined in, and Blar caught my eye and gave me a proud
smile that I reflected right back at him. I really was incredibly proud of my
little warrior, he’d done a great job proving himself capable of taking down
an opponent. He’d used his wits and cunning, and he had to rely on more than
just his fire power, which showed off even more of his strengths and even
revealed a new ability.
“You’ve trained him well,” Rinbar chuckled, and he clapped me hard
on the shoulder.
“He’s quite impressive on his own.” I grinned, but I knew the
tournament was far from over. A typical Asgardian tournament had three
rounds, all back to back, which meant it was just about time for the next
creature to be brought out.
The guards came and took away the first cage along with the troll’s
body, and Preyna smiled at me slightly before she turned to Blar.
“Are you ready for your next opponent?” she asked the blue dragon,
and he huffed and stomped his feet in response.
I could feel Blar’s enthusiasm, and I knew his adrenaline had to be
racing from the fight, but he’d also exerted a lot of energy, which meant he
would have to crash sometime. I only hoped he would be able to make it
through the next round without coming down and losing his speed and
strength.
After the guards took away the first cage, I heard another come down
the hallway. This one didn’t sound quite as heavy, and I wasn’t sure what
creature they could get that would be bigger than a troll anyways, but if the
troll had been the first round, then that quite possibly meant the council
considered it to be the easiest of the opponents. Stature wasn’t everything in
battle, and even if this opponent was smaller, they would definitely have
more intelligence than the troll, or at least an equal amount.
I really didn’t think any creature could be less intelligent than the one
we’d just seen.
The shadow of the cage appeared in the great hall again, and I could
tell the cage was definitely smaller, but that didn’t stop my heart from beating
out of my chest. I knew Blar was already tired from the first round, and this
second round would be a whole new challenge.
Finally, the two guards wheeled out the new monster, and once again it
was one I’d never seen in person before. This cage was only about half as big as the one the troll had been in, and inside of it was a huge snake-like
creature. Its bottom half was coiled under it, so I knew it was probably longer
than the troll was tall, but it would need that tail to move around. The worm-
like thing was a dark pink color, with a light rose underbelly and long,
scraggly arms that came out of its sides. The arms each ended with three
strange finger-like appendages that had two-inch claws at the end. Its head
seemed connected to its body, since there was no neck to differentiate
between the two, and two huge, black eyes and a large mouth full of razor-
sharp teeth sat in the middle of its face.
Upon closer examination, I did see a couple of nostril holes in the
center of its features, but they were hidden under the wrinkles that covered
the creature’s entire body. I knew from stories and books this monster was
called a lindworm, and they could sometimes be captured in or near the
Bifrost entrances. They were some sort of parasite that would attack anyone it
came into contact with, and they had a reputation for being mean, but after
seeing the thing in real life, I was surprised they didn’t have more of a
reputation for being so damn ugly.
Blar was once again in his fighting stance, and the lindworm let out a
loud shriek as it saw him across the room. The creature slithered around in its
cage as Rinbar gave the guards a nod, and the two men opened the front of
the cage and let the creature free.
Where the lindworm’s body dragged on the ground, it left a thick,
glossy paste with a greenish tint to it, and the sight made me wrinkle my
nose. Then the creature let out a strange gargling sound I realized was a war
cry, and it headed toward Blar with its long arms slashing out in front of it.
Blar lifted himself up into the air and hovered above the lindworm, but
the creature used its bottom half to push it up closer to him. So, Blar darted
down to try and get to its belly and scratch it, but the monster managed to
strike him with one of its claws, and my breath caught as the little dragon
flew across the room.
I moved to stand up in my seat, but Kas put her hand on my shoulder,
and we watched as Blar hopped up and shook himself off. Then he narrowed
his eyes on the lindworm and took off in the air toward it.
I knew Kas was right to hold me back. If I jumped in too prematurely,
then it would look bad for both Blar and me. The council knew I cared about
him, but they would have to trust he could handle himself in battle, otherwise
there was no way we could convince Odin the dragons could be useful to us
and that I was much different from Vinrar.
Still, I sat on the edge of my seat as I watched the battle continue to
unfold.
Blar shot up and circled around the lindworm in an attempt to get to its back, but the creature was able to shift around quickly since it had no legs,
just a slimy thick tail it stood on to move around.
The little dragon was trying to figure out what to do, so to bide him
some time, he hovered back a little ways out of the beast’s reach and let out a
huge blast of blue fire.
