Wings Of Fire: Spotlight

Chapter Three - Overheard

Mako and Bloodmoon stood together, watching the P.E. teacher, Coach Lynx, pace around the front of the gym. Her gray flecks seemed like stars against a snowy white sky, and her dark eyes pierced through everyone else's. Mako could feel beads of sweat building behind her scales.

"Ok students," her kind, quirky tone caught everyone off guard. "Today will be a simple game of cat and mouse tag, and if you were here at Jade Mountain before, this should come easy. However, if you weren't, I'll go over the rules."

Mako straightened, nervous. A light prod in her shoulder almost made her lose her footing, and she glared anxiously up at the dragon who did so.

She was a MudWing swirled with colors of melted chocolate and butter, and her eyes seemed to shine with golden sunlight. Her voice was deep and sassy when she opened her mouth, "Hey, relax. She's harmless, but she has the stare down."

Mako nodded at the older dragon and turned back to Lynx.

"The game is simple," Lynx pointed around the gym. "You have two teams. You'll run around the cones once and then switch with the next person in line. You are trying to catch up with the other team to tag them."

Lynx suddenly bounded toward a short wall separating the gym floor from the water pools. She grabbed two flat stone circles with wheels on the bottom and laid them near both teams. "But there's a catch. The first person will pull the second on the scooter, and then the second will pull the third. Only the ones on the scooter can tag each other, and whoever gets tagged first loses the point."

"Oh boy..." Mako groaned, worried. "I don't do good with riding on things..."

Bloodmoon, on the other hand, was bouncing through the roof. "I'm excited! I'm a really fast runner!"

Before Mako could reply, Lynx spread her wings at the front of the gym. "Ok, separate into teams!"

Bloodmoon grabbed Mako's hand and dragged her to the left wall. "Come on! Let's go to the FRONT!"

Mako could feel nervous ribbons dancing in her stomach like the stinging tentacles of a jellyfish. Which, of course, would be even less calming assuming it wasn't a metaphor and she would be dragged fast on a scooter. Oh boy...

Bloodmoon nudged Mako with a wing. "Calm down, Mako! It'll be fun!"

"Get ready!" Lynx roared.

Mako sat on the scooter and Bloodmoon held her talons. The NightWing grinned. "Do you trust me?"

"Not rea-"

"GO!" Lynx bellowed.

Bloodmoon took off running, her speed comparable to that of a cheetah. Wind whipped past Mako's ears, the whistle drowning the sound of her squealing. Their talons linked together like chains, and if those links broke she would be sent crashing into a stone wall.

"I DON'T LIKE IT I DON'T LIKE IT I DON'T LIKE IT!" Mako screamed swiftly, tongue tripping over itself. She could feel her talons slipping. "BLOODMOON!"

Their talons slid from each other as if made of ice, and Mako flew off her scooter and crashed into a padded wall. Her vision reeled as if she were navigating a tornado, and her head was throbbing like a drum being slammed on. She moved a shaky talon to her head as her vision focused. The crash wasn't too hard thanks to the padding, but the air was knocked from her.

Bloodmoon left two dragons to continue the game for the team and ran up to Mako. "Are you ok?"

"WHY DID YOU GO SO FAST AND LET GO?" Mako hissed.

"I ran fast so we could win, and I didn't mean to let go..." Bloodmoon sat, her tail flicking over her talons. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Mako sat up, her head throbbing less. "I'm fine."