If I Were You, I'd Run

Chapter Two

I'm pretty sure I screamed, and tried to choke the rider in front of me. Accidentally, of course. I would never intentionally choke someone, unless they're the leader of the Shadow Cult, the man who killed my parents.

Although, the riders had randomly grabbed me off a sinking island, so it was kinda justified, no matter how undignified I must have looked.

Anyway, about ten minutes later, they deposited me in a weird-looking arena-type thing, with a bunch of doorways dotted around the walls. I ran over to one of them, but found that it was locked. And, judging by the muffled thuds that shook the door, it would be best if it stayed that way.

I ran over to the other doors, but it was the same story each time. Locked, with thuds or thumps coming from within.

Except for one.

That one was scorched and hanging ajar, with wisps of smoke coming from inside. Whether from the door or from the resident, I don't know.

Slowly, I pulled open the door and peeked in.

What I saw surprised me. There was a girl, about my age, who appeared to be on fire.

I gasped, then stumbled out of the door, trying to pull it shut behind me.

"Wait." The voice was low, and sounded as if it hadn't been used for a while.

I turned, and saw the door hanging open once more. The girl was standing in the doorway, her hands leaving scorch marks wherever they touched the doorway. She was still on fire, but somehow her clothes were still intact, not a burn anywhere, just a bunch of scratches.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Liaka Hintas. You?" The girl- no, her name was Liaka- replied. She seemed to be calming down, the fire surrounding her was slowly dying.

"My name is Ash, Ash Kalla." Lie. It was Ashara Kimanatall. But she didn't know that, nor did she have any need to.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Ash. Whereabouts are you from?" Liaka asked casually.

"Gia- Tiglars. I'm from Tiglars." I answered. I could feel my features closing off, as they always did when I was getting too close to the truth.

"Right. I'm from Saefia. So... what brings you here?" she replied. I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Ah, you know, just your average everyday trip over a very inconveniently placed vine, falling through the floor of a ravine, landing on an island in the middle of a lake, finding out that dragons do exist, and getting a ride on one!" I ranted. "Not to mention the fact that the island was sinking, and also that the dragon had two heads!"

Liaka just stood there, letting me get it out of my system.

"Sorry, but... are you saying that you come from a world that doesn't have dragons?" Liaka exclaimed.

"...Yeah?" I replied, unsure what she meant by that.

"You have got to be kidding me! First I get told that there's a new contestant, then I get told that one of the Dragon Doors have been opened, and now I see that the dragon girl and the newbie are getting along? Rrrrrrgh! All I wanted this morning was a nice, peaceful day, where the only dragons out are the ones in use!" someone complained.

I looked up, and saw that a huge, bright blue and fluro pink dragon was soaring above us, with a throne-like chair balanced precariously on its back with a middle-age woman sitting imperiously on top.

The dragon landed, and the woman jumped nimbly down, landing with a thump.

"Alright, dragon girl, back to your firehole. And you," here she looked at me. "You can get ready. Go on, MOVE IT!"

I yelped, and looked around in fright. I must have looked like a spooked gazelle or something, because another dragon landed, and a young man dismounted. At first, he looked pretty average, as if he'd stepped out of "my world" and into whatever "this world" was.

Summoning all my courage, I spoke.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean by that. Do you mind explaining, please?" I asked politely.

"What Her Majesty means is that you are a contender for the Tournament of Scales. You'll be taken Below in a few minutes, to get armed and armoured for your round. Then, you'll be pitted against a bunch of other contenders, and, each day, you'll be given a dragon to kill as a team. When the dragon is down, it's the last one alive who gets to leave." The man answered on behalf of the woman who I now realised was the queen of this realm.

"Why?" It was the first question that came to mind, and I was still a bit lightheaded from seeing the fire.

Fire has terrified me, frozen my bones, made me unable to think straight, ever since Gialdanann was overrun by the Shadow Cult.

"Because I say so, that's why!" The queen yelled.

A bunch more riders swooped in, and guided me towards a trapdoor that I hadn't noticed before.

I opened it, and dropped down into a wide, dimly lit cavern. On one side, giant racks were groaning under the weight of the assorted weapons held up. On the other, about six million armour stands were dotted around, each with a different style of armour held upon them.

"Choose one. Then, choose a maximum of two weapons. You will be fighting a Great Blue. Choose wisely." one of the riders told me.

I had no idea what a "great blue" was, but I knew that I was able to wield a bow, and I was pretty sure I would want a close range weapon as well.

I wandered over to the bows, casually strung one, and hooked a quiver of arrows to my belt. Then, I walked around for a bit, looking at the other blades the racks had to offer. I grabbed a collapsable sword, collapsed it, and put the hilt in my pocket.

After that, I chose a suit of armour and buckled it on, making sure I could easily access my weapons.

I waited for a bit, practising my swings.

Then, the riders came again.