The lindworm screeched in pain and shriveled into itself, but once
again, it was not as affected by the fire as an Aesir might be. The creature’s
skin was burnt in places, I could see it sort of bubble and crinkle on top, but it
looked like there was another layer of skin underneath it, and I figured it
would probably be able to shed like some sort of snake.
With the worm crouched in on itself, Blar took the opportunity to
quickly dart down its back and scrape his claws along the way. Just as I
suspected, though, he merely pulled off a layer of skin, and underneath it was
another slimy layer just waiting to be brought to the surface.
The council really had chosen incredibly powerful creatures for this
tournament, and I grew worried as I watched my little dragon dart around the
great hall.
Blar dove toward the creature, and I could tell he was going to attempt
to slice and bite at where its neck should be, but the lindworm was fast, and it
managed to get a hold of him as he came toward it.
My dragon let out a yelp, and I moved to stand up again, but Kas held
out her hand once more to stop me. I nearly pushed her hand away, but then I
heard the lindworm let out a screech, so I turned back toward the battle to see
Blar had gotten away and the lindworm’s hand oozed
a thick, slimy blood-
like substance.
I looked over to Kas, and she gave me a small smile. I realized I
needed to have more faith in my little dragon. I was just so concerned he
would get hurt that it was difficult to stand by and watch him prove himself.
Still, I decided I needed to show my support. I didn’t want Blar to feel
my energy and doubt himself, since he was doing well, so I focused my mind
on being positive and watching the match unfold.
I could see Blar was a little bit bloody, but he kept going and flew
directly toward the lindworm as fast as he could. I wasn’t sure what he was
doing, but then I saw him disappear again, and I instinctively knew his
endgame.
A second later, he exploded out of the back of the lindworm as the
creature let out a cry of terror and pain. There was a huge hole above its spine
that oozed red, thick blood and the same sticky, slimy substance that came
out covered the rest of the worm. The hole seemed to pulsate as it oozed
more liquid than I cared to see, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kas turn her head away slightly with a disgusted look plastered across her
beautiful face. Blar had completely ripped the monster open, and it continued
to scream as it tried fruitlessly to reach around to its back and stop the
incessant pain.
“Yes!” I shouted and pumped my fist into the air.
Blar was fully coated in blood and slime now, and he did a quick zip
right in front of me, so I gave him a proud smile and a nod meant to tell him
to finish the job. He was nearly there, now all he had to do was bring it home.
The lindworm paid no attention to Blar as it continued to screech in
pain, so the little blue dragon took the opportunity to strike again. I wasn’t
sure about lindworm anatomy, but if the poor thing was left this way for a
few more minutes, it would probably die anyways.
But the name of the game was to show what we could do, and Blar was
ready to do just that.
So, the little dragon darted down toward the lindworm at breakneck
speeds, and just as the monster raised its head to let out another cry, Blar
dove straight into its neck. Then he dug his claws into the slimy creature and
yanked with all his might.
The lindworm let out one last gurgling shriek as its head was ripped
from its body, and blood began to rain down from the sky where Blar circled around the monster. Then the monster’s body fell limply onto the floor in a
sea of slime and blood, and Blar dropped the head into the mess, landed at the
foot of the stairs, and smiled proudly up at us.
My little reptile was covered in slime and blood, but he had won, and
after a second of shocked silence, the council, the girls, and I began to cheer.
“Good job, Blar!” Preyna hollered.
“Whoo!” Asta cheered as she jumped up and down, and she was
grinning from one pointed ear to the other.
Even Rinbar let out an uproarious laugh and clapped his hand against
his knee with excitement.
Blar looked up at me then and smiled proudly, so I grinned back at him
and gave him another nod. My body was filled with respect and adoration for
the little dragon, and I knew he could feel it. He understood I was proud of
him, and I knew he was proud of himself, too.
I turned to Kas then, and she looked at me with violet eyes full of
excitement.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and the blonde nodded at me before she
leaned over to kiss me on the cheek.
If she hadn’t stopped me, I would have interrupted the whole match
and ruined Blar’s chance at victory. I knew he had some injuries from the fight, but it didn’t appear to be anything serious considering he was still able
to continue on, and he didn’t seem incredibly bothered by them at the
moment. I was sure once his adrenaline wore off he’d feel the effects of the
fight, but he still had one more to go.
“Blar, are you ready for the last challenge?” Preyna asked.
The little dragon shook his whole body, and slime and blood sprayed
off him in a million directions before he looked up and gave a quick nod to
show his determination.
