I was the perfect distraction Red needed. He started up his spell again, Hakku falling victim to the same curse.
“Red, I need you down here!” I shouted, though he refused.
“I can’t! If I leave the circle, then we’d have even less time to work with.”
“All I can do is break through his wings, which doesn’t really slow him down. I have a plan, but I need you to do it!”
“Jezz, I—”
“Just trust me, okay?! I’m all about winning this fight and getting it over with! Remember what I said, before, Red? You and me. So let’s work like a team and tank this bastard!”
He didn’t hesitate. Red came to me and I quickly instructed him on what to do. “While I like the idea of bolting this big boy down with the stone spell, we are going to either tucker ourselves out by trying to break through the stone to reach his core or tucker the spell out. So what I want you to do is lock him down with your hydro powers. For each limb, wrangle him down.”
“There is no way I can hold someone of his size for long!”
“All I need is a few seconds!”
“Jezz, what are you thinking? Only a blood knight could kill a dragon.”
“I know. All we were doing thus far is slowing it down. Can you agree?” I smiled. “Hakku would need to regenerate, and the sun is right on top of him, so it won’t take long to do that. But if we keep weakening him, then he’ll never recover. The fight will grow stale, and they’ll eventually pull out Hakku from the ring.”
“All right. I trust you, ice wolf. Do what you have to to get us out of here.”
A loud deafening roar boomed along the walls of the ring, Hakku breaking free from his rocky imprisonment. One by one his legs broke free from the stone, Red immediately restraining them again with thick tendrils of water. Hakku looked down at them like they were a joke, but little did he know, I was the real threat. Having already gotten into position, I waited for the stone spell to fade from his soft spot, his underbelly ripe for the slashing. Like I said, my teeth were stronger than my claws, and aiming for a deep bite, I transformed into a wolf and bit that criminal with all of my might!
Hakku roared in pain, thrashing and flailing his body around, trying to shake me off. But I held on tight, biting down harder and deeper. Red's water tendrils tightened around Hakku's limbs, holding him down and preventing him from escaping a dog’s bite. Dragon blood filled my mouth as I continued to gnaw at Hakku's underbelly, my fur basking in the glory of close win. With one final, powerful bite, I ripped out a chunk of flesh, causing blood to gush out and Hakku to buck down on the sand.
When he dropped, I had to move. When one door shuts, another one opens. While his underbelly wasn’t accessible, I still had the option of biting at his neck, and with Hakku down on the ground, he made it easy for me to attack him there.
Red realized I was switching positions and tossed a water rope around his throat.
Poor guy was covered in sweat.
I worked quickly, Hakku protesting as he whipped his head back and forth to catch me, but he was weakened and clearly tired. I used that fact to my advantage and weaved around him, until he fell for my shimmy bait, and I locked my bloody fangs in his throat.
The fight was as good as done after that. Even though he could regen, as long as my teeth sunk into his pumping vein, he wasn’t getting back up again.
Then something strange happened, the crowd jumped up to cheer for me…
Pfft, pick a side, you blood-hungry savages!
‘Pleck! Yuck!’ I grunted, trying to shake the pungent dragon blood taste from my tongue as Hakku fell unconscious. I needed a break from all that metal going in my mouth, Red rushing toward me with open arms and a huge smile.
“I can’t believe it!” he sang, the man sinking into my wet fur with a hug. I grumbled in response, panting from the heat still pouring out of Hakku’s body.
‘Get off me, would ya? You’re making me sweat,’ I said teasingly, but I knew he couldn’t hear me. Unlike Silas, we weren’t in the same party yet.
When I noticed the guards walking into the ring, I knew they were here to haul Hakku away. He was already reverting back to his humanoid state from all of the blood he lost, his body’s natural way of preserving his energy. The guy was still knocked out, so I changed back to my fae form and wiped the blood from my lips with a smile.
“Bring on your next opponent!” I chanted again, but this time, the princess protested.
“No,” Lucyna said flatly. “Release the warding on the other side and send that one away,” she ordered her guards, referring to Redfeur.
“What?” the fae asked softly, my chest beating at the thought of the princess’ intentions.
Red was stunned silly, and I was lost. What the heck was she doing by sending Red back? Was that code to have him killed?
But then Lucyna did something super unorthodox. She left her royal skylight box and descended, the crowd roaring her name. Soon, I realized what was going on as two hooded men rushed into the ring and snatched Redfeur, dragging him out. Then the doors on the other side opened up again after they had removed Hakku out, inviting my next opponent into the ring.
This was going to be a one on one match between two girls—me and princess Lucyna…
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Okay, this had got to be the worst case scenario right now! I was in no shape to fight the dragon princess head on. Not only was I running on very little mana, I was down one man!
Well, at least I’d be hard to catch with all of this slippery dragon blood on me, right?
Right…
I’d heard plenty of stories about victims matching the princess, none of which were good. Her wild and unpredictable persona made her even more dangerous; no one ever knew what she was going to do next so it was impossible to prepare for anything. Calculating her moves were a trial alone, the head bitch in charge making it her business to remain as ambiguous as possible. I should know—Silas had told me about the time he fought her. And if it wasn’t for the Tempus stone… h-he would have b-been…
No, this is not the time to be thinking about that! I shook my head and pressed my eyes shut, trying not to focus on winning, but surviving. With a rattled breath, I opened them back up again, building up courage as I watched her leisurely approach me in the ring.
Oh, who was I kidding?! No matter how hard I tried to get rid of that annoying pit in my throat, I just couldn’t! The princess was known for her deadly fighting skills and her ruthless power. She had the kind of aura that could shatter any man’s confidence, and the kind of stamina that could outstand an entire army. As for me, I was just a simple wolf from the streets who wanted a way out of her beastly hunger impulses, claiming the title of overseer to a group of humans to make up for all the evil I’d done.
I had no chance of leaving this fight alive, but I couldn't show any weakness. As hard as it was to keep my head straight, I had to try my best, and give it everything I had.
But man, my luck had been seriously running thin lately. I didn’t think she’d recover so soon from her wounds. She was attacked by flying blood knight sword fragments for goodness sake! And yet, here she was standing all strong and mighty… It could be a bluff though, right? After all, she hadn’t worked me up a sweat when she and Matissa had found me in the field. Could she have been saving her energy?
