The Crystal Code

Chapter 17

The arena was covered in red sand and was in a circular shape. All along the sides, there were dead bodies and skeletons, some even seemed like fresh kill. The gate on the other side began to open and big red eyes shone through the bars. The gate was very large and make a squeaking sound that pirced my ears when it rose up. I looked back where I came from and my friends looked at me through the bars. Troll soilders standing behind them, watching. I was looking into two copper eyes, though. And for him, I had to win.

"Let the games begin!" Henry sat on a tall podium above the gate on the opposite side from me. "My beast against a water element!" The crowd cheered and then pipes on the side began pumping out water in my favor. The water turned red against the sand and the gate on the other end growled. I walked forward and a giant red, winged snake appeared from the inside of the gate. It was a dragon, its eyes were made of red crtstals and it's underside was black, the rest of his body glistering red like blood. I'm guessing its a boy, he had a tail that was on fire and so were his ears. It was a Fire Dragon, in History, they were mystical creatures not known to actually exist.

"Met my pet Dragon! Bruce, the Fire Dragon!" The crowd cheered, Henry stood up. "Let the fight! Begin!!" A loud Ding! sounded reminding me of the familiar elevator from camp. Bruce, the Dragon, surged forward blowing a fireball in my direction, maybe Chris really should have gone instead of me. I looked back, the four faces behind me had their jaws dropped. I made a water dome around me and the fire didn't come through, but I knew that wasnt going to save me. The dragon was majestic and gorgeous beside the fact it was going to kill me. I had to kill it first.

The dragon hovered above my dome blasting it repeatedly with fire balls. The crowd began to chant, they were getting bored. I wasn't going to go down that easily. The dragon stopped for a moment looking at me with its jeweled eyes flaming red like fire. The drag coiled around my dome and I braced for something. It's body lit on fire, disintegrating my dome and exploding sending me flying through the air. I reached for the water which made a soft landing pad below me, for the 20 foot drop. The Dragon recoiled on its self and then flapped it's large wings with little fire balls in the winds. I dig my sword into the ground and held on. My body rose from the ground but I cling to my sword. A fireball hit my sword and it came out of the ground pulling me back. I slammed my back against the stone wall toppling over a skeleton.

"Come on! Let blood be shed on this ground!". Henry screamed. I remembered the hint that reminded me of the prophesy, it had said something about blood being spilled on this dirt and then not being able to... Blurt? I didn't quite remember, but if that note was like the lady in my vision had said, this was a step closer to turning into her. I will not allow that. I picked my sword and ran out of the way of another fire ball, deflected another on my sword and got to the water. I made the water rise me up and soon I was the dragon's height, about thirty feet above the ground now. I didn't dare look down.

The crowd ohhed and ahhed, but some people, I could hear now, we're chanting "Kill her! Kill her!" I glanced back to the bars, two pairs of green eyes, very dark eyes, and copper eyes. They focused on me and it gave me courage, to see their faces for another day, for a whole life. I could not die here even with my back aching and the blood dripping down my arm. I had to fight, I had to kill.

I swung my sword against the chest of the beast, but the contact simply slipped off. I knew there had to be a weakness in its armor, I had to find it. The beast roared, it could have been laughing at my pathetic attempt, but I had already moved around to its tail. I lashed out with no such luck, only bringing his attention back on me. He blasted fire and I pulled my arm up creating a barrier. I felt the heat and the intensity of the flames, my concentration slipping from my grasp. The continueous blow made sweat drip down the sides of my face, drenching me in what the water couldn't.