“Very well,” Preyna chuckled. “Bring out the last opponent.”
The guards quickly used a large mop to push the remains of the
lindworm to the side, and then they disappeared into the hallway once more.
I waited with my breath held for the last creature to come out. The
council had picked two incredibly powerful monsters thus far, but I knew the
last opponent was always the strongest, so I couldn’t wait to see what it
would be.
I was sure Blar was already growing exhausted, but with enough
adrenaline rushing through him, he’d be fine. This is what skilled warriors
did all the time, and the little dragon was getting a taste of what it truly meant
to be out on the battlefield. He’d done well in the training I’d put him
through, but this was different, this was real. He could get seriously hurt here, though Preyna had promised to stop the fight if anything became too much.
Even with that promise, I knew it only took a split second for a warrior to get
a slash or puncture that could do some serious damage.
The sound of another cage coming down the hallway rang through the
council room, and I leaned forward in my seat to get a better view once the
creature came through the door. The cage sounded huge, larger than the
lindworm at least, though not quite as large as the troll’s.
The creaking continued for a moment, until I had to force myself to
take a breath because I realized I’d been holding mine in for too long.
Finally, the guards pushed a huge cage through the door, and I heard
Kas and Asta let out a collective gasp next to me.
The monster in the cage was one I’d only heard of from stories of lore,
but I knew it right away.
It was a minotaur.
The beast had the body of a man, with Aesir-thick arms, a sculpted
torso, and long legs covered in a thick brown fur. His face, though, was
something out of a nightmare. It was the face of a bull, with large horns that
protruded from the top of its head, dark black eyes set nearly on the side of its
face, and a snout with a large black nose at the end.
The beast had hands with fingers, and he held an axe in each of his
palms, but the closer I inspected his body, the stranger it became. I noticed
his feet were the hooves of a bull, and swinging behind him was a tail. He
was at least eight-feet tall, if not taller, and he looked angry as… well… a
bull being forced to fight a dragon. He snorted and scraped the floor of the
cage with his hoof to create a terrible high-pitched sound that made me
grimace.
From what I knew about minotaurs, their strange physique didn’t make
them particularly dangerous, though that didn’t help. Rather, it was their
intelligence that made them a worthy opponent. They were said to be at least
as smart as an Aesir warrior, and I presumed this didn’t mean Hagar, but
rather a warrior who actually understood the intricacies of battle.
Blar flew to his position across the room then, and I watched with
terror as the guards mov
ed to release the minotaur.
I knew I needed to have confidence in my little dragon, but this
creature not only had increased strength, it was also able to wield weapons,
and the council had allowed it to have two. I bit my lip as I watched the
guards open the first latch to the cage, but then I felt I was being stared at,
and my head whipped around to see Preyna’s deep brown eyes on me.
“He’ll be okay,” she mouthed. “I’ll stop the fight if necessary.”
I took a deep breath and gave her an understanding nod. I knew she
didn’t want anything to happen to Blar, either, but that minotaur looked like a
tough sonofabitch, and he was most certainly pissed off about having been in
a cage.
The guards undid the last latch, and the beast let out a vicious scream
before it scraped its hoof on the metal once more and jumped out of the large
crate. Then it ran right toward Blar, and the beast’s large nostrils flared as it
closed the distance.
The little dragon quickly launched himself into the air and tried to
make his way toward the minotaur’s back, but the minotaur jumped up and
slashed at Blar with his axe, and my breath hitched in my chest.
Blar managed to dodge the attack by flying further into the air while
the minotaur landed on the ground in a fighting stance, ready to attack again.
This asshole wasn’t going to be as easy as the troll or the lindworm,
and neither of them had been a walk in the countryside.
I felt myself scoot toward the edge of my chair as I focused on the
fight. Blar needed to keep his wits about him. The little dragon needed to use
some fire first, then try to attack.
A second later, Blar flew right above the large bull-like creature and let
out a huge blast of blue fire.
The minotaur screamed and held his axe’s up in a cross pattern above
his head to shield him from the flame.
Had Blar heard what I thought? Was he following my directions?
There was one way to find out, so I thought about his next move. He
needed to get at least one of those axe’s away from his enemy.
Just then, Blar dove down slightly as he continued to let off a blue
flame, and he quickly grabbed one of the axes out of the minotaurs hand
while it was distracted by the fire.
Once Blar had the axe, he flew it over to me and hovered above my
head just long enough to drop the weapon down.