Dragons of Marak: Book 1, Wings & Sword

#12

 All her life, Ana had lived in her father's house, under his rules. Those rules were stamped into her, part of her forever. He'd controlled everything from what she could talk about at the dinner table, to who her friends were. But now, as she walked into the tournament lounge, ahead of the first matches, she found it refreshing to have Cee by her side, and her father in the same building. For once, she was blazing a path for herself, and he approved of it. She didn't need his approval, of course. She would've found a way to compete in these tournaments regardless of his mindset. But it made her smile when she thought of the fact that he did approve.

The lounge was exactly as Ana remembered it. There were three small, round tables scattered about, one green, the other two brown. There were two couches, and a coffee table on a crimson rug in between them. At the back of the lounge, a set of stairs led up to the third level of the coliseum. Across the way, a plain wooden door led to the stairs that went down to the readying chambers, the tunnels, and the arena.

A large crowd was scattered throughout the room. Dragonbounds mixed and mingled with dragons, chatting loudly.

Ana stopped in her tracks, staring at them with surprise and growing anxiety. Almost immediately, she realized that this group was not the same as the group at the last tournament. The dragons were much larger, and their partners looked much older and more confident. What's more, the group was among the most diverse Ana had ever laid her eyes on. Most of those in the room were Marakians. She could tell by the color of their skin. But a handful were whites like Jack, likely freed slaves. And scattered among the whites and Marakians were at least two people from Omer. They had very dark brown skin and curly hair.

Ana developed a pit in her stomach as she stared at the dragons. They were what had surprised her so much. There were a wide array of both snake-like and lizard-like dragons. They floated and prowled alongside their human companions, with wings ranging from short and stubby to majestic and wide. Some stood so large that they seemed close to twice as tall as their dragonbounds. The smallest among them was twice as large as Cee.

Ana glanced at her own essdra. He set his jaw, a determined look spreading across his face. Despite his confidence, she couldn't bring herself to mirror it. She was overwhelmed by these much larger dragons.

"We're way outclassed," Ana whispered.

Cee shook his head. "We're better than we were last tournament," he said, though Ana thought it sounded like he was feigning confidence.

From the look of things, these dragons and dragonbounds had been training for much longer than just one summer. Ana had been in only one tournament before this.

"Let's see if they have any jerky," Cee said, and that set Ana's mind back to working. She nodded.

Shuffling through the crowd, she maneuvered her way to the snack table and bought a few pieces of jerky. At some point, others seemed to catch sight of her and Cee, and they started to stare. A few of the bigger, tougher dragonbounds gave her dirty looks.

"Ana!"

Ana turned, hearing the familiar voice, and she caught sight of Luka. He jogged up to her. He was dressed in his oversized frock coat and sported a cravat on the outside of his shirt, as per usual. Ashwell hovered above his head. As soon as Ana saw him, she realized the dragon had grown. His shell was the size of a wooden barrel. His paws hung loose, almost as thick as Ana's arms. As Luka skidded to a stop, he looked up and grinned.

"Hey," Ana said. She found herself relieved to see a familiar face. "Are you competing too?"

"Of course," Luka said. "Aw, Cee's barely grown at all."