Winglet: Tragedy

Fighting

Kestrel decided to fuel this anger into her fight. It was the best option and maybe, just maybe, the queen will see her skills and put her into the army.

Then she can partially escape Scarlet.

Scarlet's royalty so Kestrel can never truly escape but if she can be a soldier, she'd have very little to do with Scarlet.

But all of Kestrel's anger faded when the her opponent walked into the arena, posed like a guard too.

Kestrel managed to keep her face blank and she could see he was struggling to as well.

At least they didn't have to kill one another like the prisoners had to. They just had to fight until the queen ordered a stop or one of them gave up.

Kestrel won't give up until she's dead.

Unfortunately, he was the same way.

"Welcome today, dragons of the sky realm. Today, we are going to watch the new set of recruits for the Services of the Queen battle it out to see who is worthy of this position and who isn't. Your queen and generals will decide who is a guard, who is in the army, and who will be cut. Now, it's time to begin. First, I'd like to present Maroon, a trainee from Burgundy and now his opponent, Kestrel, a trainee from Crimson. Ready, dragonets? Get set and... FIGHT!" the announcer yelled.

Maroon ran at her at his top speed, keeping his body low to the ground. Kestrel did the same. Before they collided, Kestrel slowed down and took a side step. Maroon tried to slow down but was too slow and Kestrel jumped on his back, slamming him into the ground.

Just when she thought she had him, he stood up and flung her off his back with ease. Kestrel became angry he could just throw her off like that.

He launched at her and Kestrel rolled under him and raked his stomach with her claws. When he landed, he fell over. Kestrel wasted no time worrying about him and she jumped on him. This time, Maroon rolled to the side and blasted a jet of flames. Kestrel rolled out of the way but became slightly burned on her side.

She could tell he was angered. He wanted to win as well and if he had any feelings for her, he was ignoring them.

Just like what she was doing to him.

Kestrel did a quick scan of her surroundings. The only thing she noticed was the crowd of dragons were on the edge of their seats and the medical team was tense.

A movement in the sand turned Kestrel's attention back to the fight. Maroon was looking past her, she could tell. She took the opportunity to attack him. She ran at him and wrapped her arms around him, while body slamming him into the ground.

He tried to wiggle free but she held him down.

Then he lunged at her face with his teeth. She jumped off of him and rolled to the left. His claws had scratched her side. Kestrel ignored the pain and whipped her tail at him, leaving her back exposed.

She hit his face with her tail but he leaped into the sky. She followed. Maroon had higher ground, which meant he was at an advantage.

He dove at her and she did a barrel-roll to her right side. Before he hit the ground, Maroon spread his wings. Kestrel dived at him and landed on his back, once again slamming him into the ground. She held her front claws at his neck, pinning him down.

But Maroon still fought back.

He smacked her with his wings and she began to fell dizzy. When her grip loosened, he slipped out from under her. She shook off the dizziness and pursued him.

She was running out of tricks and she couldn't repeat any of them, he knows them and can counteract them.

Unless.

Kestrel posed herself the wrong way for battle. She puffed her chest out, raised her head, spread her wings, and closed her eyes. This left the major artery in her neck exposed. It was a risky move but Kestrel was sure it would work.

She heard the sand beginning to move and clawsteps getting closer and closer.

Her eyes opened in an instant and she breathed fire. She didn't see if she had harmed him or not. Since she was unsure, she stopped and looked around.

The medical team was in the field running toward her.

But not her, they were running toward Maroon.

However, Maroon got up and continued to fight. Kestrel fought back, trying not to hurt him. By this point, the medical team was waiting at the edge of the arena, for one of them to give in.

But that would never happen.

Maroon bit her tail and she howled. He continued to give her various cuts along her body. She fought back, cutting him some more as well.

"Enough," the queen calmly said in a loud voice.

Kestrel and Maroon stopped, bowed to Queen Magenta, and stood like guards. Kestrel and Maroon were so close, she could feel heat coming off the burn on his left forearm.

She felt slightly guilty.

FINE! Very, very guilty.

"Enough, I think the generals and I have a good idea of what you are like. Which is why you cannot be soldier, Kestrel. You can be a guard for my daughter, however," the queen slightly growled.

It was clear she didn't approve of Kestrel's choice to go through this program but she saw Kestrel fight, and so did the generals. The generals won't let her go to waste.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it make more sense, with her skill set, to put her into the army?" one of the generals politely asked.

The other generals nodded ad the queen looked at Kestrel. She asked Kestrel, "If you could chose where you'd like to end up, where would that be?"

"Army, Your Majesty," she said.

Scarlet flung herself from the stadium and walked over to Kestrel and Maroon. She whined, "Mother, please don't let my only servant go into the army. She was good at her job... better than the others!"

"Honey, you can have anyone in the kingdom," her mother growled impatiently.

"But--" Scarlet tried.

"No buts!" the queen ordered. "Next fighters, please. We need to get this show on the move, I do have a kingdom to run, after all."

Scarlet looked Kestrel in the eye and whispered, "You'll be sorry for this, Kestrel. For leaving me, for everything..." Scarlet paused before continuing, "Please think this over!"

"I think my mind is made up," Kestrel decided.

Kestrel knew she was on Scarlet's nerves. Kestrel was laughing on the inside and she could tell Maroon was as well. She knew him all too well.

"You'll be sorry. You'll BE SORRY!" she yelled as she flew back to her spot.

Kestrel felt Maroon's tail wrap around hers, behind them, where no one could see it.