Racing the Storm

Chapter 17

Thalia's heart dropped at the sight of her friend. Or, rather, her ex-friend. Avis' grey blue eyes twinkled with sadistic delight. Beside her was Noah, a look of pure guilt and horror etched on his face. He was the only one of the trio not pinned to the ground. Avis had her hand wrapped up in the hood of his coat, her knuckles visibly white even from where Thalia was laying.

"You seem confused still. I expected as much. You weren't exactly the smart one," Avis sneered. She turned to the guards, "take them to the viewing cells. I'm sure I'll have enough time to explain my entire life story to our crew before the show begins."

The guards did not respond verbally, following Avis' orders without protests. Their big hands tightened around the two riders and their knees were removed from the pinned students backs. Devon and Thalia were both lifted to their feet. Of the six or seven that had been surrounding them only three stayed with each rider, their hands latched to Devon and Thalia's shoulders to force them to walk forward. The third guard held a spear and pressed it to both riders' backs giving them no other option but to move. 

Devon and Thalia were forced past the main entrance. They seemed to be in a mountain of some kind. The main room was carved into a circular shape with a wide dome roof. Several small areas had been cut out in the main room. They looked like medical areas and weaponry stations to Thalia but the place was teeming with guards so she couldn't see it completely.

The two riders are marched towards the only other door. It was wide, big enough to fit a dragon like Tuuka through as long as he ducked. It was made completely of black iron with minor details to act as decoration. Two guards were standing by it, armed with longswords. The guards pushed the iron door open and allowed the six escorts and their prisoners to walk through. 

The hallways was massive. Thalia couldn't even see the walls though she could see the torches that held green fire. Dragons hated green fire. It wasn't one that was commonly produced by a dragon. The dragons that could use it were ferocious beasts, so scary that even the mere sight of their flames sent dragons fleeing. Old legends said that the first king of Waikus rode one and that's why so few skeletons are found at battle sights. The heat from his dragon's green fire simply burned it all away.

Thalia shuddered but the guards mistook it as an attempt to escape. They clamped their hands down harder and pushed down, forcing Thalia to hunch forward. As her spine curved it pressed her back closer to the edge of the spear. She could feel it break her skin.

Her back ached with every step down the long hallway. Her instincts shouted at her to straighten up and fight back but her mind was a mess. The guilty look on Noah's face stuck in her mind like it had been glued to her brain as Avis' words echoed behind it. 

The hallway carried an echo. The source seemed to be coming from the wide dome shaped room up ahead. Thalia could barely make it out but it was clear something much brighter was up ahead. People were talking and moving about as if preparing for something. Thalia looked out of the corner of her eye to Devon who was hunched just as she was, staring forward at the approaching room.

They passed under the archway that led in to it. The yellow lights above stung Thalia's eyes. The room was massive, the radius probably coming out to double Tuuka's full wingspan if not larger. On the walls were skeletons, weapons, and scales. They were just pinned to the rocks as if they were decoration. In the center was a carved out smaller circle that took up about half the room. The floor of the smaller circle was made of dust. Surrounding the edges of the circle were chain links wrapped together to form a sort of wall that would prevent anything inside the arena from getting out. To make matters worse, chairs surrounded three quarters of the circle.